Sorted by date Results 8651 - 8675 of 10720
The United States Forest Service announced that its Tongass National Forest Sustainable Cabin Management project details are now available online. The environmental assessment, maps and appendices are located under the Project Documents – Analysis tab at http://go.usa.gov/WQEk. The Forest Service is proposing the removal of nine cabins, and the conversion or replacement of three others with survival shelters. Wrangell Ranger District will be affected by the plan. “We’re going to remove one cabin,” explained Ranger Bob Dalrymple, head of the...
The City and Borough of Wrangell issued a letter last week to Alaska senators Mark Begich and Lisa Murkowski, and Rep. Don Young. Drafted with the assistance of Sebastian O’Kelly, a Washington D.C.-based consultant, it expresses concern about a number of sizable mining developments upstream of the Stikine River in neighboring British Columbia, Canada. The idea of a letter had been discussed in the previous two Borough Assembly meetings, arranged by Borough Manager Jeff Jabusch and discussed and tweaked by members of the Assembly. Signed by M...
Residents of Wrangell are invited to cast their votes in the Borough regular election Tuesday, Oct. 7, at the Nolan Center, from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Registered voters are asked to bring a form of identification to the polls. Official candidates for this year’s regular election include: – Two candidates for the position of Mayor, incumbent David Jack and Kipha Valvoda. The position is a two-year term. – Two candidates for a three-year term on the School Board, Aleisha Mollen and incumbent Susan Eagle. – Two candidates for two three-year terms on th...
With the departure of Un-Cruise Adventures' "Wilderness Explorer" last Wednesday, Wrangell's cruising season officially comes to an end. Fifty-seven such vessels had been scheduled to arrive this year, according to information provided on the Wrangell Chamber of Commerce website. There were 15 leisure ships scheduled to dock in Wrangell 57 times this year. Doing the arithmetic, if each cruise ship scheduled to arrive was fully-booked and if every passenger disembarked when the ships stopped in...
Wrangell residents might have a new banking option in the future. Helen Mickel, chief operating officer and vice president of Tongass Federal Credit Union, paid the island a visit last Thursday, holding a meet and greet that evening in City Hall. Though only four people showed up to the event, she had spent the afternoon and following morning meeting with the locals. “I’ve had a chance to visit with a lot of people around town,” Mickel said. Overall, she said the response has been positive. “I think there’s a place for us in Wrangell.” In an in...
PETERSBURG – The Tongass Advisory Committee (TAC) heard presentations from Forest Service and Department of Natural Resources (DNR) officials and discussed the challenges and opportunities associated with an impending transition to young-growth forest management at their meeting this month in Juneau. The presentations given by the Forest Service and DNR officials helped give committee members a better sense of how difficult the transition process can be, Lynn Jungwirth, committee co-chair, said via e-mail. “You can’t ‘speed up’ young growth su...
People interested in entering their names for Wrangell Borough committee and board vacancy appointments need to submit their letters of intent before Monday, Oct. 6. There are ten vacancies that will need to be filled at the special swearing-in meeting of the Borough Assembly Oct. 13. So far only three letters of intent have been submitted. There are two three-year seats on the Planning and Zoning commission; two three-year seats with Parks and Recreation; two three-year terms on the Wrangell Convention and Visitors Bureau; two three-year...
Despite the rough weather and Monday opener, it’s been a good season so far for area moose hunters. According to Alaska Department of Fish and Game biologist Rich Lowell, it’s better even than average. Fifty-two moose have been reported killed in the first two weeks, compared to 49 at this time last year for Unit 3, the Petersburg-Wrangell area. A total of 92 were gathered in 2013. Nineteen have so far been taken on the Stikine River, better than the 15 noted for this time last year. A further 16 were reported had on Kupreanof Island. The...
Recently, the Wrangell and Petersburg Boroughs helped one another with a ‘handshake agreement’ that sent Wrangell’s 80-foot Line Truck over to its neighboring municipality for about a week. Petersburg crews worked fast to trim trees close to powerlines before sending the vehicle back on the Friday morning ferry. “We’re trimming over top of the power lines where the snow builds up and makes problems,” said Petersburg Line Foreman Scott Newman. “We’ve got some of it done and still have a lot more to do. Some of the poles are really far off...
Hospice of Wrangell reports it is kicking off a campaign this week to collect advance directives, educating local residents about them and assisting in their completion. Advance directives are legal documents that include both a living will and a durable power of attorney for health care. A living will conveys a person’s wishes about end-of-life care decisions to their family and medical providers. A durable power of attorney allows a designated person to receive medical information and make health care decisions either now or at a time of f...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) – Citizens, not the courts, should decide whether the definition of marriage includes same-sex couples, the state of Alaska said in court papers filed Friday. The state is defending in federal court an amendment to Alaska’s constitution that bans gay marriage. In May, five same-sex couples - four married outside of Alaska and one unmarried couple - sued to overturn the ban approved by voters in 1998, saying it violates their rights to due process and equal protection under the U.S. Constitution. In a filing Friday, att...
PETERSBURG – Petersburg Indian Association’s first-ever e-waste program sent 15,000 pounds – a full 40-foot shipping container – of electronics to Seattle to be recycled. The program ran June 30 to Aug. 30 and offered locals free disposal of unwanted electronics in an effort to keep harmful elements found in electronics, like lead and mercury, from contaminating the environment. PIA Tribal Resource Director Jason Wilson said community members brought home electronics like televisions, boat electronics like radios and sonar equipment, and off...
Continuing pool woes concerned the Wrangell Borough Assembly when members Maxi Wiederspohn, Pam McCloskey, Mark Mitchell, Becky Rooney and Mayor David Jack met in their City Hall chambers Tuesday evening. “It seems that everything here has gone wrong at the same time,” reported Borough Manager Jeff Jabusch. Last month Wrangell public pool staff discovered a number of problems, including a significant leak, roof issues, some corrosion and electrical problems with a heat exchanger. Jabusch said a public pool in Juneau had experienced similar hea... Full story
A film crew working on a documentary that will highlight the relationship between the Stikine River and those who rely on it stopped into Wrangell last week. "We're gathering people's stories on why clean water is important to them," explained Daven Hafey, the project's director and producer. After visiting residents in Telegraph, on Thursday the crew was documenting firsthand accounts in the rumpus room of Wrangell's Harbor Light Church. "There's a guy yesterday that said 'water is not a... Full story
Innovations continue to flow from Wrangell as the Path to Prosperity (P2P), an annual competition for entrepreneurs, announced that James Edens and his concept for Edens Marine Resources will be among the 12 competitors moving on to the final round of the contest. "I'm trying to use fishery byproducts in a creative way," Edens said. He's looking to turn the biomass discarded by fisheries - heads, entrails, bones and such - into useable, marketable products, such as fuel for diesel vehicles. "As... Full story
In the Sentinel 100, 75, 50 and 25 years ago. October 8, 1914: Miss Durkey, president of the Alaska Garnet Mining & Manufacturing Company who are operating at the garnet ledge at the mouth of the Stikine, was a passenger up on the Mariposa the first of the week. Miss Durkey states that the Company will ship some twelve tons of garnets south on the Dolphin next trip. The company has secured a selling concession from the government to sell their garnets in the Manufacturer’s Building at the San Francisco Fair and this shipment will be the f...
Beth Blake -Wrangell Medical Center Board of Directors, four-year term Occupation: AICS care provider What experience or qualities do you have that would make you an effective member of the Wrangell Medical Center Board of Directors? "I was born and raised in Chattanooga, Tenn. I graduated from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga with a B.S. in Psychology. I've had a varied employment history ranging from technical analyst with a large insurance company to coordinator for Chattanooga...
Despite the at times uncooperative weather, the Borough of Wrangell successfully hosted this year's annual Southeast Conference at its Nolan Center, from Sept. 16 to 18. About 180 visitors arrived for the three-day conference, fully booking every inn, hotel and lodge in town. Volunteers opened their houses to some attendees as well, but to accommodate the remaining attendees Trident Seafoods allowed the conference use of its bunkhouses. Volunteers were essential to the event's success, fixing...
A Kake-Petersburg Intertie (KPI) project update was given during last week’s Southeast Conference in Wrangell. The KPI includes a proposed electrical transmission line that would connect Kake to a SEAPA (Southeast Alaska Power Agency) substation in Petersburg. Kake, a community of just over 550 people, is situated on the northwest coast of Kupreanof Island and is working to find cheaper alternatives to costly diesel, which provides the bulk of their power currently. “The Kake-Petersburg Intertie would transmit power at either 69 or 130 kil...
Seniors in Wrangell will have a different weapon available this year against seasonal aches and chills brought on by influenza. A “high-dose” vaccine with four times the antigens of the regular, “low-dose” version is being offered by Wrangell Medical Center during its annual adult immunization clinic. This high-dose version of the immunization is recommended by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for adults aged 65 years or older. According to the CDC’s website, human immune defenses weaken with age, placing older people at...
Chloe Massin appeared before Wrangell District Court on Monday for her sentencing, with Judge Kevin Miller presiding. Massin, 55, faced a number of charges stemming from an incident that occurred the evening of Feb. 4, in which she struck a pedestrian with her vehicle and left the scene. She had admitted to being intoxicated at the time. “I am totally embarrassed at myself,” Massin told the court. While she said she had known about her drinking problem, she said “I always thought I could control it.” Massin added that she was relieved William R...
Alaska Governor Sean Parnell announced Saturday that Ketchikan-based Vigor Alaska will construct two new day ferries for the Alaska Marine Highway System (AMHS). Construction of both vessels is scheduled to begin in October, and completion is estimated to take four years. Each vessel will be a 280-foot, "roll on–roll off" type passenger ferry, capable of carrying 450 passengers and up to 60 vehicles. The ships will cost $101 million to construct. “I’ve lived in Ketchikan all my life,” said Ketchikan shipyard worker Norm Skan. “It’s such an hon...
Though the comment period officially ended Sept. 15, the Wrangell Ranger District of the United States Forestry Service is still seeking public input for an upcoming dock project in Anan Bay. “To me it's kind of an open process,” said Ranger Bob Dalrymple. “We're open to input pretty much any time.” The district uses this input as it prepares an environmental assessment, which should be available for public comment later this fall. The wildlife observatory is located about 23 miles southeast of Wrangell on the mainland, part of the Tongass...