Matt Lichtenstein

PETERSBURG-AK (2008-05-12) State troopers say an accidental gunshot claimed the life of a Petersburg teenager over the weekend. Family, friends and the community are mourning the loss of 16-year-old Jacob T. Madsen.

Matt Lichtenstein

PETERSBURG-AK (2008-05-12) Petersburg city councilors will begin their budget deliberations tonight. The 36 million dollar plan covers all city revenues and spending…including the city’s enterprise funds or utilities that are supposed to support themselves….as well as the tax-supported general fund. The general fund covers city functions that can’t pay for themselves like emergency services and police, planning and community development, public works and the library as well as local contributions to schools and other community services. Education funding is up significantly from last year and there are several smaller increases for a few community services including Petersburg Mental Health, the Clausen Museum, and KFSK public radio. Overall, the draft general fund budget for next year spends more money than it takes in because it uses cash reserves to cover some of the city’s capital project costs. The proposed budget calls for the same amount of property-tax revenue as the current year and since assessments are on the rise, the millage rate is likely to be lowered. Matt Lichtenstein spoke with City Manager Richard Underkofler about the proposed budget Friday:

Matt Lichtenstein

PETERSBURG-AK (2008-05-09) Petersburg Elementary School students are creating a long, sea-themed-tile mosaic for the front of their school. It’s the product of this year's Artist in the School program which is sponsored by the Alaska State Council on the Arts and the local parent teacher group "Parents in Education". The older students are creating individual sea-themed mosaic that will become part of a larger class mosaic. The first and second graders are doing class mosaics…..the panels will form the full mosaic for the front of the building. Matt Lichtenstein stopped by one of the third grade classrooms and produced this audio postcard:

Matt Lichtenstein

PETERSBURG-AK (2008-05-09) A group of young drummers is bringing its unique style of music to Petersburg for a series of performances and workshops throughout this next week and the Little Norway Festival. Kodiak island drummers, “K.I.D” for short, is a diverse group of children and teens. They combine a variety of drumming styles from Africa, South America and Japan. K.I.D has performed in communities and festivals throughout Alaska. The group was founded by Michael Daquioag (de-key-wa). Mr. D, as he’s called, says the group emphasizes the principals of discipline, respect and unity through music. Matt Lichtenstein listened to some of kid’s music and caught up with “Mr. D”by cell phone. D said the non-profit organization started in 1999 under the Kodiak Island Arts Council and Kodiak School District’s summer arts program:

Matt Lichtenstein

PETERSBURG-AK (2008-05-08) A national watchdog group is asking Congress to investigate allegations that the Forest Service retaliated against a whistleblower employee from Petersburg. An independent federal agency, which is now wrapped-up in its own controversy, dropped an investigation of the Tongass whistleblower case earlier this year after the employee died.

Matt Lichtenstein

PETERSBURG-AK (2008-05-07) Petersburg’s city councilors will have a lot of reading to do this week. They were presented with the draft city budget for next year, as well as the school district’s budget Monday. In other news from this week’s meeting, Petersburg power and light customers will want to make some extra efforts to conserve electricity this month……the city is switching to diesel fuel for a couple of weeks and that will mean a surcharge on every kilowatt hour. In other news the city manager is looking into the possibility of leasing the Elizabeth Peratrovich building for a police station. Matt Lichtenstein has more news from this week’s regular council meeting:

Matt Lichtenstein

PETERSBURG-AK (2008-05-06) Petersburg’s high school baseball team is coming on strong so far this year. The Vikings are now three and one after three big wins against Craig late last week. In their first game of the season last month, Petersburg was able to keep Juneau, the leading team in the region, to four runs. This is the fourth season for the new high school program and as Matt Lichtenstein reports, the team was in high spirits during their home series against Craig.

Matt Lichtenstein

PETERSBURG-AK (2008-05-06) It looks like the cost of living at Petersburg’s assisted-living home will be going up…a lot. The city council Monday passed the first of three readings for a measure that includes an 80 percent increase over the next year in the basic cost for self-pay residents at assisted-living. The move is aimed at reducing city subsidies to the new facility, which has been operating at a loss since it opened in the spring of 2004. The Council voted unanimously in favor of the ordinance despite concerns from some of the resident’s family members.

Matt Lichtenstein

PETERSBURG-AK (2008-05-06) It’s back to the drawing board for Petersburg’s borough petition. The city council wants the former borough charter commission to take another look at the overall petition and make some changes that might attract more support for the plan.

Matt Lichtenstein

PETERSBURG-AK (2008-05-05) Pools and trails, playgrounds and maintenence, funding and safety were all part of the discussions at the Alaska Recreation and Park Association conference in Petersburg last week. Over 50 public and private recreation managers and specialists from across the state were in town to take part in the annual event. They met at locations throughout town….from the City Council chambers and Sons of Norway hall to the community gym, and Petersburg’s new aquatic center. The facility has drawn a lot of interest from other towns looking to build pools. Matt Lichtenstein spoke with several attendees about the conference and some of the issues facing parks and recreation programs in Alaska: