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Ten new Petersburg High School National Honor Society students were inducted this year and the school held a ceremony in the Wright Auditorium Tuesday morning. Van Abbott, Katie Brock, Abbey Hardie, Ethan Kludt-Painter, Helen Martin, Julia Murph, Alice Neidiffer, Marissa Nilsen, Madisyn Parker and Erin Pfundt were among the newest inductees. NHS student Chauncy Sandhofer provided the audience with a background of the program. "The National Honor Society was established to recognize students who...
The Petersburg Borough held a community meet and greet for two Parks and Recreation director applicants at the community gym Tuesday evening. Chandra Thornburg from Seattle, Wash. and Melanie McElroy from Atlanta, Ga. were the two finalists. Petersburg Borough Manager Steve Giesbrecht toured the two around town Tuesday and conducted interviews Wednesday afternoon. The position was ultimately offered to Thornburg and she accepted. Thornburg, 35, works for a city in Washington and has been...
A mock car crash staged in the parking lot behind the community gym kept local emergency crews and students busy for a good part of the morning last Thursday. Students from the eighth grade up to seniors in high school witnessed a drunk driver, played by Kyle Clayton, getting arrested after causing an accident. Clayton's fictional disregard for the law and safety of others injured two occupants of the vehicle he hit, and killed one. The carnage required the top of the car he hit to be removed...
One of the red doors at Sons of Norway Hall was cracked open on Monday morning to make sure anyone wanting to see and hear the singing group known as Sacred Harp could enter. The voices and spirit of the traveling A Cappella gospel group was noticeable from the boardwalk. The event was open to the public, and a few locals even joined the group to sing. The group sings traditional four-part hymns and anthems while sitting in a square. Group members took turns leading songs, and the song leader...
Cooke Aquaculture announced the signing of a definitive agreement to purchase Icicle Seafoods earlier this week. The purchase will mean new ownership for one of the largest seafood processors operating in Alaska now owned by Paine and Partners, a California-based investment group. Paine acquired Icicle in 2007. The announcement came through a Cooke Seafood news release and means one of the largest Atlantic salmon farming companies on the Canadian east coast will now become a player in the... Full story
Petersburg Borough Assembly member Kurt Wohlhueter wants to let the people of Petersburg choose whether or not retail marijuana will be allowed in town and will propose such an idea at the May 16 Borough Assembly meeting. Wohlhueter said the assembly has not discussed the opt out option allowed by state regulations, which some communities in Alaska have already done. “I want to see if we can get it (opt out option) on the ballot in October and let the people of Petersburg decide whether we want it because that was always one of the things (... Full story
The Petersburg Chamber of Commerce board of directors knew exactly what to do when faced with finding a new administrative manager. They contacted Mara Lutomski. She had shown prior interest in the position and the board thought of her as a qualified replacement for John Havrilek, who recently retired from the position. "We had about three days together," she says laughing of training with Havrilek. "He showed me the ropes. It is basically a self-starter position." Lutomski is currently in her... Full story
Petersburg Medical Center staff and board members face tough decisions and an even tougher fiscal climate as they continue discussion on how to improve or replace their inadequate facility. PMC board, staff members and architect Joann Lott from Jensen Yorba Lott Architects met last Friday, May 6 to discuss the pros and cons of different options. Lott met with the PMC board last October when it presented a facility assessment. Many of the building’s issues include but are not limited to several mechanical and electrical systems in the L...
The Borough Assembly and taxpayers spend too much time discussing the question of equitable millage rates for differing sections of the borough. Many property owners say their millage rate should be determined by the quantity and quality of services provided to residents in a given area. We believe the 4-mill rate for folks outside Service area 1 is reasonable and should not be subject to adjustment based on services provided, since there are virtually no services provided to those areas by the Borough. The late Louie Severson was a member of t...
City of Kupreanof residents are celebrating their city’s 40th anniversary this Saturday, May 14. Current Kupreanof Mayor Tom Reinarts said activities are planned and he hopes people will head across the Narrows to enjoy the Kupreanof experience. “We’d like everybody to come over and visit us and join us in celebrating the 40th anniversary of our incorporation,” Reinarts said. Kupreanof, which was officially incorporated in October 1975, is one of the lowest populated cities in the state—24 residents, according to Reinarts. The area wasn’t al...
A Haines puppeteer performing arts group, Geppetto's Junkyard, will be performing in the Wright Auditorium during this year's Mayfest activities. Debi Knight Kennedy, a puppeteer in the group, said they perform one to two shows a year and, this time around, the troupe has specifically tailored its performance for Petersburg audiences. "A Viking from Petersburg named Inar goes off in search of adventure and gets swallowed by a whale and then we see what happens next," Knight Kennedy said....
Thirteen track and field athletes competed at a Thunder Mountain High School meet in Juneau last weekend, and a couple accomplished new personal and school records despite bad weather. “It was miserable,” says head coach Brad Taylor. “It was rainy, windy, yeah, it was not very nice.” Taylor says the team took a small crew to the meet because the majority of the athletes stayed home for AP and SAT exams. The girls still managed to take fourth place and the boys tied for sixth place with Thorne Bay High School. The girls would have been in the...
When the Mitkof Middle School started a robotics class nearly 10 years ago only a couple students took the course. This quarter, there are 14 sixth-graders taking part and learning problem solving skills through hands-on experience. Rick Brock is responsible for bringing the program to Petersburg after seeing how well it worked at another school. Brock researched the program and thought it would be a good addition to the middle school's Exploratory Program, and asked the school to invest in sett...
The Petersburg Borough Planning and Zoning Commission held three public hearings at their meeting Tuesday morning, and declined to approve a rezoning application for Pat Magill-Stevens. The application sought to rezone Lot 14, Skylark Addition from public use to mobile home park. The proposed mobile home park would be between Vesta St. and Skylark Way. Multiple residents living in the area spoke against the rezoning effort, some attended the meeting and others sent letters to be read into the record. The residents all live in the area, and...
The Petersburg School Board met Tuesday, May 11 and approved the hire of Joyce Metsa for next school year’s high school math teacher. The board also approved a new social studies curriculum and a new SHOP Lite (low intensity technology education) course aimed at encouraging female students to enroll. “We lack in having, I’m trying to think of the exact words there, pretty much we don’t have enough girls in Shop,” Petersburg middle and high school principal Rick Dormer said. Shop LITE features basic woodworking, basic automotive maintenan...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — An Alaska legislative committee on Tuesday unveiled a draft oil and gas tax credit bill aimed at breaking an impasse that helped send lawmakers into overtime, proposing to phase out most existing credits and calling for a new tax structure for Cook Inlet by 2019. But it received a muted response from some lawmakers who say it doesn't go far enough in making changes or lowering the state's tax liability. The head of the Alaska Oil and Gas Association, meanwhile, said the draft, like previous versions of the bill, would h...
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — A small airplane hit a bald eagle before it crashed and burst into flames just north of Anchorage last month, killing all four people on board, authorities said Wednesday. It is the nation's first civilian plane crash to result in deaths after an impact with a bald eagle, said Shaun Williams, a National Transportation Safety Board investigator. There have been other crashes involving eagle strikes that resulted in serious injuries, he said. Remains of the eagle were found on the plane's tail structure, Williams said. Th...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — Southeast regional Native corporation Sealaska has announced the purchase of a minority stake in a Seattle-based seafood processor, marking its first transition into the seafood industry in nearly 30 years. Sealaska Chief Operating Officer Terry Downes said the purchase of Independent Packers Corporation announced Monday is part of Sealaska's shift into businesses familiar to its 22,000 shareholders. “It straddles Southeast Alaska and the Pacific Northwest,” Downes said. “We want to have our businesses be really relevan...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — Authorities are investigating after a piece of artwork was reported stolen from the Juneau Arts & Culture Center. The Juneau Empire reports that center officials had called police Monday after finding that an alder mask of a mountain goat was missing. The piece by Juneau artist Sheila Dyer had been part of a monthly exhibit from the University of Alaska Southeast. Executive director of the Juneau Arts & Humanities Council Nancy DeCherney says the center's surveillance cameras hadn't captured the theft due to an issue w...
WRANGELL - Four dozen elementary school students from the Wrangell and Petersburg areas partook in a field day, heading upriver for the 19th annual Stikine River field trip on May 3. Encompassing almost 700 square miles, since 1980 the Stikine-LeConte Wilderness Area has been managed by the United States Forest Service. Originating 335 miles away in Canada's British Columbia province, the winding river is a major contributor of wild salmon and home to many migratory bird species. For many in...
The Petersburg Borough Assembly might consider initiating a change in the mill rate for some property owners living in more remotes area. Mike Woodworth brought up the issue during a public comment period during Monday’s Borough Assembly meeting. Woodworth is a property owner at Frederick Point East which lies within old city limits, now known as service area one and is taxed at ten mills instead of four mills—the tax rate outside of service area one. “Right now what it’s created is kind of a bitter pill for me because I’m also a homeowner... Full story
The Petersburg Borough Assembly approved in its first reading a new marijuana ordinance. The ordinance largely conforms to state regulations and in its current form allows smoking marijuana inside a retail store. The approval of the ordinance will force the assembly to amend its “Smoke Free Air Act” which prohibits smoking in indoor public spaces. “If the assembly approves the marijuana ordinance in front of you then staff will have to go back and alter our clean air ordinance to match, to make that work,” Giesbrecht said. “That will take us a... Full story
The Petersburg Borough Assembly approved this year's $9.6 million budget after reallocating it's community service grant funding where it reduced funding to Petersburg Mental Health Services for the first time in decades. The assembly reduced PMHS funding by $20,000 and directed it towards Petersburg's domestic violence prevention and victim advocacy non-profit Working Against Violence for Everyone (WAVE). Annette Wooton, WAVE Director and it's only full-time employee, this year made a one-time... Full story
The Petersburg Marine Mammal Center will host their annual meeting on Thursday night in the high school library, the meeting will be brief, lasting around 15 minutes. The Petersburg Science Series presentation on Alaska's Marine Mammal Stranding Network will follow the meeting. Sadie Wright, wildlife biologist for NOAA Fisheries, will lead the presentation detailing what the stranding network does and why it exists nationally and in Alaska. Part of the network's mandate is dealing with dead or...
The Petersburg Arts Council is bringing the Dustbowl Revival to town next week, and the roomy Wright Auditorium stage should allow for a fun, family-friendly performance, according to bandleader Zach Lupetin. The Dustbowl Revival is an eight-piece band, based out of Los Angeles, combining many aspects of string and brass bands. The band plays music rich with folk music elements, including 30s and 40s swing music, with blues and bluegrass thrown in, Lupetin says. "We've been sort of mixing it...
