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The Petersburg High School Class of 2021 will be receiving their diplomas in a ceremony similar to years past. Although this class of graduating seniors is made up of just 28 students, PHS Principal Rick Dormer said they're a class that is bound to do great things in the future. In 2020, 36 seniors graduated from PHS, and about 40 graduated the year before that. The larger classes easily made their presence known in the high school. But the 2021 class is different. Dormer said this year's...
The Borough Assembly and Petersburg Medical Center Board of Directors held a work session on May 5 to discuss the next steps in the hospital's goal of building a new facility. Following the completion of a master plan document, PMC CEO Phil Hofstetter said the project would move forward in phases as the hospital works to secure funding in the form of grants. The immediate next steps include conducting a geotechnical study, selecting a location to build the hospital and creating a shovel-ready...
Due to faulty postmark equipment at the Petersburg Post Office, local mail is now being processed in Juneau before reaching their in-town destinations, according to James Boxrud, a spokesperson with the United States Postal Service. Because the postmark equipment is so outdated, parts are no longer available to make it operational again. Boxrud said the current equipment will not be replaced, so from now on, all mail, including packages, will be postmarked in Juneau before being processed for...
One new positive case COVID-19 was identified by the Petersburg Medical Center on Tuesday, bringing the local active case count to four, according to a joint press release from the Petersburg Borough and PMC. The positive case was travel related and was the only confirmed case identified in the last week. On May 4 and 5, three individuals within a single household tested positive for COVID-19. Incident Commander Karl Hagerman said all four currently active cases of the virus were related to out...
A local resident anonymously reported to the Pilot on Wednesday having experienced a gastrointestinal bug that was affecting at least four other people. The individual said the illness began with severe vomiting, but soon progressed to diarrhea, gas, fever and muscle aches. According to the individual, they had tested negative for COVID-19, but was made aware by Petersburg Medical Center they were likely experiencing a gastrointestinal bug. Liz Bacom, PMC's infection prevention and quality...
Cannery workers at Trident Seafoods are asked to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 to work this season, while Tonka Seafoods is leaving that decision up to their employees. "Like last year, we are making the health and safety of our employees, fishermen, and community members our top priority," said Shannon Carroll, a representative of Trident Seafoods, in an email to the Pilot. He said both resident and non-resident employees will have to be fully vaccinated to work at the plant. Through...
In the story about Little Norway Festival in the May 6 edition of the Pilot, it was stated that Alaska Department of Fish and Game would be present to teach fundamentals of fishing at the Lil’ Fisk Derby. ADF&G will not be in attendance at the derby....
The Petersburg School Board approved a two percent salary increase over the 2020-2021 school year for classified staff returning for the 2021-2022 school year at their meeting on Tuesday. "It's been a hard year I'm sure for some of them, and we're appreciative of the hard work that they've done this year and as well as the anticipation of them returning in the fall, " said School Board President Sarah Holmgrain. Talks between the Petersburg School District and the Petersburg District Support...
"Ephemeral," an award winning documentary by local filmmaker Kelly Bakos, will be making its television debut on KTOO 360TV over a four day period next week. The film will first air on May 20 at 8:22 P.M., then on May 22 at 10:22 P.M. and on May 23 at 9:22 P.M., according to a press release. KTOO 360TV, which can be viewed on GCI's PBS channel 15, can reach over one million viewers in Alaska, Colorado, Oregon and beyond. Bakos' film, "Ephemeral," documents the creation and lifespan of natural ar...
Walkers, runners and bikers now have a new bench to stop and catch their breath on as they make their way along the 1.7 mile long Scow Bay Bike Path. The original blue bench was set up in 2007 by Mel Stockton in remembrance of his son, Sam, and his mother, Helen. The bench had been aged quite a bit by the weather of Southeast, but when Stockton decided to have it repainted, he realized the bench would have to be sent to Washington due to the specialized paint used. So instead, he commissioned...
The Borough Assembly approved an ordinance in its second reading that would let voters decide whether or not to remove the Frederick Point East Subdivision from the boundaries of service area one. Should ordinance #2021-08 pass in all three readings, it would put proposition #1 on the municipal election ballot in October, and the voters would have to decide whether the subdivision should be removed from service area one. According to the ordinance, a majority of voters within service area one...
A cracked, porcelain insulator on a utility pole in the Scow Bay Turnaround area caused two power outages on May 1, which left parts of the community in the dark for a total of about 4 hours. Petersburg Municipal Power & Light first responded to a power outage on circuit 62, which powers most of the downtown area, at 10:23 A.M. on Saturday, said Utility Director Karl Hagerman in a press release. A PMP&L line crew patrolled the line on circuit 62 for damage that would have caused a fault, but no damage was found; however, the crew did find that...
The Borough Assembly passed an ordinance in its first reading on Monday that would adopt the borough's proposed fiscal year 2022 operating budget. The General Fund's revenues and expenditures equal $9,741,364 and is an overall increase of .39 percent from the 2021 fiscal year adopted budget. The assembly unanimously passed two amendments to the proposed budget that prevents a millage rate increase and honors KFSK's full community service funding request. The millage rate is the amount per...
An ordinance that would ask the voters in the next municipal election whether term limits should be placed on the Borough Assembly will go before the assembly at their meeting on May 17. At the request of Assembly Member Taylor Norheim, the assembly discussed instituting term limits at the end of their meeting on Monday. He said he will be adding an ordinance to the agenda of their next assembly meeting that would let the voters decide whether to place term limits on the assembly. According to...
The Petersburg Volunteer Fire Department donated a total of 987 person hours during the first quarter of 2021, according to the Fire Chief Jim Stolpe at the Borough Assembly meeting on Monday. "As always, we stand ready to help the citizens in their hour of need," said Stolpe. "Whether their issue is big or small, we're still here." Between Jan. and March 31, the fire branch of PVFD donated 516 person hours, the EMS branch donated 355 person hours and the search and rescue branch donated 116...
After last year's festival was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 62nd annual Little Norway Festival is slated to begin May 13. "I think everyone can't wait for it to happen," said Petersburg Chamber of Commerce Administrator Mindy Lopez. "There's some excitement in the air." Prior to the festival, free transportation across the Wrangell Narrows will be provided on May 8 for the City of Kupreanof Celebration Day from 8 A.M. to 4 P.M. The United States Forest Service is also hosting a...
Between Feb. 1 and March 31, Alaska Department of Health and Social Services identified 152 positive cases of COVID-19 among people in the state who were fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to a report from DHSS. About 74 percent of the vaccine breakthrough cases, or 112 individuals, were among people who had received the Pfizer vaccine, according to the report. Thirty-eight percent of the breakthrough cases had received the Moderna vaccine, and one person had received the Johnson &...
Three cases of COVID-19 were identified within a single household over the course of two days this week, according to a joint press release from the Petersburg Borough and Petersburg Medical Center. The first two cases were identified on Tuesday by PMC within a single household. According to a joint press release, the two cases were travel related. Then on Wednesday, a third case was identified within the same household as the previous two cases. All three individuals have been directed to...
The Petersburg Pilot earned two awards presented by the Alaska Press Club this weekend. John Havrilek was awarded third place for his photo of a Bald Eagle perched against the backdrop of Petersburg Mountain. The Pilot staff was awarded third place for best weekly newspaper. Judges commented: "Good mix of pure news and advertiser-driven information for a very specific audience (yours). Nicely put together." The judges evaluated the work from three editions submitted from March, July and...
On Tuesday, the state reported 72.94 percent of Petersburg residents had at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, which was the second highest percentage in the state after Skagway Municipality. The Petersburg COVID-19 Dashboard reported 51 percent of Petersburg residents had at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine on Tuesday. The Petersburg Borough's COVID-19 Dashboard and the state's COVID-19 Dashboard show two different numbers for the percentage of local residents who have received at...
The Borough Assembly reviewed the proposed fiscal year 2022 budget at a work session on April 21, which has a balanced General Fund. In the proposed budget, the General Fund's total revenues and total expenditures equal $9,741,364 and is an overall increase of .39 percent from the adopted 2021 fiscal year budget, according to the proposed budget. The General Fund also uses a surplus of $231,805 to offset a loss in the state's reimbursement of the School Bond Debt payments. The General Fund's...
A story about updates to local health mandates on page two of last week’s edition of the Petersburg Pilot had a headline that implied all interstate travelers arriving into Petersburg are exempt from COVID-19 testing and isolation requirements. Only interstate travelers who are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 are exempt from those requirements....
Since January, Petersburg Medical Center has been operating with a negative bottom line, but Controller Rocio Tejera told the PMC Board of Directors at their meeting on April 22 that it's important to look at the year-to-date bottom line. On March 31, PMC reported a negative bottom line of $676,722 for the month, according to financial documents presented to the hospital board. However, the hospital has a positive year-to-date bottom line of $540,192. The bottom line is the hospital's total...
Petersburg High School was ranked the number one high school in Alaska in terms of academic success by the U.S. News & World Report for 2021. Rankings are based on the students' performance on state testing, graduation rates and how well they're prepared for college. Additionally, PHS was ranked 904 among all the high schools in the country, which is in the top 40 percent of schools. Statewide, 71 high schools were ranked by the U.S. News & World Report, and 17,857 schools were ranked...
Hammer & Wikan, Inc. kicked off a year's worth of celebrations on April 17 with their Founder's Day event to commentate the business's 100-year anniversary. The festivities began at the grocery store. Every person who entered the building was given a balloon, which could be redeemed for a gift. Guests were also given cake and coffee in a commemorative mug. They were also given the opportunity to enter a raffle to win a new barbecue. Later in the afternoon, the party continued at the hardware sto...
