Sorted by date Results 8526 - 8550 of 10720
ANCHORAGE (AP) – The last of three federal defendants who pleaded guilty this year to Clean Air Act violations at a Dutch Harbor seafood plant was sentenced Nov. 25 to three years of probation, avoiding the maximum sentence of two years in prison. U.S. District Court Judge Ralph Beistline also ordered Bryan Beigh, 48, to pay a $750 fine. The defense, according to U.S. Attorney’s Office Alaska Criminal Division chief Kevin Feldis, indicated that Beigh lacked the money to pay a more substantial fine. In July, the government charged Beigh wit...
After about three weeks of tallying, Alaska’s general election results were finally certified by Lieutenant Governor Mead Treadwell on Nov. 26. Turnout in the state was the third-highest turnout of any state, with 284,925 of the 509,011 registered voters participating. High-profile races and a trio of contentious ballot measures may explain the figures: as a result of the election Alaska has become the fourth state to legalize recreational marijuana use and will tout one of the highest minimum wage levels in the country. Some of the s...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) – Bill Walker was sworn in Monday as the first Alaska governor to not be affiliated with a political party. Walker took the oath in during a ceremony in downtown Juneau, using a Bible that spokeswoman Grace Jang said has been in his family since the 1800s. He was sworn in by Alaska Supreme Court Justice Daniel Winfree. Walker succeeds Republican Sean Parnell, who he upset in last month's election. An attorney perhaps best known for his support of an all-Alaska natural gas pipeline, Walker finished second to Parnell in the 2...
ANCHORAGE (AP) - The federal agency that oversees the U.S. seal population has proposed 350,000 square miles of ocean off Alaska’s north and west coast as critical habitat for the main prey of polar bears. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced Tuesday that it’s proposing critical habitat for ringed seals throughout U.S. jurisdiction in the Beaufort and Bering seas and in much of the western Bering Sea. “After reviewing the best available information, our scientists identified the habitat features that are essen...
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) – A superior court judge has invalidated the state of Alaska's requirement that local school districts help pay for education, which could leave a cash-strapped state on the hook for more than $220 million in additional funding statewide. Judge William Carey ruled the contribution is a dedicated fund, which violate the state constitution's provision that no state tax or license will be earmarked for any special purpose. Carey ruled in the case Friday, but copies of the decision weren't available online from the K...
Wrangell City and Borough Assembly members Stephen Prysunka, Julie Decker and Pamella McCloskey met Nov. 26 for a special session to discuss further involvement in a trio of suits filed against the United States Forest Service over its Big Thorne timber sale with Craig-based mill Viking Lumber. The Assembly had already decided on Oct. 28 to intervene in one of the suits, for the fee of $5,000. It had investigated separately filing an amicus brief as an option, but had decided the cost of that action would likely have been higher while leaving...
Rate changes being adopted by Wrangell’s Parks and Recreation Department will be phased in over the next three years, its board members decided at their monthly meeting Nov. 19. Beginning in the new year, corporate-rate discounts for use of the community pool will be phased out. The way year-round passes are currently priced, individual passes cost $300 for unaffiliated community members, while those employed at a participating business or agency can purchase passes at a rate linked to the size of their workplace. The difference can be quite s...
On Friday morning, students at Wrangell High School assembled in the gym to watch a special presentation by the Kaats'litaan Dancers, a K-12 group that is part of the local Johnson O'Malley program. Presented by educators and a panel of elders, the demonstration meant to mark this November's National Native Heritage Month. Student Jade Balansag read President Barack Obama's official proclamation of the commemorative month, issued Oct. 31. "The first stewards of our environment, early voices for...
In his monthly report to Wrangell Public School Board on Nov. 17, Superintendent Patrick Mayer said several projects are underway as the school progresses into its second academic quarter. The schools’ evaluation team recently previewed a webinar from Learning Sciences, a group associated with Marzano Center. The team was able to familiarize themselves with Marzano Framework for teacher evaluation, one of three systems adopted by the Alaska State Board of Education last year. Mayer has also been involved in improving the schools’ use of digital...
In the Sentinel 100, 75, 50 and 25 years ago. November 26, 1914: Dr. Pigg has moved his office rooms from over the Wrangell Drug Store to over the Post Office during the past week and is fitting up a very comfortable office in his new location. Dr. Pigg is also preparing to open the Wrangell Hospital in the same building as soon as carpenters get the rooms remodeled some. The new location is very well located for the new hospital and should prove a success. November 24, 1939: Twenty nine states and the territory of Alaska observed Thanksgiving...
Editor’s Note: The Sentinel letters policy remains unchanged. Only rarely do we publish letters endorsing candidates or positions during an election, which the following letter references. Daily newspapers, with more available space are more likely to use such letters. To the Editor: Why are there no recent letters to the editor in the Wrangell Sentinel? Have you changed the policy on letter submission? If so, please let your readers know. When I submitted a letter a month ago you declined to publish it. Then I noticed that no one else was g...
A pair of staff committees met this past month at Wrangell Medical Center, formed to improve response to patient falls on site and improve emergency preparedness. At the monthly meeting of its board of trustees on Nov. 19, hospital head Marla Sanger reported the falls committee was formed with representatives of the nursing, physical therapy, quality, and maintenance departments, as well as a community patient advisor. She said a federal follow-up visit the previous week confirmed WMC has dealt with a problem with its patient wheelchairs. The s...
As Christmas approaches and people prepare to cut their trees, Wrangell’s Park and Recreation Department reminds residents not to “top” or otherwise chop down any of the trees in the borough’s parks and public spaces. The yuletide topping of a pair of trees in Volunteer Park last December prompted the drafting of an ordinance, which was passed by the Assembly in June. It states that no unauthorized person shall cut, remove or otherwise damage any tree or shrub, whether dead or alive, standing or downed, within any public park, recreat...
Wrangell's advisory committee to Alaska Department of Fish and Game held the first of several public meetings at the Fire Hall Monday, to discuss Board of Game proposals for the 2014-15 meeting cycle. The committee provides a forum for fishing and wildlife issues, allowing the public to review and discuss new proposals and to provide recommendations to Alaska's boards of Fisheries and Game. A variety of local fishermen, hunters, trappers and subsistence users stopped in to review 38 new policies and changes to management practices being...
Local roller derby girls with the Garnet Grit Betties bouted with Petersburg's Ragnarök Rollers at the Wrangell High School gym Saturday night. Dubbed the Fall Brawl, the event filled the stands as around 260 spectators came to show their support. The Betties started out strongly, picking up an early lead and building from there. "We'd planned on playing a strong defensive game, and they did it well," said the team's coach, Shawna "Baby Cakes" Buness. By the first half the Betties' jammers had...
At its Nov. 12 meeting, the Wrangell City and Borough Assembly approved its list of capital project requests for the 2015-16 fiscal year. Assembled by city staff and Assembly members, the annual list prioritizes projects in order of importance and gets circulated in Juneau and Washington D.C. by the borough's lobbyists, also serving as a target for finding funding opportunities. Topping the list are pool facility improvements, which could be as high as $1.5 million. Borough Manager Jeff Jabusch...
The definitions of Alaska's political landscape are soon to be settled following the 2014 midterm elections on Nov. 4. As the last votes are counted, concessions have begun coming in. Since Election Day, Alaska's Division of Elections officials in 441 precincts across the state have been tallying around 48,000 absentee, early and questioned votes in the hope of determining the winners of the Nov. 4 general election. In Southeast, it was a particularly close race for the State House seat for...
The high and middle school halls and commons at Wrangell were crawling Friday and Saturday as around 80 teens ran through lines, practiced their best voices and otherwise prepared themselves before performing at the regional drama, debate and forensics (DDF) meet. "It ran a lot more smoothly than I was expecting," said Sydney Reed, Wrangell's new DDF coach. Though a longtime participant in the program, it was her first time as a host. "I was a lot more worried about it than I probably should...
In the Sentinel 100, 75, 50 and 25 years ago. November 19, 1914: On the last steamer from the south comes the news that Canadian authorities are in fear of a German attack on the cities along the coast and have mined a section of the well-beaten path of the steamships plying the inside passage to Alaska. The section closed is known as Broughton Straits and means that vessels coming up the inside passage will have to bear off to starboard from Ella Point and pass to the north of Malcolm Island instead of to the south and take what is known as...
On page one of last week’s issue of the Sentinel, part of the quotation highlighted in the Ports Commission story was misattributed. “You don’t get a parking spot with the stall,” was said by John Yeager, not Greg Meissner. We apologize for the mistake....
The Southeast Alaska Power Agency (SEAPA) board members met in Petersburg Nov. 13-14 to discuss the results of their annual audit and other business. Independent auditing company BDO performed this year’s audit, which followed both generally acceptable auditing standards as well as government auditing standards, required because SEAPA received some $5.99 million in state grants of which $1.11 million counted as state expenditures for the fiscal year ending June 2014. BDO’s Assurance Director Joy Merriner was present via teleconference for the...
The Oakland Museum of California recently returned a lost artifact to Tlingit Haida Central Council, a ceremonial clan hat belonging to the Khaach.ádi clan of Wrangell. The Xhixhch'i S'aaxhw, or Frog Hat, is nearly 200 years old, verlaid with copper and abalone shell, and decorated with ermine skins and woven rings. In a Council news release the hat is said to be a sacred object used in clan ceremonies and is the joint property of the Khaach.ádi. It is uncertain when it will return to Wrangell f...