Author: kfskadmin

A new show of dozens of color photographs opens today at the Clausen Memorial Museum. It’s called “A Memory of Lester White” and highlights the work of the long-time Petersburg resident. White was born in 1942, raised in Petersburg and graduated from Petersburg High School. He served as a paratrooper in the Army and spent much of his life fishing in Southeast and Western Alaska. During that time he took hundreds of photographs of the fishing vessels, people and landscapes of his native state. He developed the photos into slides and stored them away, never showing any of his work. Joe Viechnicki spoke with his sister Hoopie Davidson about her brother’s life and photographs.

Supporters of an effort to form a new Petersburg borough government last week continued answering questions and hearing concerns about the proposal. City staff and an attorney heard concerns about the potential level of taxation in a new borough and the accuracy of the proposed borough budget.

Petersburg High School’s boys swimming and diving team took second place and the girls team took fourth at the regional meet in their home pool over the weekend. About 100 competitors from the region’s high schools battled for team and individual honors Friday and Saturday. The Juneau Douglas Crimson Bears took the boys Southeast title and Ketchikan won the girls team competition. For Petersburg, Asa Aulbach placed first in the boys diving competition and Vince Kowalski was fourth. Skye and Grace Weller placed third and fourth in the girls diving competition. Preston Marsh took first in the 200 individual medley and first in the 100 breaststroke. Jordan Reid was first in the 100 and 200 free style. Joe Zarlengo took second in the 50 free and third in the 100 butterfly. Also Shania Dahlberg took fourth in the 200 individual medley and Eva Kowalski took fifth in the 500 free. Ian McCallum was second in the 100 breaststroke and third in the 500 free. Joe Viechnicki spoke with the four seniors on Petersburg teams, swimmers Jordan Reid and Adam Erickson along with divers Asa Aulbach and Skye Weller Saturday during the meet.

A contractor for the U.S. Air Force could be removing contaminated soil and debris from a former military communications site in Duncan Canal near Petersburg next summer or fall. The site was a manned communications station, part of a Cold War-era early warning system called White Alice used to relay radio communications from Clear Air Force base in Alaska to Colorado Springs fifty years ago. It’s on Kupreanof Island, just south of Ohmer Slough on Duncan Canal, about eight miles west of Petersburg. The Air Force already removed over 100 dumped fuel barrels from that area in 2000. Other fuel drums, demolished buildings, trash and chemical contaminants remain. A contractor working for the Air Force has documented PCBs, fuel, chemicals and heavy metals in the soil and groundwater of that area. The Air Force is proposing a cleanup plan for six different sites in that area. That will mean digging up the contaminated ground and barging it to a landfill in Oregon. That removal, along with long-term monitoring of the area is estimated to cost over seven million dollars. Joe Viechnicki spoke with Jamie Grund of Weston Solutions, the company contracted to investigate the site, about the proposed clean up plan.

Petersburg school officials have declared war on the head louse. The schools and community have seen an outbreak of lice this fall with around 50 cases reported in children and adults in all three Petersburg schools. Administrators have hired a team of parents to check local students and spread the word about combating the insects.