Author: kfskadmin

The Petersburg City Council will be urging the state to keep at least one full-time children’s social worker in town. The issue was on this week’s council agenda, following news that the state may be moving its Office of Children’s Services jobs to Juneau. The two-person office in Petersburg covers child abuse and neglect cases in the Petersburg, Wrangell and Kake area.
Local police, mental health clinicians, educators, foster parents and others told the council Tuesday that the lack of a social worker would have major impacts in Petersburg and the other communities. They encouraged the mayor and council to take action on the issue and as Matt Lichtenstein reports, they did not have to do much convincing.

The Petersburg Indian Association welcomed a standing-room crowd for the dedication of its newly purchased office complex over the weekend. The building is named for the pioneering civil rights leaders Amy Hallingstad and Elizabeth Peratrovich. Both women had strong roots in Petersburg. Visiting elders, dignitaries, and dancers joined the local tribe in celebrating the life and work of the two women and the tribe’s growing role in the community.

More than 60 paintings, sculptures, photographs and other works of art are on display at the Clausen Memorial Museum. They all portray the diverse flora and fauna of the Tongass Rainforest – from eagles feeding and whales breaching to bears hunting salmon and mushrooms rising from the forest floor. The art show is a new advance event for the 2nd annual Tongass Rainforest Festival which gets underway tomorrow night. Matt Lichtenstein stopped by Thursday’s opening at the museum, and spoke with some of the artists:

The State Office of Children’s services may be moving both of its Petersburg-based social worker jobs to Juneau. The two locally-based employees handle the child abuse and neglect cases for Petersburg, Wrangell, and Kake. Supervisor Debbie Downs will soon be retiring after 38 years in the field. Her colleague, Bruce Westry, is a retired law enforcement officer who was also expecting to leave his position in the fall. Downs says she and Westry thought the agency would keep at least one of the positions in Petersburg after they left. However, she says her superiors have told her that both positions will be moved to Juneau. That would leave Petersburg without a locally-based social worker. According to a Department of Health and Social Services Spokesperson, OCS administrators say they have not yet made a final decision on the issue. Matt Lichtenstein spoke with downs about it on Thursday:

For the first time since 1994, Petersburg voters will decide whether to recall a sitting council member this fall. The recall election of Councilor Lee Corrao follows a year of political strife that’s included accusations, council resignations, a lawsuit, public outcry and a controversial vote to fire the city manager. The recall proposition alleges that Corrao violated Alaska’s Open Meetings Act by privately meeting with three other councilors around the time they pushed to terminate the manager’s contract. Corrao and the others in question continue to deny any such meetings ever took place.