Sorted by date Results 1028 - 1052 of 5569
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...
In 2000, Richard Sprague sold his practice and retired, but two years later he was back in his office practicing dentistry again. Now in 2021, Sprague will again be retiring at the age of 81. Sprague first moved to Petersburg in 1973 after graduating from dental school at the University of Oregon. At the time, Phil Beardslee had recently moved to town from Bethel and was practicing dentistry but was inundated with patients. Beardslee contacted the University of Oregon to see if any of the gradua...
The Borough Assembly approved an amendment to the interstate and international travel mandate on Monday to allow anyone coming into the community from outside of the state who is fully vaccinated against COVID-19 to forego testing and isolation requirements. The Emergency Operations Center recommended that Public Health Mandate #10 stay in place due to slow vaccination rates in other parts of the country but be amended to do away with testing and isolation requirements for incoming travelers...
The Alaska Marine Safety Education Association (AMSEA) will offer Fishing Vessel Drill Conductor class in Petersburg on May 4, 8:00 AM - 6:00 PM at The Scandia House. Interested mariners may register online at www.amsea.org or call (907) 747-3287. Instructor Chris Angel, will cover cold-water survival skills; EPIRBs, signal flares, and mayday calls; man-overboard recovery; firefighting; flooding and damage control; dewatering pumps, immersion suits and PFDs, helicopter rescue, life rafts, abandon ship procedures, and emergency drills....
Five cases of COVID-19 were reported in the community in the last seven days, one of which has been removed from the active local case count, according to the Petersburg Borough's COVID-19 Dashboard. The first four cases were reported on April 15. Three of the cases were limited to one household and were travel related, according to a joint press release between the borough and Petersburg Medical Center. The fourth case and fifth case, which was reported on April 16, are thought to have been...
Anyone arriving in Petersburg from another Alaskan community are no longer mandated to test for COVID-19 before and after their arrival in town after the Borough Assembly voted in favor of terminating Public Health Mandate #9 at their meeting on Monday. Instead, the assembly approved Public Health Alert #4. The health alert includes most of the same language as Public Health Mandate #9, but it recommends, not mandates, all intrastate travelers arriving at the James A. Johnson Airport and at the...
The State of Alaska is proposing to convey and reject land selected by the Petersburg Borough in Thomas Bay as part of a general grant land entitlement in a preliminary land decision. The borough has selected 701 acres of land near the Patterson River, according to the state's preliminary decision. The state's Land Conveyance Section is proposing to convey approximately 616 acres of state owned vacant, unappropriated, unreserved general grant land to the borough. Of the total acreage selected...
Since the fall of 1989, Patrick Wilson has been the plant manager for Icicle Seafoods, later OBI Seafoods, but this summer he'll be leaving Petersburg to enjoy a retirement split between the Bahamas and Washington state. Originally from the greater Seattle area, Wilson got his start in the seafood business in 1975. He took a job working for Cossack Caviar in Seattle, because he heard the company sent workers to Alaska during the summers. "I thought that was pretty exciting," said Wilson. "It...
Nikolai Wendel has taken over as plant manager at OBI Seafoods, bringing 13 years of cannery experience with him. He arrived in town in late January, and following a two week quarantine, began transitioning into the role of plant manager. Wendel is taking over from longtime plant manager Patrick Wilson who will be retiring this summer. Wendel first experienced Southeast Alaska on a cruise through the Inside Passage after graduating from high school in 2007. It was then that he discovered that th...
The Petersburg Borough will have to wait until June 2 to see its first cruise ship of the season following a change to the local tour ship schedule. In December, eight ships were expected to make a combined 85 stops in Petersburg. As of April 10, seven ships will be making a total of 66 stops. The Alaskan Dream will be the first cruise ship to stop in Petersburg on June 2. Previously, National Geographic's Venture was going to dock in town and kick off the local cruise ship season on May 11....
The 2021 tanner crab harvest in Southeast Alaska was the fourth largest tanner harvest in the last 15 seasons, according to preliminary data from the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. In Registration Area A, which includes the inside waters of Southeast Alaska, the preliminary estimate of harvest for the 2021 tanner crab fishery is 1.26 million pounds of reported landings among 70 permit holders. Additionally, the harvest exceeded the 2020 run by 52,500 pounds, according to preliminary data....
OBI Seafoods employed about 90 local residents for the 2021 tanner crab season in an effort to prevent the possible spread of COVID-19 in the community, according to Plant Manager Nikolai Wendel. Additionally, the production season lasted just 10 days. Any employees who would have been brought into town from outside of the community would have had to arrive two weeks prior to the season to quarantine themselves. "To bring a crew up this early and quarantine them for two weeks for ten days worth...
The local Emergency Operations Center will be presenting the Borough Assembly with recommendations to change some local health mandates at their meeting on Monday. Incident Commander Karl Hagerman said the EOC's recommendations tie into the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention move towards loosening COVID-19 protocols for Americans who are fully vaccinated against the virus. The recommendations also come at a time when Petersburg is reporting zero active cases of COVID-19 for the first tim...
The lawns and flower beds around town have been immaculately kept for the last two decades thanks to the Petersburg Borough's groundskeeper, but, at the end of the month, Jesse O'Connor will be retiring. He first joined the City of Petersburg in 1996 as an assistant groundskeeper. Several months later he transferred over to the city's bailer facility where he worked until 2000 when he became the head groundskeeper for the city. "Once I started doing the gardening, I didn't want to do anything...
The Petersburg School Board passed a board policy that outlines professional boundaries between staff and students in its first reading at their meeting on Tuesday. Board Policy 5141.42 identifies boundary invasions that are inappropriate for Petersburg School District staff, volunteers and other members of the community to cross when dealing with a student. Examples include, taking an undue interest in a particular student, using poor judgement in relation to a particular student, becoming...
The Emergency Operations Center reported four new cases of COVID-19 in Petersburg on Thursday, according to a joint press release between the Petersburg Borough and Petersburg Medical Center. Three of the cases are limited to one household and are travel related, and the fourth case is still under investigation. All four individuals have been directed to isolate themselves. The four active cases are the first to be reported in the community in over two weeks. According to the press release, the... Full story
A motion to support the 2020 Tongass Exemption Rule failed to gain a second at a Borough Assembly meeting on Monday. Mayor Mark Jensen requested the action item be added to the assembly's agenda as a result of a March 23 press release from the Gov. Mike Dunleavy who asked for support of the 2020 Tongass Exemption Rule from Southeast Alaska communities. Assembly Member Bob Lynn made a motion to support the legislation, but his motion failed to gain a second. Because the motion wasn't seconded, th...
Just two weeks into the season, the Petersburg High School wrestling team has already competed in their first tournament this past weekend and will be competing in another tournament this weekend. The team took sixth place in the Brandon Pilot Invitational at Thunder Mountain High School, scoring 26 points over the course of the tournament. PHS wrestled against Mt. Edgecumbe, Ketchikan, Sitka, Wrangell and Thunder Mountain, who took first place in the tournament. The standouts for the Vikings...
The Borough Assembly on Monday determined that two parcels on Kupreanof Island obtained by the Petersburg Borough through tax foreclosure proceedings will be sold. Ordinance #2021-06 determines that parcel number 03-213-040 on Kupreanof Island is not needed by the borough for public purposes and shall be sold. Similarly, Ordinance #2021-07 identifies parcel number 03-210-310 on Kupreanof Island as not being needed by the borough and shall also be sold. Both properties were acquired by the boroug...
Due to a production error, photos appearing on pages 2, 5 and 8 in last week’s paper were incorrectly processed and appeared as single color images....
A case of COVID-19 was identified through testing at the James A. Johnson Airport on April 1 and reported on April 2, according to a joint press release from the Petersburg Borough and the Petersburg Medical Center. The incoming traveler was the eighth person to test positive for COVID-19 in about the last two weeks, though no new cases have been reported in the last seven days. According to the borough's COVID-19 Dashboard, Petersburg was reporting two active cases of COVID-19 as of Wednesday....
At the April 2 COVID-19 community update, Petersburg Medical Center Director of Nursing Jennifer Bryner said following the upcoming COVID-19 vaccination clinic in the Parks and Recreation community gym on April 9, PMC will be holding smaller vaccine clinics in the hospital as more vaccines become available. She said the state has increased Petersburg's allocation of the Johnson and Johnson vaccine by 50 doses, ahead of the April 9 clinic, where both the Moderna and Johnson and Johnson vaccines...
