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It has been a warm start to winter inside Petersburg Elementary schools, and the comfort and cost-saving benefits of the building's remodel continue to be realized as the first round of bills roll in well under budget as work wraps up on the building's renovation. The project began in April of this year at a cost of $2.3 million. It was designed by Juneau architectural firm, Jensen Yorba Lott and installed by Alaska Community Contractors. "They're in the final stages of the punch list for things... Full story
Petersburg youths wishing to spend a year overseas should begin looking to filling out an application with the borough’s Rotary Club soon. “We are looking for high school students who are freshmen or sophomores to apply to be a Rotary exchange student and go for their sophomore or junior year,” said Dave Berg, Rotary member. “These kids will be selected here soon and go out on exchange August of 2015 for approximately 10 months to one of 20,220 different countries we exchange with.” While many y...
An agreement is currently being worked out between the Alaska Mental Health Trust (AMHT) and the United States Forest Service (USFS) that could see the transfer of between 18,000 and 20,900 acres of state and federal lands. “I’ve been working on this personally for seven years,” said Paul Slenkamp, resource manager for the AMHT Land Office. He is currently working with Forrest Cole, USFS forest supervisor for the Tongass National Forest. “We’ve been moving through this administrative exchange...
Phone lines to listen in at the Medicaid Reform Advisory Group’s final public input session were overwhelmed on Wednesday, as about 88 callers from across the state attempted to dial in to the Anchorage meeting. The meeting is the final in a series soliciting public input for the recently formed group. Gov. Sean Parnell named nine Alaskans to the board on March 7, with the expressed goal of crafting a “meaningful proposal to the state’s Medicaid program.” Cathy Stadem, public information officer of Alaska Department of Health and Human Service...
Petersburg Medical Center Board members were apprised of the hospital's ongoing measures to stay current and protected against Ebola and other infectious agents on Wednesday in a report by Elizabeth Bacom, infection control and lab director for the hospital. Though the hemorrhagic fever is unlikely to ever arrive on the island, Bacom said it remained sound practice to be prepared for anything, and continually updated measures from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) applied to several diseases. “Ebola is not the only disease t...
October was Fire Prevention Month for Alaska, following a decree from Gov. Sean Parnell, and Petersburg has stayed on track, with the police department reporting no stray fires, aside from a campfire in the wrong location, during October. The total number of structure fires can vary dramatically, year to year, ranging from about two to more than ten in his experience, Fire Marshal Ryan Welde said. “Sometimes, I’m sure, there were years we had more, but there are fewer nowadays.” Last year was ab...
Public Defender Eric Hedland, representing 20-year-old Christafur Morrell, was recently denied a Motion to Suppress evidence by Superior Court Judge William Carey. Morrell was indicted by a Grand Jury in early July on two charges of Misconduct Involving a Controlled Substance after being arrested June 26 in Petersburg for possession of heroin. Hedland moved to suppress the evidence in the case on two bases: “there was not valid consent to the warrantless search” and “the officer’s initial request to search was improper,” according to court docu... Full story
Petersburg Police Chief Kelly Swihart is participating in an exclusive training opportunity with the FBI National Academy (NA) this fall. Swihart described it as "a total immersion into leadership training" and said that "less than 1 percent of law enforcement officers will ever attend." According to the NA website, participation is by nomination and invitation only. That plus the acceptance of candidates from countries worldwide makes it difficult to get into. For those who make the cut, like... Full story
Feline Immunodeficiency Virus has cropped up again in Petersburg, diagnosed in a feral cat trapped on the south end of Haugen Drive in the South Third Street area on Oct. 17. The incurable disease, while not transmissible to humans or other animals, bears many symptomatic similarities to the like-named human scourge of HIV, suppressing the cats’ immune responses to infections and stymying their ability to recover – providing the only readily visible symptoms in the form of festering, unhealing wounds and general malaise. “That’s one of the clu... Full story
A few issues sparked a lively discussion among assembly members and the public at Monday’s regular meeting. Four residents spoke out against the use of herbicides and pesticides to be sprayed by the state in the area. The assembly discussed the issue and then voted to draft an ordinance that would take a position on spraying in the Borough. It will be modeled after a similar ordinance from the community of Skagway. Mayor Mark Jensen said that he’s still working to secure a date for a public community meeting regarding state regulations on the...
Petersburg schools' aging kitchen continues to cook up new headaches for administrators as they continue to work towards securing funding for a much needed complete remodel. This time, it was the refrigeration unit, a free-standing near-antique of more than 30 years that bit the dust for good on Friday, necessitating the premature purchase of two other free-standing units to ensure the school continues to serve quality food to students. "We knew it was a matter of time to when our refrigeration...
Both candidates to represent Petersburg and other communities in House District 35, Democrat Jonathan Kreiss-Tompkins and Republican Steven Samuelson, had an easy time arriving at the ballot box this year. Both candidates ran through the primaries unopposed in their respective parties and both are veteran campaigners, with Samuelson making another run at a legislative seat after a defeat in 2010's Republican Primary to Peggy Wilson. Kreiss-Tompkins is the closest to an incumbent, prior to...
Lizzie Thompson began dreaming up a service project to participate in with her daughter, Kate, when Kate was still a baby. "I decided that when she was old enough to participate in and feel empowered by a service project that I would find something to do with her that would give her a strong sense of her ability to make a difference in this world and to know the wonderful feeling of helping others," Thompson said. Though she wasn't sure exactly what the project would be, a recent perfect storm...
Little Norway continues to be a welcoming haven for visitors, recently hosting the Alaska Sea Grant conference over Thursday and Friday, where participants convened for an annual meeting of the minds on all matters maritime. More specifically to the local setting, the second day of the conference was a chance for a panel of knowledgeable residents to discuss retaining youth and growing the maritime industries with the full cadre of Sea Grant staff. “That fed into our workforce development plan for the maritime industries,” said Sunny Rice, the...
Two issues related to public services and service areas surfaced at Monday’s regular assembly meeting. Assembly member Bob Lynn introduced a motion to table an ordinance, on its second reading, to transfer traffic codes from the former City of Petersburg into official Borough code. Lynn’s request to table the motion stems from a murky understanding of the role of police in enforcing the code. If adopted as is, the traffic code would bring the previous regulations pertaining to the then-City (now Service Area 1) borough-wide. “This parti...
Winter in Petersburg is likely to be a bit warmer than the nights of yesteryear, though whether there will be a white, or just slushy entrance to the spring season still is up in the air. “They are going with a greater than 40 percent chance that we’ll have above normal temperatures all this winter, and as far as precipitation, there’s no real indicator on which way it’s going to go,” said Tim Steffen, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Juneau. “These winters are driven by bigger atmospheric circulations, those global scal...
WRANGELL - On the morning of Oct. 15, Wrangell physician Greg Salard was arrested for the alleged receipt, possession and distribution of child pornography following a search of his home by law enforcement personnel representing federal, state and local agencies. According to an affidavit in support of application for an arrest warrant, the arrest came following a five-month investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation's (FBI) Anchorage office in which FBI Special Agent Anthony Peterson...
After hearing from incumbent U.S. Senator Mark Begich and his opponent, Republican candidate Dan Sullivan, at the ANB/ANS Grand Camp last Friday, the Native organization endorsed Begich. Both candidates spoke on issues important to the Native community including subsistence rights, access to healthcare for rural veterans, and curbing domestic violence among other issues. Begich's talk focused on his work in the senate to date as an advocate for Alaska Natives. He spoke of his work on the Senate... Full story
Petersburg resident Mark Weaver, 59, awaits an arraignment and status of counsel hearing in Anchorage after the U.S. Marshal's service transferred him from Tacoma, Wash. where he was arrested in late August. Weaver was indicted by a Grand Jury on two counts of Possession of Unregistered Destructive Devices following an explosion in the Petersburg rock quarry July 13 where he sustained injuries and was subsequently transported to Washington for medical treatment. Following the incident, local police, the FBI and officials from the Bureau of... Full story
The Alaska Native Brotherhood and Alaska Native Sisterhood reaffirmed its support for Democrat Byron Mallott, Lieutenant Governor candidate on the 'Unity Ticket' with Independent gubernatorial contender Bill Walker. Mallott, ushered in and out with standing ovations on Friday, said Grand Camp had been his first major endorsement for the Governor's seat he initially was in the bidding for, and now hoped to help another into. "It is an endorsement I will always, always treasure," he said. "A lot...
City Creek trail will be getting a significant facelift over the building season of 2015, and perhaps on into the next few years, in an effort to make the increasingly popular coastal rainforest sojourn more accessible to residents and visitors of all ages and fitness ― at least on the first leg. The project, funded by a $60,000 U.S. Department of Agriculture and Forest Service grant the borough accepted at its last assembly meeting, won't actually go very far in terms of miles. All told, the p... Full story
While political hopefuls for the statewide election in November were addressing residents and ANB/ANS delegates last Friday, Borough Assembly members met in a special session to canvass and certify the municipal election held Oct. 7. Of ten absentee ballots that were sent in, eight were qualified to be counted during the meeting. The other two ballots were sent in by individuals not yet registered to vote, though the reception of the ballots will register those individuals to vote in future elections. The eight new voters were not enough to...
A host of politicians and political hopefuls were in town last week to speak at the ANB/ANS Grand Camp and many arranged meet-and-greets with community members as well. Among them was Republican Governor Sean Parnell who's fighting to defend his position in November's election against Independent candidate Bill Walker who has teamed up with Democrat Byron Mallott. Petersburg was not a campaign stop for Parnell, rather he used his time here to discuss what he's done in his term so far. His two...
Borough residents will have to look elsewhere for school happenings and movie times than the usual spot along Haugen Drive, as, come the construction season of 2015, a large electronic sign advertising events will be relocated about a block away. Rick Dormer, principal of Petersburg High School, said the school and state had something of an understanding on the billboard when it was first installed. "They have a letter saying it's O.K. putting the sign there and using that land," Dormer said,...
