Sorted by date Results 276 - 300 of 608
The Wrangell Borough Assembly hosted a public hearing on next year's budget Tuesday night, June 16. This was an opportunity for members of the public to voice their opinions and concerns regarding FY 2021, and how Wrangell's money is going to be allocated. Thanks in part to the COVID-19 pandemic, like many other communities, Wrangell is facing a lean financial year. There were several people who called in to the meeting, or wrote emails to the city, who wanted to state their support for...
The Wrangell Borough assembly metTuesday evening, May 26, to host a workshop on the drawing-near Fourth of July. This was an initial discussion to talk about how Wrangell's famous Independence Day celebration might look this year, with the COVID-19 pandemic still ongoing. "This is obviously a fairly important topic to Wrangell, our community is known for our fantastic Fourth of July, we all look forward to it every year," Mayor Steve Prysunka said. Prysunka and Borough Manager Lisa Von Bargen...
The Wrangell Economic Development Committee met Tuesday afternoon, May 19, to workshop several financial assistance ideas they will be bringing before the borough assembly in the near future. With the COVID-19 pandemic ongoing, and the city expecting to receive money via the CARES Act to help with economic recovery, the committee has spent the past few meetings workshopping ways to assist people and businesses around the community. The committee had an extensive list of categories of financial a...
Graduating students of Wrangell High School, school staff, and other community members came together via web conference last week for senior awards night. During the web conference, graduating seniors were informed of scholarships they had won. "I'm excited to see who wins the awards today, and I want to remind you guys that even if you haven't applied for any scholarships yet there's still millions of dollars out there," Interim Principal Jack Carney said. "So if you don't win anything tonight...
April 22, 1920 Postmaster Stedman has received a considerable quantity of garden and flower seeds from Delegate George B. Grigsby for distribution. These are the seeds furnished by the Department of Agriculture and are of good quality. Anyone desiring some of these seeds may obtain them by calling at the post office. April 27, 1945 Touring Southeastern Alaska, a Ketchikan Chamber of Commerce goodwill party arrived here last Saturday morning for a brief stay before flying on to Petersberg, Sitka and Juneau. While here, they met with members of...
PETERSBURG – The Petersburg Chamber of Commerce has officially cancelled this year's Little Norway Festival due to uncertainties over how long state health mandates to shelter in place and maintaining social distancing will remain in place. Chamber Administrator Mara Lutomski said the choice to cancel the 62nd Little Norway Festival was a hard decision for the chamber board. "No one wants to cancel a festival that has been such a rich part of Petersburg history," said Lutomski. The chamber of c...
March 18, 1920 A depredation was committed Sunday night when some miscreant tore down the Poodle Dog Cafe’s sign and also capsized the pails containing small trees in front of the building. If the depredator is apprehended he will learn that such acts committed on either public or private property is an expensive pastime in Wrangell. March 16, 1945 In line with the recently announced policy of planning a more efficient hospital, the board has authorized alterations at Bishop Rowe General hospital to make the institution more compact and e...
PETERSBURG – Sen. Bert Stedman told the community while attending the Petersburg Chamber of Commerce banquet on Saturday that the future of the Alaska Marine Highway System depends on how negotiations go with Gov. Mike Dunleavy. Stedman said that legislators will discuss the AMHS and present possible scenarios to the governor when Dunleavy releases his operating budget; however, without enough votes to override the governor's anticipated vetoes, negotiations won't be too aggressive. "If you don'...
The Wrangell Chamber of Commerce held its annual dinner last Saturday evening. Community members from all over town came to the dinner, including several out-of-town guests such as Representative Dan Ortiz and Senator Bert Stedman. Like last year, the dinner served as an opportunity for the community to come together for a good meal and to participate in a number of auctions and raffles. The dinner also served as an opportunity to recognize people and organizations that really stood out over...
The Wrangell Chamber of Commerce and other city officials hosted a public meeting to discuss the upcoming 2020 Fourth of July celebration. Wrangell is well known for going all out with its week-long schedule of events for the Fourth, and a preliminary draft schedule shows that this will be the same this year. While there was low turnout for the meeting, there was a lot of information regarding some of the celebration's bigger events. For one thing, the annual boat races will feature a brand new...
Wrangell's census committee, made up of representatives of several organizations across the community, met last Thursday, Jan. 23, to continue their discussion of how to encourage higher responses to the upcoming 2020 census. During the meeting, Economic Development Director Carol Rushmore provided sample copies of the questionnaire people will have the opportunity to answer for the census. There are nine questions, asking for a person's name, age, sex, race, phone number, whether they own or re...
City officials and other community members came together at city hall last week on Jan. 10 to discuss the upcoming 2020 census. The census occurs nationwide every 10 years, since the government began tracking the nation's population in 1790, according to the Census Bureau's website. The purpose of the census is to see how populations have changed state to state, to make sure that there is fair representation in Congress. According to the 2010 census, Alaska had a population of 710,231, an...
January 8, 1920 Be it enacted by the State House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, that the incorporated town of Wrangell, Alaska, is hereby authorized and empowered to issue its bonds in any sum, not exceeding $80,000 for the purpose of enlarging its schoolhouse and constructing and equipping schools, for the acquisition and construction of a water-supply system, for the construction of a sewer system and for the construction of a city dock and also a floating dock. January 12, 1945 James Nolan was...
November 20 , 1919 A special mail route between Ketchikan, Wrangell, Petersburg and Doyhoff has been established in accordance with announcement made by the Postoffice department three months ago, and published in the Sentinel. The new route was established to give additional mail service to Wrangell and Petersburg during the winter months (November 1 to March 31). The power boat that has been placed on the run left Ketchikan on its first trip last Thursday morning and reached here Thursday evening. November 17, 1944 The following an...
They are certainly cute but the voracious appetites of sea otters continue to cause horrendous damage to some of Southeast Alaska’s most lucrative fisheries. How best to curtail those impacts will be the focus of a day long stakeholders meeting set for November 6 in Juneau. “All of the people who have anything to do with the otters hopefully will all be in the same room at the same time,” said Phil Doherty, co-director of the Southeast Alaska Regional Dive Fisheries Association (SARDFA) based in Ketchikan. A 2011 report by the McDowell Group...
SITKA, Alaska (AP) – New technology distributed in an Alaska community is expected to help detect and study conditions that lead to landslides, a researcher said. The landslide detection system in Sitka will monitor soil moisture levels and help residents and scientists understand landslide patterns, the Sitka Sentinel reported Thursday. University of Oregon postdoctoral researcher Annette Patton introduced the system at a Sitka Chamber of Commerce event Wednesday. Patton helped install the system funded through a $2.1 million grant from the N...
September 25, 1919 At the meeting of Alaska Labor Union No. 10 to be held Saturday night delegates will be elected to the first territorial convention of the Alaska Labor Union, which will convene in Juneau Oct. 10. At present there is no territorial organization of the Union. The first chapter was organized at Anchorage there years ago, and that local has taken the lead in the affairs of the union. The officers of the Wrangell local are particularly desirous that there be as large an attendance as possible Saturday night in order that all may...
September 11, 1919 One of the prettiest war souvenirs we have seen was received this week by Wrangell man, O. A. Brown, from the American Can Company. The shell is of brass, over three inches in diameter and 2 ½ feet in length. The following note accompanied the souvenir. “When loaded for service the brass case contains the propelling charge of smokeless powder, which shoots the steel to an extreme range of four miles. The steel shell is filled with high explosive, usually T.N.T., which is caused to explode when striking the target or gr...
As summer draws to a close, another season of fishing derbies has wrapped up as well. Wrangell saw two derbies this past month, a coho derby from Aug. 10 to Sept. 2, and a halibut derby over Labor Day weekend. There were numerous prizes available in each derby. According to Alicia Gillen, with the chamber of commerce, 220 tickets were sold this year in total. First place in the coho derby went to Elmer Mork, who caught a salmon weighing 15.4 pounds. His prize for first place is 30 percent of...
The Alaska Chamber of Commerce touts itself as “the voice of Alaska business” but seafood industry and coastal community members are largely left out of the conversation. The Chamber isn’t entirely at fault; it appears that most of those members are not speaking up. Three cases in point. In February the Chamber was one of the first to “applaud Governor Dunleavy for proposing a spending plan that matches current revenues.” In April the Chamber testified in support of the Pebble Mine draft environmental impact statement “in the name of due proc...
August is just around the corner, meaning it is almost time for Wrangell's annual fishing derby. Fishing derbies have been a longstanding tradition in Wrangell, and for many years the king salmon derby was a very popular event for locals and tourists. However, the king derby was set aside last year due to struggling stock numbers, and replaced with a coho salmon derby. Last year's coho derby saw 240 tickets sold and 106 salmon weighed in. This year, the chamber of commerce is offering tickets...
July 24, 1919 Since the opening days of the recent World War, customs in a good many lines have undergone marked changes. In no direction has this been more noticeable than in furs. Though custom furs were worn only in the late fall and winter months, and their use in this way made the fur business a seasonable one of relatively short duration. The heavy consumption of furs so far the present summer has kept manufacturers extremely busy and created such a big demand for goods, that the stocks of raw furs in all parts of the world have shrunken...
The Fourth of July was a hot and sunny day in Wrangell, but that did not stop many people from getting out and having a good time. Like all previous years, this year's fourth was the culmination of a whole week of events to celebrate Independence Day. There were numerous events, games, food booths, and other things to do to keep everyone busy last Thursday. While this year stood out because of a lack of fireworks due to ongoing drought conditions across Southeast Alaska, it still brought out...
Among the many events occurring the week of the Fourth of July in Wrangell is the annual talent show. The event is a great way for locals and visitors to show off their talents, whatever they may be, and to have a fun evening. There were a wide variety of acts for people to enjoy this year. Bella Ritchie and her brother, Ryder, read poetry. Abby Gerald performed "Even If" by MercyMe on the piano. One particularly large act was done by the Young cousins: Braidyn, Taylor, Dvyn, Brynlee, Kelyn,...
One of the most highly anticipated events in Wrangell's Fourth of July celebration is the Chuck Oliver Logging Show. The contest harkens back to Wrangell's days as an important part of the timber industry in Southeast Alaska. Formed in 1975 by Chuck Oliver, who was then working with Alaska Lumber & Pulp, the logging show drew people from all over to Wrangell. The contest offered numerous events for participants to show off their skills, according to a 1975 paper in the Wrangell Sentinel's...
