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Dani Palmer, 27, joins the Petersburg Pilot this week and will write news, sports and features for the paper. She most recently worked for the twice-weekly Newport News-Times (Oregon) covering education and county news for the paper and provided coverage for The Herald Bulletin as well. A graduate of the University of Southern Indiana, she was both a Chief Copy Editor and Editor in Chief for the university newspaper. Palmer was named Senior of the Year in 2011 for Journalistic Excellence and...
The availability and affordability of housing in Petersburg Borough and the effects of a changing age composition of the borough’s population were two emerging themes highlighted in a report released Feb. 20 by Agnew Beck, the consulting firm heading up the borough’s new Comprehensive Plan. The report outlines challenges and opportunities in nine key areas that spring from residents’ feedback at the consultants’ last visit to town in December as well as a community-wide survey that closed last month. Over 350 individuals, more than 10 percent... Full story
Petersburg Indian Association (PIA) announced the departure of Tribal Administrator Bobbi Scherrer in a press release yesterday. Scherrer’s position and two part-time positions will be eliminated from PIA due to a budget deficit. “My first act as Tribal Administrator was to formalize an operating budget for PIA,” Scherrer said in the release. “The 2015 finalized budget identified a deficit that required serious cuts.” Scherrer has been serving as the tribal administrator for about one month. In a February interview, she told the Pilot she... Full story
After two years of work Petersburg Mental Health Services (PMHS) has earned a three-year accreditation from the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF). This is the first such accreditation PMHS has earned from the international accrediting body. “This has been a process we’ve been working on for two years,” said PHMS Executive Director Susan Ohmer. The organization began undergoing the accreditation process in 2013 as part of a state mandate for grantees of behavioral health services. Since then PMHS staff, heade...
The Petersburg High School shop class recently finished making 19 new log books for the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) cabins in the area using the computer numerical controlled (CNC) router put into service at the school in the fall of 2013. The shop class, lead by teacher Nick Popp, has been using the CNC router to produce signage for the Petersburg Borough and other organizations around town. The partnership between the USFS and the school began the idea for such collaborations, and also helped...
JUNEAU (AP) — Alaska on Tuesday became the third U.S. state to legalize the recreational use of marijuana for adults, but it was a subdued milestone. Unlike in Colorado and Washington state, there were no street parties and public smoking displays in Alaska’s biggest cities. But backers of legal pot said the mild reaction was fitting because they are aiming to promote responsible consumption of marijuana as they work with lawmakers during the next few months in preparing its sale. “We wish people would just celebrate in a little less publi...
JUNEAU (AP) — Questions to ponder as Alaska legalizes marijuana: HOW DID LEGALIZATION HAPPEN? Alaskans voted 53-47 percent in November to legalize marijuana use by adults in non-public places. Possession and transportation of up to an ounce of pot, and growing up to six plants, half of which can be mature, are legal as of Feb. 24. The state has nine more months to create regulations for a commercial marijuana industry whose pot will be sold and taxed. BUT WASN’T POT ALREADY LEGAL IN ALASKA? Yes and no. A 1975 Alaska Supreme Court decision pro...
Lieutenant Governor Byron Mallott filed an emergency regulation Feb. 24 defining what “in public” means in the Alaska statute that make the consumption,possession, transport and transfer of marijuana legal. A meno from Mallot’s office reads: “Alaska Statue 17.38.010 expressly makes it unlawful to ‘consume marijuana in public.’ Alaska Statute 17.38.040 defines ‘consumption’ as ‘the act of ingesting, inhaling, or otherwise introducing marijuana into the human body.’ But AS 17.38 does not define ‘in public.’” “This emergency regulation is nec...
An enhanced Clausen Museum will reopen to the public March 3 after being closed since mid-January for staff to work on projects. Director Brittany Zenge has been taking inventory of the museum's collection and building new displays, along with making preparations for a new discovery center that will allows kids of all ages to learn more about the natural world of Mitkof Island. Zenge took the director position last October and said the revamp is a response to feedback she's heard about the...
Petersburg High School sophomore Brandy Mulbury will be traveling to Washington D.C. this summer to participate in the National Student Leadership Conference (NSLC). The NSLC invites a select group of high schoolers from across the U.S. and around the world to participate in summer programs that develop leadership skills and allow students to further explore their interests while giving them an experience of college life. Mulbury will stay on the campus of American University as a participant of...
JUNEAU (AP) — Alaska’s minimum wage will rise to $8.75 an hour Tuesday, giving a pay increase to thousands of workers. Voters in November overwhelmingly approved raising the minimum wage from $7.75 per hour to $8.75 per hour, effective Jan. 1. Because the state constitution calls for ballot measures to take effect 90 days after election results are certified, the raise doesn’t take effect until Tuesday. A second increase, to $9.75 per hour, is scheduled to take effect Jan. 1 under the initiative. The minimum wage is to be adjusted for infla...
JUNEAU (AP) — A review of the commission that regulates commercial fisheries participation in Alaska details inefficiencies, a backlog of permit applications and options for restructuring. The report requested by former Gov. Sean Parnell reviewed operations of the three-member Commercial Fisheries Entry Commission. That board decides how many fishermen can participate in a limited fishery and who receives the permits. Parnell requested the review in August after the Legislature sought its own audit. It was written by Tom Lawson, former d...
Erika Kludt-Painter will be offered a one-year contract to serve as superintendent for the Petersburg School District in the 2015-16 school year. After meeting in executive session, the school board voted to suspend the superintendent search and instead proceed with contract negotiations with Kludt-Painter at the March 17 meeting of the board. "I appreciate the confidence and the support of the board and of the staff and community," she said. "I feel like I've had a lot of support and... Full story
Petersburg WAVE (Working Against Violence for Everyone) will be holding a creative fundraiser this Saturday at the Sons of Norway hall. “We have a lot of local artists that are doing pieces on watercolor paper and some of them will be on canvas. The way that they’ll be priced is $1 per square inch,” explained Carey Case, board president for WAVE. The event–appropriately dubbed Art by the Inch—is very interactive, allowing attendees to size up large works of art and select a portion to be framed. Mats with typical framing sizes from 5x7 to 16... Full story
Findings from the Alaska Snow Survey Report released February 2015 show that snowpack across the state of Alaska is below normal, and snowpack in Southeast is less than half the normal rate. The USDA's Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) releases the report quarterly. Locally, data is collected by U.S. Forest Service hydrologist Heath Whitacre who surveys two sites on Mitkof Island: a 1650-foot high site on Raven's Ridge and a 550-foot high site near the old water reservoir. Whitacre's... Full story
For most of us accessing clean water is as simple as turning on the faucet, but this isn't so in every community around the world. It wasn't until last month that the school children in Phu Kradueng in the Loei Province of Thailand got access to a reliable source of clean water, which came at the hand of a group of Petersburg residents. Despite the nearly 6,500 miles separating Phu Kardueng and Petersburg, the two places are more connected than one might think. Wear Eide-a native of the Thai...
Activities Director Jaime Cabral gave a report to the board on how school districts around the state handle drug testing for students involved in sports and other activities. Around Southeast, Sitka, Juneau-Douglas, Thunder Mountain and Ketchikan High Schools all have a random drug testing programs in place for students participating in activities sanctioned by the Alaska School Activities Association (ASAA). Cabral said during his tenure in Sitka about five percent of students who were actively participating in activities were randomly...
Petersburg Public School officials are looking at ways to move forward with an interim plan to address issues with the kitchen facility including the need for a new ventilation system to bring the facility into compliance with the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC). Though the district-wide food service renovations for the school landed in the top ten list of capital improvement projects for the state Department of Education, that funding source remains uncertain. The project was also listed on last year’s capital improvements l...
Petersburg Public Library is in the middle of Words for Whiskers, a fundraising partnership program with the Petersburg Humane Association (PHA) and the Friends of Petersburg Libraries. For each book, movie or audio review entered by library users, the Friends will give a $1 donation to the Humane Association. The Friends will donate up to $500, which will be used toward building a new cat shelter for PHA, a nonprofit that cares for sheltered animals while trying to find them permanent homes. “We encourage classrooms, families and workplaces t...
Two teams represented Petersburg at the 19th annual Tsunami Bowl competition Feb. 6-8 in Seward, both placing in the top ten. The regional competition, comprised of three rounds, determines which Alaskan team will go on to the National Ocean Science Bowl competition. Team Eider Do or Don’t—comprised of Summer Morton, Kyle Hagerman, Tucker Hagerman and Chauncy Sandhofer—took first place in the projects portion of the competition for the presentation of their research on how decreasing Arctic sea ice affects the Spectacled Eider, a seabi...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — A subcommittee hearing on Gov. Bill Walker's proposal to expand Medicaid coverage revealed few new details Monday, with several members expressing concern about the cost and the federal government not honoring its commitment. In states opting for expansion, the federal government is expected to fund 100 percent of coverage costs for newly eligible individuals through 2016, with the level stepping down to 90 percent by 2020. The federal match for existing Medicaid is 50 percent. Rep. Dan Saddler, who chairs the s...
During their regular meeting held on Feb. 4 and 5, members of the Southeast Alaska Power Agency board approved taking the next steps toward diversifying the power provider’s energy portfolio. In particular, SEAPA could begin looking into the possibility of geothermal development at Bell Island, which has a former resort sporting a hot spring. The site has had the attention of the Unites States Geological Survey as a potential power source for well over half a century, but has yet to be fully assessed. “We’re just scratching the surfa...
Petersburg resident Mark Weaver, 59, has pled guilty to one of two felony charges brought against him following an explosion last July in the rock quarry behind the airport. Weaver faced two counts of Possession of Unregistered Destructive Devices, which included Tovex, the commercial-grade explosive used at the scene in an improvised explosive device (IED), and seven hand grenades recovered in a subsequent search of Weaver's property. The second charge, related to the grenades, will be dropped... Full story
The Petersburg offices of Alaska Longline Company will be moved to Seattle by April 1. The three employees at the office have opted not to take their equivalent positions at the Seattle offices, ending their time with the company that’s been based out of Petersburg since the mid-80s. Larry Cotter—CEO of APICDA, of which Alaska Longline is a subsidiary—said that juggling two offices along with high health insurance costs are the driving forces behind the consolidation of offices in Seattle. “It’s increasingly difficult to maintain two offices,... Full story
Bobbi Scherrer began her work as the Petersburg Indian Association's (PIA) tribal administrator late last month. Scherrer is returning home to Petersburg after working for Southeast Alaska Regional Health Consortium (SEARHC) in Juneau for the last three years. Her background is in healthcare where she's worked for 16 years managing revenue cycles for hospitals. In addition to her financial background, Scherrer said she also has experience in human resources. She said the transition from SEARHC... Full story
