Articles from the September 23, 2021 edition


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  • WCA takes on multiple programs to help tribal citizens during pandemic

    Larry Persily|Sep 23, 2021

    From building smokehouses and gardens to assisting with utility and food bills, the Wrangell Cooperative Association has been working to help its tribal citizens make it through the financial and emotional stress of the pandemic. "We took a hard look at what the WCA citizens were facing with the pandemic," said Esther Ashton, tribal administrator. That included financial needs and helping to build food self-sufficiency, she said. The eight-member elected tribal council last year considered how...

  • Wrangell will receive additional $604,000 in pandemic aid

    Larry Persily|Sep 23, 2021

    The borough expects to receive an additional $604,000 in federal pandemic relief aid through the state, and will move cautiously as it considers how best to use the money for the community’s benefit. The assembly will need to decide “what is the best long-term investment for us,” Borough Manager Lisa Von Bargen said last Friday. The administration will present recommendations to the assembly for its consideration after staff have reviewed federal guidance on spending the funds. The $604,000 is part of American Rescue Plan money directed to the...

  • ­Issues with water delivery system need costly solutions

    Marc Lutz|Sep 23, 2021

    Wrangell's water supply has its troubles. From the source reservoirs to the end users, the system for filtering and delivering water to businesses and residences needs some major overhauls -and they won't be cheap. The problems, officials say, start at the top at the lower reservoir and dam, which send water into the treatment plant where it goes through multiple phases of filtration and then is piped to customers. At an assembly meeting on Sept. 14, Public Works Director Tom Wetor presented a...

  • Growing number of produce farmers cropping up throughout the community

    Marc Lutz|Sep 23, 2021

    Wrangell is seeing some positive growth. The number of farming operations is on the rise throughout the community, and it's contributing to a healthier economy. There are two farms in Wrangell that grow a variety of fruits and vegetables and sell to residents and businesses, no less than nine residents that grow for their own consumption, and even Evergreen Elementary has a small farm. According to the Alaska Farmland Trust, the number of farms in the state increased by 30% from 2012 to 2017,...

  • The Way We Were

    Sep 23, 2021

    Sept. 22, 1921 Forest Examiner Kline has been a recent Wrangell visitor and while here made a trip up the river with Forest Ranger McKechnie to look over the trail that was put in from the garnet ledge several years ago. It has grown over since then and is almost obliterated in place. Frank Spaulding will brush it out so that it can be used by trappers and other travelers this winter. Mr. Spaulding will also build himself a cabin at Four Mile Creek, which is four miles above the garnet ledge, and will occupy it. Travelers over the trail will...

  • Alaska COVID-19 case count highest per capita in the nation

    The Wrangell Sentinel and The Associated Press|Sep 23, 2021

    While Wrangell did not report a single COVID-19 infection between Sept. 10 and 21, the state tracking website reported almost 8,000 new cases over that period. Alaska’s numbers are so bad lately that the state’s average rate of daily new infections over the past week is more almost triple the national average — and higher than any other state — as reported on The New York Times COVID-19 tracking page. Alaska is facing “one of the sharpest surges” in the country, the state epidemiologist said Sept. 16, adding that it’s not clear when the situ...

  • Tlingit language class for adults will start this fall

    Larry Persily|Sep 23, 2021

    Virginia Oliver has been teaching Tlingit at Wrangell schools since 2016, and this fall will expand her student body to include adults in a new twice-a-week program at the WCA Cultural Center on Front Street. The classes will include a monthly bingo event, with a fluent Tlingit elder calling out the game. Gift cards to local businesses will be awarded the winners, and “everybody is welcome to come,” Oliver said. The language class will be held at noon Tuesdays and Thursdays, with a bag lunch provided. The program will be funded by a grant from...

  • From the publisher

    Larry Persily, Publisher|Sep 23, 2021

    There is no precise count but it looks like federal pandemic aid distributed or allocated over the past 18 months to Wrangell residents, businesses, the borough, school district, tribe and nonprofits totals close to $30 million. That's about equal to all the income earned by every household in town in half a year, according to U.S. Census numbers. It's almost three times the annual budget of the borough and school board combined. Most of the money came as grants or simply as federal aid to keep...

  • Editorial

    The Wrangell Sentinel|Sep 23, 2021

    The math is simple. Take the 2020 Census for Alaska and divide by 40, so that each state House district represents the same number of residents - 18,335. But then nothing beyond the math is easy. It's impossible to carve up the state into 40 districts of exactly the same population. A battle ensues every 10 years over where the lines should be drawn for legislative seats, taking into account areas of population growth and population shrinkage. The job of the Alaska Redistricting Board is to foll...

  • Letter to the Editor

    Sep 23, 2021

    I used to believe that living on our island isolated us from all of the craziness of the Lower 48. I've often bragged about how in Wrangell we still lived the white-picket-fence, kids-playing-in-the-streets life of the 1950s. Unfortunately, that is no longer something I can say. Social media is pumping all sorts of Lower 48 craziness into our town. You can find the latest craziness by going to #deviouslicks on TikTok. There you will find hundreds of short videos from all over the country...

  • Correction

    Sep 23, 2021

    A story in the Sept. 16 issue of the Sentinel incorrectly reported there is no real estate agent based in Wrangell. Kathleen Harding with MoveToWrangell.com is based here....

  • Ground search at former Institute property on hold

    Larry Persily|Sep 23, 2021

    The borough is waiting on further guidance from the U.S. Department of the Interior on the agency’s nationwide initiative for researching and even searching the sites of former Bureau of Indian Affairs boarding schools, including the former Wrangell Institute property. The borough plans to subdivide the property for residential development, turning the 134 acres into 40 building lots. While waiting on the Interior Department, borough officials are talking with the State Historic Preservation Office and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to ensure t... Full story

  • Southeast visitor industry looks forward to 2022

    Larry Persily|Sep 23, 2021

    About 200 people convened in Haines last week - in-person and virtually - for the annual Southeast Conference, and much of the discussion among municipal and chambers of commerce officials focused on the region's economy, in particular the tourism outlook for next year. Cruise industry and airline officials talked optimistically of strong visitor travel next year, maybe even a record for cruise ship capacity, as the country emerges from the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic. "Right now, let's be positive ... this actually could happen," said Wendy...

  • The senator sold garnets, too

    Sep 23, 2021

    It was a homecoming of sorts when Sen. Lisa Murkowski (second from left) and her sister, Carol Murkowski Sturgulewski (left), visited the Ritchie family garnet and jewelry stand near the city dock on Sept. 12. The two Murkowski sisters had sold garnets to tourists when they were kids in the mid-1960s, when their father, Frank Murkowski, managed the National Bank of Alaska branch in Wrangell. "We sold them on the dock, separated by size in egg cartons. I seem to recall 25 cents seemed like a big...

  • Tent City Days to become celebration of 'all things Wrangell'

    Marc Lutz|Sep 23, 2021

    Event organizer Jill Privett is looking to make a positive change with Tent City Days. In the past, the event celebrated the gold rush era, but Privett wants to focus more on “celebrating all things Wrangell, whether that be your love of the land, people, fishing, berry picking, etc.,” she said. From Oct. 14-17, various in-person and virtual events will be held, such as the Gold Nugget Open Swim, Alaska Day Fun Run, Tent City Steak Night, a food cache contest, Shady Lady Saturday Night, Zoom Story Time, Fisherman’s Crawl and the Wild Woman...

  • Borough to consider its own resolution on B.C. mining

    Larry Persily|Sep 23, 2021

    Acknowledging it is a “polarizing and divisive issue in Canada,” the Wrangell borough assembly will proceed “somewhat cautiously” in drafting a resolution on mining in the Stikine River watershed, Borough Mayor Steve Prysunka said. “Of course, we don’t want salmon impacted” by mining, he said. “We’re actually uniquely positioned, we’re at the outflow.” The Southeast Alaska Indigenous Transboundary Commission has asked the Wrangell assembly, and other elected bodies in the region, to adopt a resolution calling for a pause on new mining permits...

  • Police report

    Sep 23, 2021

    Monday, Sept. 13 Welfare check. Traffic stop. Tuesday, Sept. 14 Paper service: Domestic violence order. Property check. Summons service. Traffic stop: Verbal warning for defective headlights. Wednesday, Sept. 15 Criminal mischief. Agency assist: Ambulance. Dog complaint. Parking violation. Theft: Unfounded. Agency assist: Line crew. Alarm. Driving under the influence: Arrested. Thursday, Sept. 16 Agency assist: Harbomaster. Agency assist: Ambulance. Agency assist: Ambulance. Citizen assist. Friday, Sept. 17 Welfare check. Motor vehicle...

  • Board candidates express frustration over school communications

    Marc Lutz|Sep 23, 2021

    Six candidates are vying for three seats on the Wrangell school board. Angela Allen, Alex Angerman, Brittani Robbins and Elizabeth Roundtree are running for two open three-year terms. The top two vote-getters will win the election. Julia Ostrander and Jessica Whitaker are competing to fill one seat for an unexpired one-year term. Although each candidate has similar goals they want to achieve during their term if elected, they all have varied backgrounds and experience they believe would lend a...

  • Powell wants to see more borough land in private ownership

    Larry Persily|Sep 23, 2021

    One of the bigger issues that got David Powell interested in serving on the assembly several years ago was his belief that the borough needs to get out of the real estate business. He wanted Wrangell to sell off more of its property for private development, and to do it at a faster pace. He also wanted to serve because "I was interested in how things work with the city," he said. "In a roundabout way, I found it doesn't work as everybody thinks it works." Powell is running for a one-year term to...

  • McConachie believes employee relations are a problem for borough

    Larry Persily|Sep 23, 2021

    Don McConachie Sr. served on the assembly or as mayor between 1998 and when he resigned as mayor in 2013 for health reasons. He's ready now to get back to work at City Hall. McConachie, 75, who is retired, is running against incumbent David Powell for a one-year term on the borough assembly. "Our city has changed an awful lot. It has deteriorated a substantial amount," McConachie said. He was reluctant to provide specific examples, explaining, "The best way to understand what's going on is to...

  • Renée Roberts places first in three events at Petersburg meet

    Marc Lutz|Sep 23, 2021

    The Wrangell High School swim and cross country teams competed in meets last weekend. The results were mixed, but a few athletes turned in personal bests and first-place finishes. Swimming The swim team competed in the Petersburg Invitational Swim Meet, going against teams from Juneau-Douglas, Thunder Mountain in Juneau, Petersburg, Craig, Sitka and Ketchikan. Renée Roberts finished first in three of her events: the 50-yard freestyle (25.92); the 100-yard backstroke (1:05.02); and the 50-yard...

  • State offers another business relief program

    Sentinel staff|Sep 23, 2021

    The state has opened up another round of federally funded pandemic aid for businesses, though this latest program is different from past assistance efforts: The money will be awarded based solely on financial need, not on the date of application. The state has set aside $90 million for the program, which is being administered by the Juneau Economic Development Council under contract to Alaska Department of Commerce. The application deadline is 8 a.m. Oct. 17. The money is from the American Rescue Plan Act, which Congress approved and the...

  • Salmon catch tops 219 million fish; 15% above forecast

    Laine Welch|Sep 23, 2021

    Alaska’s 2021 salmon catch has topped 219 million fish, which is 15% higher than the preseason forecast of 190 million. The two biggest money makers exceeded expectations the most. The sockeye haul came in at 54 million compared to the predicted 46.5 million reds. Similarly, the pink salmon catch of nearly 151 million swamped the projection by 27 million humpies. And although the run of chum salmon was disappointing, falling about 4 million short of the 15.3 million projection, nearly 5 million chums were caught since Aug. 1, “making it one...

  • Anchorage military base declares public health emergency

    Sep 23, 2021

    ANCHORAGE (AP) - Military leaders on Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson have declared a public health emergency and encouraged all personnel to avoid places that do not require masks or social distancing in response to increasing COVID-19 cases in Alaska, officials said. “We’ve all seen COVID-19 cases continue to spread rapidly across our nation, the state of Alaska and in our local community,” U.S. Air Force Col. Kirsten Aguilar, 673d Air Base Wing and JBER commander, said in a statement Sept. 17. “After close consultation with JBER mission...

  • Idaho, Montana hospitals implement crisis controls

    Sep 23, 2021

    BOISE, Idaho (AP) - In another ominous sign about the spread of the delta variant, Idaho public health leaders on Sept. 16 expanded health care rationing statewide and individual hospital systems Montana have enacted similar crisis standards amid a spike in the number of unvaccinated COVID-19 patients requiring hospitalization. The decisions marked an escalation of the pandemic in several Western states struggling to convince skeptical people to get vaccinated. The Idaho Department of Health and Welfare made the announcement after St. Luke’s H...

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