Sorted by date Results 876 - 900 of 1040
The City and Borough of Wrangell announced on Tuesday morning, July 7, that all eight COVID-19 cases reported in Wrangell are now considered recovered. Two cases were from local Wrangell residents, while the remainder were confirmed in people from out of town through routine testing programs, or airport testing. "We were notified this morning, Tuesday, July 7, 2020 from State Public Health that Wrangell has no active COVID-19 cases (including non-residents)," reads a Facebook post from the City...
City officials organized a Zoom conference on June 30, to walk business owners and other listeners through the process of applying for the Alaska CARES Grant. This grant was created through a partnership of the Alaska Department of Commerce, Community, and Economic Development. the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority, and Credit Union 1. It aims to provide relief funding for small businesses that have suffered from the COVID-19 pandemic. The application process opened on June 1,...
The SouthEast Alaska Regional Health Consortium (SEARHC) will introduce weekly community COVID-19 testing for asymptomatic patients across the region in July. Asymptomatic testing will be available to Tribal beneficiaries in Juneau, and to all community members in other SEARHC communities. The initial testing will start on July 11 and 12 in Juneau, Wrangell and Sitka, and in other communities later in the month. Expanded community testing is being made possible by a grant from Indian Health...
The Wrangell Convention and Visitor Bureau met last Wednesday, July 1, to discuss their recently approved marketing plan and what their top priorities should be. The CVB has spent several meetings, recently, to put together a marketing plan for Wrangell, which could be funded through the CARES Act. This plan, requesting a total of $146,516, was approved by the borough assembly in their June 23 meeting. With their plans approved, the CVB needed to decide what to work on first, as there was a...
The global seafood industry will experience lasting impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic, including reduced demand and pricing. That is the conclusion of the State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture report produced every two years by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, the only report that tracks global fisheries and food trends. This year it included a special focus on the pandemic which has toppled seafood markets and supply chains around the world. The report forecasts that global seafood production will be down...
With recent national attention on the topics of racial bias and police brutality, the community of Wrangell met via web conference last Monday evening for a town hall meeting to discuss policing practices in their hometown. The meeting provided an opportunity for residents to ask questions of Chief Tom Radke and to share their opinions on the Wrangell Police Department. Those who spoke in the meeting, by and large, expressed support for the police and their current practices. "We had a handful...
While Wrangell is well known for its Fourth of July celebration, the COVID-19 pandemic has significantly altered the community's plans for Independence Day. While many popular and traditional events will not take place this year, such as the boat races or royalty contest, the public can still look forward to a fireworks show and parade. "Chamber leadership has weighed input from business membership and members of the community along with State and Local public officials," a community notice...
The latest cruise ship schedule, provided by Economic Development Director Carol Rushmore on June 23, shows that Wrangell can expect a total of less than 2,000 cruise ship visitors this season. This is a major decrease from estimates of 24,000 visitors this year, as well as roughly 20,000 visitors last season. The COVID-19 pandemic has drastically hurt the cruise industry across Southeast Alaska, including local businesses that rely on tourists to operate. "The only ships still on the schedule...
The Wrangell School District held another SMART Start meeting last Wednesday, June 24, to continue discussing ways the district can safely reopen and operate during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Department of Education has come out with recommendations to determine what constitutes different risk levels for operation in Wrangell, according to the meeting's notes, so the group of school board members, district faculty and staff, and parents mostly concentrated their discussion around the possible...
Matt Gore has been with the Wrangell School District since 2011, and has been the technology director since 2015. In his time as technology director, Gore said he has worked to give the school district faster and more reliable internet access, to put better technology in students' hands, and help the district use all the tools they had available. It is time for him to move on, however. Gore has left his Wrangell position to take a new job with the Southeast Island School District, on Prince of...
As Wrangell residents may remember, the borough assembly held a vote early in June to appoint Ryan Howe to fill an empty assembly seat. There was some question about this vote and whether or not it violated the Open Meetings Act, as assembly members chose their candidate via text message. Borough Manager Lisa Von Bargen said in a June 18 article for the Wrangell Sentinel that the assembly does not believe anything incorrect occurred, and that she ran the idea by the city's attorneys before...
A group of approximately 50 people joined last Sunday afternoon to walk in support of the Wrangell Police Department. The group walked, or rode motorcycles, from City Dock up to the Public Safety Building. Many people carried signs in support of the WPD, and police in general. As this march took place in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, many participants in the march also wore face coverings, and everyone was encouraged to socially distance. Pictured here (left to right) are Wrangell...
Happy Fourth of July! This year, we are celebrating 244 years as an independent nation. In 1776, our representatives from all 13 colonies declared our independence from the British monarch. The vote for freedom actually happened on July 2nd, and in the following two days, Congress, led by Thomas Jefferson, focused on writing and finalizing the Declaration of Independence. The Declaration was signed on July 4th, now known as our Independence Day. Thus began the ‘Great American Experiment’ to pursue “a more perfect union.” This Independence Day,...
Floyd Steven Ramsey, 61, died on May 25, 2020. He was born to Dudley and Esther Ramsey in Albuquerque, New Mexico on November 15, 1959. He was raised in Palm Springs, California and Newport Beach. He loved being a Cub Scout and worked in the food service industry and trained as a teenager to be a foreign auto mechanic by four German immigrants. His father was a chef at the Riveria which was a hotspot for the "Rat Pack," Peter Loftus, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, and Sammy Davis Jr. His mother...
The biggest red salmon run in the world is building at Bristol Bay. Up to 50 million fish could surge into its eight river systems in coming weeks, on par with past seasons. When it's all done, the fishery will provide nearly half the global supply of wild sockeye salmon. But this summer is different. Not only due to the restrictions and fears and economic chaos caused by Covid-19. At the height of the fishery, fishermen will learn if a massive gold and copper mine that's been hanging over...
Several local fishermen have been volunteering their time and energy, more so than usual, at Wrangell's sole operating seafood processor. With the decision by Trident Seafoods to not operate this summer, Sea Level Seafoods has been the only local option available for fishermen to process their catches. However, thanks to a number of factors brought on by COVID-19, Sea Level has been shorthanded. This has led to a number of fishermen volunteering to help process crab, as well as catch them....
City officials organized an online town hall meeting last Thursday evening, June 18, to try and answer some community questions regarding the COVID-19 pandemic. The town hall also saw some special guests from the state level take part in the Q&A session: Chief Medical Officer Dr. Anne Zink and Dr. Joseph McLaughlin. Representative Dan Ortiz also participated in the web conference. As the doctors had a limited window of time to take part in the town hall meeting, city officials spent previous...
The number of COVID-19 cases in Wrangell has increased since last week's edition of the Wrangell Sentinel. As of Tuesday, June 23, there are eight total cases of the virus in town. The fourth case was announced on Wednesday, June 17. According to a joint press release from the city and SEARHC, the patient was an unnamed traveller. He was identified through the airport testing program and is currently in quarantine. "So far, the State's airport testing program has proven to be effective," Borough...
The Wrangell Borough Assembly held one of their last budget work sessions last Wednesday evening, June 17, to finalize next year's budget for the city. For FY 2021, Wrangell is looking at revenues of $4.48 million in the general fund, but expenses of $4.78 million. Much of the discussion in this workshop revolved around the general fund, and how to handle its deficit. The workshop lasted for about three and a half hours. In the end, the assembly directed city administration to move forward with...
Wrangell School District staff, school board members, and parents have been holding weekly meetings to discuss the safe reopening of Wrangell schools, under the new Smart Start outline provided by the state. The group held their second meeting Wednesday, June 17, to try and look at some of the bigger questions surrounding getting kids back into school during the COVID-19 pandemic. Superintendent Debbe Lancaster explained, back in a May 18 school board meeting, that Smart Start is meant to be a...
The Wrangell Borough Assembly met Tuesday evening, June 23. While the adoption of the FY 2021 budget was the primary topic of discussion, and is covered in another article, there were several other important items covered in the meeting. One such item was the resignation of Assembly Member Mya DeLong. DeLong submitted her letter of resignation on June 8, but it was only formally accepted by the assembly in this meeting. According to her letter of resignation, DeLong has served as a member of...
The Wrangell Convention and Visitor Bureau met last Wednesday afternoon, June 17, to finish up a proposed marketing plan to bring before the borough assembly. In the time of COVID-19, the bureau was hoping to receive funding from the city to address the impacts the pandemic has had on the visitor industry. According to their list of proposals, provided by Economic Development Director Carol Rushmore, the CVB is seeking a total of $146,516 for various projects. First of all, the CVB would like...