Sorted by date Results 26 - 50 of 1278
The borough is planning to move the senior center from its longtime but aging location at Church and McKinnon streets to the community center’s multipurpose room. The new space, directly across the hallway from the community gym, will receive several upgrades to accommodate its new use, including a full kitchen remodel and new furniture, according to Borough Manager Mason Villarma. The borough also plans on reserving parking at the community center for the senior center bus, which is used for taking seniors to medical appointments, the post off...
The borough wants a data center to plug into Wrangell. Better yet, it could even move into the unused formal hospital property. Data centers are large hosting sites for multiple servers that provide computing power and storage for cloud-based service providers. While at Southeast Conference, held in Ketchikan last month, borough representatives spoke with Sam Enoka, founder and CEO of Greensparc — a San Francisco-based technology company that specializes in setting up modular, small-scale data centers for cloud computing. Enoka grew up a...
The coffee will be free and the borough wants the information and questions to flow just as freely at the first of its “Our Town, Our Future” informal community sessions. The listening-and-sharing session is set for 9 a.m. Friday, Oct. 18, at the Stikine Inn. The borough has carved out two hours for the meeting, but people don’t have to stay that long, explained Kate Thomas, the borough’s economic development director. The sessions will be held the third Friday of every month through March as part of the borough’s effort to provide more info...
Voters approved a $3 million bond issue for repairs to the water-damaged Public Safety Building by a 3-1 margin on Oct. 1. Residents re-elected Patty Gilbert as mayor over challenger David Powell; re-elected incumbent school board member Angela Allen and elected newcomer Dan Powers over incumbent board member Brittani Robbins; and re-elected Chris Buness to the port commission along with newcomer Eric Yancey over challengers Antonio Silva and Tony Guggenbickler. In a close 36-ballot margin, voters rejected a proposition to amend the municipal...
In House District 1, which includes Ketchikan and Wrangell, there is a three-way race to replace Rep. Dan Ortiz who served as the district's House member for a decade. The race is between Republican Jeremy Bynum and independents Grant EchoHawk and Agnes Moran. All three candidates are Ketchikan residents, as is Ortiz. A Wrangell resident has not held the House seat since Peggy Wilson a decade ago. Ortiz is not seeking reelection, citing health reasons. The former educator caucused with the... Full story
Voters by almost a 3-to-1 margin Tuesday approved a $3 million bond issue for repairs to the water-damaged Public Safety Building. Residents re-elected Patty Gilbert as mayor over challenger David Powell; re-elected incumbent school board member Angela Allen and elected newcomer Dan Powers over incumbent board member Brittani Robbins; and re-elected Chris Buness to the port commission along with newcomer Eric Yancey over challengers Antonio Silva and Tony Guggenbickler. Voters rejected a ballot proposition to amend the municipal charter, which... Full story
Registered voters in Wrangell have several decisions to make in this year’s municipal election — not just deciding their choices for seven elected offices and two ballot propositions, but when they want to vote. The polls will be open 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 1, at the Nolan Center. But for people who like the convenience of voting early, or will be out of town Oct. 1, they can choose to stop by City Hall weekdays between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. though Monday, Sept. 30, to cast an early ballot. All of the ballots will be tabulated at the sam...
The Public Safety Building needs work. Water and rot damage have taken their toll on the almost 40-year-old wood-frame building. Yes, the borough could have and should have spent more on maintenance and repairs in years past but that doesn’t change the fact that the work is past due and the community needs to pay the bill. Voters are asked on the Oct. 1 municipal election ballot to approve a $3 million bond issue to help pay for new roofing and siding and other critical repairs. The Sentinel supports a “yes” vote. The borough would borro...
The Oct. 1 election ballot asks voters whether they want to remove a provision in the municipal charter that prohibits any payment to the mayor and assembly members for their work as an elected official. If voters approve the change, the assembly, at a future date, could propose, consider and vote — after a public hearing — on an ordinance to adopt a compensation plan. Supporters of the proposed change say the intent is to attract more people — including younger people — to run for office and serve on the assembly, rather than continue to rely...
Port commission candidate Eric Yancey would like to see a second boat launch ramp constructed at Heritage Harbor, "right alongside the one that is there." The ramp can get busy and backed up, he said. "One thing would be nice during the summer over at Heritage ... a second boat launch." The 20-year-old harbor has a large parking area and is popular with people who trailer their boats in and out of the water. It's much closer to town than the launch ramp at Shoemaker. Another pinch point for...
After 58 years in Wrangell, nine years on the assembly and two separate stints as vice mayor, David Powell decided now is the time to run for Wrangell's highest elected position. And while he is up against incumbent Patty Gilbert, Powell wants it known that he is not running against Gilbert in a typical fashion. When asked why voters should check the box next to his name on Oct. 1, he hesitated to give a response - not because he wasn't sure why people should vote for him - but because he...
Mayor Patty Gilbert ran for the office in 2022 with two goals in mind: economic development and improvements to the community's infrastructure. As she looks to win reelection this year, her goals haven't changed. Before becoming mayor, she served on the city council and borough assembly for 14 years. She also served on the school board between 2020 and 2022. A lifelong teacher with a classroom career spanning across six decades, Gilbert is confident she can continue to move Wrangell forward in...
Bob Dalrymple likes what the borough has managed to get done the past few years, particularly its focus on maintenance of public facilities and developing new capital projects, such as winning a federal grant to rebuild the downtown harbor floats. "I'd like to keep up with that momentum," said Dalrymple, who is running unopposed for a second three-year term on the assembly. "There are some real challenges coming up." He lists among the challenges finding a way to dispose of the former hospital...
Brittani Robbins is running for a three-year term on the school board in a contested election against fellow incumbent Angela Allen and newcomer Dan Powers. The top vote-getters will win the two seats. In addition to serving on the school board since 2021, Robbins also serves on the borough assembly, a seat she won in 2022. She has worked as executive director for Wrangell's chamber of commerce and served as chair of the school district's budget and finance committee. A graduate of the Wrangell...
After a prospective buyer bailed out on purchasing the former hospital in June, the property remains a burden for the borough. Currently, the building sits empty. It had been eating up nearly $100,000 a year to cover heat, insurance and maintenance. On Sept. 2, the borough’s Economic Development Board brainstormed some potential options for the building’s future. After a long discussion, the board established two priorities for the property: job creation and economic development. Board Chair Bob Dalrymple acknowledged that spinning the ailing p...
Assembly Member David Powell has filed to run for mayor, taking on incumbent Patty Gilbert in the Oct. 1 municipal election. Gilbert is running for a second two-year term as mayor. Powell is in his ninth year on the assembly. In another contested race on the ballot, Chris Buness is seeking a second three-year term on the port commission, with Tony Guggenbickler, Eric Yancey and Antonio Silva also on the ballot. The top two vote-getters will each win a three-year term. Guggenbickler has never held elected office in Wrangell, though he served...
If you’ve enjoyed City Park’s newly refurbished pavilion this summer, you might be twice as happy now. The borough recently approved a construction contract for a new pavilion in City Park, and the best part: Wrangell hardly has to pay anything for it. The new pavilion replaces the structure that was destroyed in a November 2021 windstorm. It will be built exactly where the old one stood, a couple hundred feet south of the pavilion upgraded this summer. Following the storm, the Alaska Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management all...
In less than four weeks, Wrangell voters will cast their ballots in the Oct. 1 municipal election. Voting is easy — cast an early ballot at City Hall any weekday starting Sept. 16, or vote at the Nolan Center on election day. The harder part is deciding how to vote. The decisions include contested races for mayor, the school board and port commission, and two ballot propositions: One question asks voters whether the borough should borrow $3 million to start repairs to the 40-year-old Public Safety Building, and the other asks if voters want t...
After five years, Wrangell High School will have a new elevator, at last. The new elevator will be installed next summer after the borough assembly approved a construction contract last week. Demolition will begin toward the end of the current school year, and Capital Projects Director Amber Al-Haddad hopes construction will be completed by the time students walk in on the first day of school in August 2025. After an oil leak was discovered at the bottom of the existing elevator’s hydraulic ram in March 2020, the school shut down the e...
Disposing of large, derelict vessels abandoned in Petersburg’s harbors comes at a cost. The borough assembly has authorized the transfer of $240,000 from the harbor department reserves to the derelict boat disposal budget category to pay for disposal of two large derelict boats. The assembly also amended the code to make clear that boat owners are responsible for disposal costs. “It’s incredibly expensive,” Borough Manager Steve Giesbrecht said at the Aug. 19 assembly meeting. “Literally, to take two boats apart and scrap them and handle an...
When the borough went out to bid to replace the dilapidated Meyers Chuck dock, there were four or five interested parties. When bids closed on Aug. 13, however, the borough received not a single one. After some delays in the project, the borough hoped to begin procurement for the dock’s new floats late this year. Ideally, construction and installation of the new 200-foot dock would take place next summer. The two-part project was estimated to cost $2.5 million, of which Wrangell would only have to pay $1.4 million thanks to a $1.1 million s...
Republican candidate Jeremy Bynum received just under half the votes in the Aug. 20 primary election for state House District 1, easily outpolling two independent candidates in a preview of the Nov. 5 general election. The three candidates are competing to replace Rep. Dan Ortiz, who is retiring for health reasons after 10 years in the Legislature. The district covers Ketchikan, Metlakatla and Wrangell, plus Coffman Cove on Prince of Wales Island. All three candidates live in Ketchikan, whose larger population dominates the district. About...
When Alaska Rep. Mary Peltola visited Wrangell on Aug. 9 on a reelection campaign stop, she did more than just meet with supporters at the Marine Bar. In a private meeting with borough officials, Peltola received multiple community project funding requests. As a member of the U.S. House, she is permitted to submit 15 requests every appropriation cycle, and Borough Manager Mason Villarma hopes she will consider Wrangell’s requests during this process. The borough proposed two items. The first, and largest of the two, is $5.5 million to build a...
While finding the money to fix everything wrong with the rot-damaged Public Safety Building is far outside the budget, the borough hopes that it can replace the deteriorated roof, siding, windows and doors. At an Aug. 12 meeting, the assembly unanimously approved moving to the next step — a public hearing — toward putting a $3 million bond issue before voters on the Oct. 1 municipal election ballot. This funding, if Wrangell also receives the $2.4 million it has requested in federal assistance, would provide the borough with enough money to com...
Wrangell’s Public Safety Building is two-thirds of its way to becoming a senior citizen. It’s not yet at the knee replacement or artificial hip stage, but it certainly needs a new roof along with replacement of siding and multiple structural pieces damaged and weakened by years of water and rot. The 40-year-old building needs work. Voters may get a chance in the Oct. 1 municipal election to schedule the building for repairs. The assembly has talked for years about whether to repair or replace the building, always scared off by price tags of...
