Wrangell Sentinel -

High oil prices paid the way for legislators to spend more money on public services and construction, a little more on schools and a payout to Alaskans this fall almost triple the amount of last year’s dividend. Legislators and their constituents...

The Legislature adjourned on time last week, a nice change from past special sessions that got in the way of summer fishing, watching baseball, eating anything off the grill (except eggplant) and sitting outdoors in the sun doing nothing. Lawmakers...

Lawmakers on the final day of the legislative session May 18 passed a bill to impose a tax on electronic smoking products, such as e-cigarettes, vaping sticks and refills. The tax, at 35% of the wholesale price, was in part a compromise between the...

The borough and Wrangell schools could receive about $4.5 million in state funds, and individuals could receive a fall dividend at least more than double the amount of last year’s payment as the Legislature is in the final day of its regular...

It’s up to the Senate in the final days of the legislative session whether Alaskans will get a year of gasoline and diesel at the pump without the state tax of eight cents a gallon. The House by a 36-2 margin on May 4 passed the measure — which...

The community’s future depends on adequate, affordable housing, and the same for child care services. Without both, Wrangell will find it difficult to keep the businesses, jobs, school enrollment and services it has, much less grow. You could say...

The largest of the state ferries, the 499-passenger Columbia, was still listed as inactive on the Transportation Department website as of Monday, with no indication it will go back to work this summer as was planned nine months ago. Last August, the...

Seattle-based Trident Seafoods will not open its Wrangell processing plant this summer, the third year in a row the operation has been closed. As in the past two years, the company cited weak chum salmon returns for its decision not to run the...

Wrangell is moving closer to receiving at least a $4.1 million state grant to add to $11 million in federal funds for construction of a new $15.4 million water treatment plant. The House Finance Committee version of the state capital spending bill...

The Legislature is working toward the largest capital budget in a long time. Municipalities are hearing “yes” instead of years of “no” to some of their public works funding requests. In addition, more state money is headed to schools. And Ala...

The state House has passed legislation that would suspend Alaska’s 8-cents-a-gallon motor fuel tax for a year to help consumers pinched by high prices at the pump. The bill was scheduled for its first committee hearing in the Senate this week as la...

Unless the Legislature acts, Alaska nonprofits will have to stop selling raffle tickets online June 30. The state has allowed online sales by registered nonprofits since early summer 2020, as the pandemic shut down or made difficult group events and...

Anyone who wants to get a pizza midweek at the Marine Bar or a steak or burger at the Elks Lodge knows that worker shortages have forced employers to reduce their days and cut back on offerings. “This worker shortage is real, and it’s not going...

The Permanent Fund dividend ranks among the most divisive issues in Alaska politics, along with such longstanding battles as oil taxes, salmon fisheries catch allocations and subsistence rights. Sadly, the dividend has grown in political importance...

Legislation to restore and increase the state licensing fee on sportfishing guides and operators ran into problems in the Senate Finance Committee last week, as lawmakers questioned why out-of-state boat owners who bring up guests are not required...

Alaska property owners have paid more than four times as much in premiums than they received back in claims under the National Flood Insurance Program going back to 1980. “It’s kind of ugly,” Lori Wing-Heier, the state’s insurance division...

In a two-page letter to the community, Schools Superintendent Bill Burr on Friday cautioned that ongoing staffing shortages, particularly aides and substitute teachers, could push the schools into considering a move to distance learning in lieu of in...

Just as other communities, Wrangell is enduring a springtime bloom of COVID-19 cases. As of April 20, the state health department reported 79 new cases in the community in the past 30 days. Most of those were reported to the state in late March and...

The borough assembly has started work on its budget for the fiscal year that will start July 1 and will need to decide on a school district request for more funding in addition to paying higher fuel and property insurance costs and spending on...

This isn’t about a time-out for misbehaving children; it’s about adults who behave as children, or worse. The federal law requiring face masks on airplanes is no longer in effect. That means big changes for flyers. For travelers who had grown tir...

The borough could receive about $300,000 under a Senate Finance Committee plan to pay back municipalities across Alaska for years of short-funding of the state’s share of local school construction bond debt. The committee version of the state...

Global supply chain shortages and delays have extended past grocery stores, car dealers and electronics to the Alaska Marine Highway System. The state ferry Kennicott was delayed coming out of winter overhaul. Instead of returning to service last wee...

The Alaska Senate by a wide margin last week approved legislation to tax e-cigarette products just as the state taxes cigarettes and tobacco products. The legislation, which is scheduled for hearings this week in two House committees, also would...

The community is short of public restrooms near the City Dock and could be short port security staff this summer if people don’t apply for the jobs soon. One is an immediate concern, while the restroom shortage requires a longer-term solution....