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It didn’t work a year ago, but the borough and Wrangell’s state House member are trying again to restore the Alaska Office of Children’s Services caseworker position in the community. Same as last year, the borough is offering to cover half the expenses if the state will pay its half. The community has been without a caseworker for more than a decade due to state cutbacks. Bringing back a caseworker “is absolutely crucial,” said Bob Davis, lead teacher and assistant principal for the high school and middle school. “We’re seeing a huge uptick i...
JUNEAU (AP) - Alaska will stop participating next month in a federal program that provides an additional $300 a week in unemployment aid to thousands of people, the state labor commissioner announced last Friday, saying it’s “time to help people get back to work.” Department of Labor Commissioner Tamika Ledbetter said state participation will end June 12. Alaska joins at least 16 other states that have said they will stop providing the extra benefits paid by the federal government, which was set to expire in September. Ledbetter said many...
Sixth grader Madeline Davies was among the high school and middle school musicians and choir members who performed their first concert in more than a year on May 11, striking a positive musical note for the community. See Page 8 for more photos....
May 19, 1921 The U.S. Fisheries Service boat Auklet made an emergency trip to Prince Rupert, British Columbia, during the week for the merchants of Wrangell. The Auklet left here early Saturday morning and returned yesterday morning. Needed supplies such as flour, sugar, eggs and meat were brought back from the Canadian port. Mrs. Neville accompanied Captain Neville on the trip, which was made by special permission of the government. A union strike has stopped loading of ships at U.S. West Coast ports, significantly reducing flow of goods to...
Wrangell graduating seniors received scholarships that could total almost $175,000, with many extending through four years of college. The scholarships were announced at the high school awards ceremony Monday. Students received scholarships from 21 different programs. Among the larger awards was the Alaska Pulp Corp. scholarship of $20,000 per student over four years to attend the college of their choice. The former owner of the since-closed Wrangell sawmill started the program in 1992, and sinc...
Wrangell High School graduating class wanted to do something different this year and the students were looking forward to staging the ceremonies on the city dock. But an unkind weather forecast pushed them back into the community gym, where graduation is set for 7 p.m. Friday. “The weather forecast was not so favorable,” Megan Powell, adviser to the class of 2021, said Monday. Though attendance will be restricted only to graduates and limited guests per student, the event will be livestreamed on the school district YouTube channel. The 7 p.m...
I know Wrangell people have opinions and viewpoints and all sorts of interesting thoughts in their heads. I hear them in the stores, see them on Facebook and listen when people talk with me on the street. But I don’t read them in the Sentinel. I feel like the Maytag repairman in the TV commercials — lonely because no one calls. We can fill that missing piece in the newspaper. I say “we” because while I am eager to print your letters to the editor, you need to write them. I’ll provide the newspaper space free of charge for letters. All you n...
To steal the line from a country-western song of almost 30 years ago — “Well that’s my story and I’m sticking to it” — Gov. Mike Dunleavy is sticking to his story that the Permanent Fund dividend is just about the most important thing in Alaska today. So much so that not only does he want the PFD enshrined in the constitution, but he wants the formula for calculating the annual payment to residents hard-wired into the everlasting document. Even education, public health and safety don’t get that kind of star treatment. The governor want...
Music survived a challenging year Before the May 11 mini-concerts performed by the middle and high school bands and high school choir, our last in-person concert was in December 2019. It has been challenging this past year. We play with special masks that have flaps for the instrument’s mouthpiece to fit through, and we cover our instruments to keep our air to ourselves. Frequently we would have to stop because someone’s cover had become entangled in the keys of their instrument. I frequently heard, “Hold on, Mrs. Morse! My sarong has got stuck...
uld begin this week, the day after the current regular session of the Legislature is scheduled to end, if lawmakers are unable to finish work on the state budget for the fiscal year that starts July 1. He also called legislators back to work to consider his proposals for a much larger Permanent Fund dividend. In addition, he announced a second special session, scheduled to begin Aug. 2, that would address his proposed constitutional spending limit, a constitutional ban on any new taxes without a public referendum, and spending of federal...
The Wrangell Museum has two projects underway, both dealing with wood. One is a new sign, being carved from a 20-foot-long yellow cedar log. The other is the ongoing effort to preserve and display the 96-year-old retired U.S. Forest Service wooden boat, the Chugach Ranger. Wrangell carver Denny Leak started last month stripping the bark off the log and is cutting his way into the design, which will spell out MUSEUM in large block letters vertically, with an eagle and a raven carved out at the...
For not much more money - less than $10,000 - the city is able to add 411 acres at the north end of the island to an aerial imaging project that already covers 957 acres of downtown, Wrangell's water reservoirs, and land south and east of Heritage Harbor. It has been almost 20 years since aerial photography of the community. In addition, the project includes LiDAR, an airborne pulsed laser signal that "sees," measures and produces detailed three-dimensional images of the terrain, ground cover an...
The Mt. Dewey Trail extension project could go to construction next year, including a new trailhead parking area on Bennett Street, just north of U.S. Forest Service offices. The borough assembly May 11 unanimously approved a $69,542 contract with PND Engineers for scoping work to prepare the project for final design, to be followed by construction. Almost 91% of the cost of the scoping contract will be covered by federal funds, with the borough paying the rest. "It's nice to have something in...
The team of Jerry Bakeburg, Frank Roppel, Doug Nelson and Eric Kading took first place May 8 in Wrangell IGA 9-hole best-ball play at the Muskeg Meadows golf course. The team of Rocky and Rodney Littleton and Marva Reid took first place in May 9 competition. The Ray Pederson Memorial Ryder golf tournament is scheduled for 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday at Muskeg Meadows. It’s 18 holes each day, with a $25 cash entry fee. Register by 9:30 a.m. each day. Call 874-4659 for more information....
Gina Rose Smalley, 52, died at her home in Chehalis, Washington, April 9. The cause was COVID-19, the family reports. Born on Feb. 9, 1969, in Ketchikan, Gina later moved to Wrangell, where she raised her children with Jody Smalley and worked at the hospital. She moved to Sitka in 2003 and continued to work with the elderly until 2020, when she moved to Chehalis and continued to work in home health care. Survivors include her ex-husband, Jody Smalley, their daughter Danika-rae and son-in-law...
After going online last summer, the Irene Ingle Public Library summer reading program for kids is back this year — just like it was for 25 years before the pandemic. “We’re excited to get things a little back to normal this year,” library director Margaret Villarma said. Kids will receive points for each book they read, with more than 100 drawings and a special prize for readers who complete the program. Young readers can register now at the library or call 874-3535 to sign up. The library is open noon to 5 p.m. Wednesday through Saturda...
Wrangell Schools Music Director Tasha Morse conducted middle and high school students in their first performances since December 2019 at the covered basketball court at Evergreen Elementary School on May 11. At the start of the middle school mini-concert, Morse told the audience: "What you have just witnessed is the very first note that our entire band has played together as a band at all." COVID-19 safety protocols had blocked the two bands since early last year not just from performing but...
The U.S. House is the next stop for legislation granting a temporary waiver of federal law so that large cruise ships could come to Alaska this summer, avoiding a Canadian COVID-related ban on the ships stopping in that country’s ports along the way. Senators voted without opposition to approve the measure May 13. Even if the legislation makes it into law, however, it is uncertain that cruise lines would offer summer Alaska voyages. Most of the ships are not in position on the West Coast, and many operators are still struggling to come to t...
Monday, May 10 Agency assist: Vehicle unlocked. Agency assist: Theft of fuel from vehicle at the airport. Vacation check. Agency assist: Ambulance. Tuesday, May 11 Subpoena service. Motor vehicle accident. Disturbance. Wednesday, May 12 Arrest for violation of conditions of release. Citizen assist. Paper service. Driving with license suspended, revoked or canceled. Agency assist: U.S. Forest Service. Subpoena service. Thursday, May 13 Agency assist: Structure fire. Friday, May 14 Agency assist: Hoonah Police Department. Saturday, May 15...
The Southeast Alaska Power Agency reported "minimal damage to the structure and its contents" from a fire May 13 at its warehouse and office building at 4408 Zimovia Highway. "The root cause and anticipated cost of repairs is under review," the agency said. The fire struck about 9 a.m. and did not affect electrical service to the community....
One option for the former Wrangell hospital building would be to use it as temporary quarters when the public safety building undergoes major renovations. There is no date set for the renovations, which have been estimated at more than $13 million, but the 34-year-old public safety building needs significant work, particularly to repair water damage, rot and structural components, and staff and equipment would need to move out during construction. The borough owns the hospital and land, and since 2018 had leased the building to SouthEast...
The borough assembly will hold a public hearing at its May 25 meeting on a proposed ordinance that would extend the closing time for retail marijuana sales to 10 p.m. from the current limit of 6 p.m. The assembly was asked during recent public testimony to consider extending the hours for marijuana sales, Borough Manager Lisa Von Bargen reported in her backup material for the ordinance, which was introduced at the May 11 assembly meeting. The borough “spoke with Wrangell’s only marijuana operator, and his suggestion is to allow operations thr...
Alaska’s lone seafood marketing arm gets zero funding from the state and, to date, has received no federal pandemic aid funds. The Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute is hoping to get something from the more than $1 billion coming to the state general fund in the latest round of federal relief dollars under the American Rescue Plan. ASMI put in a $20 million request two months ago, but Gov. Mike Dunleavy made no mention of it in mid-April when he released his proposals for the federal money, nor anything since. Dunleavy did include $150 million...
As of last week, almost half of the 99 Wrangell applications for financial help with rent and utilities had been approved or were pending a final decision, according to the state agency running the federally funded program. The Alaska Housing Finance Corp. received about 30,000 applications for assistance from across the state for $200 million in federal pandemic relief funds available under Alaska’s state and municipal allocation. The program closed to applications March 5, and AHFC staff and its contractor have been working to verify i...
Just three days after announcing the Ketchikan king salmon derby would return after a three-year absence, organizers reversed course and said there will be no derby next month. Organizers had planned for two weekends of derby fishing — June 18-20 and June 25-27 — but the Alaska Department of Fish and Game thought that would be a bad idea, considering low king stocks in the area. The department’s sport fish division called the event organizer on May 11 with the bad news. “They expressed some concerns with the idea of basically encoura...
