Sorted by date Results 1462 - 1486 of 5569
The borough assembly passed an ordinance adopting the borough's fiscal year 2021 operating budget in its first reading on Monday. Expenditures for the general fund in the proposed budget total $9,838,846, but it's balanced out equally by $9,838,846 in revenues. The current 2020 fiscal year budget has a total of $9,533,511 in revenues and $9,467,855 in expenditures. There were several challenges facing department heads in creating the upcoming fiscal year's budget. Gov. Mike Dunleavy vetoed 100...
The borough assembly on Monday failed to make a motion to extend public health mandate #4, the local face covering mandate, past its May 5 expiration date. The face covering mandate first went into effect on April 21 and was set to last until May 5 at 11:59 P.M. The local face covering mandate requires all persons to wear some form of covering over their nose and mouth in certain social situations to help prevent the spread of droplets that could infect others with COVID-19. As of Monday, May...
In 1914 President Woodrow Wilson declared May 10 Mother's Day as a national holiday. Hannah Balcom never planned to marry, let alone have children and celebrate Mother's Day as a Mom. This May 20 however, she is scheduled to have a C-section in Ketchikan to bring her third child, a little girl, into the world. Hannah and her husband Brad Balcom met and fell in love on Princes of Wales Island (POW) seven years ago and moved their young family, Seth now four and Arianne now two, to Petersburg...
In the event that the Petersburg Borough can't hold an in-person municipal election this fall due to state health mandate limitations, the borough assembly passed an ordinance in its first reading on Monday that would allow the municipal election to be held remotely. If passed in three readings, ordinance #2020-16 would allow the borough assembly to direct borough staff to conduct an election by mail with no precinct polling place open for regular in-person voting on election day, according to...
Borough Manager Steve Giesbrecht told the borough assembly on Monday that the borough has been working with Icicle Seafoods and Trident Seafoods on their plans for bringing cannery workers into town during the upcoming fishing season. Giesbrecht said the two canneries' plans are being reviewed by medical professionals at Petersburg Medical Center. Both canneries are making modifications to their plans and submitting them to the state for approval, said Giesbrecht. The borough is having a...
One of the things Petersburg residents look forward to with the change of the season and the weather is The Market, which in the past has been held in the John Hanson Sr. Hall and included homemade baked goods, fresh vegetables and flowers, local jewelry and art and more for purchase. This year The Market is going to have a different look, because like a lot of other things in the world right now, COVID-19 is bringing about a change. Chelsea Tremblay, chair of The Market board says this year...
Borough officials will be having a work session with state medical professionals next Wednesday to talk about the state's current and future approach to the COVID-19 pandemic. Borough Incident Commander Karl Hagerman said on Wednesday that the information gained from the work session can be used by community leaders to prevent a widespread COVID-19 outbreak as Petersburg begins to reopen parts of its economy. "I think it's very important to understand where the state is going with testing, and...
Southeast Alaska Power Agency is still in the process of trying to replace a damaged submarine cable that provides Petersburg with power, as complications increase due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Bob Lynn, chairman of the SEAPA board, told the Petersburg Borough Assembly at their meeting on Monday that there are concerns over whether the project can be completed this year. The damaged cable is one of four submarine cables that connects the terminals between Woronofski and Vank islands to provide...
Another case of COVID-19 was reported in Petersburg on Monday, bringing the local number of COVID-19 cases to three, though two of the individuals have since recovered, according to a joint-statement made by the Petersburg Medical Center and the Petersburg Borough. PMC has sent out a total of 134 test samples to state and commercial laboratories to be tested for COVID-19, according to PMC Emergency Preparedness Coordinator Lauri Miller at Wednesday's community COVID-19 update. Of those samples,...
The borough assembly on Monday failed to make a motion to extend public health mandate #4, the local face covering mandate, past its May 5 expiration date. The face covering mandate first went into effect on April 21 and was set to last until May 5 at 11:59 P.M. The local face covering mandate requires all persons to wear some form of covering over their nose and mouth in certain social situations to help prevent the spread of droplets that could infect others with COVID-19. As of Monday, May... Full story
Sherry Tamone, a professor of biology at University of Alaska Southeast, held a virtual lecture this month as part of the Petersburg Science Series on her research in crab species in Southeast and the effect that warming sea temperatures has on their molt timing. Crustaceans grow in size through a process called molting, said Tamone. Molting is when a crustacean sheds its exoskeleton and builds a newer, bigger one. The process begins when they're newborn larva and lasts through adulthood. When i...
Nine sewers and artists have given new life to old pieces of clothing and curtains by repurposing them into entirely new functional items, as part of Clausen Memorial Museum's virtual art show, Upcycled. Museum Director Cindi Lagoudakis was first approached by the Reduce Plastic Use Petersburg group earlier this year with the idea of hosting an exhibit at the museum that used old fabrics from clothes, table cloths, curtains and other cloth items to create whole new items that can be used instead...
The borough assembly approved a public health emergency directive at a special meeting on Tuesday that implements a temporary quarantine and isolation program for first responders, healthcare works and homeless individuals and families to prevent the possible spread of COVID-19 in the community. Borough Incident Commander Karl Hagerman said just after the formation of the Emergency Operations Center, the team identified a need to create a plan on how the borough could help the homeless populatio...
The Petersburg School Board approved the fiscal year 2020 spring budget revision at their board meeting earlier this month, resulting in a $154,037 increase in revenue over the winter revision. Director of Finance Karen Morrison said the increase in revenue was due to increases in local and student activity revenue. Additionally, the school district received $141,577 in a one time grant from the state that wasn't budgeted for. "Now we have additional revenue that we've been able to use to...
Petersburg Medical Center has received $5,769,680 in loans and grants to help cover financial expenses and losses being experienced by the facility due to the COVID-19 outbreak, according to PMC Controller Rocio Tejera at a PMC Board of Directors meeting last Thursday. "Flattening the curving that everybody is talking about has a high price tag and our financial situation has changed," said Tejera. A majority of the financial assistance has come from Medicare advances and the Payroll Protection...
A public health mandate requiring residents to wear face coverings in public when social distancing requirements can't be met was passed by the borough assembly at their meeting on Monday. Public health mandate #4 requires all persons to wear some form of covering over their nose and mouth in certain social situations to help prevent the spread of droplets that could infect others with COVID-19, according to the health mandate. A face covering does not have to be a medical face mask, but...
The Petersburg Borough Assembly held a special meeting on Wednesday to discuss a list of questions from Gov. Mike Dunleavy on the state's decision to reopen the state and local economies; however, the assembly's discussion on those questions was scrapped, because the governor would only be taking feedback from smaller communities to be used when creating a plan to reopen the economy. During a teleconference between Dunleavy and other state officials with Alaska's municipal mayors and managers...
The Petersburg Pilot has again been named among the best weekly newspapers in Alaska according to the Alaska Press Club, which announced winners of its 2019 annual contest over the weekend. The Cordova Times placed first in the category, Petersburg Pilot, second and Wrangell Sentinel, third. Judges commented on Petersburg Pilot's best weekly award: "Local sports and opinion pieces/letters to the editor are essential for a community newspaper." Brian Varela took third place for his sports photo...
Last week, the Petersburg School District distributed 3,946 meals to 310 kids in the district as students continue to attend class remotely. The district's food service department first began delivering meals on March 23. That was the day students were supposed to return from spring break, but they were given an extra week off while staff prepared for distance learning. Gov. Mike Dunleavy issued his first state health mandate on March 13, which required public schools statewide to make school da...
The Petersburg Borough confirmed the second positive result for COVID-19 in the community on Saturday in a joint statement with Petersburg Medical Center. While this is the second case to officially appear in the community, it is the only active case of COVID-19 present at this time. The first individual who tested positive for the virus has since recovered. Another local resident, Delbert (Pete) Erickson, passed away from the virus in Washington last month, but the Alaska Department of Health...
The borough assembly approved an emergency ordinance to amend the fiscal year 2020 budget to appropriate $100,000 from the Economic Development Fund to the Petersburg Economic Development Council to offset financial impacts to the local community caused by the COVID-19 outbreak. "As our state and community work towards opening up our economy and getting businesses back online, this can offer hopefully a small bridge to help some of those small businesses during this time," said Vice Mayor Jeigh...
The Alaska Marine Highway System (AMHS) is developing a reduced service operating plan for spring and early summer to provide an appropriate level of service based on passenger demand, crew availability, and state and federal guidelines for responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. Mainline vessel service will be delayed until such time travel restrictions are relaxed and demand returns for passenger service. COVID-19 related travel restrictions have drastically reduced passenger demand. The M/V...
The borough assembly approved two health mandates at their assembly meeting on Monday regarding the use of the borough's harbor facilities by cruise ships and the submission of essential workers' travel plans in the borough. Public health mandate #5 prevents cruise ships from using the borough's harbor facilities and passengers and crew members from disembarking onto borough docks or floats without prior written approval of Borough Public Health Officer Mark Tuccillo. Approval will be given to...
This week with the Petersburg Borough announced Public Health Mandate #4; All community member are required to wear homemade masks, scarfs, buffs, bandanas, or handkerchiefs when inside buildings and even outside of any building in situations where social distancing requirements cannot be met. Masks have become even more important in our community then they were even last week. Liz Bacom's title with the Petersburg Medical Center is Infection Prevention and Quality Manager, with her work on the...
Petersburg Medical Center is kicking off a healthy community series this week beginning with an Earth Day trash tag challenge and a Circle of Life 5k run with the goal of encouraging the public to stay healthy and active while practicing social distancing. "We want to encourage connectedness among Petersburg residents," said Julie Walker, one of the organizers of the events. "So many of us are feeling disconnected from each other right now." Residents can pick a day between April 22 and 25 to pi...
