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In a two-page letter to the community, Schools Superintendent Bill Burr on Friday cautioned that ongoing staffing shortages, particularly aides and substitute teachers, could push the schools into considering a move to distance learning in lieu of in-person instruction. “As we have had a number of unfilled positions over the last month, we need to continue looking at the need to move toward distance learning,” he wrote in his letter Friday. “We have worked very hard to keep our schools open during (COVID) mitigation and adversity, but without o...
The borough assembly has postponed for the second time a decision on a proposed increase in water rates, and is now considering a 30% boost instead of the 21% rate hike originally suggested by staff. The assembly last month delayed a decision on the 21% rate increase after several members said they wanted to hear more public comment on the issue. At the April 12 assembly meeting, Assemblymember David Powell said he doesn’t put much stock in future assemblies honoring the incremental rate increases over several years included in the original p...
I would like to thank everyone who wrote a letter on my behalf to the chamber of commerce. I am deeply touched and humbled by the award I received at the April 9 dinner. There are so many people in the community who are more deserving, and I am overwhelmed that I was chosen. Thank you again for all your kind words, I am very honored. Sarah Merritt...
It seemed like a good idea at the time. Whipping up a dessert to donate for a fundraiser should be a fun experience, but like every creative endeavor, I end up being too hard on myself, cooking the joy out of baking. A few months back, Amber Armstrong, our office manager, asked if I wanted to donate a dessert of my making to a chamber of commerce event. I responded that I’d be happy to before I had a chance to think it through. Would I have the time? What would I make? Why me? Oh, yeah. I bake all manner of desserts and then share them with e...
A full house at the Nolan Center listened as the chamber of commerce honored Mia Wiederspohn as Wrangell’s youth leader of the year, Barbara Neyman as educator of the year, and Sarah Merritt as citizen of the year. The chamber presentation described Merritt, who has worked at the legislative information office in town since 1996, as “an outstanding citizen … understated, kind, solution focused, and devoted to the democratic process.” Merritt said she returned to Juneau after earning a degree in political science in South Dakota, later decidin...
April 13, 1922 The high school play, “Mary Jane’s Pa,” will be given in the Redmen’s Hall on Saturday, April 15. It is in three acts with a cast of 15 characters and will have two performances. At the afternoon performance, which is given so that schoolchildren may see it for a lower price and for mothers who cannot attend in the evening, the seats will be 25 cents for schoolchildren and 50 cents for the mothers. No reserved seats. At the evening performance, 160 seats at the front will be reserved at 75 cents each. The general admission to the...
March 30, 1922 The best news in Wrangell in a long time came this week in the form of a letter from the Federal Power Commission, indicating a willingness to grant an exclusive permit to the town of Wrangell for the purpose of water power development on Mill Creek. The town council has been working very hard on this proposition for several months. Through their efforts B.F. Heintzelman, special representative of the Federal Power Commission, recently came to Wrangell to go into the matter with the council personally. Several special meetings of...
It only takes a fraction of a second for a school, health care center, municipality or others to be the victim of a cyberattack. It could take months or even years to recover, if at all. Brittani Robbins, executive director of the chamber of commerce, and Matt Gore, an educational technology leader and former IT director for the borough and Wrangell School District, are working together to educate Alaska communities about the threats to cybersecurity and how to mitigate them. They are also advocating for strategic partnerships to develop disast...
More boys - and girls - of summer are needed. Sign-up for Wrangell Little League began a month ago and has been extended through Saturday. Organizers said there is room for more players and volunteers. "We just don't have the numbers," Kaelene Harrison, the player agent on the Little League board, said last Thursday. "What it will come down to is: I'll just be calling people, going through our list from last year. 'Hey, are you guys going to play this year?'" Last year, there were just a few...
March 23, 1922 With the Inter-School Meet at Juneau only five weeks away, the need for concerted action on part of the people in Wrangell has become more evident. Everyone is enthusiastic about the meet, as Wrangell wants to be put on the map educationally. The community is loyal to its school and is anxious to see the pupils who will be chosen for their special ability pitted against selected pupils of other schools in debates, declamatory contests, spelling, oral and written English, rapid calculation, basketball and track work. These pupils...
VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) — The Canadian government’s announcement it is dropping the requirement for vaccinated travelers to show a negative COVID-19 test result to enter the country was greeted with relief by tourism and business groups on both sides of the border last Thursday. Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos said tests will no longer be needed beginning April 1. Currently, fully vaccinated travelers entering Canada must present proof of a negative result from a professionally administered antigen test. The antigen test replaced the...
March 2, 1922 The representative of the Alaska Native Brotherhood, W.L. Paul, favors a bill prohibiting fish traps in any bay or channel less than three miles wide, one mile from creeks and one mile from the entrance to bays. Mr. Paul said the enactment of such a law would remove all the traps around Etolin Island, most of the traps on Prince of Wales Island, and some of the traps around Ketchikan, but would not affect the traps in the larger channels. However, Mr. Paul adds that owing to the wording of the law (should such a law be enacted),...
State ferry management said they are working to be more responsive to community and passenger concerns, including reconsidering the use of “dynamic pricing,” where fares increase as ships fill up on popular sailings. No one likes dynamic pricing, Katherine Keith, the Transportation Department’s change management director, told legislators last week. The pricing structure is similar to airlines, hotels and rental cars, where bookings on popular routes and travel days can cost significantly more, especially as availability tightens closer to th...
Feb. 9, 1922 Probably the most welcome news contained in this issue of the Sentinel is that the Wrangell sawmill will start up next week. During the next two months the mill will be busy on orders for Southeast Alaska customers. After that, there will be some export orders to be filled. Consequently a full season’s run is assured. Feb. 7, 1947 One of the most pressing topics taken at the Stikine Sportsmen’s Association meeting last Monday night was how the deer are faring this winter. Reports have drifted in of many deer being found frozen to...
Robbie Marshall, 25, and Kiara Marshall, 22, have known each other since elementary school. Robbie actually took Kiara's sister to the prom. Kiara and Robbie both ended up in her sister's wedding party in the summer of 2017. They started talking after that. Kiara's first impression of Robbie was that "he was really goofy and really cute." By November, they started dating. When they found out they were pregnant, "I asked her parents for her hand in marriage," Robbie said. But he still needed to...
Chamber of commerce assistant Luana Wellons’ last name was misspelled in the Jan. 20 issue of the Sentinel....
Tourism-dependent Skagway has started using one-quarter of the $2 million gift it received last year from Norwegian Cruise Line to pay out unemployment benefits to eligible residents. The first round of aid went out this month, totaling $112,500, the maximum monthly payout authorized by the borough assembly. The borough received 75 applications for December’s jobless aid, paid out in January, Borough Clerk Steve Burnham Jr. said Jan. 26. The next round of applications, for January’s unemployment, are due Feb. 7. Though the program set a max...
Feel like getting the royal treatment? Well, it’s going to take some hard work. Wrangell’s chamber of commerce has begun recruiting efforts for this year’s royalty competition, with winners announced during the Fourth of July festivities. The contest is a fundraiser for the chamber, which sponsors the annual July 4th activities, and for the candidates, who get to keep a share of their sales. The candidates sell as many raffle tickets as possible through door-to-door efforts or by including the tickets as part of food sales. Last year’s ticket s...
The uptick in COVID-19 cases after the holiday season has caused businesses to alter hours or close for days at a time, borough government to reinstate safety protocols, and schools to postpone sporting events. As of Wednesday morning, the borough had reported 114 cases since Dec. 30, a one-month record for the community and one-third of all the infections tallied in the almost 2-year-old pandemic. Close contact with active COVID-19 cases for Brittani Robbins, executive director of the chamber o...
Since first beginning to collect sales tax on online orders sold by out-of-town merchants such as Amazon in 2020, the borough continues to see an increase in revenues. In fiscal year 2021, which ended last June 30, the borough collected $180,000 in sales tax from what are called remote sellers, said Mason Villarma, the borough’s finance director. The finance department projects $200,000 in such sales tax revenues for fiscal year 2022, which ends June 30. At $200,000, the revenues would be about 7% of Wrangell’s total sales tax collections thi...
Jan. 12, 1922 Mr. Henderson's talk to the high school on Monday afternoon was mostly about the Southeast Alaska school meet to be held at Juneau the latter part of March. Contests will be held in basketball, indoor track, debating, declamatory and spelling. Detailed arrangements have not been made but Mr. Henderson expects to complete the plan as soon as he gets back to Juneau, and then send his plans to the schools. The students in Wrangell are resolving to make great efforts and to bring back honors to our school. Jan. 10, 1947 A committee,...
The Petersburg Borough Assembly has decided not to request home mail delivery. Assembly members on Dec. 20 defeated a resolution that would have asked the U.S. Postal Service to send carriers around town delivering mail, giving residents and businesses an option instead of requiring everyone to pick up letters and parcels at the post office. The resolution had been presented as a possible solution to ongoing issues at the short-staffed post office, which has seen long wait times for package pickup and reduced hours at the customer service...
Dec. 22, 1921 A live Chamber of Commerce for Wrangell promises to be a reality. Last week, half a dozen citizens who styled themselves organizers sent out invitations to the business and professional men of the town to attend a meeting in the Wrangell Hotel dining room. The meeting was called to order by Mayor Grant. Leo McCormack was elected temporary chairman. The chairman called for the reading of some correspondence which the organization committee had with the Juneau Commercial Club. The correspondence showed that the Juneau organization...
As the holiday season is upon us, people who leave town or receive visitors are hoping for an easy, breezy ride. No overheads or ferry breakdowns. But it doesn’t always go that way. Residents were happy to share their holiday travel stories, from heartwarming to humorous. Brittani Robbins, executive director of the Wrangell Chamber of Commerce In 2013, her grandmother Marian Robbins, in her 70s at the time, came to visit for Christmas from Tacoma, Washington. There had been a blizzard the day before and she overheaded Wrangell to Ketchikan. J...
While Petersburg continues to endure limited hours at the post office service window, long lines and a lack of masking enforcement in the building, the borough assembly is considering asking the U.S. Postal Service to offer home delivery. A draft resolution was presented to the assembly at its Dec. 6 meeting, with further consideration planned when the assembly meets Dec. 20. The Petersburg Chamber of Commerce wrote a letter in support of home delivery. The post office has been a common frustration among businesses, said Jim Floyd, chamber of...