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Internet service provided by GCI was knocked out when Wrangell was pummeled by a gusty storm on Nov. 30, and three weeks later residents were still reporting outages. Technicians were able to restore service to customers by Dec. 3, but there were complaints as recently as Dec. 22 that the service comes and goes. Residents took to the Wrangell Community Group on Facebook to ask if others were experiencing outages — and to complain. Some were seeing disruptions every day, sometimes up to five hours with no service. “It’s my understanding that...
Internet service provided by GCI was knocked out when Wrangell was pummeled by a gusty storm on Nov. 30. Technicians were able to restore service to customers by Dec. 3, however, there have been complaints in recent days that the service comes and goes. Residents have taken to the Wrangell Community Group on Facebook to ask if others were experiencing outages — and to complain. Some were seeing disruptions every day, sometimes up to five hours with no service. “It’s my understanding that sever...
Like eight-track, cassette tapes and VCRs, cable TV will soon be a piece of entertainment nostalgia — in Alaska anyway. GCI announced a year ago that it would cease providing cable television service, and has introduced its streaming app, Yukon TV, to replace it. The company had set Dec. 31 as the deadline for customers to turn in their cable boxes and sign up for the new service, but later extended the deadline to March 31 — though fewer channels will be available on cable as the company transitions its service. “The whole industry is movin...
The borough is taking inventory of losses in the community to determine the total amount of damages for a possible disaster declaration after an unexpected windstorm on Nov. 30 knocked out power. After initial power restoration to much of the community, it took nearly 48 hours to restore electricity to 90 households after the storm snapped off Southeast Alaska Power Agency poles just south of City Park. "I was outside ready to pull the generator crank when the porch (light) came on!!!" wrote...
The aftermath of an unexpectedly strong Tuesday weather system affected life in Wrangell, postponing community events and unfurling an outpouring of support amid power outages. Power was restored to about 90 households early Thursday morning, according to Kim Lane, acting borough manager. Power poles at City Park are up and repaired, and power has been restored to the island. Crews worked through the night to restore the power, Lane said in a message. "Having roughly 100 homes without power...
Bob Russell recently returned to Alaska to continue his career pursuits in the technology arena. He started the next leg of his journey on July 2 as the school district's tech director, overseeing all computer equipment, internet connectivity, networking and learning devices. In short, if it's technology-related, Russell is in charge. Before coming to Wrangell, Russell and his wife, Kimberly, and Great Pyrenees dog, Yukon, lived in Tennessee. He had lived and worked in Fort Yukon some time...
It didn’t cost much, but adding text-to-911 service could be a big help in certain situations, said Wrangell Police Chief Tom Radke. The new text service could be particularly useful for boaters in trouble who may not have a strong enough cell signal for voice but just enough to send a text, he said. Same thing for people in remote areas onshore in an emergency. The software and equipment cost Wrangell about $4,000, Radke said last Friday. The service started up Sept. 1, after two or three weeks of testing. Wrangell and Petersburg are the f...
The borough assembly Tuesday evening approved a lease amendment for a new cell tower at the Shoemaker Harbor, which the developer said will bring improved cell service to the island. Action on a second agreement to lease borough land for a new tower next to the landfill at the north end of the island was postponed to the assembly’s Aug. 10 meeting, waiting for a property appraisal. The Shoemaker tower will replace a shorter pole installed in 2007 near the parking lot. The new 125-foot-tall tower will be capable of providing improved cell s...
ANCHORAGE (AP) - Telecommunications company GCI has resumed carrying three major TV channels after ending a months-long dispute with Alaska television network owners. An agreement was reached May 22-23 and the channel blackout was lifted for GCI customers, said Josh Edge, a GCI spokesperson. GCI cable customers lost access to ABC, FOX and The CW in January, when a prior programming agreement expired. The Alaska operators for the three channels are Coastal Television Broadcasting and Vision Alaska. The dispute was over how much GCI should pay...
"The idea is to reclaim, repurpose and recycle," Andrew Hoyt said. "That's where R&R Glassworks got its name, 'reclaimed' and 'repurpose.'" Wrangell residents may be familiar with R&R Glassworks, a relatively new business that has made itself known at community markets and online. Hoyt's art features antique glass bottles filled with water and shards of colored beach glass or clear automotive glass. They show vibrant colors and reflections when put against a light or on a windowsill. "We...
GCI, the largest telecommunications provider in the state, is closing down its call center jobs in Anchorage and moving the work to a contractor in the Philippines. It joins a growing list of U.S. companies outsourcing their customer service jobs overseas. The fact that GCI is one of many U.S. businesses to send work out of the country doesn't make it right, nor does it make it wrong. But it is another example of job and economic loss in a state that already is suffering from outmigration. More...
GCI, the largest telecommunications provider in the state, is planning to move all of its call-center operations out of Alaska and will contract with a third-party vendor to provide the service from the Philippines. The move will start this summer, according to a report in the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner on Saturday. The company, which provides cable television, internet, cell and wired telephone services in Alaska, has had a hard time filling its call-center jobs, said Heather Handyside, vice...
The 477-foot-long Cable Innovator pulled in as close as it could at Shoemaker Bay on Monday to lay GCI’s fiber optic cable to a new onshore connection point. See the full story on Page 5....
A ship built especially for laying fiber optic cable on the ocean floor was in front of Wrangell this week, moving GCI's Seafast communications cable into a safer position away from underwater power lines and the risk of sediment avalanches. The 477-foot-long, 78-foot-wide Cable Innovator, built in a shipyard in Helsinki, Finland, in 1995, will relocate about 14 miles of cable from its old starting position near Cemetery Point in Wrangell. From there, it wrapped around and down the west side of...
The Wrangell Planning and Zoning Commission met last Thursday evening, May 14, to hold several public hearings on various items. The meeting opened with a discussion on the proposed relocation of a submarine cable. Communications company GCI is seeking to relocate an underwater fiber optics cable, which runs from Ketchikan to Wrangell, to a new landing location on the island. This is because the Southeast Alaska Power Agency is planning to conduct submarine electrical line work where GCI's...
It was a relatively light meeting of the Wrangell Port Commission last Thursday evening, May 7. There was only one agenda item for the commission to consider, a request by GCI to relocate the landing for a submarine cable. The telecommunication company currently has a submarine cable come onto the beach next to the community garden area, near City Park. From there, according to the meeting's agenda packet, the cable hits aerial lines and goes to its hub building, and also leaves the beach area a...
Due to the spread of COVID-19 through Alaska, many people and organizations have had to suddenly alter their schedules and day-to-day operations. The Wrangell School District, for example, is looking at an extended closure right at the tail end of the school year. All schools in Alaska are to remain closed until May 1, according to an announcement by Governor Mike Dunleavy, to help mitigate the spread of the virus. This is especially important in Wrangell, Superintendent Debbe Lancaster wrote...
The Wrangell School board held a somewhat unique meeting Monday evening, March 16. Due to concerns about the coronavirus, though there have been no confirmed cases in Southeast Alaska as of this date, the board limited attendance to the meeting to a maximum of 10 people. Others interested in attending could sit in nearby rooms and watch the proceedings via livestream. Other than the limitation on how many people could be in the room, the meeting went on much like any other. During this meeting,...
September 16 Agency assist: Door unlocked. Suspicious circumstance: Civil matter. Unsecured premises. September 17 Citizen assist: Vehicle unlock. Paper service. Found property: Glasses turned in. Traffic stop: Verbal warning for driving habits. Found property: Cell phone turned in, returned to owner. September 18 Abandoned vehicle. Subpoena service. Suspicious circumstance. Report of Disturbance. September 19 Four subpoena services performed. September 20 Crisis intervention team. Traffic stop: Verbal warning to travel with headlights on....
The mission of Alaska Natives Without Land is to correct a decades-old injustice done to five Southeast Alaskan native communities. Back in 1971, the group's website reads, Congress passed the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act. This act granted Alaska Natives 44 million acres of land across the state, and $963 million, to form tribal corporations. In Southeast Alaska in particular, according to the website, ANCSA returned 560,000 acres of land to native ownership. However, five communities wer...
Ernestine Hayes said that she was raised as the only child of a single mother who was an avid reader. Growing up in Juneau in the '50s, she said, having her mother read to her was one of her main inspirations for becoming a writer. "The best way to become a writer is to be a reader," she said. Hayes and her mother moved to California when she was 15, according to Hayes' website, but when she was 40-years-old she "resolved to go home or die with my thoughts facing north." Her first book, "Blonde...
January 28, 2019 Traffic complaint. Welfare check. Noise complaint: Loud music. Turned down before officer’s arrival. January 29, 2019 Citizen assist: Vehicle unlock. January 30, 2019 Report of theft. Domestic violence: Unfounded. Agency assist: GCI cable down. Noise complaint. January 31, 2019 Two reports of theft. Agency assist: Welfare check. Two reports of trespassing. Traffic stop: No tail lights. Agency assist: WMC. Traffic stop: Verbal warning for passing in unauthorized zone. February 1, 2019 Suspicious person. Agency assist: Chimney f...
The most common piece of gear on a seine vessel is also one of the deadliest – the rotating capstan winch used for winding ropes. Anyone who has ever worked aboard a seiner has horror stories of close calls, or worse. “The deck winch is the most powerful thing on the boat. It’s the scariest piece of machinery that we work with. My feeling when I was caught in it was that I was completely helpless. There was nothing I could do,” said fisherman Noah Doncette who participated in a video for the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Hea...
A Wrangell freshman was invited to join the state-level treble choir this year, at the All-State Music Festival in Anchorage. Held between November 16 and 18 at the Bartlett and West Anchorage high school campuses, the Alaska School Activities Association event drew around 175 students from around the state to participate in its two choirs. Robyn Booker has been singing for "as long as I could talk," she reckoned. Participating in the annual Christmas concert through her school years, as a new...