Articles from the July 8, 2021 edition
Sorted by date Results 1 - 25 of 31
Governor vetoes legislative attempt to boost ferry budget
Gov. Mike Dunleavy used his veto power to thwart a legislative effort to boost the state ferry system budget. The governor cut almost $8.5 million from an overall appropriation of $190.7 million intended to cover the next 18 months of Alaska Marine...
Picture perfect 4th of July
It sure seemed that people's spirits were higher for this year's Fourth of July celebration after more than 15 months of pandemic restrictions. That, and the good weather, helped make for an extra...
Dunleavy vetoes small PFD, tells legislators to try again
Legislators are scheduled to return to Juneau next month and will try again to settle on an amount for this fall's Permanent Fund dividend after the governor vetoed the $525 PFD appropriated by...
Yacht traffic recovering strongly from minimal 2020
After a long year of empty boat stalls and a diminished tourism industry, 2021 is motoring in the direction of normalcy for many Southeast communities, with several towns - Wrangell included - reporting an increase in yacht traffic. Wrangell saw only...
SEARHC requires vaccinations of all employees
As of last week, employees, contractors and volunteers with the SouthEast Alaska Regional Health Consortium, which operates in Wrangell and 18 other communities, must show proof of vaccination against COVID-19 or risk losing their jobs or access to...
The Way We Were
July 7, 1921 In spite of threatening rain clouds and a chill in the air that felt like early spring instead of mid-summer, the Fourth of July celebration was a big success. The street sports took place following at the noon hour and went off without...
Bearfest back with full agenda starting July 28
“Last year, we went Bearfest Lite,” said Sylvia Ettefagh, organizer of Wrangell’s annual summer festival. “It is back to Bearfest Full,” she said of this year’s event, which is less three weeks away. Bearfest 2021 opens July 28 and runs...
From the publisher
The governor’s office got it wrong when it referred to $400,000 in state funding for the Alaska Legal Services Corp. as a subsidy. Guess they had to come up with a catchy explanation of why Gov. Mike Dunleavy vetoed the long-standing state help...
Editorial: Dividend does not belong in the state constitution
Alaskans have taken a collective leap over the embankment of common sense. We didn’t merely leave the Church of Wisdom, we turned to the false political god of the Church of the Permanent Fund Dividend to lead us to the promised land. Think about w...
Letter to the Editor
Thank you for the welcome I would like to thank the people of Wrangell for such a wonderful Fourth of July weekend. My parents Earl and Mary Benitz, who used to live on Farm Island, had such a fun time. Though they couldn’t remember some of your...
Wrangell's new police sergeant
Breanne Pearson pinned the sergeant bars on her husband, Nicholas Pearson, in a small ceremony at the June 22 borough assembly meeting. Pearson has nine years of experience in law enforcement, and...
Wrangell positions survive budget veto
Legislative efforts to restore an Office of Children’s Services caseworker in Wrangell and fund a commercial fisheries staffer in town survived the governor’s budget vetoes. Wrangell lost its Department of Fish and Game position last year due to...
Art Clark Scrap Fish Derby reels in a line of happy kids
"How long it's been going? Since I was a 3 year old, I think," said Jamie Stough, 38, one of the volunteers running the Art Clark Scrap Fish Derby. "My parents started it. They did it as a tribute to...
Toddlers are winners on the Fourth of July
The Fourth of July is a fun time for all ages in Wrangell, even for those still learning how to walk. Sunday's festivities included toddler games on the City Hall lawn. Candy was thrown around the...
Chuck Oliver Logging Show returns
Just like so many other events returned to Wrangell’s Fourth of July this year, the Chuck Oliver Logging Show was back after taking a COVID-19 year off. Oliver started the show in 1975, and he and...
Triathlon
Robert Cross take off for the biking segment of the Tongass ToughMan Triathlon last Saturday, shortly after completing a 1.2-mile swim with a time of 28:23....
Park restroom vandalism gets worse in the summer
Though vandalism of park facilities is all too frequent, it doesn’t mean staff shrugs off the damage. “Part of this is what we expect, although our hope is not to be dealing with vandalism,” said Kate Thomas, director of the borough’s parks...
First large cruise ship due in Ketchikan on trial voyage
It’s not like old times of 1.3 million cruise ship visitors to Southeast Alaska, but it’s the start of the best it’s going to be this summer. The first large cruise ship to stop at an Alaska port since 2019 is scheduled to tie up in Ketchikan...
Salmon derby winner nets $3,000
Wrangell’s king salmon derby, back after a three-year hiatus, closed June 30, ahead of the Fourth of July celebration. The biggest fish of the derby went to Trevor Acker, who caught a 36.9-pound king salmon near Found Island on June 17, netting a...
Borough plans new net repair float at Shoemaker
The borough will be using roughly $46,000 from a federal grant for pink salmon disaster relief to build a new net repair float at Shoemaker Harbor. Harbormaster Steve Miller said that when the city accepted the funding, part of the agreement was...
Summer photo contest is open through Aug. 3
Following up on its spring competition, the Wrangell Convention and Visitor Bureau is holding a summer “Best of Wrangell” photo contest. The contests are part of the bureau’s initiative to showcase “all of the activities and adventure to be...
Police report
Monday, June 28 Agency assist: Museum. Agency assist: Alaska State Troopers. Traffic stop. Traffic stop. Tuesday, June 29 Attempted theft. Trespass. Paper service. Criminal mischief. Theft. Dog complaint. Bear complaint. Welfare check. Dog...
Royalty ticket sales come close to record
Emma Martinsen and Cassady Cowan came close to setting a record for Fourth of July fundraising raffle ticket sales this year, totaling $114,564. They were not much behind the 2016 record of $126,408...
Canoe racers paddle to victory
Among the many popular contests in Wrangell's Fourth of July celebration are the canoe races, with this year's winners from Saturday's competition as follows: Cork Capture, ages 11 to 14 Male: Caiden...