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The recent news that the longtime Alaska Marine Highway System ferry Malaspina will be officially retired and will remain in Ketchikan's Ward Cove as a privately owned and operated museum and a training vessel is good news to its fans who had feared that the "Mal" would suffer the same fate as its sistership, the Taku, which was sold in 2018 and scrapped in India. The Malaspina, along with the Taku and the Matanuska, were the first mainline ferries in the fleet, all going online in 1963. They...
The borough has listed the former Wrangell Medical Center for sale to the highest bidder until June 30, at a minimum bid of $830,000, the value assigned by an April appraisal. The hospital has been vacant since health care provider SouthEast Alaska Regional Health Consortium moved into its new building in February 2021. The borough has been spending close to $100,000 a year to heat and insure the empty structure, and the assembly has decided to sell the surplus property. The lot is 1.95 acres, o...
When Christi Slaven's kids were tiny, she set her typewriter down on the breakfast bar in her parents' house and wrote a novel. She burned all 300 pages when she was done. "It was terrible," Slaven said. But she felt better afterward, because she was "going nuts" taking care of her two young daughters. Writing gave her a creative outlet. Her daughter, Kelly Ellis, who lives and works in Wrangell, remembers that time. "I was little, 2, 3, 4?" Ellis recalled. "She had a typewriter, and she had a k...
HELP WANTED Wrangell Public Schools is accepting applications for the following positions: Custodian: This is a full-time, year-round classified position with benefits, 7.5 hours per day. Salary placement is on Column B of the Classified Salary Schedule. Job duties include but are not limited to keeping our school complex clean and assisting with setting up rooms for classes, large presentations, and business meetings as needed; and assisting with minor repairs. A High School Diploma or equivalent is desired. The successful applicant will begin...
June 1, 1922 Five dollars will be paid to any person who furnishes information leading to conviction of anyone fishing in the city dam or the waters above the dam. Fishing or taking fish from the city dam has been prohibited and the parents of minor children will be held responsible for the acts of their children in the violation of this municipal law. Evidence given will be held strictly confidential and unless absolutely necessary the informant need not be present at the trial. “The city council desires to protect the health of every p...
If oil prices stay above $100 a barrel for the next 12 months, the state could end the fiscal year in June 2023 with about $2.3 billion in its savings accounts, not counting the Permanent Fund. It hasn’t had that much in savings since 2018. “That’s not enough cash,” Sitka Sen. Bert Stedman, co-chair of the Senate Finance Committee, said last Friday. The state treasury needs a healthier shock absorber to cushion against the inevitable periods of low oil prices, he said. It all depends on oil markets and prices. Alaska North Slope crude has ave...
About 1.75 acres of a former junkyard will be put up for auction for residential development by the borough this summer. The borough-owned lots at Mile 4 Zimovia Highway will be listed on publicsurplus.com, a privately owned online auction service that handles government property sales nationwide. The entire 2.5-acre property was valued at $205,000, according to an April 27 appraisal report from Roger Ramsey at Ramsey Appraisal Resource, of Juneau. However, a portion was carved out to be sold to an adjoining property owner. The appraised value...
One of the abiding understandings of our Lutheran church is “unity, not uniformity.” It is a practice that allows each congregation flexibility within a particular framework. We celebrate a pattern of church seasons; we mark those seasons with particular colors for banners and altar cloths; we have a recommended three-year cycle of scripture readings for Sundays and a collection of hymns and an order for worship. On June 5, we celebrate Pentecost, the day God gave the whole Church the Holy Spirit. While the banners and altar cloths will all...
Wondering if that cluster of mushrooms found on the roadside are safe to pick and eat? Odds are they're OK, and so are others. To that end, the Friends of the Library is holding an event Sept. 9 to 11 at the Irene Ingle Public Library to inform foragers what mushrooms can be eaten again and again, and which ones should not be eaten even once. Kitty LaBounty, a Sitka-based professor with the University of Alaska Southeast, is scheduled to share her knowledge on safe versus unsafe mushrooms when...
Glenda L. Gillen, 79, passed away in her home surrounded by her husband and children "and lots of love" on May 18 in Wrangell. Glenda's family will hold a private church service for her. Glenda was born to Harriet and Alton McAllister in Ketchikan on Nov. 6, 1942. She lived several years in Kasaan with her family and loved spending as much time as she could with her grandfather James Peele. She is the granddaughter of Chief Son-I-Hat of the Whale house of the Yaada tribe. She is Haida eagle of...
HELP WANTED Wrangell Public Schools is accepting applications for the following extracurricular positions for the 2022-2023 school year. All positions are open until filled. Cross Country Running Assistant Coach High School Girls Assistant Basketball Coach High School Assistant Volleyball Coach Middle School Boys Assistant Basketball Coach Freshmen Class Adviser Sophomore Class Adviser Junior Class Co-Adviser Elementary Student Council Adviser Activities Director: This is a contracted position earning a minimum of $10,000 to fulfill the duties...
High oil prices paid the way for legislators to spend more money on public services and construction, a little more on schools and a payout to Alaskans this fall almost triple the amount of last year’s dividend. Legislators and their constituents now wait to see if Gov. Mike Dunleavy decides to veto any of the spending for the fiscal year that starts July 1. Lawmakers went home last week after a late-night session on the final day May 18, when they approved about $2.1 billion — one-quarter of all state general fund spending in the budget yea...
By 8 p.m. last Friday, the Wrangell High School class of 2022 had graduated and each member was embarking on the next chapter of their life. The evening honored the 15 graduates in front of a full auditorium of friends, family and educators with heartfelt speeches and videos showing how far they've come. "This is the first open and normal graduation we've had in ... (three) years," said Kendra Meissner in her salutatorian speech. "(Instead) of watching us take the next steps into our future...
Two of Wrangell's lead educators are closing the books on their lesson plans and graduating to retirement. In June, Bob Davis, assistant principal of Wrangell High School and Stikine Middle School, and Jenn Miller-Yancey, assistant principal of Evergreen Elementary School, will say farewell after more than 30 years each in education. Davis, 64, who was raised in Alaska and came up through the public school system, swore as a young man that he would never set foot into a school again after...
For more than 50 years, members of the Wrangell Art Gallery have come together once a week to work on projects, give each other feedback, and to spend time with artistic-minded friends. Along with creating one-of-a-kind artwork, they've also created a lot of memories. One of the members who has been with the group since the beginning, Olga Norris, still strives to learn new artistic mediums to work in, even at 93 years old. "There was a group of us that painted together for years, and the main...
The grand prize winner has been announced in the Vans Custom Culture nationwide art contest and, unfortunately, it was not Wrangell High School. Vans announced last Thursday that Moanalua High School in Honolulu, Hawaii, was selected as the grand prize winner, with a $50,000 award. Wrangell was one of four runners-up, winning $15,000 for the high school art program. Wrangell submitted two pairs of decorated Vans shoes back in March under the guidance of teacher Tasha Morse. She didn’t expect what happened next. “I went into this a bit une...
The Legislature adjourned on time last week, a nice change from past special sessions that got in the way of summer fishing, watching baseball, eating anything off the grill (except eggplant) and sitting outdoors in the sun doing nothing. Lawmakers settled on a healthy and wealthy but not necessarily wise dividend that will put $12,800 into the hands of a family of four this fall. As expected months ago, that single issue consumed the largest amount of political negotiating in the Legislature’s final days. House and Senate members also p...
The turnout was so nice, they did it twice. Due to the popularity of the Evergreen Elementary art walk held on Dec. 1, the school's social-emotional learning teacher Tawney Crowley worked with staff and students to hold another May 17. Along with art exhibits covering tables, lining walls and hanging from the ceiling, Tracey Martin, the Evergreen Agricultural Testing Site (EATS) garden instructor, was selling plants from the garden to raise funds to keep the project going. "We have tomatoes,...
An award and scholarship ceremony held May 13 at Wrangell High School lauded the achievement of many students and presented seniors with scholarships to further their educations. Teachers Lisa Brooks, Jack Carney, Winston Davies, Ann Hilburn, Donna Massin and Tasha Morse all presented various students with certificates and plaques to commemorate their accomplishments for the year. Community members presented a bevy of different scholarships to the seniors, such as Virginia Oliver, who presented...
By the narrowest of margins, 21-19, the House on the last night of the legislative session passed a bill implementing a statewide approach to how school districts intervene when students have difficulty reading. The session’s original reading legislation had been blocked in the House, opposed by several rural lawmakers and Democrats, but the Senate merged it into another education bill on the next-to-the-last day of session, forcing the House to accept or reject the entire package. The reading intervention bill was a priority of Gov. Mike D...
HELP WANTED Wrangell Public Schools is accepting applications for the following positions for the 2022-2023 school year. All positions are open until filled. Elementary Teacher: This is a full-time teaching position in Grades K-5 (placement to be determined). This position requires an Alaska teaching certificate with an appropriate endorsement in elementary education. Secondary (Grades 6-12) Special Education Teacher: This is a full-time teaching position in Grades 6-12 Special Education. The position requires an Alaska teaching certificate wit...
Ben Florschutz, the son of Otto and Christina Florschutz, of Wrangell, graduated May 5 from the Utah State University’s Engineering School with a degree in biological engineering. Florschutz was a 2015 graduate of Wrangell High School and a recipient of an Alaska Pulp Corp. scholarship to attend college. Before starting his secondary education, he served a two-year mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and was called to serve in the Logan, Utah, area. He stayed in Logan after completing his mission work and attended U...
The assembly on May 10 unanimously approved $1.617 million as the borough contribution to the school budget for the 2022-2023 academic year, more than $300,000 higher than this year's local funding level and at the maximum allowed under state law. Everyone who spoke at the assembly meeting called on the assembly to appropriate more money for schools. Schools Superintendent Bill Burr, School Board President David Wilson, teacher Tasha Morse, parent Kaelene Harrison and first grade teacher and...
The borough and Wrangell schools could receive about $4.5 million in state funds, and individuals could receive a fall dividend at least more than double the amount of last year’s payment as the Legislature is in the final day of its regular session on Wednesday. High oil prices — $50 per barrel above a year ago — have added billions to state revenues and made it easier for legislators to add money to the budget for schools, local public works projects and the annual Permanent Fund dividend. The Legislature faces a midnight Wednesday adjou...
A group of high school students delved into scientific research while earning college credits as part of the Rural Alaska Students in One-Health Research (RASOR) program. The University of Alaska Southeast has been running the program for the past three years to highlight environmental issues that can affect human health. This year, Wrangell students decided to research problems with dog waste getting into ground water along the Volunteer Park trail. According to the presentation submitted by...