Articles from the November 18, 2021 edition
Sorted by date Results 1 - 25 of 33
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The Way We Were
Nov. 17, 1921 According to the Alaska Directory published in the General Federation News, the official organ of the club women of the country, Mrs. I.C. Bjorge, of Wrangell, has been appointed chair of the Alaska Federation. Other chair are: Art and...
Wrangell at 51 cases this month; a new record for COVID
Wrangell has set a pandemic record for the community for the number of COVID-19 cases in a month, reporting on Thursday its 50th and 51st infections in the first 18 days of November. The old record of 48 was set in August. Amid the surge in new... Full story
Police report
Monday, Nov. 8 Fire alarm. Dog complaint. Tuesday, Nov. 9 Agency assist: U.S. Forest Service. Vacation check. Wednesday, Nov. 10 Traffic stop: Citation issued for speeding in school zone. Agency assist: Hoonah Police Department. Traffic stop:...
Former resident leads interest from substance abuse detox center
A for-profit detox and recovery center business interested in purchasing the former hospital building planned a site visit for this week, and a former Wrangell resident who now works as a company representative led them to it. Casey Odell, the...
Port and harbors junks the clunkers
The port and harbors department is Marie Kondo-ing the boatyard. But when tossing out what doesn't bring joy consists of 10 derelict vessels that include steel, wood and fiberglass boats, the...
Lack of child care sends parents in search of solutions
Nicole Hammer is faced with a child care conundrum that has no easy solutions. As her unemployment benefits run out, she needs to find a job. But finding someone to watch her son is proving to be...
Borough applies for pandemic aid to cover lost revenues
The borough assembly last Friday approved submitting an application for $1.8 million in pandemic relief aid to replace lost sales tax, port and harbors and other revenues in 2020. The funds, if granted, would come from the state’s share of the A...
Interim borough manager says Coast Guard experience a good fit
Wrangell's interim borough manager has been in the role for more than two weeks and would like to stay a lot longer. Jeff Good has applied for the full-time borough manager position, seeking to make...
Corroded steel delays Matanuska return by two weeks
The 58-year-old state ferry Matanuska will spend an additional two weeks in a Ketchikan shipyard so that workers can repair and replace corroded steel discovered below deck. The Kennicott will help cover Southeast during the vessel’s absence. The Mat...
Community invited to Dove Tree ceremony of remembrance Nov. 28
The holiday season is generally a time of gathering and happiness. It can also be a time of great sadness, mourning those who are no longer present to celebrate. Since 2003, Hospice of Wrangell has offered the Dove Tree and Dove Tree ceremony as a wa...
Governor picks and chooses which freedoms he supports
Gov. Mike Dunleavy is in reelection campaign mode, which is sort of like pie á la mode — political apple pie with a big scoop of partisanship on top. The governor earlier this month issued an administrative order that he said was necessary to protect...
Happy 119th birthday to the Sentinel
I don’t celebrate my own birthday — gave that up when I grew up and mom stopped giving me money to take all my friends bowling at Dom DeVito’s Lanes, where the bar was off-limits but it still felt cool to put our pop bottles in the same holde...
Community garden board surveys public interest
The Wrangell community garden has seen better days. Its board members believe it can see those days - plus a little more - again. A survey was recently posted online to gauge interest from the communi...
Second round of WCA pandemic assistance grants available
Wrangell Cooperative Association members are eligible for a second round of pandemic assistance grants for food and utility expenses, with applications due by Nov. 30. The assistance payments will be $1,000 per household for groceries and $1,000 for...
Assembly denies COVID waiver request from school district
The borough assembly has denied the school district’s request for an exemption from Wrangell’s testing and isolation requirements for unvaccinated students who travel. In October, the district had requested students and staff traveling for ext...
Teams remain in Wrangell over weekend due to COVID
The Wrangell High School wrestling and volleyball teams stayed in town last weekend instead of traveling for matches, due to ongoing COVID-19 concerns. A wrestler tested positive for COVID-19 last week after returning from a match in Anchorage with e...
School board member resigns; process to fill seat begins
School board member Laura Ballou has resigned her position, citing the personal responsibilities of her full-time nurse practitioner job and her farm, Oceanview Gardens. The school board accepted the resignation at its Nov. 15 meeting and began the...
Assembly OKs $115,000 to fix damaged barge ramp flotation tank
It will be spring before the city barge ramp is back in operation, with repairs taking several months longer than expected. Until then, the weekly Alaska Marine Lines freight barges will have to continue to side-tie at the former sawmill dock at the...
Colder-than-normal La Niña winter predicted second year in a row
La Niña climate conditions could yield lower-than-normal temperatures in Wrangell and the rest of Southeast this winter. The National Weather Service Climate Prediction Center last month released its 2021 winter outlook for December through...
Free boating safety class Saturday
An all-day boating safety class, Alaska Water Wise, will be offered Saturday at the Nolan Center, presented by the state Office of Boating Safety and volunteers who are working to organize a Wrangell detachment of the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary. The...
Alaska joins another lawsuit against federal vaccination requirements
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — A coalition of 10 states, including Alaska, sued the federal government on Nov. 10 to block a COVID-19 vaccine requirement for health care workers, adding to resistance by Republican-led states against the pandemic policies...
Accusation of partisanship in legislative redistricting
A divided Alaska Redistricting Board voted last week on a final map that could give one of the more conservative areas of the state, Eagle River, a second seat in the state Senate. All three board members appointed by Republican elected officials...
Wrangell's trash masher and baler is on the job
Loose trash goes in and comes out in compact, 50-cubic-foot bales, strapped up and ready to ship out of state. The combination masher and baler has been at work at Wrangell’s trash transfer station since late October. Rather than shipping out loose g...
Ketchikan uses cruise line gift to bail out port fund
The Ketchikan city council has decided to use the community’s $2 million gift from Norwegian Cruise Line to help cover lost revenue in the town’s ailing port fund. The city finance director reported to the council that port revenues fell by more than...
Alaska doctors will ask state to investigate COVID misinformation
ANCHORAGE (AP) — Alaska doctors plan to ask the State Medical Board to investigate concerns about the spread of misinformation about COVID-19 vaccines and treatments by other physicians. Merijeanne Moore, a private practice psychiatrist, said she d...
