Sorted by date Results 1 - 25 of 31
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 coastal lawmakers. The difference being that the legislative proposal would protect board members from dismissal by a governor, while under Dunleavy's bill the members would "serve at the pleasure" of the governor. The governor would appoint the entire board under Dunleavy's bill, while the Legislature...
SEARHC had more doses of the COVID-19 vaccine than people registered to get the shot as of Tuesday, and is looking for younger people to sign up. While the state just last week dropped its restrictions on who could receive a vaccination, opening the program to anyone 16 and older, SEARHC, which serves Wrangell and almost 20 other Southeast communities, has offered the shots to the general public the past several weeks. "Through efficient processes and steady allotments of vaccines, SEARHC staff...
ANCHORAGE (AP) - The Alaska Republican Party, which already had censured Sen. Lisa Murkowski for voting to convict former President Donald Trump in his impeachment trial, now doesn’t want her to identity as a GOP candidate in next year’s election, a member of the party’s State Central Committee said Tuesday. “The party does not want Lisa Murkowski to be a Republican candidate,” said Tuckerman Babcock, immediate past chairman of the state party. The senator is up for reelection next year. The vote to censure Murkowski was 53-17 at a Saturday...
Faced with a choice of spending $30.53 million to replace the Public Safety Building or a renovation estimated at $12.87 million, the city administration is recommending the less costly project for the 34-year-old, two-story wood building. Even at the lower cost, the city does not have the money and will continue to look for funding. The borough assembly met with the assessment team March 11 to discuss the building's problems and options. The engineers assessed the building last September to...
March 17, 1921 The peak of high prices has not been reached in printing materials. In December the Sentinel laid in a supply of certificate bond paper at 32 cents a pound. This same paper is quoted on the Seattle market today at 37 cents a pound. All printing machinery and other equipment is still soaring. A typesetting machine that was priced at $4,100 at the outbreak of the war is now listed at $5,0000. All over the United States papers are being forced out of business owing to high prices of printing materials. Other papers are attempting...
Though Eagle River Republican Sen. Lora Reinbold made peace with legislative leadership and wore a face mask for the Senate floor session on Monday, Wasilla Republican Rep. Christopher Kurka removed his mask during the House floor session and was asked to leave the room. "Let's end this charade," Kurka said. "COVID-19 is here to stay. No measures we take are going to stop it, no matter how repressive a course, or unconstitutional." The freshman legislator expressed doubt that the federal Centers...
Almost half of Wrangell residents have received at least their first COVID-19 vaccine shot. Close to 30% of all Alaskans have too, and the state has opened vaccination eligibility to everyone over the age of 16. Nationwide, more than 72 million people have received at least their first shot. And while the number of people testing positive for the virus is on a welcome decline across most of the country, it's too soon to totally let up on being careful. Petersburg reported more than 100 infection...
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 would apply if people were always responsible and always truthful. Sadly, people are not always truthful or responsible - and it is getting worse (much worse) in politics. Far too many people spout whatever gets them attention; whatever aligns with their views and nothing else; whatever wins them supp...
Survey respondents favor higher oil taxes, not income or sales tax Thank you to everyone who has taken the Commonwealth North budget survey. I decided to use their comprehensive budget survey in lieu of a survey directly from my office this year. I received the results for District 36, updated last week, and most people prefer a limited approach to the Permanent Fund dividend: 42% prefer to "pay out the same amount" as last year, which was $992, and 25% said "suspend dividends until the state...
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 of $68 million less than 20 years ago - for just over $5 million. Mediterranean-based catamaran operator Trasmapi had offered about $4.6 million for the Fairweather and Chenega. The company serves the Spanish island of Ibiza, about 70 miles off the coast. The state was able to negotiate the final...
Here's your chance to get rid of the old computers, monitors and printers stacked in the corner. The Wrangell Cooperative Association's Indian General Assistance Program will host a free e-waste drop-off 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday at the carving shed on Front Street. All electronic devices with "a brain and a cord," according to a flyer for the event, can be brought in for proper disposal. There are some items the program will not accept, according to Kim Wickman, with the WCA. This includes...
According to unofficial election results, three incumbents were reelected to the Wrangell Cooperative Association tribal council last week and one new candidate was chosen by voters. Tribal citizens chose four out of five candidates to join the council for two-year terms. Turnout for the March 10 election was 128 voters, the WCA reported, compared to 90 in the last election in November. The winners are Luella Knapp (110 votes), Michelle Jenkins (86 votes), Richard Oliver (85 votes) and Jason...
After several weeks without games due to bad weather or spikes in COVID-19 cases in other towns, the Wrangell High School boys and girls basketball teams are eager for scheduled games against Metlakatla on Friday and Saturday. It has been a truly unique season for the Wrangell Wolves and Lady Wolves. The Wolves began their season at the end of January, with two games against their rivals, the Petersburg Vikings. The Lady Wolves began their season against the Craig Lady Panthers in early...
The City and Borough of Wrangell will apply for $125,000 in COVID-19 grant funding from the state Department of Health and Social Services, after the assembly approved the action at a special meeting March 11. The funding is for "COVID-19 testing and vaccination enhancement," according to the meeting's agenda packet. While the city does not have a specific plan for how to use the funding, it needed to act quickly to get its application in by the March 15 deadline, Borough Manager Lisa Von...
After an extended period of lay leadership, Island of Faith Lutheran Church has welcomed its new pastor, Sue Bahleda. She and her husband, Bill, arrived in Wrangell about a month ago and have settled into their new roles in the community. "This church was looking for a pastor, I was contacted, and we did the search process together," she said. "It's called 'calling.' They called me to this church then." Bahleda comes to Island of Faith with years of experience behind the pulpit and in Southeast...
The high school is creating a permanent display to honor “the sacrifices made by our military service members,” the school announced last week. The display will include a large wooden American flag, plaques for each branch of the military, and the names of all Wrangell High School graduates serving in the military and all Wrangell residents who have retired from military service. The school asks that anyone who is serving or is retired, or knows someone in either category, to call Katelyn Reeves at 874-3393 or Bob Davis at 874-3395 or 907...
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 applications on March 5, with 97 submitted by Wrangell residents among almost 30,000 applications turned in from across the state. The applications from Wrangell represent about 10% of the community's total number of households, according to U.S. Census data. The Alaska Housing Finance Corp. is...
ANCHORAGE (AP) - Four additional cases of a coronavirus variant first detected in Brazil have been found in Alaska, state health officials said. Two of the cases were from Anchorage and two from Eagle River, health officials announced March 10. One case of the variant had previously been detected in Alaska, but officials last month said additional cases were likely given the person in that case had not recently traveled outside Alaska and did not have a clear source of infection. As of March 9, 15 cases of the variant had been reported in the...
JUNEAU (AP) – A Petersburg woman who was adopted found her biological brother through the genetic testing company 23andMe. Sara Hadad-Dembs received a Facebook message recently from a man in Illinois that read, “Hi, I know this is super out of the blue, but I think I’m your brother,” the Juneau Empire reported March 4. Hadad-Dembs had received a 23andMe test kit from her adoptive brother in 2019. The man who ended up being her birth brother received a DNA test kit as a birthday present about a year later. In December, Hadad-Dembs receive...
ANCHORAGE (AP) - The Alaska Department of Fish and Game has begun to raffle permits for some of its most desirable hunts to help raise money toward covering a nearly $2 million revenue loss due to the coronavirus pandemic. It’s called “Alaska’s Super Seven Big Game Raffle.” The permits will allow buyers to hunt species such as brown bears, caribou or musk ox. One of the seven hunts is in Southeast Alaska — the Revilla (Revillagigedo) Island mountain goat hunt — and the rest are in the Interior or Aleutian Islands. “We saw close to $2 million re...
JUNEAU (AP) - The governor sent a one-sentence letter to legislative leaders last week, notifying lawmakers that he has withdrawn his request to split the Department of Health and Social Services into two departments. Multiple groups had questioned the split, including tribal organizations, advocates for foster children and the largest state employee union. And a lawyer for the Legislature said portions of the executive order that would have split the department appeared to conflict with state law and faced potential legal challenges,...
JUNEAU (AP) – The Sealaska Heritage Institute and luxury department store Neiman Marcus have settled a lawsuit over the sale of a coat with a copyrighted, geometric design borrowed from Indigenous culture. The Southeast Natives cultural organization said in a statement March 3 that both sides, including 10 other named defendants besides Neiman Marcus, agreed to terms "to resolve all disputes between them under U.S. and Tlingit law," Juneau public radio station KTOO reported. The institute is the...
Alaska’s salmon harvest for 2021 is projected to be a big one, with total catches producing a haul that could be 61% higher than last year, due mostly to an expected surge of pinks. Fishery managers are predicting a statewide catch topping 190 million fish compared to 118.3 million in 2020. The breakdown by species includes 46.6 million sockeye salmon (203,000 increase), 3.8 million cohos (1.4 million higher), 15.3 million chums (6.7 million more), 296,000 Chinook (up by 4,000) and 124.2 million pink salmon (a 63.5 million increase). In its r...
