Author: kfskadmin

A local workshop on suicide intervention skills attracted a full house of students this week in Petersburg. Petersburg Mental Health Services brought the instructors to town and they stopped by KFSK studies to talk with Matt Lichtenstein about the issue.

The federal government has again selected Alaska Airlines as the Essential Air Service carrier for Petersburg, Wrangell, Gustavus, Cordova and Yakutat. The EAS program subsidizes the cost of daily flights to remote communities and as Matt Lichtenstein reports, that cost is going up.

Petersburg’s tourism industry and local support businesses will be feeling more affects of the worldwide recession this summer as fewer people have been planning trips on visiting tour ships and local charters.
Alaska bookings are down significantly for Cruise West, which is the largest company that brings its ships to town. Another, smaller line that made frequent stops in Petersburg, American Safari cruises has shut down. Some of the ships will be running under a new company name, but with a lot fewer stops in Petersburg according to local travel agent Dave Berg. Berg is the local representative for Cruise Line Agencies of Alaska and works with visiting tour ship companies as well as local charters and tour operators.
Matt Lichtenstein asked him about the tour ship outlook for this summer in Petersburg:

Mitkof Middle School principal Gene Burke has taken down a fake security camera that he installed in one of boys bathrooms at the school last month. It’s the bathroom that’s also used by movie patrons. Burke says for several days last month school staff found torn up bathroom tissue and feces smeared around the room. Burke says he put the fake camera up to end the behavior. Joe Viechnicki asked Burke about the problems the school had seen in the restroom.

A team of five students from Petersburg High School will be competing in the Alaska Region National Ocean Sciences Bowl in Seward this weekend. The competition features 15 high school teams from around the state and it’s part of a national competition meant to recognize excellence in students interested in ocean studies. It’s the first year for the Petersburg team. They call themselves "Team WOAA” and will compete against the other schools in a quick-fire quiz. They have also prepared a research paper and will give an oral presentation on their findings in front of a panel of scientists. Joe Viechnicki spoke with some of the team members about their research and the upcoming ocean sciences bowl.