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Petersburg's Rainforest Festival has two seasons under their belt now working in their new year-round format. Since their start on Earth Day, they've hosted six events, including guided walks, art workshops and a solstice ephemeral art show. "I think it's going pretty well," said festival organizer Sunny Rice. "We've been able to spread out the work a little bit and take advantage of people coming through town that we otherwise would have missed." As they move into the season when the festival w...
Some new and some returning faces have joined the ranks of the Petersburg School District staff in preparation for the upcoming school year. Erin Hofacre will be starting her first year of teaching in one of Stedman Elementary School's two first grade classrooms. She earned her bachelor's degree at Whitworth University in Spokane, Washington where she received endorsements for elementary, reading, and special education. "I was able to go to a great program with lots of practical work so I feel l...
The Petersburg School Board updated its COVID-19 mitigation plan for the upcoming school year during its meeting last week. The school district is required to update its plan by the Alaska Department of Education and under the American Rescue Plan funding. The new guidelines resemble those the district had at the end of the previous school year but with a couple of changes. Masking will remain optional for students, staff, and visitors and there will be no trigger for universal masking or...
Bear sightings are continuing to rise as they frequent the streets of Petersburg in search of garbage. In response, Petersburg Police Department Chief Jim Kerr spoke during Monday's Petersburg Borough Assembly meeting on the threat bears pose and actions the police department has taken to reduce their presence. "To try and get the bear issue to drop before school starts we started issuing citations enforcing the new garbage ordinance," Kerr said. The ordinance, which was approved by the...
The popular custom benches began years ago, when Karen Hofstad and Sue Paulson approached Josef Quitslund with the idea of creating something that could be at the center of Cannery Park. The women both had an interest in establishing the space to showcase the local history of the town and pay tribute to their loved ones that had a hand in that history, Quitslund says. "A memorial bench is a nice way to honor someone's memory," he says. "It's a place for the ones left behind to reflect and other...
8,832 passengers and 2,515 vehicles boarded the ferry in Petersburg in 2011, and 9046 passengers and 2,434 vehicles arrived in town. In 2021, the ridership into Petersburg was 829 passengers, a decrease of about 90 percent from a decade before. Vehicles dropped 75 percent to 595, according to statistics provided by the Alaska Marine Highway System. And 2021's numbers are up from the pandemic-worst travel year. In 2020, just 409 passengers and 313 vehicles disembarked in Petersburg. But...
Special General Election: In Petersburg 725, or 24.22%, of the precinct’s 2,993 registered voters turned out. The preliminary numbers for Petersburg show Sarah Palin in the lead by a single vote. Sarah Palin: 256 Mary Peltola: 255 Nick Begich: 192 Absentee ballots postmarked by election day will still be counted until August 31st, at which time the ranked choice tabulations will determine the winner of the US House seat. Primary Election results in Petersburg U.S. Senate Lisa Murkowski: 312 votes (44.44%) Kelly Tshibaka: 258 (36.75%) U.S. H...
A pre-construction conference for the South Harbor dredge project was held on August 2 to review the contract requirements and proposed schedule as the project nears its start date. The conference was attended by contractor Western Marine, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers project team, and Harbormaster Glo Wollen. "Everybody's feeling pretty good about this project and the Corps has worked on many projects with our company as well," Wollen said. "Everybody in the room knew each other which is a...
The U.S. Forest Service is looking at potential sites for new cabins in the Petersburg and Wrangell Ranger Districts in hopes of increasing accessibility for cabin users. According to the project's pre-scoping letter, the weather, tides, and the need for boat or plane transportation have limited people from reaching many of the current cabins, while demand for cabins that are more accessible has increased. Because of this, the project seeks to accommodate users current needs by building cabins...
Bikers and paddlers gathered at Scow Bay Saturday morning to participate in the annual Paddle and Pedal Battle fundraiser, which raised about $15,000 according to Community Wellness Coordinator Julie Walker. The donations will go toward continuing education for Petersburg Medical Center staff and scholarships for Petersburg High School graduates. "I think our goal this year was to revive the event and it really felt like we did that," Walker said. About 70 participants made it out to the event... Full story
During its meeting on August 1, the Petersburg Borough Assembly approved an ordinance in its first reading which would increase the purchasing power authorization limits to $10,000 for administrative officers of the borough and $75,000 for the borough manager. All five assembly members present voted in favor of the ordinance while Mayor Mark Jensen and Assembly Member Thomas Fine-Walsh were excused. The current limits, put in place by the City of Petersburg in March 2004, allow department heads to approve purchases up to $5,000 and allow the...
During Monday's meeting, the Petersburg Borough Assembly voted 4-1 to establish a new task force to address the housing crisis in Petersburg. Assembly Member Jeff Meucci said the task force would work with the assembly's backing to look at housing needs in the community and he equated it to the Early Childhood Education Task Force which the assembly created earlier this year. "Like child care, I think this is one of the most important issues facing Petersburg," Meucci said. "Every person that...
Utility Director Karl Hagerman recently provided an update on the Blind Slough hydroelectric refurbishment and Scow Bay standby diesel generation projects which voters approved to fund with $7.8 million in electric utility revenue bonds during the 2021 municipal election. The current focuses for the hydroelectric refurbishment are on equipment procurements and design. The borough has a contract with Gilkes Hydro to provide components including the generator, the main turbine inlet valve, and...
The Petersburg Borough Assembly voted 5-0 to approve a list ranking its top capital projects for FY24 during Monday’s meeting. Mayor Mark Jensen and Assembly Member Thomas Fine-Walsh were excused. The priority list was organized by Borough Manager Steve Giesbrecht who presented it to the assembly to amend and approve it. It originally featured the 15 highest priority capital projects for FY24 but was decreased to 13 projects after the assembly removed the Blind Slough hydroelectric refurbishment and the South Harbor dredging projects, which a...
At 8 a.m on Saturday, Andrew Simmonds, 60, entered the chilling waters of Sandy Beach, setting out to prove that age has not slowed him down one bit. His goal-to swim across Frederick Sound to the mainland over six miles away. Though his swim began on Saturday, his journey to that moment began much earlier. Soon after arriving in Petersburg in November, Simmonds, who is a physical therapist at the Petersburg Medical Center, visited Sandy Beach to gaze out over Frederick Sound. There he admired t... Full story
Garbage is in season for bears on Mitkof Island who are finding it as an easy, accessible source of food. From July 27 to August 2 there were 15 reported bear sightings according to Petersburg Police Department reports and Petersburg Area Biologist Frank Robbins says the "common thread" is garbage. "I think people come out of the winter where you don't really have to worry so much about managing their garbage and in the spring and early summer where we generally don't have many bears in town... Full story
Words of advice have been running through Joseph Tagaban's mind ever since meeting his NBA idol Klay Thompson of the Golden State Warriors. "Take small little steps, test yourself and you'll eventually make it," the five-time NBA All-Star and four-time champion told the 15-year-old boy from Petersburg. The advice takes on new meaning since Tagaban recently found out that his fight with cancer is not over as was previously thought. What started as a routine checkup in Seattle last week... Full story
The window to file for candidacy in this year's municipal election opened on Tuesday. According to Borough Clerk Debbie Thompson, this year's election will look similar to previous years' except for the voting location, which will be moved from the gym to the community center's activity room so it does not conflict with the school's use of the space. The municipal election will be held on October 4 from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. in the activity room while absentee voting will run from September 14 to...
A pre-construction conference scheduled for August 2 is set to determine when work on the South Harbor dredge project will begin according to Harbormaster Glo Wollen. The project seeks to dredge an estimated 83,000 cubic yards of material from South Harbor and dig a deeper basin to make stalls more accessible during all stages of the tide. It has received funding from both the borough and the federal government and will be a collaboration between the borough, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, an...
Public Works crews continue work to restore areas affected by a landslide which occurred during the weekend of June 25-26 at the back of the Public Works lot. According to Public Works Director Chris Cotta, the landslide happened after a pile of fill and used street sand pushed the blue clay lying underneath the pile out and into the Hammer Slough Creek basin, blocking the flow of the creek. The area where the landslide happened was being used to stockpile fill from a separate project seeking...
A press release Wednesday announced that starting this fall, the Kinder Skog Nature Program will be transitioning from a program under the umbrella of the Petersburg Lutheran Church to a program housed under the Petersburg Medical Center Community Wellness Department. Results from a 2021 local childcare needs assessment and Community Café in January 2022 funded by the Petersburg Community Foundation highlighted the systemic industry challenges facing childcare and early childhood education. In...
The lack of affordable housing was once again at the forefront of the Petersburg Borough Assembly's discussion during Monday's meeting as the body continues to explore ways to tackle the ongoing crisis. Some ideas to alleviate the problem that were discussed included potentially hosting a work session or establishing a task force devoted to the issue, similar to the Early Childhood Education Task Force the assembly established earlier this year. The assembly also voted to approve a letter...
The Petersburg Borough Assembly unanimously approved the hiring of Derrick Casey as the new director of Mountain View Manor during Monday's meeting. Casey, who grew up in Petersburg, visited last week to interview for the position and tour the facility. "He's really excited about coming back to Petersburg," Borough Manager Steve Giesbrecht said. "I think it's kind of a great find, finding a Petersburg person that wants to come back and he definitely fills a need so I think he'll do a good job...
The new U.S. Forest Service Petersburg District Ranger Vernon "Ray" Born introduced himself to the community during Monday's Petersburg Borough Assembly meeting and gave a report on the Forest Service's current and future projects in the district. Born, who came to Petersburg from Bethel where he worked managing the Yukon Delta Wildlife Refuge, succeeded Ted Sandhofer as the permanent district ranger. He is originally from Minnesota where he grew up on his family farm and also served in the...
The Petersburg Borough Assembly voted unanimously to add 14 projects to its capital project requests list during Monday’s meeting. The requests list is comprised of capital projects that are listed in the state of Alaska’s CAPSIS system used by the state legislature, the congressionally directed spending requests list, and the Alaska Department of Transportation needs list. Borough Manager Steve Giesbrecht said during the meeting that the requests list is being updated much earlier in the year than usual because of increased funding opp...
