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Petersburg residents took up shovels, flashlights, and rain boots Tuesday in a day that saw freshly fallen snow followed by a power outage and a broken water main flooding the streets of town. 8.5 inches of snow fell Tuesday, setting a new record for most snowfall on December 21 of any year. So far, Petersburg has accumulated a total of 74.3 inches of snow this winter according to the National Weather Service, well above the average for this point in the season of 21.3 inches. While people outsi... Full story
The Borough Assembly passed Ordinance #2021-18 in its third and final reading which will increase electric utility rates to account for an increase in Southeast Alaska Power Agency rates and the cost of debt service for the Blind Slough Hydroelectric Refurbishment and the Scow Bay Standby Diesel Generation projects. The ordinance was proposed following the results of a rate study conducted by D. Hittle & Associated and passed unanimously in its first two readings. Utility Director Karl Hagerman...
The new cabin at the end of the Raven's Roost Trail was opened for reservations on December 16 and has already seen use according to Cabin and Trails Program Manager Paul Olsen with the U.S. Forest Service. Built by Rainforest Contracting, it is larger than the previous cabin and about 1.2 miles closer to the trailhead which was also reconstructed to make it more accessible to hikers. The new cabin is more family-oriented than the previous one, which was showing signs of decay. It also features...
During Monday's assembly meeting the Petersburg Borough Assembly voted against Resolution #2021-17 which would have requested the option of home mail delivery by the United States Postal Service. The resolution was presented as a possible solution to ongoing issues at the short-staffed post office which has seen long wait times for package pickup and decreased window hours. Assembly Member Dave Kensinger said he brought forward the resolution because of the time people and businesses are having...
Plows and shovels became commonplace in Petersburg last week after record-breaking snowfall covered the town while Public Works, the Alaska Department of Transportation, businesses, homeowners, and everyone in between cleared roads and paths to keep the snow at bay. Last year only a total of 9.1 inches of accumulated snowfall had been seen by this time-a drastic contrast to this winter which, according to the National Weather Service in Juneau, has seen the third-highest snowfall on record in Pe...
The Petersburg School Board held a discussion on the district's current COVID-19 protocols during Tuesday's meeting and agreed to hold a work session on potential changes in January. The district has required universal masking for the majority of the year due to continued COVID-19 outbreaks both in the district and in the community. The district began the school year with two weeks of universal masking as part of its reopening plan and the board later amended the plan during its September...
The newly opened Evergreen Market is looking to offer new options in a changed world as challenges brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic shift the store's thinking. Replacing the old hardware store, the market looks to be a fluid store that can adapt to supply chain issues and stock items that are not easy to find in Petersburg. Half of the market focuses on offering healthier food options for those who want to eat better or have specialized dietary needs. "...the thing we get asked for the most...
The Petersburg Medical Center has spent the last two weeks implementing a new electronic health records system, with the goal of increased security of patient records and improved usability. Cerner—the company which after the hospital board’s request for proposals in December 2020 was awarded a $1.3 million contract which was paid for by a state grant—sent technicians to Petersburg last week to help install the software and train staff on the new system. PMC was drawn to use Cerner as it is one of the two largest healthcare software provi...
Beginning Friday, Alaska Wildlife Troopers, with the help of many organizations in Petersburg, distributed approximately 1,400 pounds of meat from sublegal moose through the burger bank program. 1,960 pounds of meat from seven moose harvested during this year's hunt were put into the Community Cold Storage earlier this year and will be given to people in need according to Sergeant Cody Litster. According to Litster, antler restrictions allow everyone to participate in the hunt as opposed to a...
The Borough Assembly voted to extend an emergency ordinance requiring masking in indoor public buildings during Monday's meeting. The previous emergency ordinance was passed during an emergency meeting on November 5 in response to a COVID-19 outbreak in Petersburg which was at one point the highest per capita outbreak in the country. The original ordinance required people to wear masks in indoors settings that are open to the public including businesses with some exceptions such as a medical...
The Borough Assembly held a discussion during Monday's meeting on the continuing issues at the post office and the possibility of home delivery. The assembly has held multiple discussions on the U.S. Postal Service's operations in Petersburg in the past, including at its last meeting, while the community continues to wrestle with limited service window hours, long lines, and the lack of masking enforcement in the building. A draft resolution was included in this week's assembly packet...
The active COVID-19 cases count fell to five on Thursday with two positives in the previous seven days and 11 tests pending results according to the Petersburg Medical Center’s COVID-19 Dashboard. Alaska Department of Health and Social Services reported 441 new cases from December 6-7 in the state and three deaths. According to the DHSS, 56% of Alaskans aged five or older are fully vaccinated while 63% of residents in Petersburg Borough are fully vaccinated. The Petersburg School District r...
Borough Manager Steve Giesbrecht presented the assembly with a list of capital projects to consider for FY23 during Monday's meeting in hopes of obtaining funding through the state and federal sources. The list grouped projects by their associated departments such as Harbor, Parks and Recreation, and Public Works and prioritized them within each grouping. It also included some projects associated with the Petersburg Medical Center and the Petersburg School District. The priority list,...
Petersburg Medical Center CEO Phil Hofstetter gave a report on the latest COVID-19 outbreak and its impact on the hospital during the PMC Hospital Board's December 2 meeting. According to Hofstetter, PMC saw over 230 individual Petersburg residents with COVID-19 in November. It was the largest outbreak Petersburg has seen since the start of the pandemic, caused in part by the spread of the highly transmissible delta variant. Approximately 16% visits to the ER in November were for COVID-19 and...
The Petersburg Medical Center Hospital Board discussed how the most recent COVID-19 outbreak has impacted PMC's operations and finances during its December 2 meeting. "When we scale everything up and use all our resources and have to focus 100% for care for COVID, it detracts from our routine care, it detracts from taking care of patients," PMC CEO Phil Hofstetter said. He was concerned that the cost of staffing and resources to take care of COVID-19 patients, people avoiding the ER, and other...
The Petersburg High School and Mitkof Middle School bands are preparing for the Petersburg School District's upcoming winter concert with a new director at the helm. Charlie O'Brien moved from Chicago to Petersburg in November to serve as the school's band director after previous director Matt Lenhard moved to Ketchikan. O'Brien began his musical journey in the fifth grade when he started playing the trumpet before switching to the euphonium in seventh grade. Over the years, he also learned to...
The Alaska Housing Finance Corp. is continuing its monthslong program of sending out rental and utility assistance payments - including over $800,000 to households in the Petersburg Borough as of last week - drawing on federal pandemic relief aid allocated to the states. As of last Friday, Alaska continued among the leaders nationwide in distributing the aid to households hurt by a loss of income due to the pandemic. AHFC reported it had sent out almost $193 million in payments, about 80% of...
The Petersburg Public Library is showcasing a 50-year retrospective of Polly Lee's ceramic art this month. The art was originally scheduled to be shown in November, but since the recent COVID-19 outbreak closed the library, the show was extended. Polly started creating ceramics in 1955, cutting clay from the banks near the big dip with her husband Eldor Lee. "She and my dad would go out and get buckets of clay and try and use that and so there's a few pieces in the show that feature those early...
The Borough Assembly held a discussion during Monday's meeting to figure out how the borough should spend funds received through the American Rescue Plan and considered a future work session on the topic. The borough received $634,000 in funds, $20,000 of which has already been spent on finishing the deck out the deck project at Mountain View Manor. Representatives from childcare programs in Petersburg wrote letters to the assembly requesting ARPA funds to recoup losses caused by the COVID-19...
Petersburg is planning how potential funds from the $1 trillion infrastructure deal could be used and has some projects in mind according to Borough Manager Steve Giesbrecht. President Biden signed the bipartisan infrastructure bill earlier this month which passed in the House of Representatives in a 228-206 vote with the support of 13 Republicans and a majority of Democrats and in the Senate with a 69-30 vote. According to the Department of Transportation, it is the largest long-term...
The 2021-2022 Southeast Alaska sea cucumber season is expected to surpass the current three-year rotation's harvest record according to Whitney Crittenden, an assistant area management biologist with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game in Ketchikan. As of November 24, 1,677,032 pounds of sea cucumber have been harvested, while the guideline harvest level (GHL) for the region stands at a record 1,872,800 pounds. This season has the highest region-wide GHL ever seen for the current rotation, de...
The Petersburg Medical Center reported a declining number of cases this week with with only 27 active cases of COVID-19 and 43 tests pending results. According to the Petersburg COVID-19 Dashboard, PMC has recorded a 9.4% positivity rate over the last seven days, and, as of Wednesday evening, there are no longer any healthcare workers currently infected. Although the PMC staffing level are still classified as inadequate and the hospital's medevac capability remains limited. "While this is very...
An unexpected, strong weather system sent high winds tearing through Wrangell, snapping three Southeast Alaska Power Agency poles which blocked the highway at City Park and knocked out power to most of Wrangell for much of Tuesday and Wednesday. Petersburg buildings, businesses, and homes also went dark Tuesday afternoon from approximately 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. At 2:19 p.m., Utility Director Karl Hagerman reported that Petersburg was running on diesel generators while awaiting a report from...
Though the call for adventure never ceases, even the crew of the Endeavour needs to take time to rest and take stock of the year's expeditions. Captain Bill Urschel, his wife Patsy, and their dog Bella live aboard the ship in North Harbor and are wintering in Petersburg for their second year in a row. The Endeavour, named for the ship Captain James Cook commanded on his first voyage of discovery, is a 72-foot U.S. Army T-Boat built in 1954 that has seen many names and many places over her...
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