Articles from the March 2, 2022 edition
Sorted by date Results 1 - 25 of 35
Owner accepts borough offer for sawmill property
The owner of the former sawmill property at 6-Mile Zimovia Highway has accepted the borough’s offer of about $2.5 million to buy the 38.59 acres, which the borough sees as an economic development opportunity for the community. Borough Manager Jeff...
School board OKs optional masking to start Wednesday
The school board voted unanimously Monday to make face masks optional for students, staff and visitors in school buildings beginning Wednesday. The board adopted changes to the district’s COVID-19 mitigation plan, including removing quarantine...
Shop class teaches students how to build a better future
The high-pitched grinding of metal on metal, the whirr of saw blades ripping through cedar, the crackle of a welding arc on aluminum are all sounds of building in progress and a brighter future for...
State will switch Sitka to paid airport parking; Wrangell could come later
Sitka will be the next Southeast airport to make the switch from free to paid parking. Petersburg made the move in December, when a private operator leased state airport property that had been used for free parking and converted it to a paid...
The Way We Were
March 2, 1922 The representative of the Alaska Native Brotherhood, W.L. Paul, favors a bill prohibiting fish traps in any bay or channel less than three miles wide, one mile from creeks and one mile from the entrance to bays. Mr. Paul said the...
Subsidies discussed as possible child care center solutions
Public officials, community leaders and businesspeople from Wrangell and Juneau met online Feb. 11 to discuss possible solutions to Wrangell’s lack of child care options. Representatives of the Wrangell Cooperative Association, Central Council of...
WCA receives $620,000 in funding for cultural preservation
The Wrangell Cooperative Association was told last month it will receive $620,000 in federal funding from the Southeast Alaska Sustainability Strategy, a $25 million U.S. Forest Service investment to diversify the economy of Southeast communities....
WCA to hold election for tribal council March 8
The Wrangell Cooperative Association has announced the candidates for its March 8 tribal council election. There are 11 candidates for four seats on the eight-member council: Heidi Armstrong, Lavina Brock, Robyn Byrd, Samuel Campus, Frank Churchill J...
Borough smart to think long-term
Sometimes, governments just have to take a chance. They need to ensure the pieces are in place for economic development of their community, even if that means spending money on the potential — not a guarantee — of building jobs in the future. In...
Wrangell needs child care services
Parents, community leaders, borough and tribal officials are talking about what can be done to help solve Wrangell’s lack of child care options. Valerie Massie, of the Wrangell Cooperative Association, said she and others at a recent meeting all...
High oil prices are Alaska's alcohol of choice
It’s not often you hear political debates that invoke religion and booze but have nothing to do with temperance, the social ills of alcohol or strict adherence to church teachings. In Alaska, those points are being offered in the context of the...
Yukon TV is no upgrade
Many will disagree, but in my opinion the vote is the key to American democracy. If after the votes have been counted, recounted, audited and litigated and someone other than the person with the most votes takes or remains in office, then American...
Public testimony on state budget set for Thursday
The Legislature’s main duty every year is passage of the state budget. Last week, the House made considerable progress by finishing up budget subcommittee work. Budget subcommittees meet frequently with each department to navigate potential budget...
Forest Service ramps up efforts to take down invasive weeds
An annual 200-acre treatment limit on the U.S. Forest Service's invasive plant management program in the 3.7-million-acre Wrangell-Petersburg district has the agency revamping and possibly expanding...
Partners move out of their kitchens to open bakery
Sweet Tides Bakery co-owners Shawna Buness and Devyn Johnson, who have been working together almost a year, will open their new shop Thursday, offering cakes, sourdough loaves and pastries, along...
Assembly approves $211,220 to repair barge ramp flotation tank
The cost to cap a hole and rebuild the flotation tanks at the barge ramp has escalated since the problem was discovered last fall. The borough assembly on Feb. 22 approved a $211,220 contract with the only bidder for the job — Dave Miller, of...
Assembly approves enterprise fund investments in stocks, bonds
Looking to possibly boost returns with minimal risk, the assembly has voted unanimously to amend municipal code to allow investment of the borough’s enterprise funds in stocks and bonds. The collective balance of the five generally self-supported...
A dog's nose catches the salmon scent
What dog doesn’t love finding scraps of dead salmon. Usually it’s a smelly cleanup for the dog’s owner, but this time it was a real treasure. In Haines, Lilly Ford’s Siberian Laika puppy Sacha sniffs everything, which is how Rebecca Brewer...
Students get carted away with senior work project
One of the goals of high school senior projects is seeing a need in the community and filling it. That's just what Ryan Rooney and Emma Martinsen are doing. The two teamed up when their shop teacher...
Teen sticks together boat drawings to create new business
Nick Allen, a 16-year-old high school junior, likes to draw boats. "I live in a fishing community," Allen said. "Been around boats my entire life. Drawing them was even cooler." Allen said he started...
Sitka lawmaker breaks his leg paragliding
JUNEAU (AP) — A Sitka lawmaker broke two bones in his right leg after crashing his paraglider in Anchorage on Feb. 19. Rep. Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins returned to Juneau on Feb. 23. He had been recuperating in Anchorage following surgery and...
Teams take on Petersburg players with mix of wins and losses
The high school basketball teams traveled to Petersburg last Friday for two days of intense play against the Vikings and Lady Vikings that resulted in a mix of wins and losses for the junior varsity...
Mixed martial artist Nicco Montaño makes visit to Wrangell
A mixed martial artist who was the inaugural flyweight champion on a 2017 television show - and made history as the first American Native woman Ultimate Fighting Championship title holder - punched...
State announces tighter king salmon sportfishing limits
This year’s king salmon catch limits in the Wrangell-Petersburg area are tighter for Alaska residents and nonresidents than the numbers that were in effect at the start of last year’s sportfishing effort. However, they are essentially the same...
Services Saturday for former mayor Dave Jack
Dave Jack, 78, died Feb. 23 at home in Wrangell. Services will be held at noon Saturday, March 5, at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, followed by a graveside vigil at 1 p.m. at Sunset... Full story