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ROUND-TABLE MENTAL HEALTH DISCUSSION 6 p.m. Wednesday, May 21, at the Nolan Center. Visiting speaker Krizz Kaliko and Wrangell elders will be discussing mental health. Presented by the Wrangell Cooperative Association’s Bouncing Back program; open to the public. STAR OF BENGAL DIVE TEAM PRESENTATION 6:30 p.m. Thursday, May 29, at the Nolan Center. The team has been diving on the 1908 wreckage in Southeast waters, and will present on what they have learned. Sponsored by Friends of the Museum. Appetizers will be provided; the public is asked t... Full story
The Presbyterian Church, which has had an interest in the Garnet Ledge on the mainland across from Wrangell for 63 years, has turned over ownership to the Wrangell Cooperative Association. The rules will not change, only the owner. The 39-acre property has been reserved since 1962 for “the children of Wrangell” to collect garnets, which they sell to tourists and at shops around town. “If anyone goes up there to get garnets, they have to have kids,” said Sandy Churchill, a member of the WCA tribal council. The church, which managed the propert...
MUSKEG MEADOWS Wrangell IGA nine-hole, best-ball golf tournament Saturday and Sunday, May 17-18. Tournament play starts at 10 a.m., register by 9:30 a.m. NOLAN CENTER THEATER presents “Minecraft,” rated PG, at 6 p.m. Friday, May 16, 3 p.m. Saturday, May 17, and 6 p.m. Sunday, May 18 at the Nolan Center. Tickets are $7 for adults, $5 for children under age 12. The action adventure comedy runs one hour and 41 minutes. Children under 12 must be accompanied by an adult. COMMUNITY MARKET from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, May 17, at the Nolan Cen... Full story
After 13 years with the Wrangell Cooperative Association, the past seven as tribal administrator, Esther Aaltséen Reese will leave in June to start her new job as chief operating officer for the Tlingit-Haida Regional Housing Authority. "Housing is the No. 1 need" across Southeast Alaska, Reese said in an interview on May 8. The nonprofit tribal agency's mission "is to connect Southeast Alaskans with sustainable housing opportunities and innovative financial solutions," particularly aimed at...
There are no timelines to process grief and trauma, and the impacts of the deadly 2023 landslide in Wrangell continue to affect the community. To help, the Wrangell Cooperative Association received a federal grant and is making resources available through its new Bouncing Back program to address this reality, led by Peter Adams, director of crisis counseling. Adams, based in Kansas City, Missouri, was familiar with Wrangell through visits with the Team Hollywood sports presentations. When he...
The third annual plant swap and seed potato sale will sprout from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, May 3, in a yard on St. Michaels Street, near the bottom of the hill. “It’s kind of been building each year,” said Mya DeLong, one of the organizers. Sponsored by the Wrangell Community Garden and Wrangell Cooperative Association, the event provides gardeners with an opportunity to swap out their excess plants and starters for something they may want to add to their greenery. “You can swap your Brussels sprouts for celery,” DeLong said, or any other...
School Board President Dave Wilson on April 14 named 10 people to a special committee to assist the board in developing a long-term budget plan. The district has been drawing on its dwindling savings the past few years to cover spending, and it doesn’t look likely that any combination of state, municipal or federal money is going to rescue the district from spending cuts. “The budget situation is extremely dire,” Ryan Howe, a 16-year teacher in the district, said at the school board’s April 14 meeting. “There’s no calvary coming.” Wi...
Cultural institutions all over Alaska are scrambling to figure out what a wave of cuts to federal grants means for their programs and staffing. Over the past few weeks, museums, libraries and cultural organizations across Alaska have received notice that federal funds are being terminated. The federal government is making the cuts to align spending with a recent Trump administration order and the Department of Government Efficiency’s goals. Wrangell’s Irene Ingle Public Library has for at least the past 10 years received an annual federal gra...
The Wrangell Chamber of Commerce will move into the Nolan Center, pending the expected approval by the borough assembly later this month. Setting up shop in the Nolan Center will put the chamber in a more visible and heavily trafficked location, allowing better access for visitors. Since 2012, the chamber has been in an office in the Stikine Inn, around the corner from the front desk. “We’re essentially becoming roommates,” said Kate Thomas, the borough’s economic development director, describing the new arrangement for sharing office space....
Jeff and Kay Jabusch were named citizens of the year. The Wrangell Cooperative Association was named organization of the year. Alice Rooney took home volunteer of the year. Jack Carney won the award for educator of the year while his son, Jackson Carney, was awarded young leader of the year. And this year’s theme for the Fourth of July celebration? Small Town, Big Heart. The chamber of commerce’s annual dinner took place on Saturday, March 15, at the Nolan Center and was catered by Wrangell’s newest eatery: The Wolf Shack. For those famil...
Kevin Gadsey, 49, allegedly engaged in inappropriate behavior around elementary-aged children in the swimming pool locker room, prompting at least two parents to complain to the Parks and Recreation Department and bring their concerns to the Sentinel. After Parks and Rec launched an investigation into the allegations, the borough served Gadsey with a no-trespassing order on Jan. 9, banning him from the facility during "kid-specific activities." "After careful consideration" the letter read, "we...
No one could remember it ever happening before, but the Wrangell Cooperative Association was ready when it did happen last month. The annual tribal council election on Feb. 27 ended in a tie for the fourth seat. WCA election rules designated a coin toss to decide the winner, said Tribal Administrator Esther Aaltséen Reese. Einar Haaseth, the tribal council election chairman, researched online the proper way to toss a coin, Reese said. He studied how NFL referees do it at the start of every game. Tribal Council President Ed Rilatos brought in...
The Wrangell Cooperative Association will hold an electronic waste collection event Friday and Saturday, March 7-8, paired with an unofficial grand opening of its new transportation center on Zimovia Highway. The center will be open for the first time to the public from noon to 4 p.m. Friday and from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday as the drop-off site for e-waste. The 5,000-square-foot maintenance and warehouse building is next door to WCA offices on the upland side of the highway, just south of TK’s Mini Mart. Kim Wickman, the WCA Tl’átḵ | Earth...
Feb. 5, 1925 A new seating arrangement has been adopted for the high school. Seats are arranged in a circle with the stove as a center. This new arrangement was adopted for three reasons: First, because it makes possible a uniform temperature for all students; second, it makes possible a better utilization of the light; and third, it eliminates congested areas. All seats have been made rigid by means of cleats attached to the floor. Students and faculty agree that the new plan is an improvement artistically, as well as from every other...
During a break in the U.S. Army apology ceremony, Sik'nax̲.ádi clan leader John Martin walked over to a table in the audience, turned and handed U.S. Army Chaplain Phillip Rittermeyer a book. It was "The Sea Runners," by Ivan Doig, a novel about four indentured servants and their quest for freedom in a stolen canoe. Rittermeyer turned to those seated at his table and explained what happened. "We met last night, and he wanted me to have this," the chaplain said, tapping the book to the table. I...
Nominations are open for four seats on the eight-member Wrangell Cooperative Association tribal council. Nominations will close at 4 p.m. Feb. 12. Voting will be held from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Feb. 27 at the WCA Cultural Center. The terms of council members Jason Clark, Tom Gillen Sr., Luella Knapp and Sandy Churchill will expire this year. All are eligible to run for election to another term, said Esther Aaltséen Reese, tribal administrator. Candidates for the council must be a member of WCA and on the tribe’s official voter list. The minimum ag...
As voices became hushed and the crowd waited for the ceremony to begin, a toddler mumbled an inaudible question to their mother. Amid a sea of people packed into the Nolan Center, the woman's response was clear and without question. "The Army killed our people here," she said, "and now they're going to say sorry." The U.S. Army apologized for the 1869 bombardment of the Tlingit village called Ḵaachx̱aana.áakʼw at a ceremony on Saturday, Jan. 11, in Wrangell. Of the seven Tlingit clans that rece... Full story
On Saturday, Jan. 11, the U.S. Army will issue a formal apology to the community for its December 1869 bombardment of Wrangell's Tlingit village, Ḵaachx̱aana.áakʼw. This is the third recent military apology to Southeast communities after the Navy apologized last fall for its attacks on Kake (1869) and Angoon (1882). Given the rarity of these admissions of guilt, there is little precedent for the structure of the event, meaning the planning - at least for the Wrangell apology - was left up to loc...
It was 1869 and smoke filled the winter air. Cannon balls ripped through Tlingit homes while U.S. Army shells shrieked across the sky. The same type of artillery used against the Confederates just four years prior was now turned on the Tlingit people of Wrangell, in their homeland which they called Ḵaachx̱aana.áakʼw. One hundred and fifty-five years later, the U.S. Army is apologizing. The apology is scheduled to take place in Wrangell on Jan. 11, 2025. Sen. Lisa Murkowski and Army repr...
Five, four, three, two, one - wooooooooooo. And just like that, the U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree was alit. Adorned with 10,000 Alaskan-made ornaments and glistening with the power of 5,000 LED bulbs, the 80-foot-tall spruce will remain lit from dusk to 11 p.m. through Jan. 1. While the tree obviously headlined its own lighting ceremony, the Dec. 3 event was equally a celebration of Wrangell and the state. Members of Alaska's congressional delegation, Rep. Mary Peltola and Sens. Lisa Murkowski...
Mikki Angerman just wants everyone to feel included. She isn’t an esports fanatic. She doesn’t even call herself a gamer. Instead, she’s a special services educator who is passionate about promoting inclusion and acceptance. “Our world right now needs empathy more than anything else,” she said. Angerman wants the middle and high school esports team to be a conduit for just that. She hosted preliminary and casual esports practices last spring, but after realizing what was needed to both expand the team and possibly compete against other sch...
A large contingent from Wrangell will be in the crowd as the switch is flipped to light up The Capitol Christmas Tree on Tuesday, Dec. 3, including tribal members of the Wrangell Cooperative Association who will bless the 80-foot-tall spruce. The lighting ceremony is scheduled for 1 p.m. Alaska time and will be available for online viewing, including on the YouTube channel of the Speaker of the U.S. House at https://bit.ly/3V5EDQg. The tree, with a trunk almost 22 inches wide, arrived in the nation’s capital on Friday, Nov. 22, after a long j... Full story
Police Chief Gene Meek has revamped the Wrangell Police Department. Since arriving in July, he has implemented a series of policies that emphasize transparency, prevention and community engagement. When he arrived in town, he realized something pretty quickly about the police department. "This agency was stuck in the 1990s," he said. "It was a reactive model, where you sit back, wait for calls for service, and go out and handle the calls. That's fine from a law enforcement standpoint, but...
It's been 10 years since the community saw the map of a proposed new access route to the Mount Dewey Trail and its viewing platform for a scenic look at the town and harbor below. The wait ended with a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the new trailhead parking lot on Thursday, Nov. 14. "It's heavily used already," Amber Al-Haddad, the borough's capital projects director, said a few hours before the official opening. The trail runs from Bennett Street, starting at the new parking area on the road to th...