(117) stories found containing 'smart'
Sorted by date Results 1 - 25 of 117
Make all schools better, not just some
The governor’s growing obsession with charter schools is frightening for the future of public education in Alaska. He talks as if charter schools are by far the best answer to the state’s low student test scores. He has told Alaskans he would not...
Story of Alaska's income tax like a soap opera
Just because few to none of Alaska’s elected officials are talking about bringing back the personal income tax is no reason to ignore its anniversary. OK, maybe it’s weird to celebrate your anniversary with an ex, but it’s different with the state in...
It's smart to try on different work shoes
This column has little to do with actual footwear — dress shoes if you have an office job, work boots if you’re a contractor, comfortable shoes if you’re on your feet all day or rubber boots if you work on a fishing boat. It’s about walking in thei...
Ranked-choice rankles the losers
It’s becoming an increasingly common tactic for election losers to blame anyone but themselves. In Alaska, that means several of the recent losers and their supporters blame their defeat on ranked-choice voting, which took effect for the 2022 e...
Trump excels at something - being mean
Children are taught not to make fun of others, tease them or be mean. Parents, teachers, counselors, church leaders and community mentors such as Girl Scout and Little League volunteers work hard to explain why it’s hurtful to make fun of someone who...
Cat reunited with owners 26 days after flood destroyed Juneau home
A pair of Juneau teachers needed good news after they lost nearly all their possessions when their house collapsed last month into the Mendenhall River swollen by a glacial-outburst flood and their ca...
Borough is smart to think regionwide about trash
Out of sight, out of mind probably is how most people think about trash. That has pretty much worked for Wrangell since the municipality closed its landfill at the north end of the island more than a decade ago and started shipping its garbage to an...
Hopefully, there's a way to keep children's services job in town
It took the community several years of pushing, pleading and politics before it succeeded in convincing the state to restore the Office of Children’s Services caseworker position in town. The job had been eliminated more than a dozen years earlier b...
Borough makes right moves to deal with costly repairs
Every homeowner, car and boat owner knows that maintenance is expensive. It’s also necessary. Particularly so in Alaska, where the weather is unkind to most everything except solid rock, and even that can erode away given enough time. Maintenance i...
PFD political compromise works for a year
The Alaska Legislature is no different than a typical American household – torn between spending every last dollar from their paycheck on immediate wants or saving some for the inevitable future needs. When the wants win out, money often is short f...
Do it for those who live here and for visitors, too
Residents will have two opportunities in the next couple of weeks to pitch in, bend down, pick up, lift and carry in a collective effort to make the community cleaner and greener for the summer. The annual community events are a source of pride for r...
People need a reason to move to Alaska
A wise economist made the point last week that while it’s true more people have left Alaska each of the past 10 years than have moved here, the problem isn’t so much the departures as it is the drop in arrivals. Alaska has long had a high tur...
Sen. Murkowski is in the right lane
Alaska’s senior U.S. senator — and former state legislator — Lisa Murkowski addressed a joint session of the Legislature last week, covering the usual issues of oil and gas, economic development and lots of federal dollars for local projects. Her r...
Murkowski tells legislators to focus on much more than just the dividend
In her annual address to the Alaska Legislature, U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski urged state lawmakers to avoid spending too much time on the amount of this year’s Permanent Fund dividend and to focus on problems causing people to move out of the state. F... Full story
Governor's wise move to help fill vacant state jobs
Gov. Mike Dunleavy made a smart decision last week when he issued an administrative order directing state personnel officials to review and change job requirements where appropriate so that applicants could more easily substitute “practical e...
Governor's proposed budget short on so many issues
Newly reelected Gov. Mike Dunleavy last week unveiled his proposed state spending plan for the next budget year. By far, the largest single expense in the entire state budget is the Permanent Fund dividend. The governor’s budget proposes no i...
Trip energizes T3 Alliance students to make a difference at home and across the country
Three students traveled to Boise, Idaho, earlier this month for a gathering of young minds that could shape not only their futures but the future of Wrangell and beyond. Members of the Teaching...
Alaska needs to do more to attract new residents
More people moved out of Alaska than moved in every year between 2015 and 2021. If not for a healthy birth rate, the state population would have shrunk even more than it did. Wrangell has steadily lost population over the past 20 years, with the...
Borough smart to cut asking price for hospital
When you’re trying to sell an unlivable house that needs an awful lot of expensive work — a fixer-upper, as it’s politely called — you keep dropping the price until someone comes along who wants the property and can afford to completely rebuild...
Vote yes on bonds; repairs will not get any cheaper
Time may heal all wounds — but that doesn’t apply to old buildings. Time just makes them worse and more expensive. That’s the case with Wrangell’s school buildings and Public Safety Building, which are all three or four decades old. All are showing...
Former resident Leatha Vada Aitken dies at 90
Former Wrangell resident Leatha Vada Aitken "went home to her Lord" on July 19, in Juneau surrounded by family. Vada, as she was known, was born Nov. 12, 1931, to James Virgil and Maude Briscoe in Hea... Full story
Landslide cuts off road access for 200 people near Seward
Efforts were underway Monday to clear a road where a 300-foot-wide slide — taking down dozens of fully grown evergreen trees as well as rocks and dirt — toppled into the bay in front of Seward, covering the narrow roadway and cutting off road acc...
Banned Russian seafood enters U.S. markets through China
MIAMI (AP) - A U.S. ban on seafood imports from Russia over its invasion of Ukraine was supposed to sap billions of dollars from Vladimir Putin's war machine. But shortcomings in import regulations...
Former resident Mary Hoyt dies at 84 in Arizona
Former Wrangell resident Mary Delia Hoyt, 84, died Jan. 11, 2022, at her home in Lake Havasu City, Arizona. She was born March 19, 1937, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, to Sabina and John Weber, one of five children. “Mary met the love of her life, Herb Hoy... Full story
State misses the boat keeping proposals secret
There really isn’t a strong reason for the state to keep the proposals confidential until it closes a deal to sell — or give away — the state ferry Malaspina. The Department of Transportation promised exactly that when it advertised for offers on th...