Sorted by date Results 126 - 150 of 10681
Juneau has done it the past three years. The city of Ketchikan and the Ketchikan Gateway Borough will start doing it this year. And Wrangell may do it too. “We’re considering it,” Borough Manager Mason Villarma said of amending Wrangell municipal code to require cruise ships and tour boats to collect sales tax on goods and services they sell while in port. Juneau changed its code in 2021 to apply to onboard sales when the ship is tied up at the dock or in Gastineau Channel in front of town. Both the city and the borough of Ketchikan chang...
The chamber of commerce is surveying its more than 100 members to ask where they think the town’s barge ramp and freight yard should be located. The borough earlier this month closed down the facility on the downtown waterfront after an engineering report cited structural issues with the 47-year-old, 140-foot-long steel ramp. Even before the shutdown decision, the borough has been looking at moving the freight loading and unloading facility and staging area to the former 6-Mile mill property, which the borough purchased for $2.5 million in 2...
In most instances, the tenor saxophone lies under the surface. It's the wind blowing over the ocean - the invisible force that brings life to the world's waves. It acts as a railway, offering a platform for a jazz ensemble to thrive. In a way, the tenor sax - one of Ander Edens' artistic mediums of choice - is the perfect instrument for the graduating senior. He's someone who enjoys working outside the limelight, in roles that frequently go underappreciated, despite their necessity for a...
The Alaska House of Representatives is asking Congress to appropriate funding for a program that pays money to rural school districts affected by the decline of the timber industry — including Wrangell. The state House voted 35-4 on March 17 to pass a resolution urging Congress to reinstate the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act of 2000. The U.S. Senate approved extending the program and providing funds last year, but the U.S. House never took up the legislation before it adjourned in December, leaving a big hole in c...
In remarks to the Alaska Legislature on March 20, U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan praised the work of President Donald Trump, saying the new president's pro-mining and pro-drilling views are "great for those of us in Alaska." Sullivan, who walked through a crowd of anti-Trump and pro-democracy protesters en route to the speech in the state House chambers, downplayed the chaos caused in Alaska by the Trump-empowered Department of Government Efficiency, which has orchestrated the firing of hundreds of...
A 2023 presidential executive order expanding sovereignty rights for the nation’s 574 federally recognized tribes was revoked March 14 by President Donald Trump, putting major tribal projects and policies in Alaska and elsewhere in question. Executive Order 14112, signed by President Joe Biden during the White House Tribal Nations Summit in early December 2023, sought to give Native Americans more access to federal funding and spending autonomy. The order was cited by the Federal Emergency Management Agency in recognizing expanded tribal i...
We would like to thank our family, friends, neighbors and community for the outpouring of support in the wake of Fred Angerman’s passing. The stories, condolences, flowers and food shared over the past couple weeks have helped lighten the weight of the loss, and hearing how he impacted everyone’s lives reminds us of how special he truly was. It’s hard to put into words how appreciative we are, and there are too many to thank individually, but it’s times like these that remind us why we call Wrangell home. The Angerman family...
No one expects a totally life-changing event on any given day. That’s the reason the SEARHC transitional-care team wants people to know about their services before they need them. Marin Donovan, southern regional director of rehabilitation services for Craig, Wrangell and Sitka, explains that their program is the kind of thing people don’t know about until they need it, but when they need it, everything that is happening can be overwhelming. It’s about education and advocacy skills, providing information and resources, in anticipation of a futu...
Confronted with an engineering report that cited “concern for potential failure of the ramp,” the borough on Thursday evening, March 13, notified freight haulers that the municipally owned barge ramp downtown was closed, immediately. The borough made arrangements for the weekly freight barge to use the old sawmill dock at the Marine Service Center as a temporary unloading and loading site, Borough Manager Mason Villarma said Friday, March 14. “This should have happened some time ago,” he said of shutting down the 47-year-old steel ramp which s...
The annual assessment of property values in town resulted in an overall increase of about 12% for taxable property, though an owner’s tax bill will depend on the tax rate set by the borough assembly in late May. State law requires municipalities to assess property —all land and buildings— at “full and true market value.” The borough’s contract assessor’s March 3 letter to the assembly said, “Our evaluations indicate that the overall market (value) … continues to grow despite the high cost of living and rising interest rates.” The annual assessm...
Citing concerns over heavy foot traffic and Front Street congestion, the borough assembly denied Brian Schwartz’s request to rent space facing Front Street for a food truck-style seafood trailer. Schwartz hoped to rent a small area in front of the public restrooms on the northern end of Front Street. Despite the planning and zoning commission recommending that the borough accept his request, the assembly voted 5-1 against the proposal on March 11. Phillip Mach, the newest assembly member, was the only yes vote. “That area gets very con...
The Alaska House passed a bill on March 12 intended to boost annual state funding for public schools by $275 million, starting with the 2025-2026 school year. If approved by the Alaska Senate and the governor, the legislation would increase state funding for the Wrangell school district next year by about $600,000, according to Kristy Andrew, the district’s business manager. The sizable increase in the state’s per-pupil funding formula approved by the House will face challenges winning approval from the Senate and the governor, however, as the...
March 19, 1925 The most important PTA meeting of the year was held at the grade school last Thursday evening and was attended by a large number of school patrons. The effect of the new standard of accreditation of high schools on the local school was discussed fully. People said the changes could lead to the disadvantage of graduation from a school not accredited; the cost of sending pupils out of town to school; and a loss of civic pride. People also discussed the need for a new school building; the cost of repairing the old buildings each...
PORTABLE SOUTHEAST, a traveling art exhibit from the Juneau Arts & Humanities Council, is on display at the Nolan Center through March 28. “Portable Southeast provides a new and exciting mode for artists to showcase their works beyond local reach,” the arts council says. BAHAI NEW YEAR’S CELEBRATION, Naw-Ruz, 5:30 p.m. Saturday, March 22, at the multi-purpose room near the old gym. Campfire-themed dinner provided; everyone is welcome for a joyful celebration of renewal and community. Call 907-209-9117. FISHING VESSEL SAFETY DRILL CONDU...
Jeff and Kay Jabusch were named citizens of the year. The Wrangell Cooperative Association was named organization of the year. Alice Rooney took home volunteer of the year. Jack Carney won the award for educator of the year while his son, Jackson Carney, was awarded young leader of the year. And this year’s theme for the Fourth of July celebration? Small Town, Big Heart. The chamber of commerce’s annual dinner took place on Saturday, March 15, at the Nolan Center and was catered by Wrangell’s newest eatery: The Wolf Shack. For those famil...
A federal judge in California has ordered the Trump administration to immediately reinstate thousands of probationary federal workers fired as part of billionaire Elon Musk’s campaign to slash the government workforce. A federal judge in Maryland issued a similar ruling the same day, March 13. Two days before the judges’ orders, the Department of Agriculture on March 11 issued a temporary stay on the firings, which applies to U.S. Forest Service workers. The department’s job-reinstatement decision follows an order issued March 5 by the U.S....
The federal and state stars are not lining up well for Wrangell’s budget future, at least not for the next few years. And that will mean some hard choices for the community, particularly when it comes to deciding the future of its schools and how to pay for that future. The borough has been using money from a federal program that dates back to 2000 to cover much of its annual contribution to the school district operating budget. But Congress failed to appropriate the money last year — the Republican-controlled U.S. House declined to take up...
I know I’ve made it home when I step off the plane and a rush of cedar bark invades my senses. As I step onto the airport tarmac, I see the Stikine River and the tiniest airport terminal I have ever laid eyes on. I’ve returned for my annual summer vacation in Wrangell. Once a small yet vibrant logging and fishing community which has long since diminished, leaving a population of roughly 2,000, what could make a town double in size for two weeks out of the year? That’s simple, the best Fourth of July celebration of my life. The Fourth is the t...
Though a $5 million federal grant to help pay for expanding the generating capacity at the Tyee Lake hydroelectric station is “clearly frozen,” the head of the Southeast Alaska Power Agency hopes the funds will be released soon and the project can stay on schedule. The agency’s lobbyist in Washington, D.C., and others “feel fairly confident … that freeze will be thawed,” Robert Siedman, chief executive officer of the Southeast Alaska Power Agency, or SEAPA, said earlier this month. The Tyee money is caught up in the nationwide spending fr...
Coffman Cove commercial fisherman Dugan Paul Daniels, 55, was sentenced on March 10 to six months in prison for illegally “taking” an endangered sperm whale and falsifying fishing records while catching sablefish in 2020. The term “take” legally means to harass, harm, pursue, hunt, shoot, wound, kill, trap, capture or collect, or to attempt to engage in any such conduct. According to research by the prosecution in preparation for Daniels’ case, this appears to be the first Endangered Species Act charge to result from a sperm whale take in t...
A new service for dogs - and their owners - opened this week. Muddy Paws Pet Grooming owner and operator Destiny Becker is ready to give the town's dogs the glow-up treatment. Becker's story is a familiar one: She and her husband left Minnesota for a six-month stint in Wrangell but decided to stay. She wanted to find a way to get more rooted in the community, and to find her niche. She grew up around dogs and loved taking care of her family and friends' dogs, especially big dogs. She currently...
On paper, the Wrangell High School boys basketball state bid was unexceptional. They dropped their opening game to Seward, bounced back in a win against Fairbanks charter school Effie Kokrine, and eventually settled for sixth after falling by three points to Susitna Valley at the tournament held in Anchorage on March 13-15. But you'll need to keep shaking the Polaroid if you want to develop the full picture of Wrangell's performance. Early Sunday morning, March 9, while the team was at the...
She loves its water, its plants, its people. She loves the community she's cultivated here, and she loves the personal history of which it reminds her. From tight matches on the wrestling mat to even tighter bonds connecting her with loved ones, Churchill is certain: After college, she's coming home to Wrangell. But before she does that, she needs to graduate high school - and to do that, she needs a senior project. For that, Churchill helped coach the middle school wrestling team alongside her...
Frederick "Fred" Clarence Angerman Jr. passed away unexpectedly on March 9, 2025, at the age of 68. Born Nov. 16, 1956, in Wrangell, Fred was the first of four children to Mercedes Angerman Sr. and Fred Angerman Sr. Memorial services will take place on May 24 at the St. Philip's Episcopal Church, followed by a reception at the Nolan Center. Fred was raised on Cassiar Street with siblings Jeff, Kyle and Mercedes Jr. He would continue to build his life on that street with wife Sumi and sons Aaron,...
