Wrangell Sentinel -

Some people walk about and enjoy the scenery, the sights and sounds of the world around them, focusing on what makes them feel happy. Good for them. As much as I try to do the same, when I walk around I can’t help but notice people doing dumb...

Close to 50 years ago, I was on the union contract negotiating team at the Chicago newspaper where I worked. The negotiating sessions with management were contentious, even nasty at times. I recall we wanted a new three-year contract, with raises at...

When I was much younger, hallucinations were an affliction of college students who figured drug-assisted education was the answer to life — or at least worth a try. Not me (honest). I found it more entertaining to stay sober and watch everyone...

Wrangell’s school buildings need a lot of expensive work, which is no surprise for 40- and 50-year-old structures with a lot of wood. Fixing everything will cost millions, and the school district and borough are hoping for state money to...

Employers everywhere are finding it hard to recruit and retain employees. But it sure seems that the state of Alaska, under the disengaged leadership of Gov. Mike Dunleavy, is sinking to new lows of high vacancies. The empty desks and undone work...

Maybe we’ve developed immunity to misleading claims. Just like any other widely prevalent virus, we build up antibodies to fight off new infections. The claims cause nothing more than a mild headache, if that. Like contagious viruses, misleading...

Oil and water don’t mix. We learned that in high school. And we learned it again when water got into a heating fuel line. In Alaska, oil and salmon don’t mix either, unless the oil is brushed on the grill before cooking a fillet. However, oil...

Most changes are forced upon us as the world evolves, and there is little anyone can do about it. Though I want to be the exception to the rule, I grudgingly acknowledge I am not. I resist as much as I can and hold on to small victories, but I am...

Elected officials who say the proposed Alaska North Slope natural gas project is closer than ever to putting steel pipe in the ground and money in the pockets of construction workers should take a break from their political grandstanding and pay...

Like many kids, I grew up afraid of lots of things. Maybe I had a longer list than many, but I’m sure they all made sense at the time: Dentists, needles, bees, snakes, putting my head underwater, roller coasters, heights, fastballs thrown anywhere...

The Alaska Permanent Fund has prospered for almost half a century, growing ever more important for the state’s future. What started as a source of pride and prudence — showing the naysayers going back to statehood that Alaska can manage its...

Opponents of ranked-choice voting in Alaska want to put an initiative on the ballot so that voters can overturn the law in the 2024 election. To do that, they need to collect signatures from about 26,000 registered voters to win a spot on the...

There are many joys of aging, such as discounts at stores and services, using it as a convenient excuse for being forgetful, and smiling that few thieves would know how to drive my stick shift VW Beetle. I can also stop obsessing about everything I...

Actually, more than just knowing the news, you need to know more of the news than your neighbors. And if you do, you can win. But this isn’t about gossip. It’s about the news that affects your community, news that tells you what your elected...

All I did was supply a pen and a writing tablet. Other than that, I was useless. Everyone else did the real work that made a difference. A woman two rows ahead of me suffered a seizure on an Alaska Airlines flight to Anchorage last Saturday evening....

The reactions by Alaska’s top elected leaders to former President Donald Trump’s indictment last week say a lot about what they think of the public. Two out of the three — our governor and junior U.S. senator — must think the public is...

People are growing increasingly cynical about government: How money is spent, how hiring decisions are made, and how it seems there are few consequences for actions that hurt the public. Yet too many elected leaders continue making bad decisions...

Remember what your parents, teachers and truant officer said: You are judged by the company you keep. Too bad Gov. Mike Dunleavy and his attorneys general didn’t think more about that before signing on to multiple lawsuits against the federal gover...

The Alaska Legislature is no different than a typical American household – torn between spending every last dollar from their paycheck on immediate wants or saving some for the inevitable future needs. When the wants win out, money often is short...

Elected officials, ballot initiative supporters and opponents, campaign managers and anyone else who writes, texts or tweets outlandish claims and promises should be required to stay after the election and write on the blackboard (remember those)...

The great tax debate in Alaska sounds similar to the age-old question of whether it is less painful to yank off the bandage quickly or peel it off slowly and gently. I have found that it just doesn’t matter all that much how I pull off the bandage....

Most Alaska state budget watchers follow oil prices, fully realizing that they can bounce around like a small plane on a windy day, creating that same stomach-churning queasiness when they drop. The estimated difference between Alaska North Slope cru...

Alaska is 30 years into state budget deficits, borrowing billions from savings to pay the bills. Gov. Mike Dunleavy is five years into the job, still pledging mega Permanent Fund dividends even if the money isn’t there. Three months ago, Dunleavy i...

When I was a kid, I suppose my role models were mostly professional athletes. Sports was everything (no offense to school or my parents or Boy Scouts leader). Though I never was very good at any of them, particularly sports or school or being an...

There is no wisdom in the state House majority’s decision to put Permanent Fund dividends ahead of the public education budget. Paying for larger PFDs before schools is not the way to build a better state, to keep families from leaving, to entice...