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The Wrangell Borough Assembly met Tuesday evening, Oct. 27. The main focus of the meeting was a discussion on the COVID-19 pandemic, and the situation across the state. Multiple guest speakers from the state were invited into the discussion, to answer questions and talk about what people need to do to stay safe. Guests included DHSS Commissioner Adam Crum, Bryan Fisher with Alaska's COVID-19 Unified Command, DHSEM Deputy Director Paul Nelson, and Eliza Muse with DHSS. It is pretty clear that Ala...
Starting next Monday, Nov. 2, Evergreen Elementary school will be returning to a full-day schedule. After the district closed down late last school year in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Wrangell's schools have been following modified schedules and operating plans this year. Thanks to the situation in Wrangell being comparatively safe, and a recent staffing increase, Lead Teacher/Assistant Principal Jenn Miller-Yancey said Evergreen Elementary is ready to get back to their normal schedule....
A meeting between school officials and concerned community members was held in the WHS commons last Thursday evening, Oct. 22 about a then-recent announcement by the Alaska School Activities Association. The announcement, shared on the Wrangell Public Schools' Facebook page on Oct. 19, made it a requirement for high school athletes to wear face masks during competition. Previously, students were not expected to wear masks during activity. The only exception for this new announcement was for...
With the COVID-19 pandemic still ongoing, and with cases increasing across the state, there has been some discussion in Wrangell about what Halloween could look like this year. Stephanie Cook, with the chamber of commerce, wanted to let everyone know that Halloween is still on this year. Peoplecan go trick-or-treating at businesses like normal, but some precautions should be taken. "We're just going to encourage everyone to mask up and social distance, and stay home if you're sick during the...
The Wrangell Swim Team met last Friday and Saturday for another swim meet. According to times provided by Coach Jamie Roberts, there were several personal bests made by her swimmers this weekend. It was a unique meet, Roberts said. Not only was it virtual, as most swim meets have been this past season due to COVID-19, but she said she was not actually sure how many other schools they were competing against. "I am unsure of how many teams, if any, participated in this weekend's virtual meet,"...
PETERSBURG – A positive case of COVID-19 was identified this morning in Mrs. Potrzuski’s fifth grade classroom at Rae C. Stedman Elementary School, resulting in a district-wide school closure, according to a statement on Petersburg School District’s Facebook page. Both the student and their parent tested positive for the virus, according to a joint-statement between the Petersburg Borough and Petersburg Medical Center. The student recently traveled to Juneau on a non-school related trip and is symptomatic, according to the joint state...
Wrangell’s Unified Command announced a new case of COVID-19 the evening of Tuesday, Nov. 3. This is Wrangell’s twenty-first total case, and at the time of writing the only active one. According to the press release, this case was confirmed in a non-resident, who has been notified and is in isolation. Of the 21 total cases Wrangell has seen, 13 have been locals and eight have been non-locals. Four cases were identified through airport testing. The others were identified by a routine testing plan or other testing platform. The city’s press relea...
Disruptions to ferry service have become a relatively common occurrence in recent history. The Alaska Marine Highway System has faced tight budgets, a strike, and an aging fleet in need of upgrades. With winter drawing near Wrangell will not see any ferry service for about two months if the winter schedule remains the same. According to the sailing calendar, found at www.dot.alaska.gov, the last ferry Wrangell will see in 2020 will be on Nov. 2. The M/V Kennicott will arrive from Ketchikan in the afternoon of that day, and depart for...
The Prysunka family, Dr. Lynn and Mayor Steve, met with KSTK and Wrangell Sentinel reporters on the afternoon of Oct. 20 to talk about the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Wrangell has seen a total of 20 cases of the virus since the pandemic began. The most recent case was announced on Sept. 14. All of these cases have recovered, though, and Wrangell has not seen an active case in about a month. However, across the state and the country, cases continue to rise. The Alaska Department of Health and...
To the Editor: I am extremely concerned that the State has decided to cut ferry service over the winter months to the community of Wrangell. The Alaska Marine Highway has determined that Ketchikan and Petersburg will each have 10 stops while Wrangell will have just two. We will have one north bound vessel in November and one south bound vessel in January. How is this possible? We are literally right between Ketchikan and Petersburg. The explanation provided by the State is that timing the tides...
Kate Thomas, Wrangell's parks and recreation director, recently earned an award from the Alaska Recreation and Parks Association. ARPA held their annual conference in early October, virtually in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Among the people and organizations recognized during the ceremony was Thomas, who received the Professional Award. "The Professional Award is the highest recognition that ARPA can bestow upon a deserving candidate," an Oct. 16 press release read. "Kate is passionate...
Light-weight collapsible pots prevent whales from pirating pricey black cod from longline hooks and give a break to small boats. "Getting whaled" is so pervasive fishery managers allowed black cod (sablefish) fishermen to switch from baited lines to rigid pots in the Bering Sea in 2008 and in the Gulf of Alaska starting in 2017. (Interestingly, killer whales rob the hooks in the Bering Sea, while sperm whales are the culprits in the Gulf.) "The whale predation has just been so horrible," said...
The Wrangell Lady Wolves volleyball team, held their first home games of the season last Saturday against the Craig Lady Panthers. The games were hard-fought, but ultimately Wrangell was not able to claim any victories this time around. As part of a COVID-19 mitigation plan, the public was not invited to attend the games. Instead, they were live-streamed to the school district's YouTube channel. The first game had the two teams neck-and-neck for a good portion of the game, with the Lady Wolves m...
Wrangell's school board met Monday evening, Oct. 12. Among other business they discussed during the meeting, they accepted a letter of resignation from Superintendent Debbe Lancaster. "There are several reasons for my resignation with one being that I would like to pursue a position in education in another district to be with my spouse," Lancaster wrote in her letter, dated Oct. 1. "I will work until the end of my contract and help the Wrangell Public School Board and staff transition another...
The Wrangell Lady Wolves travelled to Petersburg last weekend for their first scrimmages of the season, against their school rivals. Coach Alyssa Allen said that they only travelled with six members of the team, via Breakaway Adventures. The players wore masks and followed a mitigation plan while visiting Petersburg, she added, to stay safe from COVID-19. Shayna Shultz shared scores from the scrimmages to the WHS Volleyball Facebook page on Oct. 10. They played four games, in which Petersburg...
Wrangell’s Tent City Days Festival kicks off this week. The festival, celebrating the city’s history from the Alaska gold rush, has been a long-running tradition in the community. However, it has seen a decline in public interest in recent years. Jillian Privett, one of the organizers behind the event this year, said she hopes to help revitalize the festival. “Tent City Days has been going on for over 30 years, since I was a little kid,” she said. Privett said that Tent City Days usually...
The Wrangell Borough Assembly met Tuesday evening, Oct. 13. During this meeting, they voted to extend a resolution allowing them to forgo in-person meetings during the COVID-19 pandemic. This resolution was approved back in March when COVID-19 was beginning to impact Alaska. The resolution allowed for the suspension of in-person assembly meetings until Oct. 17, unless extended. According to the meeting's agenda packet, the city is working on plans to return to in-person meetings, but for the...
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) – U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan and challenger Al Gross met in a debate focused on fisheries policy that ended up focusing on other issues including federal COVID-19 relief funding and Pebble Mine. The candidates for Sullivan’s seat in the U.S. Senate squared off Saturday in the 90-minute debate on Zoom, The Anchorage Daily News reported. Sullivan, the Republican incumbent, repeatedly characterized Gross as a threat who could hand Democrats control of the Senate. The debate was hosted by ComFish Alaska and the Kodiak Cha...
Applications for Thanksgiving and Christmas baskets are now open, according to Lt. Jon Tollerud of the Salvation Army. The Salvation Army and the Wrangell Ministerial Association are partnering to provide the baskets for Wrangell families in need of assistance during the holiday season, he said. The application process is simple. There is only one form to fill out, he said. "If all they want is Thanksgiving, or all they want is Christmas, they just circle one," Tollerud said. "Or they circle...
About two weeks ago, the Wrangell Sentinel received an email regarding a weather transmitter at Cape Fanshaw that was not operating. The email claimed that the transmitter has not been in operation for over a year, and is supposed to provide weather and navigation information for Frederick Sound and Stephens Passage. The email went on to say that it was the responsibility of the Coast Guard to repair the transmitter, which they have not done. Cape Fanshaw is located north of Petersburg, along a...
Last weekend was the regional meet for Region 5 cross country teams. While Wrangell High School has participated in the season virtually this year, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, they were able to travel this weekend to Petersburg to compete in person. Activities Director Trisa Rooney said, in an email, that while Wrangell was in Petersburg last Friday, Oct. 2, they ran separately from Petersburg's cross country team. Other participants in regionals include Haines and Metlakatla virtually,...
Now that the 2020 pack of Alaska salmon has been caught and put up, stakeholders will get a better picture of how global prices may rise or fall. Nearly 75% of the value of Alaska’s salmon exports is driven by sales between July and October. And right now, lower supplies of wild Pacific salmon by the major producers are pushing up prices as the bulk of those sales are made. For sockeye salmon, global supplier and market tracker Tradex reports that frozen fillets are in high demand and supplies are hard to source for all sizes. With a catch t...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) – A state court judge on Monday ruled enforcement of witness requirements for absentee ballots in Alaska during a pandemic “impermissibly burdens the right to vote” but did not immediately put into effect an order eliminating the requirement for the general election. Superior Court Judge Dani Crosby gave the parties until late Tuesday to propose how the Division of Elections should communicate the message and said she would later issue an order “specifying how to implement elimination” of the requirement for the Nov. 3 el...
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Alaska reported six more deaths from the coronavirus — the highest number of deaths in a single day since the pandemic began, according to the state Department of Health and Social Services. The state also reported 128 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 on Friday, the most recent available data. The deaths include three men in their 60s, one man in his 50s and two men in their 70s. The state had previously reported a high of four deaths on Aug. 25. As of Friday, there were 4,424 active cases of the coronavirus in the sta...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — A federal appeals court will not hear an Alaska absentee ballot lawsuit before the Nov. 3 general election. The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals denied a request Tuesday for an emergency order ahead of the election. The decision likely eliminates the possibility a judge will require the state to send absentee ballot request forms to all voters before November, which was the goal of the lawsuit by the Disability Law Center of Alaska and other plaintiffs. Alaska voters must request absentee ballots to vote by mail. The state p...