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Almost 12,000 COVID-19 cases were reported around the state in August, the most since last fall, with some schools starting to close to in-person learning in only the first week or two of classes. Alaska set a record for hospitalizations on Tuesday, with 152 COVID patients under care. Wrangell also had a record COVID month, with 48 new infections reported in the community, more than one-third of all cases since the pandemic tally started in March 2020. The community is trying to stem the surge....
The state House has approved a Permanent Fund dividend of about $1,100 this fall, but even if the Senate agrees and the governor signs the appropriations bill, it is too late to avoid a delay in sending out the payment to Alaskans. Full approval was needed by Tuesday if the state were to meet its traditional date of issuing the annual PFD by the first week of October, according to a Department of Revenue spokesperson, who added that the dividends could be issued about 30 days after elected officials settle on the amount. The House passed the...
Baylee Daugherty (left) gives a COVID-safe high five to assistant principal Jenn Miller-Yancey as the fourth grader walks into the building for the first day of school Monday. Claire Rooney (above), also in fourth grade, was among the students who arrived shortly before 8 a.m. at Evergreen Elementary School for the start of classes. Schools Superintendent Bill Burr reported the district started with 242 students enrolled as of Monday, close to the budget projection of 259 and a substantial...
Marc Lutz started work this week as editor at the Wrangell Sentinel, and the Central California transplant will be doing more than writing stories about the community. "Marc is an accomplished photographer and skilled in page layout software, which means sometime this fall the Sentinel will bring back all its production in-house rather than contracting with the Petersburg newspaper for the design work," said Sentinel owner and publisher Larry Persily. "A major objective when I bought the Sentine...
The Alaska Marine Highway System fall/winter schedule is online and open for reservations, but don’t look for too many sailings into Wrangell in October and November. A state ferry will pull into town just six times over the two months. But it will be more service than the community received last year. The Kennicott will make two northbound and two southbound stops in Wrangell in October, and just two southbound stops — nothing northbound — during November. The Matanuska, which usually calls on Wrangell once a week in each direction, will...
Sept. 1, 1921 The Zillah May sank off Strait Island on the evening of March 31. It was towed into port Monday night and is lying in the harbor, awaiting further attention from the local men who undertook to raise her. It will not be decided definitely what will be done with her until an examination reveals just what shape she is in. The men who were instrumental in raising her were Chas. Benjamin, Heinie Heinbockel and Charlie Lynch. They had been at work at the scene of the wreck for several weeks and had a diver from Juneau assisting them at...
Amid the recent surge in COVID-19 cases in town, Wrangell schools opened for classes on Monday with several measures in place to help protect students, staff and the community from further spread of the virus. Those measures include face masks, sanitation cleaning, improved ventilation, distancing between students whenever possible, and policies for students and staff who travel out of town. “It had been our hope that we would have been able to start the year with less restrictions, but the current COVID-19 variants (Delta especially, which i...
Ann Hilburn and her husband had driven from Mississippi to Bellingham, Washington, to catch the ferry for her new job at Wrangell Public Schools. They made the 2,700-mile drive in four days. "It was long days," she said. "The day we pulled off the ferry with our U-Haul and our pickup truck," the schools superintendent, principal and special education coordinator had planned to meet the couple at the terminal. But the ferry was early, and the welcoming committee missed the rendezvous. "They had c...
The Sentinel incorrectly reported Aug. 26 that the borough assembly had voted unanimously to reject a face mask mandate to help stem the spread of COVID-19 infections. The vote was 6-1. Assemblymember Ryan Howe voted yes. —- The Sentinel incorrectly reported Aug. 26 that the first day of classes at Wrangell schools would be Tuesday, Aug. 31. It was Monday....
Life teaches us there is a price for making mistakes. Or least the important ones. There is no penalty for picking up the wrong flavor of ice cream at the store, other than you have to eat the entire half-gallon before you can go back and get the correct flavor. Actually, that sounds like a prize, not a penalty. I'm talking the kinds of mistakes that a lot of people notice or that lead to other problems. Just like a football team gets penalized valuable yardage for their blunders on the field,...
Discussions and medical decisions about the prevention and treatment of COVID-19 should be based on facts, not scientifically untested and unproven rumors spread on social media. And certainly not on irresponsible health care advice prescribed by an elected official who seems to think a drug that kills worms in horses and cows might also destroy the coronavirus in people. A polite person might say "horse feathers" to such medical guidance from an unlicensed politician. A not-so-nice person...
This August marked the seventh anniversary of the Mount Polley mine disaster. Mount Polley, located in British Columbia, is a large open-pit mine and its tailings dam collapsed, bringing significant negative impacts on the Quesnel Lake and Frasier River ecosystems, as well as local communities and cultures. Since that time, no significant regulatory or legal changes have been made in British Columbia to address the risks of large-scale mines. Although we do not have jurisdiction in B.C., we are...
Sometimes a pause in the hustle is necessary. Our transboundary watersheds, the Taku, Stikine and Unuk rivers that flow from Northwest British Columbia into Southeast Alaska, face an onslaught of too many industrial mining projects proposed for locations too close together to each other in far too sensitive areas. Those projects, and the way they are being approved without the consent or input of many of those who could be impacted, including tribes and Southeast Alaskans, give many reasons for a pause in business as usual. After the infamous...
There will be contested races for one seat on the borough assembly, three seats on the school board and one seat on the port commission in Wrangell’s Oct. 5 municipal election. Candidates for two other borough assembly seats and a port commission seat are unchallenged. Jim DeBord and Bob Dalrymple are running for the two three-year open terms on the assembly. Dalrymple is an incumbent; he was appointed in January to fill out the year for Julie Decker, who left the assembly. DeBord also expressed interest in the seat at that time, though the a...
Classes started this week at Wrangell Public Schools, but there’s still time — and still a need — for people to apply for work as an education aide, and also for adult volunteers to help with a wide range of activities at all three schools. Volunteers could help during the lunch hour, with tutoring or providing one-on-one help with students who need additional assistance at the middle and high schools. It could be an hour a day, or a few hours one day a week, whatever time someone might have available, said Bob Davis, assistant principal at th...
The parking lot next to the WCA carving shed on Front Street was temporarily closed last Thursday as workers under the direction of Shannon & Wilson drilled soil samples from the property. The Anchorage-based environmental consulting firm is in Wrangell to examine several borough-owned properties for possible contamination, including near the Wrangell Municipal Light and Power generator building on Case Avenue. The Front Street parking lot was formerly a gas station. The city purchased the...
The assembly has directed borough staff to get two estimates for possibly resolving the longstanding deliberations over repairs to the rot-damaged Public Safety Building and the future of the former hospital building. One estimate would be for a two-year project to repair and renovate the 34-year-old Public Safety Building, restoring it for full use by the police and fire departments, state court system, federal customs and other agencies. The other estimate from an engineering firm would cover remodeling the vacant Wrangell Medical Center as...
Borough leadership will expand in the near future, with the creation of a new position intended to help allow the borough manager to focus on bigger projects — in addition to taking on its own set of assignments. The assembly unanimously approved Aug. 24 the creation of a deputy borough manager position, following up on discussion from two weeks earlier. The deputy manager would share the workload and assist the borough manager in administrative functions. Assemblymember Patty Gilbert asked what parts of the borough manager job the deputy would...
Wrangell renters have benefitted from more than $237,000 in assistance under a federally funded, state-managed program that is among the leaders nationwide in getting money to landlords and utilities on behalf of households economically hurt by the pandemic. More than $110 million had gone out to help almost 19,000 households statewide as of last week, almost half of the $242 million allotted to Alaska under the federal pandemic assistance program. Alaska was ranked third in the nation among states for distributing the funds, according to...
The borough assembly has approved a zoning amendment that opens the possibility for condominiums past the cemetery out to the end of city water and sewer services. The amendment adds condominiums as an allowable conditional use in the Rural Residential 1 zoning district, if municipal water and sewer service is available to ensure environmental controls over waste disposal from the multiple housing units. The change “provides another development option,” Carol Rushmore, Wrangell’s zoning administrator, wrote in her presentation for the Aug....
The borough assembly has approved the sale of three residential lots. The lots are all next to each other on Etolin Street, zoned for single-family residences, and each is a little less than half an acre in size. The minimum bids for the lots range from $28,350 to $31,500. The borough will use the Public Surplus website — a nationwide commercial operation that specializes in selling government property — to auction the lots, just as it recently did for the unused armory on Second Avenue, which reverted back to the borough after the Army Nat...
Monday, Aug. 23 Inmate booking. Welfare check. Traffic stop. Tuesday, Aug. 24 Agency assist: Ambulance. Agency assist: Ambulance. Wednesday, Aug. 25 Agency assist: Fire alarm. Found property. Driving complaint. Vehicle unlock. Assault IV/domestic violence: Arrested for assault IV/domestic violence, interfering with a report of domestic violence and probation violation. Thursday, Aug. 26 Reckless driving: Citation issued for excessive acceleration. Friday, Aug. 27 Traffic stop. Fire. Parking violation. Dog at large. Saturday, Aug. 28 Agency...
Alaska’s 2021 salmon harvest has blown past the forecast and by last Friday had topped 201 million fish, well above the 190 million projected at the start of the season. The catch was bolstered by a surge of pink salmon to the three top-producing regions: Prince William Sound, Southeast and Kodiak, combined with strong landings of sockeyes. “Pink salmon runs are over 95% complete, based on average run timing. Effort drops off quickly this late in the season, so it is difficult to predict where that harvest will end up,” said Forrest Bower...
The view from the water, pulling into Heritage Harbor on Monday, showed just how good it can look when the sun is out, the skies are blue, and the clouds are reflected in the water....
KENAI (AP) – The Kenai Peninsula Borough mayor, who is not a medical professional, has promoted a debunked treatment for COVID-19 that is intended more for farm animals. Mayor Charlie Pierce has publicly backed the use of ivermectin, an anti-parasitic deworming drug, the Peninsula Clarion newspaper reported Aug. 25. Livestock supply stores in the borough, south of Anchorage, have received numerous inquiries about the drug in the recent weeks. Pierce has twice defended use of the drug, first at last week’s borough meeting and during a radio sho...
