Sorted by date Results 351 - 375 of 515
Wrangell Cooperative Association held its annual election for the Tribal Council on February 22. Open to members, a total of 68 ballots were counted, including four absentee and eight question ballots. Turnout was down by about a dozen members from the previous year, possibly due to the election being rescheduled from the previous week. Every year, half of the eight-member council is up for re-election, with members serving two-year seats. The results shown here are preliminary, to be validated at Tuesday evening’s Tribal Council meeting. O...
Following the February 16 article on its new Knowledge Imaging Center, the Irene Ingle Public Library wanted to acknowledge Wrangell Cooperative Association as the lead organization for the IMLS Grant that provided funds for its purchase. The library apologizes that this information was inadvertently omitted from last week’s article....
For Wrangell, the past year was one mixed with successes and setbacks, shared tragedies and uplifting moments. Sales taxes collected over the spring and summer tour seasons neared all-time highs, with the visitor industry experiencing a good season overall. On the other end, fishermen experienced one of their worst harvests of the summer, which after a disappointing 2015 season has put the fiscal pinch on a number of local families, boat builders, and associated sectors. As 2017 dawns, concerns...
Wrangell's second-largest travel lodging has been sold, and will be repurposed as a senior housing and assisted living center this spring. The owners of the Sourdough Lodge sold the property to a group of buyers, who are currently renovating its rooms and preparing it for the new use. Once completed, by April 1 the lodge will be rechristened Harbor House Assisted Living Center and Senior Housing. One of the buyers, Shannon Bosdell, explained the facility will fill a need in the community for hou...
The Wrangell Public School Board will get a first look at its budget next month for the upcoming year, which begins July 1, 2017. At its December 14 meeting, school superintendent Patrick Mayer reported the year’s budget would be reflecting expected reductions to revenue sources. He explained the district will be putting together its draft budget operating under four assumptions, which may change as the new year unfolds. One of these is a student enrollment count of 273, which takes into consideration part-time students. Health coverage p...
The special committee tasked with pursuing development of a residential high school in Wrangell is currently courting support from a major consortium of tribal villages in Interior Alaska. The school would be the first year-round residential facility to be operated under the Alaska Native Science and Engineering Program (ANSEP), a supplementary learning program which earlier this fall opened its first full-time accelerated high school in the Matanuska-Susitna area. The program is part of the University of Alaska system, and was founded to impro...
The special committee tasked with pursuing development of a residential high school in Wrangell is currently courting support from a major consortium of tribal villages in Interior Alaska. The school would be the first year-round residential facility to be operated under the Alaska Native Science and Engineering Program (ANSEP), a supplementary learning program which earlier this fall opened its first full-time accelerated high school in the Matanuska-Susitna area. The program is part of the Uni...
Latest samples of butter clams from Shoemaker Bay beaches show levels of saxitoxin have halved since this summer, when specimens were found to be a health hazard. The clams are still considered a health risk, albeit at a lower level. Wrangell Cooperative Association’s Indian Environmental General Assistance Program (IGAP) staff have been collecting samples of mussels and other bivalves from the beach on a weekly basis, which then get tested at a Sitka lab for several different toxins. In August the program reported elevated levels of s...
Wrangell Senior Center is conducting a survey this month tracking Native elder health and social issues. The local surveying is a cooperative effort between Southeast Senior Services and Wrangell Cooperative Association. The results go to the National Resource Center on Native American Aging, which assesses the quality of life for elders across the United States. NRCNAA helps compile and prepare the results of the assessment, as well as provide assistance on how to best use that data. The survey focuses on individuals aged 55 and older, and...
A new bus has been added to the fleet serving Wrangell, the Public School Board learned Monday. Etolin Bus Company has acquired a new Thomas Saf-T-Liner C2 model bus, which will be used for transporting middle and high school students on daily routes. Etolin operator Greg McCormack brought it and the previous Blue Bird model down to Evergreen Elementary to demonstrate the differences. “The new bus we have is what I consider the world’s most modern school bus,” he commented. Compared to the older vehicles, the Thomas sports a number of added...
Wrangell Cooperative Association added its voice to the chorus of people concerned about Canadian mining concerns developing upstream of shared rivers. The forum was a hearing held by the Alaska House Fisheries Special Committee in Juneau on October 12. Testimony was collected from around the state, with speakers calling in even from as far away as Arizona. The issue at hand is a collection of large scale mines either operating or in development, located in the watersheds of the Stikine, Unuk and Taku rivers. For Wrangell, the Red Chris mine...
Following up on a warning issued this summer, the risk of poisoning from area shellfish has been revised. Shellfish specimens found around Shoemaker Bay in August had tested positive for saxitoxin, which causes paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP). Severe cases of PSP can cause nausea, vomiting, neurological effects, respiratory failure and ultimately death. First signs tend to be a numbness of the mouth after eating tainted shellfish. The Southeast Alaska Tribal Ocean Research website at www.seator.org/data maintains a page laying out updated...
Last month Wrangell's Senior Apartments formally went smoke-free, asking its residents to instead head outdoors if they feel the need to have a cigarette. "It was mostly for the health and well-being of our tenants," explained Gail Rilatos, manager of the facility for the past four years. The decision was made by the apartment complex's five-member governing board, which sought input on a new policy from Southeast Alaska Regional Health Consortium. SEARHC facilitates an Alaska Tobacco...
Local shellfish gatherers are advised to steer clear of the beach near Shoemaker Bay, after specimens tested positive for paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP). The alert was posted to the Southeast Alaska Tribal Ocean Research website at www.seator.org/data on Monday. A sampling of butterclams collected by the Wrangell Cooperative Association’s Indian Environmental General Assistance Program (IGAP) staff and sent in to Sitka for testing turned out to have more than twice the state’s threshold for saxitoxin, the cause of PSP. The sample mea...
Wrangell’s Borough Assembly revisited its local contractors list, which it had adopted last year in order to streamline hiring for small projects. An idea was first put forward to the Assembly by Borough Manager Jeff Jabusch in December 2014, drafting a list of licensed local contractors who could be called upon for small-scale jobs under $25,000 on a rotating on-call basis. A pool of qualified local contractors hirable by the city was created, ensuring those contacted for jobs were qualified for the work and that all those qualifying would b...
A survey to gauge the housing needs of Wrangell’s Native population launched last week. Wrangell Cooperative Association is conducting a housing needs assessment, following up on a community needs survey completed last year and the results of a special stakeholders meeting held in December. As housing issues ranged high among the identified community needs, this recent survey gathers demographic data and residential information from participants. “We’re trying to get every tribal household in Wrangell to take the survey,” explained WCA tribal...
Summer hikers have gotten a leg up on the Rainbow Falls trail, after resurfacing work was completed there in early May. Earlier this spring the United States Forest Service reached a cost-sharing agreement with the Transportation Office of Wrangell Cooperative Association, to resurface and brush along trails for maintenance over the summer. Under the agreement, the USFS is to provide materials and tools while WCAT provides the labor. This summer will be the fourth the two governmental...
Margaret June DeWitt Gross-Hope, 88, "walked into the forest" on June 3, 2016, in Sitka, Alaska. She was born to Forrest and Martha (James) DeWitt on June 3, 1928, in Wrangell, Alaska, the first of seven children. Her Tlingit name is Koodeina.át. She was raised in a traditional native house and her first language was Tlingit. She was from the S'iknaxh.ádi clan from Wrangell. She was a child of the Yaxht'etaan through Forrest DeWitt, Sr. (Héenak'w Taax') who was from the Big Dipper House in Ju...
Seven totem poles transferred this spring from city storage at the boatyard to Wrangell Cooperative Association's new cultural center have been identified. The Tribe contacted master carver Steve Brown, sending him photographs of the retired poles in hopes of shedding some light on their identities. Coming to Wrangell in 1984, Brown had learned the local style and had worked on recreating a number of local totems and wood pieces, and was instrumental in the restoration of the Chief Shakes House...
Representatives of Alaskan, Canadian, tribal and local agencies all gathered together in Wrangell on Tuesday to pay tribute to two members of the North West Mounted Police who had died during a storm more than a century ago. Constable Spence Heathcote and Constable Norman Campbell had both drowned while crossing by boat from the Stikine River to Wrangell Island in late December 1901. Though acknowledged as having died in service to their country, it was not until 2006 that Royal Canadian...
In the Sentinel 75, 50 and 25 years ago. May 9, 1941: The C.P.R. Freighter Nootka arrived here this week on her annual spring trip, bringing approximately 175 tons of supplies for Watson Lake in Canada and general merchandise for up the Stikine. About 125 tons, lumber and other supplies and some equipment was for Watson Lake. This morning the Barrington Transportation boats, the Hazel B No. 1, No. 2 and No. 3 and the new barge, were loaded and prepared to start up the river with a big consignment of goods and 37 workmen for the General...
To the Editor: We would like to thank the Wrangell Cooperative Association and the US Forest Service for their cooperative project improving the lower Rainbow Falls trail. The labor provided by the WCA (Lizzy Romane and Jodie Lindley) and the gravel and equipment by the Forest Service have made walking the trail much more enjoyable. No longer do we have to watch our feet for roots and mudholes. Thank you all for this much needed and appreciated effort. Haig and Bonnie Demerjian To the Editor: Hubris: Excessive pride or self confidence,...
The City and Borough Assembly was able to put its concerns to bed regarding a proposed mooring facility and breakwater. At the April 12 meeting assembly members had opted to postpone their decision on a request by prospective recreational outfit Big Bites Fishing to construct a 580-foot breakwater from a 6-mile property adjacent to the Silver Bay Logging Company mill site. At the time, Assembly members were uncertain whether to lend approval to the plan, which is currently being reviewed by the Army Corps of Engineers for site approval. There...
The Nolan Center was the site of a four-day workshop on tribal transportation last week, held collaboratively by the Alaska Tribal Technical Assistance Program Center (AKTTAP) and Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). The Transportation office of Wrangell Cooperative Association (WCAT) hosted the event, which drew state, federal, tribal and municipal personnel. "Each of them presented a different opportunity for collaborative work," said Bill Willard, WCAT manager. Held previously in Juneau...
The trails to Rainbow Falls and other popular Wrangell destinations will be seeing a number of improvements this season. The Transportation Office of Wrangell Cooperative Association (WCAT) has reached a government-to-government cost sharing agreement with the United States Forest Service to resurface and brush along trails for maintenance. The two entities have cooperated on similar projects over the past few years, with the transportation office undertaking restorative work on the Nemo Loop...