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The borough assembly decided not to reinstate a local mask mandate at their Tuesday meeting. Rather, they asked borough staff to pursue a public education campaign strongly recommending that people wear face masks and take other safety precautions during the current surge in COVID-19 cases. The assembly vote was 6-1. The meeting was held via Zoom, a reversal from the assembly’s short-lived return to in-person meetings. City Hall has been closed since last week due to staff exposure to COVID. Dorianne Sprehe, with the Wrangell Emergency O...
Kindergartener Leeya Gillen was one of 154 Wrangell schoolchildren who went home Tuesday with new backpacks from the annual Wrangell Cooperative Association event. The backpacks, filled with school supplies, were part of the Tlingit & Haida Central Council's drive to ensure Native children have supplies for school. To guard against COVID-19 infections, the backpack giveaway was socially distanced at the covered basketball court behind Evergreen Elementary School. Classes start Monday in...
The state ferry system hopes to resume service next summer to Prince Rupert, British Columbia, after a two-year absence due to a customs-clearance issue between the U.S. and Canada. “We are now working at very high levels to try to get back there,” said John Falvey, general manager of the Alaska Marine Highway System. “Rupert is an important port for us.” It’s also a historic port. The Alaska Marine Highway System went into business in 1963, sailing between Prince Rupert and Southeast, before extending its run to Seattle in 1967 and maintaini...
The Alaska Marine Highway System has put out its summer 2022 draft schedule for public comment, with two potentially big changes from this year: The possible return to service of the Columbia, the largest ship in the fleet, and the possible return to Prince Rupert, British Columbia, after a two-year absence from the port. If the Columbia returns, it would give the state ferry system two sailings a week out of Bellingham, Washington, to Southeast Alaska ports. With the Columbia, Wrangell could get two northbound and two southbound ferry calls a...
After starting July at 56%, then moving to 58% on Aug. 1, the rate of eligible Alaskans getting at least their first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine has now climbed to 60%. Though the rate is improving, Alaska is still far behind the national average of 71%, as reported Tuesday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Alaska is two-thirds of the way down from the top in rankings of the 50 states. Just like the state’s rising tally, Wrangell’s rate of eligible residents with at least their first shot has climbed from 61% to 64% in the pas...
Aug. 25, 1921 Sometime ago Col. W.B. Greeley, Chief Forester of the United States, left Washington for the purpose of spending a month in Alaska inspecting the timber, water power and other natural resources of the territory. Upon his return from Alaska, Col. Greeley was interviewed by the Seattle Post-Intelligencer regarding his trip and the quality of the timber in the Alaska forest. Col. Greeley said: “Aside from enormous qualities of good pulpwood and serviceable construction timber, the territory probably contains the largest quantity o...
A COVID-19 outbreak that shut down a Washington state warehouse that helps supply Wrangell IGA and other Southeast grocery stores disrupted shipments this month, but the operation has reopened and shelves and coolers are moving back toward normal. “We didn’t get any dry groceries for the past two weeks, we only got our dairy and our meat,” Caroline Bangs, with Wrangell IGA, said Monday. “But this week we just got our freight in and just got eight pallets of dry (goods).” With the distribution center reopened and filling orders, Bangs expects d...
PGC Basketball, an organization that offers hundreds of camps across North America, came to Wrangell this week for a three-day basketball clinic. DK Klyn (left), one of the coaches, said the clinic is designed to teach kids important principles of both the offensive and defensive game, through classroom and on-the-court sessions. Wrangell's clinic started with drills Tuesday afternoon, with about a dozen participants....
Forget politics, rumors, social media, accusations from all sides and everything else that has turned the vaccination debate into a circus — but without the fun, excitement and cotton candy. Too many Alaskans are getting sick (about 5,800 cases the past two weeks), too many are ending up in the hospital (121 in beds as of Tuesday), and too many are dying (419 since the start of the pandemic count, as of Tuesday). Though about two-thirds of the deaths have been recorded in Anchorage and the Matanuska-Susitna Borough, Southeast Alaska c...
It should be pretty easy to look at residential utility hookups, Permanent Fund dividend application statistics, housing occupancy and other data points to refute the U.S. Census Bureau count that shows Wrangell lost 242 residents between the federal government’s official tallies in 2010 and 2020. Anyone who has tried to find housing to buy or rent would certainly dispute the notion that all those people left town, putting empty homes or apartments on the market. But this mathematical dispute is much more than frustration over tight housing a...
Did I format my entire letter saying goodbye to Wrangell so I could put a "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" reference in the title? Yes, yes I did. Looking back on the past three years of my life, I noticed how many of my fondest memories revolve around seafood in some way. Discovering the miracle that is smoked salmon, going fishing with my friends, watching the bears at Anan fatten up on salmon, friends and neighbors offering to share their catches of crab with me, getting to cover an autopsy...
Wrangell has a long history and a modern museum that displays the rich heritage of the community and its people. But the volunteer group that supports the museum is short of new members. The Friends of the Museum raises money to support projects at the keeper of the town’s history. “That is our sole purpose,” said Michael Bania, who has served as president the past few years. That includes not only supporting activities at the museum, but also acquisitions for the collection, with fundraising, advocacy and volunteering some time to help with...
The Alaska Marine Highway System is not alone in trying to manage with a crew shortage, nor is it a new problem. But the fear of COVID-19 is making it worse. “We’ve had a slow progression of loss of crew over the years,” John Falvey, the system’s general manager, said in an interview last week. “COVID has not helped us.” Fear of catching the coronavirus is an issue for recruiting new stewards who work in the galley and dining area, clean the cabins and public areas, he said. “There tends to be a concern now (of COVID) when you look at custo...
Wrangell’s Muskeg Meadows Golf Course will be busy the first two weekends of September with four different tournaments. The Breakaway Adventures nine-hole, best-ball tourney is planned for Sept. 4. The Club Championship will tee off on Sept. 5, with individual scores. The three-club tournament in honor of Randy Littleton will be a nine-hole, best-ball competition on Labor Day, Sept. 6. The American Legion Auxiliary benefit tournament is planned for Sept. 11-12, also a nine-hole, best-ball event. All of the tournaments are scheduled to start a...
Candidacy filings for Wrangell’s Oct. 5 municipal election will close at 4 p.m. Tuesday. Residents who want their name on the ballot for a seat on the borough assembly, school board or port commission must file their paperwork at City Hall by the deadline. As of Monday, with a week still to go before the deadline, nine candidates had filed for the positions. Jim DeBord was the only candidate as of Monday for the two three-year seats on the borough assembly. Don McConachie Sr. filed for the one-year unexpired term open on the assembly. Angela A...
The SouthEast Alaska Regional Health Consortium is seeking volunteers to play victims, friends and family members, even news reporters in a mass casualty exercise Oct. 5. The drill is planned for 3:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the Wrangell Medical Center, providing an opportunity for hospital staff “to test their emergency plans and procedures,” SEARHC said in its promotional flyer for the event. “Some (not all) volunteers will receive extensive make-up (moulage) to enhance realism,” the flyer said. “Volunteers should understand that this exercise...
Monday, Aug. 16 Harassment. Agency assist: Ambulance. Tuesday, Aug. 17 Agency assist: Ambulance. Dog complaint. Agency assist: Ambulance. Wednesday, Aug. 18 Dog at large. Traffic stop: Verbal warning for driving habits. Papers served. Reckless driving. Deer complaint. Domestic violence order: Violation unfounded. Citizen assist. Thursday, Aug. 19 Domestic violence assault: Arrested for assault III/domestic violence, assault IV/domestic violence and violating conditions of release. Found property: Returned to owner. Domestic violence order:...
Nutrition, Native ways and knowing where your fish comes from. That message forms the nexus of a new partnership of the Bristol Bay Native Corp. (BBNC), salmon fishermen and Bambino’s Baby Food of Anchorage. Bambino’s launched the nation’s first subscription service with home delivery of frozen baby foods in 2015, and was the first to bring the frozen option to U.S. retail baby food aisles (devoid of seafood). Wild Alaska seafood has always been front and center on the Bambino menu since the launch of its baby-sized, star-shaped Hali-...
JUNEAU (AP) — The state has reported the deaths of five residents of the Pioneer Home in Ketchikan who had tested positive for COVID-19. “In the last week, the Ketchikan Pioneer Home has had five resident deaths and there has been a total of 12 residents and five staff test positive for COVID-19 this month,” Clinton Bennett, a state Department of Health and Human Services spokesman wrote in an email to the Ketchikan Daily News on Aug. 18. He did not provide a more precise timeline. The state Pioneer Homes “do not determine the cause of death n...
SITKA (AP) - Sitka could see nearly a half-million cruise ship visitors next year - almost double its previous record - after a new docking agreement was announced with Royal Caribbean Cruise. The deal between the cruise line and Sitka Sound Cruise Terminal came as one of the world's largest cruise ships arrived, the Daily Sitka Sentinel reported. "It ensures they have a place to bring their ships and additional ships to Sitka for the future," said Chris McGraw, manager of Sitka Sound Cruise...
The Haines Borough had its largest population decline in history and the largest of any Alaska borough or census area over the past decade, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Haines’ population fell by 17.1% — from 2,508 in 2010 to 2,080 in 2020 — with much of the decline outside of the townsite that used to be considered the city of Haines. But the census numbers don’t align with the state Labor Department 2020 borough population estimate of 2,520, which was calculated using 2010 census data and Permanent Fund dividend application numbers...
HONOLULU (AP) - Hawaii’s governor on Monday asked that visitors and residents reduce travel to the islands to essential business only for the next two months while the state struggles to control COVID-19 as the highly contagious Delta variant spreads in the community. Gov. David Ige wants to curtail travel to Hawaii through the end of October. “It is a risky time to be traveling right now,” he said. He said restaurant capacity has been restricted and there is limited access to rental cars. Ige stopped short of a mandate, saying it’s a differe...
ANCHORAGE (AP) - More than 3,000 fake COVID-19 vaccination cards were confiscated at cargo facilities at the Anchorage airport after they had arrived from China, officials said Aug. 19. Officers from U.S. Customs and Border Protection seized the cards as they arrived in small packages, said Jaime Ruiz, an agency spokesperson. There were between 135 and 150 packages found in Anchorage, all sent by the same person in China, Ruiz said. The packages contained small amounts of the fake cards, about...
ANCHORAGE (AP) - Three-time Super Bowl champion Mark Schlereth returned home to Alaska last week to encourage people to get the COVID-19 vaccine. The Service High School alumnus made a halftime appearance last Friday night during his alma mater’s game at West High School. “I just want to encourage everybody to do your part, to talk to your doctor and if it’s the right decision for you, please get vaccinated, please take care of one another,” Schlereth said Aug. 20. He has been advocating on social media for COVID-19 vaccines, and he said the NF...
The discoveries of hundreds of unmarked graves at former residential schools for Indigenous children in Canada have prompted renewed calls for a reckoning over the traumatic legacy of similar schools in the United States - and in particular by the churches that operated many of them. U.S. Catholic and Protestant denominations operated more than 150 boarding schools between the 19th and 20th centuries. Native American and Alaska Native children were regularly severed from their tribal families,...
