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After serving 44 years as plant manager, Dave Ohmer retired last Friday. Dave's grandfather, Earl Ohmer, co-founded Alaskan Glacier Seafood Co. in 1916. When Earl died in 1955 Dave's father, Dave P. Ohmer, continued the business, and in 1979 when his father passed away, the responsibility fell to Dave. Though it turned out to be his destiny, it hadn't been his plan. "I wanted to be a teacher," said Dave, when he sat down with the Pilot the day after his retirement. "My dad always wanted me to...
The 2023 summer reading programs at the Petersburg Public Library ended in July after six weeks of participants flipping pages, learning instruments, and math-ing their way through an escape room. Across three programs, 270 people of all ages took part in this story, with 65 completing their program cover to cover. Kari Peterson, Program Coordinator for the Petersburg Public Library, said "It went really well, this summer." Back in spring, the library had this year's prizes out on display....
The Alaska Public Entity Insurance (APEI) has completed its review of safety and human resources for the Petersburg Borough. Though it was prompted by community concerns following the car crash in 2016 involving a borough vehicle that resulted in two employee fatalities, APEI’s review was not an investigation of the crash. Their goal was to understand current practices and make recommendations to enhance the safety of borough employees and the public, as outlined in the report’s executive summary. The report noted “a number of areas where...
Petersburg Volunteer Fire Department is dangerously understaffed. Last week the department pushed to get the word out about how and why to join the volunteers. They screened a film at the movie theater titled "Odd Hours, No Pay, Cool Hat" and hosted an open house at the fire hall, where veteran volunteers and newcomers spoke about what motivates them to volunteer. The recent fire disaster at the Catholic Church highlighted staffing issues. The firefighters who were on hand valiantly battled the...
Dredging is expected to resume at South Harbor this October to finish the maintenance project that was suspended earlier this year. Harbormaster Glo Wollen says Western Marine, who has undertaken the South Harbor dredge project, is "here, poised, ready to go" but must wait to resume in-water work due to environmental regulations. "Because of the Marine Mammal Protection Act, we can't do any in-water work until October 1," she said. "We'll see them start to fire up and get things ready, and then...
At the office of Petersburg nonprofit Humanity In Progress, anyone experiencing food insecurity can pick up a grab-and-go bag from the storage container just outside the door. Inside, a thoughtful collection of products to meet a person's basic needs are stacked against the walls. Humanity in Progress, also called HIP, is a small local nonprofit organization that aims to address the present humanitarian needs for shelter and sustenance in Petersburg. There is currently a housing shortage in...
It's the start of a fresh season for Petersburg High School's Cross Country team, marking the beginning of a new era under the team's incoming head coach, Casey Gates. With a community race under their belts and a first meet in Klawock coming up this weekend, Gates and this year's PHS team are ready and excited to put themselves to the test. "Looking at [our race] times, I really think that we've just scratched the surface of what we're capable of," said Gates. "I think that we're going to...
The Petersburg School District approved the Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) six-year plan at the first meeting of the academic year August 15. It is a long term plan that is vital to secure state funding for major maintenance and building capital projects. The facility committee met with Borough Building Official and Code Enforcement Officer Ray Wesebaum, Southeast Regional Resource Center representative David Landis, and school board member Jay Lister to review and discern priorities for a six-year plan. So far, there are five projects on the...
Bo Varsano and Marja Smets of Farragut Farm won Farm Family of the Year at the Alaska State Fair in Palmer last week, the first Southeast farm ever to do so. Smets says they were surprised to hear they'd been nominated and selected for the award. "I think it's super cool to bring awareness to agriculture down here. People in the interior are like, 'Wow, there are farms there?'" In the Alaska State Fair announcement, Alaska Division of Agriculture Director Bryan Scoresby said, "Bo and Marja...
The filing window for candidacy in the 2023 Petersburg Borough Municipal Election officially closed Tuesday afternoon. Thirty candidates filed for the 20 seats up for election, and there will be 11 contested positions on this year’s ballot. The two contested seats on the assembly are now a race between Jeigh Stanton Gregor, Rob Schwartz, Rick Perkins, and incumbent Jeff Meucci. Both positions will be three-year terms. Dave Kensinger will not run for reelection in this year’s race. Both of the three-year terms on the hospital board are a con...
At the first board meeting of the academic year last week, the Petersburg School District board decided that school meal prices will increase by at least $0.25 this school year. This decision was approved in order to maintain the financial sustainability of the school food service program and comply with the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Paid Lunch Equity Policy. The policy says that schools serving lunch need to have enough money to pay for meals that students buy at the regular price, not the discounted price; some s...
Students in Petersburg School District are set to start the school year on August 29, alongside several upcoming additions to faculty staff. New to the district is Thomas Hambley, who will teach fourth grade at Stedman Elementary this fall. "I am excited about joining the team at Stedman Elementary and becoming part of the Petersburg community," he shared. Hambley moved to Petersburg earlier this summer from Glennallen, where he taught fourth grade. He specializes in elementary level teaching...
Jolie Norman, the new first-grade teacher at Stedman Elementary, and fellow first-grade teacher Erin Hofacre pushed a lot of furniture around Ms. Norman's classroom yesterday, and they have more to do before school starts. "In a week, you won't recognize this place. I'm looking forward to making it my own," promised Norman. And in making it her own, she's excited to make it a place kids want to be and a place they want to learn. In addition to her longtime calling to work with kids, Norman...
Mitkof Island experienced record breaking rainfall on Saturday, according to data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Petersburg recorded 3.09 inches of rain, surpassing the previous August 12 record of 2.15 inches back in 1961, marking the highest amount for that day since records began in 1924. The rainfall sent a landslide across the road at 27 mile Mitkof Highway. The swath measured an estimated 100 feet wide and 20 feet deep, including 6 to 8 feet of mud plus...
The town's most notorious seasonal visitors are back, and effort is needed to prevent their behavior from getting dangerously trashy. Petersburg Area Biologist Frank Robbins says bears coming to town is "always going to be an issue. We live in the middle of bear habitat ... It's very easy for a bear to follow a shrub area or a muskeg and waltz right into town, and they're more apt to do that if there's readily available food." The annual return of bears to Petersburg can be credited to their...
In September 2022, Superior Court Judge Amy Mead presided over the State of Alaska v. Brandon “Andy” Burrell jury trial. Burrell was acquitted of Burglary in the first degree and Sexual Assault in the first degree; however, the jury found the defendant guilty of Criminal Mischief in the third degree and guilty of the lesser charge of Sexual Assault in the second degree. Judge Mead conducted the sentencing proceedings for those convictions on Wednesday, August 9, 2023. For the conviction of Sexual Assault in the second degree, Burrell was sen...
A crew member on the F/V Legacy, a Petersburg-based seiner, died earlier this month while fishing about 30 miles southeast of Wrangell, according to the Wrangell Police Department. At around 6:15 in the morning of Aug. 1, Paul Anthony Kavon, 64, of Oxnard, California was setting the net along the shore at Point Warde when the 19-foot power skiff he was operating struck a rock, according to captain of the F/V Legacy, Joe Cisney. “The skiff was hung up on a rock off the shoreline … the net kept going with the current … started pulling on the s...
The Petersburg Borough Assembly voted during its Aug. 7 meeting to schedule a non-compliance hearing to consider issuing an order to vacate 410 Mitkof Highway until it is legally connected to the borough sanitary sewer system. Borough Building Official Ray Wesebaum and Utility Director Karl Hagerman requested the hearing after the building owner, Courtney Johnson, failed to repair the building by hooking it up to the sewer system. According to their report to the assembly, the property was inspe...
The Petersburg Borough Assembly voted to move the Petersburg Indian Association's application to purchase a borough-owned lot at the corner of Haugen Drive and North 12th Street forward during its Aug. 7 meeting. Though the application is moving forward, the assembly did not come to an agreement on how the lot should be sold-either by a public sale or by a direct sale to PIA. The 0.31-acre property, located at 10 N. 12th Street, is undeveloped apart from the Petersburg School District's...
The Blind Slough Hydroelectric Refurbishment is in full swing as crews prepare the powerhouse for the installation of the new turbine and generator. Blind Slough has produced local hydro power out of Crystal Lake for almost 100 years and provides approximately 25% of Petersburg's power. The project looks to replace the 1955 Pelton wheel turbine and other powerhouse equipment to keep the facility operational and possibly increase power generation. Utility Director Karl Hagerman said a lot has...
The Petersburg Medical Center Board will begin holding their regular meetings in the Petersburg Borough Assembly chambers starting later this month. PMC CEO Phil Hofstetter made the announcement during his report to the Petersburg Borough Assembly on Monday, saying “I think it’s an exciting opportunity to provide a little more availability for the community to hear our meetings.” The hospital board, which previously met in the Dorothy Ingle Conference Room, discussed making the move in an effort to make their meetings more visible and accessibl...
Petersburg residents will have one ballot proposition to decide on when they go to vote in this year's municipal election on Oct. 3. Proposition #1 will ask if the borough charter should be amended to allow borough employees to serve on boards or commissions, except for those that directly administer their employment. The change, for instance, would allow a Petersburg School District employee to run for borough assembly or the hospital board but not the school board. The proposed amendment was...
The Petersburg Office of Children's Services (OCS) has hired a new Protective Service Specialist (PSS), OCS caseworker Jennifer Ridgeway told the Pilot at the OCS Petersburg office Aug. 7. Ridgeway was there to help "set up" the new hire, who was three hours into her first day on the job. Once trained, the new PSS will be Petersburg's local caseworker. "She is the PSS," said Ridgeway. "So she is the OCS caseworker." When the OCS Wrangell office reopened in Feb. 2022, the OCS caseworker who had...
At the end of July Megan Smith loaded her car, a U-Haul truck, her nine and twelve year old daughters, and Charles Puddles Kittenworth, a.k.a. Charlie the cat, onto the ferry in Metlakatla for the move to Petersburg where she'll be teaching Pre-algebra, Algebra I, Geometry and Statistics at Petersburg High School. Smith earned her bachelor's degree from Montana State University, Bozeman, in English, with a teaching emphasis. She took her first job on the Kenai Peninsula in Nanwalek, Alaska, in...
Gus Pennington will return to Stedman Elementary School this fall as the new fifth grade teacher. However, Pennington is no stranger to the Petersburg School District. His new teaching role comes on the heels of experience in the district as a substitute and student teacher - and as a pupil in Petersburg, himself. Pennington graduated from Petersburg High School with the class of 2019 and left for college at University of Alaska Southeast. He returned to town later that fall - just before...
