Articles from the March 8, 2023 edition
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Total assessed property values up 56% from last year as borough corrects inequities
A comprehensive review of assessments on every piece of property in the borough has resulted in total taxable values 56% higher than last year. That doesn’t necessarily mean this year’s tax bills will increase. The actual tax rate multiplied aga...
Cruise ship schedule shows substantial gain over 2019 numbers
The past three summers have been lean for Alaska cruise ship tourism, but Wrangell’s 2023 draft cruise schedule shows a substantial gain in traffic compared to the 2019 pre-pandemic season. There are 132 scheduled stops this summer, with a c...
Cheer squad rallies fundraising to compete at regionals
Who cheers on the cheer squad? A weekend that began with disappointment turned into determination and the will to beat defeat. As the Wrangell High School boys and girls varsity basketball teams were...
Ferry system management says state is working to fix slow, ineffective hiring
The Alaska Marine Highway System is working faster to hire more crew, trying to fix problems that slowed the process so much the past four years that the state failed to keep up with retirements and resignations. The hiring process was so cumbersome...
The Way We Were
March 1, 1923 The annual convention of the Grand Pioneers of Alaska will be held at Nenana the latter part of this month. At the meeting of the Wrangell Pioneers Igloo Monday night, a resolution was adopted calling upon the Grand Igloo to ask the...
House committee starts work on PFD legislation
A state House committee last week held its first hearing on a bill intended to settle the Legislature’s biggest annual political battle: The amount of the Permanent Fund dividend. The bill, sponsored by Rep. Dan Ortiz, who represents Ketchikan, W...
School district encourages public to push for more state funding
A school budget presentation meant to engage the public in the decision-making process on Feb. 27 drew a scant few to ask questions and offer suggestions. Outgoing district business manager Tammy Stromberg, whose last day was Feb. 28, went over the...
WCA records highest voter turnout for tribal council election
A record number of Wrangell Cooperative Association members came out to vote for four members of the tribal council, the governing body of the Native organization. Esther Aaltséen Reese, the tribal administrator for WCA, said 168 members, or 41.6%...
State helps feed Alaskans, but it took too long
State officials have known for months that delays in processing applications for food stamp benefits were denying financial assistance to thousands of eligible households — including children — who needed help to afford three meals a day. There wer...
Selling something is better than nothing
The state wasn’t concerned as much about future profits as it was asserting and protecting Alaska’s rights to see oil flow from lands within its borders when it paid millions of dollars for federal leases in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. It wa...
International human rights advocate to share message with community
Canadian educator, nonprofit director and human rights advocate Catherine Morris is visiting Wrangell this week to share a message about human rights challenges that are playing out on the...
Email scam costs Juneau School District nearly $270,000
A scammer stole nearly $270,000 from the Juneau School District this fall — and it’s unlikely the district will recover the money. In a memo shared with the City and Borough of Juneau Finance Committee at its March 1 meeting, Finance Director Jef...
Alaska Airlines salmon 737 will make final run to Wrangell
Alaska Airlines will paint over "Salmon Thirty Salmon," the custom Boeing 737 that looks like a 129-foot-long Alaska king salmon, the company confirmed Feb. 27. Tim Thompson, director of public... Full story
Teen tackles tech trend to aid tourists - and residents - in Wrangell
For many years now, Google Maps street view allowed travel planners to tour cities in a realistic, 360-degree-view platform. But not people planning to visit or those living in Wrangell. One teen...
Moving magna prompts observers to install monitors on Mount Edgecumbe
The Alaska Volcano Observatory is planning to install a series of seismic instruments on Mount Edgecumbe near Sitka after preliminary measurements showed magma moving deep below the Mount Fuji-shaped... Full story
Assembly opposes listing Alexander Archipelago wolf as endangered species
The borough assembly has issued a unanimous statement of opposition to a petition by conservation groups to list the Alexander Archipelago wolf as an endangered species. Earlier last month, the assembly considered signing a petition against listing...
State commits $1.7 million to help feed Alaskans hurt by delays in food stamps
State funding is being directed to help stock Alaska food pantries — including those serving rural communities — as part of a broader effort to address a monthslong state backlog in processing food stamp benefit applications. Major delays in pro...
State senator tries again for e-cigarette tax and raising age to 21
Nearly six months after Gov. Mike Dunleavy vetoed a bill aimed at reducing youth use of electronic cigarettes, its primary sponsor is trying again to pass similar legislation. Senate President Gary Stevens on March 1 introduced Senate Bill 89, which... Full story
State wants to take over wetlands permitting from federal government
State regulators say that taking over what are known as Clean Water Act Section 404 permits will allow more flexibility to benefit businesses and the environment in “Alaska’s unique conditions.” Most construction, resource and community development p...
Tlingit totem pole dedicated in Murkowski's D.C. office
WASHINGTON - Tlingit leaders dedicated a storied totem pole in Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski's office on Feb. 28. The 10-foot tall, 900-pound totem pole, which is on loan from the Sealaska Heritage Insti...
Northern Southeast hatchery group donates to trollers fight against lawsuit
The Sitka-based Northern Southeast Regional Aquaculture Association board voted March 1 to provide up to $75,000 toward legal expenses to help fight a lawsuit that threatens to shut down the Southeast commercial troll fisheries. The 22 members at...
Murkowski testifies in support of Equal Rights Amendment for women
WASHINGTON — Alaska Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski testified in support of the Equal Rights Amendment at a Senate hearing this week, opposite a fellow Republican senator who opposes it. The Equal Rights Amendment, which was proposed in Congress in 1...
Police report
Monday, Feb. 27 Citizen assist: Vehicle unlock. Traffic stop: Citations issued for failure to provide proof of insurance and operating in violation of provisional license. Traffic stop: Citation issued for expired registration. Welfare check....
Ferry system advisory board unhappy with flow of information from state
At its two meetings last month, members of the Alaska Marine Highway Operations Board expressed frustration over the state Department of Transportation’s communication with the board on significant decisions, including the state ferry system’s sum...
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