Sorted by date Results 6301 - 6325 of 10681
A dozen members of Wrangell Swim Club joined swimmers from six other clubs around the region in Ketchikan earlier this month. Entering its second year of competitive swimming, the Wrangell group saw some first and second place finishes from its kids during this year's Mike Smithers Southeast Championship. There were 144 swimmers in all, coming from Juneau, Sitka, Craig, Haines, Petersburg and Ketchikan. Wrangell coach Bruce McQueen explained the meet is equivalent to the league's regionals,...
In an effort to curb roadside eyesores around town, Wrangell Public Works announced at last week’s meeting of the Borough Assembly its intention to allow people to dispose of their excess scrap metal for free through the end of December. The twice-extended arrangement was initially meant to last through mid-November, when a construction firm was expected to bring a barge to retrieve the city’s scrap. Channel Construction of Juneau had previously removed tons of the stuff earlier this April, in an arrangement where it charged no fees for the...
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) – President Donald Trump’s efforts to make the United States “energy dominant’’with help from Alaska got off to modest results Wednesday. The Interior Department made its largest-ever lease offering within the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska: 900 tracts covering 16,100 square miles (41,700 sq. kilometers), roughly the size of New Hampshire and Massachusetts combined. But oil companies submitted bids on just seven tracts covering 125 square miles (324 sq. kilometers). The bids totaled $1.16 million, to be split bet...
With a stellar conclusion to its 2017 season, the Wrangell High School volleyball team finished second at the State 2A Championships on Saturday. The team headed up early last Tuesday, practicing the next morning at Dimond High School. It was a crowded tournament, between the 2A and the mix-six. Teams were practicing two at a time on court throughout the day. Beginning play November 30 against King Cove, the Lady Wolves had already been preparing for their first meet. Whitaker said her girls...
At its regular meeting Tuesday, the Borough Assembly approved moving ahead with seeking a consultant on the hospital’s future, while members also learned city computers had been targeted by a hacking attack. A letter recommending hiring a consultant had been submitted to the city by the Wrangell Medical Center governing board last month. Currently the hospital is a municipal service, but recent cash flow troubles and sizable costs for a replacement facility have had administrators and elected officials alike considering other alternatives. A...
December 13, 1917: Nicholas Nussbaumer writes the publisher of the Sentinel that he arrived in Washington, D.C., on Thanksgiving Day in time for a good turkey dinner. Following is an excerpt from his letter: “Some of my boy-hood friends are in my company, which of course makes it more pleasant for me than if I was wholly among strangers. My first disappointment is that I am not likely to have Mr. Weigle for a captain, but I am determined to make good no matter under whom I serve. I should be glad to hear from old Wrangell. I have not heard o...
Before the Assembly’s regularly-scheduled meeting Tuesday, members met to discuss legislative priorities for the coming year. City manager Lisa Von Bargen had prepared a draft list of items for their consideration, a summary of considerations and needs to be shared with Wrangell’s legislative delegation and its lobbyist in Juneau. “These are things that are most critical to the community, based on a number of issues we have dealt with around here,” she said at the start. With the Alaska Legislature scheduled to convene for its 2018 regular...
Creative programs at the high and middle schools will be putting their works under the hammer Monday evening in an effort to raise money for supplies. As with the schools’ four previous auctions, this year’s will precede their annual Christmas concert, with event patrons getting to peruse and vie over various works produced by students of the art and industrial arts programs. Sixth to 12th graders each submit something for the auction. Art teacher Anne Luetkemeyer explained close to 90 of her students from several classes have pitched in pie...
A final decision on the Wrangell Island timber sale is expected out next week, wrapping up years of deliberation and planning. Citing objections to the economics and ecological impacts of its preferred plan, the United States Forest Service has indicated it will be reducing total harvest for the proposed sale on Wrangell Island to around 428 acres, or 5- to 7-million board feet (mmbf) of timber. These would be sold piecemeal over the course of several years. Of five alternatives put forward, Alternative 2 had proposed around 55.8 mmbf...
KODIAK, Alaska (AP) – Several Kodiak residents have reported seeing bears in town throughout the past few weeks, and at least one area expert believes that’s because of a lackluster berry crop this year. Although the state Department of Fish and Game hasn’t received a higher-than-normal number of reported bear sightings, area wildlife biologist Nathan Svoboda believes a berry crop failure might have something to do with the encounters, the Kodiak Daily Mirror reported Wednesday. In years when the berry crop fails, bears become nutri...
KODIAK, Alaska (AP) – An Alaska program is in its final year of an experiment to determine whether hatchery-raised red king crab can increase wild stock. The Alaska King Crab Research, Rehabilitation and Biology Program started its work in 2009 with a goal of enhancing depressed king crab populations throughout Alaska, the Kodiak Daily Mirror reported Tuesday. So far, the program has achieved efficient production of juvenile crab, conducted research on their behavior and completed a number of small out-planting releases. Dr. Robert Foy, d...
A group of Wrangell’s wrestlers were able to make it over to Sitka over the weekend, finishing with several high placements and an injury. “It went well,” said Jeff Rooney, the team’s coach. After taking a weekend off to recuperate from some injuries and catch up on schoolwork, Wrangell started wrestling at Mount Edgecumbe High School on December 1 with a round-robin tournament. The next day weight groups went into competitive bracket play. “We had a few really good matches and some really good wrestling,” said Rooney. In the 113-weight...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) – The cruise industry has dodged a tax increase after Alaska’s U.S. senators helped strike the provision from the tax bill that passed the Senate. The bill approved early Saturday includes other provisions that Alaska Republican Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan hailed as significant for Alaskans, including allowing oil and gas drilling on the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Murkowski called the package “a critical milestone in our efforts to secure Alaska’s future.” The measure also would pro...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) – The bidder who planned to purchase Alaska’s ferry Taku and turn it into a waterfront hotel and restaurant in Oregon has backed out of the deal. The sale of the 352-foot surplus vessel was expected to close in early December. But the winning bidder withdrew, citing factors such as regulatory problems in Portland, said Aurah Landau, a spokeswoman for the Alaska Department of Transportation and Facilities. Portland resident Jonathan Cohen offered $300,000 for the ferry on behalf of KeyMar LLC in September, the Juneau Emp...
After being kept away for most of the year while a petition for residency was processed, the Balansag family returned to Wrangell earlier this month. The Balansags – Vincent, wife Lynn, and children Jade, Lee and Chrysalis – have been calling Wrangell home since January 2011. They first moved here from the Philippines – an island nation off the coast of East Asia – after Vincent found employment at the local hospital, where he still works as a medical technician. His three-year work visa ha...
Sales tax data made available this month suggest a slight dip in local consumer spending. The news comes at a time when the region's economy appears to be fragile. Earlier this fall, Southeast Conference released its annual By the Numbers economic report, which found 2016 to have been the first time since 2007 that jobs and earnings were both down from the previous year. The labor force had declined by 434 net jobs, bringing the total number of positions to 45,260 regionally. The dip...
December 6, 1917: Bishop R.J Crimont who last July was consecrated the first Bishop of Alaska for the Catholic Church is a genuine Sourdough. Recently he paid his first visit to Wrangell since his consecration. From Wrangell he went to Ketchikan where he found the hotels filled with people attending court and no rooms to be had. So he made his way up to the rectory, which of course was locked Father Kern being in Seattle. He then tried the church and finding it open spent the night there sleeping on one of the hard benches. The next day when so...
The learning experience for Wrangell students continues to get more technological, with new devices and programs hitting local schools this year. Technology director Matt Gore gave the Sentinel a run-through of some of these developments Tuesday. It started with “tech time in the morning,” an informal zero-hour period where students are encouraged to undertake various technological projects. For instance, that morning found senior JD Barratt soldering together components for a lighting setup, while Kellan Eagle put together the frame for a hom...
November 20 Alaska Wildlife Troopers contacted Timothy Hunt, 34, from Wrangell. Investigation had determined Hunt purchased a 2017 Resident Commercial Crewmember License and a Resident Sport Fishing/Hunting License when he did not meet the residency requirements. Hunt was issued summons to appear in the District Court of Wrangell for False Statement on a License Application and False Statement on a Commercial Crewmember License....
Hundreds of students, faculty members and special guests dined together at Evergreen Elementary School last week ahead of the holiday. Held November 22, this year's Primary Thanksgiving Feast was the fourth annual. The celebration includes a real meal of turkey, potatoes, dressing and all the fixings. Dishes were prepared by parents and served up by volunteers. Aimed at kindergarteners through second graders, the festive gathering is preceded by lessons on the Thanksgiving holiday, traditionally...
FAIRBANKS, Alaska (AP) – An Alaska couple is looking to change a law that requires people to pay taxes on damaged property. Ron and Jane Hunt lost a house in a fire Jan. 8. Ron Hunt says he went to the Fairbanks North Star Borough to report the fire. “I was expecting to get a property tax adjustment,” he said. Ron Hunt learned he would be required to pay his full tax bill $6,977.92 on the North Pole property, even though the house, a rental, and an attached shop were reduced to rubble. The Hunts live next door to the rental property but conti...
