Week of October 2, 2024
Voters by almost a 3-to-1 margin Tuesday approved a $3 million bond issue for repairs to the water-damaged Public Safety Building. Residents re-elected Patty Gilbert as mayor over challenger David Powell; re-elected incumbent school board member Angela Allen and elected newcomer Dan Powers over incumbent board member Brittani Robbins; and re-elected Chris Buness to the port commission along with newcomer Eric Yancey over challengers Antonio Silva and Tony Guggenbickler. Voters rejected a ballot proposition to amend the municipal charter,...
Most Wrangell students are insufficient in English language arts, math and science, according to the state standardized test scores that the Alaska Department of Education released over the summer. The results are an amalgamation of two tests: the Alaska Science Assessment, which assesses fifth, eighth and 10th graders science skills; and the AK STAR, which assesses third through ninth grade students in their English and math proficiency. The Wrangell school district’s proficiency levels are 10 percentage points above state average in both...
“I’m picturing a fall Fourth of July,” Borough Manager Mason Villarma told staff during a planning meeting for the event. Last week, the borough released the schedule of events surrounding the harvest of the U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree, also known as “The People’s Tree.” Festivities will begin on Friday, Oct. 25, and will continue for three days over the weekend. The borough, the Nolan Center, chamber of commerce, U.S. Forest Service and many local businesses all are helping to organize the weekend’s activities. The tree, which...
It could be that only two commercial tour operators that brought customers to the Petroglyph Beach State Historic Site this summer bothered to purchase the state permit required to provide tours. This was the first year the state directly asked operators to acquire the mandatory permit and collect the $6 fee. Though it had not been enforced in Wrangell, the law regarding commercial use of public property has applied to the Petroglyph Beach since it was designated a state historic site in 2000. Tour operators would be more open to buying the...
Damon Roher is transforming the old gym from a place of swishes and buckets to a chamber of skeletons and bats. Roher, an officer for the Wrangell Police Department, is organizing a haunted house that will run from 7 to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday, Oct. 11-12, in the community gym. There is no required admission fee, but Roher recommends a $5 donation. All proceeds will go to the Wrangell Salvation Army’s youth programs. For the haunt, Roher and his team of volunteers are going all out. He custom built two 10-foot spiders, an eight-foot...
Though it was important to pinpoint the exact location and extent of damage to the community’s wastewater outfall pipeline into Zimovia Strait, officials also discovered that the 12-inch plastic pipe and the seabed around it have become home to hundreds of sea cucumbers. “Over the years and years, wildlife has figured it out,” Tom Wetor, the borough’s Public Works director, said Sept. 26. Sea cucumbers, a bottom-dwelling invertebrate, proliferate around the nutrient-rich waters near the diffuser end of the outfall line, he said. “I...
A state agency is offering for sale half a dozen parcels on the Back Channel side of Wrangell Island, averaging about 3.6 acres in size, with auction bids due by Nov. 4. The starting bid for each parcel ranges from $15,500 to $60,500. All but one of the lots are on the water of the Eastern Passage. The $15,500 parcel is about 800 feet from the shoreline. Of the six lots up for bid to the highest offer, half are about three miles south of the end of the airport runway and the other half are about three miles farther down the channel. There is...
In House District 1, which includes Ketchikan and Wrangell, there is a three-way race to replace Rep. Dan Ortiz who served as the district's House member for a decade. The race is between Republican Jeremy Bynum and independents Grant EchoHawk and Agnes Moran. All three candidates are Ketchikan residents, as is Ortiz. A Wrangell resident has not held the House seat since Peggy Wilson a decade ago. Ortiz is not seeking reelection, citing health reasons. The former educator caucused with the...
The Alaska Children's Trust, a statewide nonprofit that works to prevent child abuse and neglect and advocate for children, youth and families, honored Wrangell resident Kay Larson with its Champion for Kids Award Saturday evening, Sept. 28, at the Nolan Center. Kaila Pfister, the trust's director of community engagement, who has worked with Larson the past four years, talked about the need for positive role models in the lives of children and how the award honors the contributions of such...
Federal managers shut down a major Alaska fishery Sept. 25 after two Kodiak-based boats targeting whitefish caught some 2,000 king salmon — an unintentional harvest that drew near-instant condemnation from advocates who want better protections for the struggling species. The Kodiak-based trawl fleet has caught just over one-fourth of its seasonal quota of pollock — a whitefish that’s typically processed into items like fish sticks, fish pies and surimi, the paste used to make fake crab. But about 20 boats will now be forced to end their...
More emergency kits to save victims of opioid overdoses are on their way to Alaska schools, in accordance with a new law. It requires schools statewide to have kits on hand, with trained people on site to administer those kits if needed. Although the new law does not go into effect until late November, the state Department of Health has already begun shipping out kits with overdose-reversal medicine and associated gear. The law is the product of House Bill 202, which Gov. Mike Dunleavy signed in late August. As of early last month, about 200...
A pair of Tlingít villages in Southeast Alaska will receive apologies for past wrongful military action from the U.S. Navy this fall. The first of those apologies took place in Kake on Sept. 21, where U.S. Navy Rear Admiral Mark B. Sucato acknowledged the harms of a bombardment in 1869. An apology in Angoon is scheduled for Oct. 26, the 142nd anniversary of the 1882 bombardment of that village. Navy Environmental Public Affairs Specialist Julianne Leinenveber said it was determined that the...
Alaska seaweed farmers and oyster growers mingled with professors, tech industry representatives, state and federal government staff, bankers and consultants who converged at Ketchikan’s Ted Ferry Civic Center for the third-ever international Seagriculture USA conference, the first such conference in Alaska. All eyes of the 190-some conference participants earlier this month were on the promise of developing a profitable seaweed industry in Southeast Alaska, with people traveling to Ketchikan from California, Maine, Canada, The Netherlands,...
For the third year running, the Wrangell boys cross-country team is the Southeast Division III champion. Boomchain Loucks won the race for the second year straight as the Wolves' eyes turn toward the state championship meet in Anchorage this Saturday. The boys team eclipsed Petersburg by just two points to claim the championship at the Sept. 28 competition in Ketchikan, solidifying their dynasty status with three Southeast titles in as many years. Loucks continued his winning ways when the...
These Wolves just keep getting quicker. At the Ketchikan Invitational on Sept. 20-21, Wrangell swimmers claimed 14 new personal-best times — 12 at the individual level and two by the relay teams. The trend pleased head coach Jamie Roberts, who at the start of the season told the Sentinel that incremental improvement is her No. 1 priority for the 2024 swimmers. Roberts said swimmers often see quick improvement after the first month of practice as their endurance levels reacclimate to in-season swimming. But as the team wraps up its second...
Oct. 2, 1924 The Wrangell schools have taken a forward step this year in incorporating a course of religious education in the high school curriculum. The course, which is elective, provides for one hour’s work each week and carries a fourth of a credit each year. The work is given under the instruction of the local ministers during the last period on Wednesday afternoons. Sept. 30, 1949 The first fall meeting of the Wrangell Health Council, Red Cross and Tuberculosis Association combined was held Tuesday, Sept. 27, in the health center....
Monday, Sept. 23 Summons service. Ambulance requested. Tuesday, Sept. 24 Agency assist: Department of Transportation. Wednesday, Sept. 25 Agency assist: Hoonah Police Department Theft. Dog complaint. Thursday, Sept. 26 Welfare check. Civil paper service. Agency assist: Public Works. Friday, Sept. 27 Found property. Agency assist: Ambulance. Paper service. Saturday, Sept. 28 Noise complaint. Domestic disturbance. Agency assist: Fire Department. Agency assist: Hoonah Police Department. Sunday, Sept. 29 Domestic disturbance. Report of possible...
The community is climbing up the right tree as it prepares to celebrate an early start to the holiday season Oct. 25-27. The borough’s economic development team, the Nolan Center, chamber of commerce, U.S. Forest Service and other branches of community service are going all out to deck out the weekend as Wrangell will for the first time see and then say goodbye to the special tall tree that will truck its way to a spot on the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol. It’s not going out on a limb to say it’s a big deal for the town. This year’s...
Whichever side wins the national election Nov. 5 needs to think about why they did not get a larger share of the vote. Not that they ever really expected to win over the hearts, minds and ballots of 60% of voters. The honest reality is that most candidates would accept 51% as a clear victory in this divisive world. OK, maybe they’re prefer 52%. But they’ll happily declare a mandate on the thinnest of margins. Gloating is ugly. It makes sore losers out of disappointed losers. Even worse, many of those sore losers are increasingly embracing...
