Wrangell Sentinel -

After no season last year, Wrangell started 2021 with hopes of as many as 20,000 tourists coming to town this summer aboard cruise ships of varying sizes, with capacity of between 40 and 700...

Wrangell tallied nine COVID-19 cases between last Thursday and late Tuesday afternoon, as the community is dealing with a spike in infections. "Health officials have found evidence of community...

The $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan became law on March 11. Much of the federal money is directed to help states, cities, businesses and individuals recover from the economic damage of the...

Legislators are trying again this year to tax "electronic smoking products"- e-cigarettes and vaping devices - the same as tobacco products. Bills to extend the state's tobacco tax to electronic smoki...

State department operating budgets before the House Finance Committee this week for the fiscal year that starts July 1 include funding to restore the commercial fisheries position in Wrangell and...

The steep drop in visitors to Alaska last year because of pandemic travel restrictions showed up in air, sea and land numbers - and resulting job losses - across the state. Overall, the state lost...

While Alaska legislators await federal rules for how the state can spend the almost $1.2 billion in federal pandemic relief funds headed this way, communities are waiting to see their allocations...

The Canadian border has been closed for more than a year and, judging from last week's news, it's not likely to reopen in the late-spring future or even the early-summer future. British Columbia...

Back when the North Slope was pumping 2 million barrels of crude a day at its peak in 1988, and even for years after, oil provided upward of 90% of state general fund revenues in good years. But that...

State House and Senate committees continue to work on competing bills that would change the membership of the state ferry system advisory board. The Senate Transportation Committee on Tuesday heard...

The federal money that will flow into our state from the American Rescue Plan - the latest round of pandemic aid from Washington, D.C. - is the proverbial once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for Alaskans...

The 58-year-old Matanuska, the oldest operating vessel in the state ferry fleet, has had troubles operating the past two months. The Alaska Marine Highway System took it out of service last week to...

The state Transportation Department is asking for public comments on its plan to reduce the hazards along a stretch of Wrangell's Zimovia Highway frequently hit by rocks coming down from the...

Legislators started the session in January amid a shortage of revenues and debate whether the state could even afford a dividend this fall unless it exceeded its annual limited draw from the Permanent...

Students at Stikine Middle School and Wrangell High School will attend class remotely at least through Friday after a staff member at the secondary schools tested positive for COVID-19 on Monday....

Separate decisions affecting an effort to recall Wrangell's mayor and the Juneau-Douglas High School boys basketball team are similar, in that they disappointed some people, but they are not equal....

Gov. Mike Dunleavy wants to create a new state ferry system advisory board with one state official and 10 public members to replace an existing advisory panel, similar to a separate proposal from...

Journalism schools teach reporters to quote accurately; to add "he said" or "she said" at the end of every statement; to fully report what people say at public events and in interviews. All of that wo...

After spending almost $1.1 million to keep the vessels out of service to save money and safely tied up the past several years, the state last week sold its two fast ferries - built at a combined cost...

Almost 100 Wrangell households have applied for financial aid to help pay their rent and/or utilities under a state-managed program funded with federal pandemic-relief dollars. The program closed to...

A state Senate subcommittee had asked the Department of Transportation what it could do if it had more money to cover some of the gaps in the Alaska Marine Highway schedule. Part of the answer would...

Federal pandemic relief aid, one-time funding sources - some of doubtful legal authority - and other salves to ease the state budget pain in the fiscal year that starts July 1 only mask the underlying...