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For Rhonda Christian, life as a breast cancer survivor is filled with moments of small horror. She remembers the moment in March when tests at Mt. Edgecumbe Medical Center revealed what might be a small mass, amid planning for her and husband Ernie’s honeymoon in Jamaica. There was the moment when her husband insisted on getting it checked out in Seattle, on a more accurate, updated machine. And then there was the moment when she woke up from anesthesia and looked down, and her breast was gone. “I don’t know how to describe it,” she said. “The...
School lunches were the main topic of conversation at the Oct. 9 school board meeting. Documents provided by the school meals program show the school provided 2,623 meals in September, down 1,182 meals from the same month last year. The figure represents a decrease of 31 percent. District figures show students ate 443 fewer breakfasts this year than last year, and 739 fewer lunches. The decline in meals is also attributable in part to declining enrollment. Fewer students mean fewer lunches and breakfasts. As evidence, they pointed out that the...
The Wrangell Wolves wrestling team came out of the weekend with a positive performance in Petersburg. The Wolves finished third among the school competing, and trounced much bigger schools. They finished the Petersburg tournament four points in front of Sitka and a point behind Mt. Edgecumbe. “All of the Wrangell Wolves did extremely well this past weekend in the Petersburg Invitational,” said coach Jeffrey Rooney. Sophomore Roger Miller and Junior Jeffrey Rooney Jr. led the way, collecting a p...
The Wrangell Borough Assembly clarified questions to be put to an attorney relating to the ongoing debate over the Thomas Bay Power Authority. Discussion focused around questions to be put to a power attorney – borough manager Jeff Jabusch mentioned one of the attorneys who drafted the original Long-Term Power Sales Agreement, which dictates the terms under which electricity from Tyee Lake power plant and Swan Lake dam are sold as a possibility – as the borough resolves questions about the future of the Authority. The scope of the que...
Southeast Alaska Power Agency CEO Trey Acteson this week decried what he called the ‘overwhelming amount of misinformation’ circulated at a city council meeting Sept. 24. Acteson focused primarily on accusations made at that meeting during the public comments section. In particular, he cited rumors of a rate increase, the possibility of new diesel construction, and statements about the SEAPA payroll, saying they were false. At least one SEAPA board member disagreed with Acteson’s characterization of the debate. Both he and SEAPA keep the walle...
Contractors were hard at work Monday closing out the last big construction project of the season at the marine haul-out facility. Their tasks included installing rebar, over which concrete will eventually be poured to replace the gravel surface and create a smooth, even surface. The work will also eventually include the installation of a 300-ton hoist, effectively doubling the harbor’s lifting capacity. Officials say the hoist, which could feature as a central draw for fishing and pleasure c...
This year’s Domestic Abuse Awareness month finds officials with the Healthy Wrangell Coalition working to re-establish a somewhat lapsed network of support. Last month the coalition launched a committee to examine the potential for supporting women – and men, officials are quick to point out – who find themselves trapped in abusive situations in a community with a fine line between intimate and common knowledge. Nor is abuse limited to the sort of physical advice which often spills into the police station or the courts, said Elizabeth Brumm...
October 30, 1913: Martin Hofstad has been a busy man during the past two weeks getting the new General Merchandise Store of Martin and Richard Hofstad into shape for the opening the latter part of next week. The store is situated in the new Uhler Building and will carry a full stock of general merchandise. Both men are well known in Wrangell and are sure of their share of their patronage. October 28, 1938: The gas screw Etolin, fishpacker owned and operated by Capt. Manuel Loftus, was reported a total loss by flames last Saturday morning in Red...
First District Judge Kevin Miller adjudicated the following cases: September 23 David Makol, 26, was found guilty of Disorderly Conduct – Challenge to Fight reduced from Assault in the 4th Degree and Violating Conditions of Release. He was sentenced to 30 days in jail, ordered to pay $500 in fines and surcharges and probation for two years. A Violating Conditions of Release charge was dismissed. Austin Stevens, 18, was found guilty of Driving with License Cancelled/Suspended /Revoked/Limited. He was sentenced to 80 hours of Community Work S...
Widely reported technical glitches and uncertainty over how a new influx of insured patients would affect the local medical business greeted the Alaska version of the Federal government’s new health insurance exchange program. Users seeking to enroll in the exchange via the Federal government website www.healthcare.gov were allowed to create an account, however, the transition from the Federal site to the State-specific site Enroll Alaska were greeted with a simple page reading “Downstream Error” most of the weekend. The site was tempo...
Like many other teams at Wrangell High School this year, the Wolves wrestlers have seen a fair amount of turnover this season. However, unlike some other teams, the wrestling team has roots in a program which extends all the way back to elementary school, and in some cases all the way back to kindergarten, said fourth-year coach Jeffrey Rooney. “I have 11 wrestlers registered, and five of them are freshman,” he said. “We have good transition from the Middle School and Peewee programs.” In addi...
The Lady Wolves varsity volleyball team graduated six seniors last year, leaving something of a hole for senior leadership, coaches said. If you ask head coach Jessica Whitaker, this year’s seniors are up to the task. “We have three seniors that are playing very well,” she said. “They’ve finally blossomed.” Seniors McKenna Harding, Erica Smith and Calleigh Miller will have their work cut out for them this season, she said. Whitaker said she’d look to Smith in particular. “She shows a lot of...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) - A state court has approved the purchase of Northland Marine Services by its shipping competitor, Alaska Marine Lines. Anchorage Superior Court Judge Andrew Guidi approved the deal this week after the close of a 60-day comment period which saw no objections. Lynden Inc., which operates Alaska Marine Lines, and Northland Marine Services are the only marine companies delivering cargo in southeast Alaska, creating fears a monopoly would be created. One of the conditions proposed by the state of Alaska for the purchase is allow...
The Wrangell High School boys’ cross country team finished out the season in Anchorage with performances at or near their personal bests. Sophomore Bryce Gerald led the pack for Wrangell at 17:53, eight seconds off his personal best at Juneau in mid-September. That was good enough for 27th among the small-schools runners. Gerald can look forward to a promising career for the remaining two years of high school running, said Coach Monty Buness. “He’s only the third kid I’ve ever had who’s r...
Wrangell voters insurmountably rejected a proposal to lower the sales tax, retained their sitting mayor, and removed one member of the assembly in municipal elections Tuesday, officials said. The unofficial results, read aloud shortly after the polls closed at 8 pm, put the vote tally for the contentious tax proposal at 451 votes against lowering taxes from 7 percent to 5.5 percent, and 172 votes in favor of the change. Sitting mayor David Jack tallied 455 votes while Kipha Valvoda scored 118....
An argument between a Thomas Bay Power Authority commissioner and two Thomas Bay employees after the Wrangell Assembly has added to the venom in the debate over the future of TBPA. Shortly after Tuesday’s regular assembly meeting, Commissioner Clay Hammer confronted TBPA office manager Rhonda Christian over public comment delivered to the Borough Assembly on the subject of TBPA, Nicholls and Christian said. Hammer accused Christian of overstepping her bounds as a TBPA employee to address the commission, and Christian countered that Hammer w...
October 21, 1913: After being in the hands of the court for several years, owing to the death of the owners, Thomas Wilson and Rufas Sylvester, the Wrangell Mills are for the first time clear and when started in the spring it will be a purely local management. The mills were given over from the court to the Wilson and Sylvester Mill Company, Inc. on the first of October which company is composed of Mrs. M.A. Wilson, president, F. Matheson, secretary and H. Gartley, treasurer, who will operate the mill. T.C. McHugh has been appointed the...
On September 23, First District Judge Kevin Miller adjudicated the following cases: Gary A. Stevens, 43, was found guilty of Criminal Trespass in the First Degree – Inside a Dwelling, Criminal Mischief in the Fourth Degree – Property Damage and Assault in the Fourth Degree – Cause Fear Of Injury. He was sentenced to serve 20 days in jail or 160 hours of Community Work Service to be completed by 3/24/2014, ordered to pay $2,113.10 in fines, surcharges and restitution, ordered to contact Alaska Island Community Services by 9/30/2013 for complete...
Barbara Ellen Maenhout (Peters), 72, of Wrangell, Alaska, passed away Sept. 21, 2013 surrounded by friends and family. Barb was born in Sister Lakes, Mich. Nov. 1, 1940 to Walter and Matilda (Toots) Peters. She graduated from Dowagiac Central High School in Dowagiac, Mich. in 1958. She was married to Dale Maenhout in May of 1961. Barb moved to Wrangell with her family in 1970 and began working at the Wrangell Sentinel newspaper and helped found the Petersburg Pilot with Jamie Bryson. She started...
A federal bill allocating at least a quarter of the school system’s local funding passed the Senate and House of Representatives this week. The Secure Rural Schools program provides Wrangell Schools with $1.3 million per year, which represents roughly 25 to 30 percent of the school system’s budget, according to Superintendent Rich Rhodes. Local officials and the borough’s lobbyist expressed concern for the fate of the bill among the widely reported atmosphere of fiscal belt-tightening in Washington. The bill awaits President Obama’s expecte...
Thirty-seven moose have been checked in to Alaska Department of Fish and game this season. Rich Lowell, Area Wildlife Biologist for Alaska Department of Fish and Game, said nineteen moose were checked in during the first week, which is close to average for the last 10 years “Most of the harvest occurs within the first two weeks of the season,” Lowell said. As of yesterday afternoon, 12 moose have been harvested from the Stikine, 12 from Kupreanof and six from Mitkof. Although 12 moose were taken from Kupreanof only six were taken from the Kak...
The Petersburg Borough Assembly approved a resolution Friday informing the Wrangell assembly of its acceptance of Southeast Alaska Power Agency’s offer to take over Tyee Hydroelectric Project operation costs. The resolution urges the Wrangell assembly to also accept the offer. SEAPA CEO Trey Acteson presented the offer that would also absorb existing Thomas Bay Power Authority employees along with their Public Employee Retirement System unfunded liabilities in excess of $750,000 should SEAPA terminate the current Tyee contract. The Petersburg a...
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Voters in the Matanuska-Susitna Borough will decide in Tuesday’s election on whether to allow the borough to enact a 5 percent tax on areawide alcohol sales. The tax would offset the burden on property tax payers, but opponents say the measure unfairly targets a specific industry. The proposed tax was introduced in June by borough Assemblyman Steve Colligan. It was approved the following month for the ballot. Colligan said he sees the measure simply as a sales tax, KSKA reported. “Why should property owners be beari...
A new greenhouse at Evergreen Elementary School is on hold after the student-designed project failed to win a community improvement grant, school officials said. Students at Wrangell High School designed the greenhouse as part of the construction trades class. Most of the students in the class said the hoped a new source of funding could be located. “I really hope they do build it,” said Cody Thomassen. “It would nice.” The new greenhouse wouldn’t be used, he said. Students discussed the proje...
