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Sarah Pawuk Holmgrain What is your age? 51 What experience do you have? I have served on the school board since I was appointed and then elected in 2009. Why do you seek public office? I still have the time and energy to put into volunteering on this Board. How would you like to see the budget managed through the challenges the school district currently faces? Actually, I think the budget has been managed quit well for over a decade with fewer and fewer resources and funds. We have had...
Casey Knight What is your age? 36 What experience do you have? Three years on Harbor Board Why do you seek public office? To help maintain an affordable working waterfront in Petersburg What are your thoughts on the proposed improvements to the Papke's Landing Marine Facility? The State isn't going to do improve Papke's, so the Borough has to. But we must decide whether the Borough is in a position to take on the extra responsibilities involved in taking over the relevant land from ADOT and ADNR...
The Petersburg School Board unanimously approved a motion to reinstate funding for activities, curriculum, and professional development during Tuesday’s meeting. The action looks to increase funding by about $100,000 combined according to Superintendent Erica Kludt-Painter which would get funding for those items closer to the amount that the district spent on them last year. The board passed a conservative budget that saw reductions in multiple areas during its June meeting, seeking to account for a number of unknowns at that time. Those i...
The Petersburg Borough has offered Aaron Hankins the position of Fire/EMS/SAR Director according to Borough Manager Steve Giesbrecht. Hankins, a Petersburg resident, has volunteered with the Petersburg Volunteer Fire Department since 2016 and has earned ETT, EMT-1, and EMS LT certifications. He beat out a field of six candidates who interviewed for the position, which has been vacant since former director Sandy Dixson retired at the end of June. Though Hankins has accepted the borough's offer,...
The Petersburg Borough Assembly approved the second version of the conceptual plans for improvements to the Papke's Landing Marine Facility after a 5-1 vote during last week's meeting. The new conceptual plans are a revision of the plans released in March and increase the total project cost from $6.41 million to $9.22 million. The revision was crafted by Alan Murph from Harai & Associates with input from Assembly Members Dave Kensinger and Bob Lynn who took comments and suggestions submitted by...
Jeigh Stanton Gregor What is your age? 45 What experience do you have? I have 20 years of leadership experience. I was responsible for keeping groups of kids and adults safe year-round in the Montana wilderness. My leadership skills were also used to help strengthen program leadership teams. Currently, I've been on the assembly for 8.5 years, and we've addressed many issues during this time. Two recent issues come to mind that I'd like to highlight: I made an amendment to make community gym...
Bob Lynn What is your age? 76 What experience do you have? I've had 8 year's experience on the Petersburg Assembly. I have been fortunate to serve as Petersburg Assembly Board representative to Southeast Alaska Power Authority (SEAPA.) In that role I have served as Board Chair and voting member to replace submarine cable serving Petersburg. I have also served 6 years as the Assembly representative to the Hospital Board. Having been an EMT years ago has provided me much needed background to serve...
The Petersburg Borough Assembly voted on two resolutions seeking to allocate funds received from the American Rescue Plan Act during last week's meeting. Resolution #2022-12, allocating up to $27,000 for a digital fingerprint scanning system, was approved in a 5-1 vote with Assembly Member Thomas Fine-Walsh opposed. Resolution #2022-13, seeking to spend $62,641.50 of the funds on Axon vehicle camera systems for the Petersburg Police Department, failed in a 1-5 vote with only Mayor Mark Jensen...
New housing opportunities may be on the horizon following the Petersburg Borough Assembly's approval of Ordinance #2022-12 in its first reading Tuesday. The new ordinance, which received a 6-0 vote with Vice Mayor Jeigh Stanton Gregor excused, is designed to allow tiny houses, detached accessory dwellings, and multiple buildings on a single lot-all within Service Area 1. Assembly Member Thomas Fine-Walsh, who brought the ordinance forward, summarized its three parts and said he believed the...
When Arsen Tatizian arrived in Petersburg earlier this year he did not think he would be staying in Alaska beyond the end of his contract with OBI-much less with his wife and his daughter at his side. The Ukrainian first stepped foot in Little Norway on February 6. It was his second year working for OBI, though he spent his first summer at their plants near Wood River and Larsen Bay. He was only here for two weeks before Russia invaded Ukraine. While he continued with work, his mind was on the... Full story
The Mitkof Mummers will be holding a casting call on Tuesday as they mount a return to the stage after over two years without a show. In most years the Mummers would hold a fall show and a spring show during Mayfest, but they have been unable to do so since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Though there were some ideas of what could be done during the pandemic including radio plays, it was just too hard to put together, said Irene Littleton, the Mummer's director. But now that they are able...
Tom Laurent's EMS career began in the mid-70s when he was 16 and joined the Juneau Ski Patrol. He came from a ski-bum family and fit right in at the Eaglecrest Ski Area where his job was to take "people that injured themselves off the hill." Since then, he has spent a total of 46 years involved with EMS and 32 of those were dedicated to volunteering in Petersburg. Unfortunately, during that span volunteerism itself has been falling off, not just locally, but across the entire United States and...
The Petersburg Borough Assembly voted unanimously to pass Ordinance #2022-11 in its third and final reading during Tuesday’s meeting, allowing for increases to the purchasing authorization limits of borough officials. The ordinance now gives the borough manager the authority to set the spending limits for individual department heads. It also increases the borough manager’s purchasing authorization limit, allowing the borough manager to authorize purchases costing more than a department head’s limit but less than $75,000. Previously depar...
The Petersburg Borough Assembly hosted a work session Monday evening to get a better understanding of the challenges faced when developing or purchasing homes in Petersburg and to help give direction to the newly formed Housing Task Force. The work session saw assembly members meet with representatives with varying experience of the local housing issue. Attendees included WAVE Executive Director Annette Bennett, local contractor Kevin Hagan, local builders Gary Aulbach and Joshua Adams, PIA...
Two months after former Fire/EMS/SAR Director Sandy Dixson retired, the Petersburg Borough is restarting its push to hire a new director. The borough held panel interviews on Wednesday and Thursday for the six candidates up for the position—including four current Petersburg residents. Following the interviews the candidate pool will be narrowed down to two who will progress to another round of interviews and a possible meet and greet with community members. Candidates include Daniel Bird, Aaron Hankins, Alan Malone, and Joshua Rathmann of P...
For over two decades Joe Viechnicki's voice on the local radio station has been an ever-present staple of the community. He has been an up-beat, dedicated newsman, and, more than that, a dedicated community member, spending hours upon hours volunteering locally to help make Petersburg a better place. "The best advice I can give to someone coming into the world of journalism is to be involved in the community and look for those opportunities where you're not a journalist," Viechnicki says....
At the beginning of the year when the governor allowed rural communities like Petersburg the opportunity for legal drivers to utilize their all-terrain vehicles (ATVs) on roads in town it was an easy decision for Victoria Moore to register her family's four-wheeler. During stretches of beautiful weather in June and July, Victoria and her son, Alex, 16, utilized it a lot. She says, the four-wheeler can be "used as a good tool" for Alex, who is autistic. Riding on the four-wheeler can help with se...
Some new and some returning faces have joined the ranks of the Petersburg School District staff in preparation for the upcoming school year. Elsa Wintersteen will teach English language arts and a drama class at Petersburg High School. She completed her undergraduate studies at Montana State University, earning a literature degree and an interdisciplinary degree, and for a short time studied theater at the University of Montana. Wintersteen is originally from Montana, but her mother's family is...
The period to file for candidacy in this year's municipal election ended on Tuesday, signaling the start of campaign season. The election will feature contested races for mayor, Petersburg Borough Assembly, the Petersburg Medical Center Hospital Board, and the Harbor and Ports Advisory Board. Mayor Mark Jensen will run for reelection against two sitting assembly members-Bob Lynn and Jeff Meucci. Meucci ran against Jensen in the 2019 mayoral election, coming up short by 61 votes. Assembly...
The Clausen Museum has been getting some much needed restoration work done over the summer to help keep the building standing. Building Maintenance Techs Jim Holder and Sam Jackson have been working since June, replacing rotting wood, putting on a fresh coat of paint, and adding safety equipment as part of the work. "They really have been going to town," Museum Director Cindi Lagoudakis said. The museum, built in 1967 and expanded in 1976 with the Heritage of the Sea wing, needed some serious...
Petersburg's Rainforest Festival has two seasons under their belt now working in their new year-round format. Since their start on Earth Day, they've hosted six events, including guided walks, art workshops and a solstice ephemeral art show. "I think it's going pretty well," said festival organizer Sunny Rice. "We've been able to spread out the work a little bit and take advantage of people coming through town that we otherwise would have missed." As they move into the season when the festival w...
Some new and some returning faces have joined the ranks of the Petersburg School District staff in preparation for the upcoming school year. Erin Hofacre will be starting her first year of teaching in one of Stedman Elementary School's two first grade classrooms. She earned her bachelor's degree at Whitworth University in Spokane, Washington where she received endorsements for elementary, reading, and special education. "I was able to go to a great program with lots of practical work so I feel l...
The Petersburg School Board updated its COVID-19 mitigation plan for the upcoming school year during its meeting last week. The school district is required to update its plan by the Alaska Department of Education and under the American Rescue Plan funding. The new guidelines resemble those the district had at the end of the previous school year but with a couple of changes. Masking will remain optional for students, staff, and visitors and there will be no trigger for universal masking or...
Bear sightings are continuing to rise as they frequent the streets of Petersburg in search of garbage. In response, Petersburg Police Department Chief Jim Kerr spoke during Monday's Petersburg Borough Assembly meeting on the threat bears pose and actions the police department has taken to reduce their presence. "To try and get the bear issue to drop before school starts we started issuing citations enforcing the new garbage ordinance," Kerr said. The ordinance, which was approved by the...
The popular custom benches began years ago, when Karen Hofstad and Sue Paulson approached Josef Quitslund with the idea of creating something that could be at the center of Cannery Park. The women both had an interest in establishing the space to showcase the local history of the town and pay tribute to their loved ones that had a hand in that history, Quitslund says. "A memorial bench is a nice way to honor someone's memory," he says. "It's a place for the ones left behind to reflect and other...
