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Wrangell Cooperative Association members are eligible for a second round of pandemic assistance grants for food and utility expenses, with applications due by Nov. 30. The assistance payments will be $1,000 per household for groceries and $1,000 for utilities, the same amount as the first round administered by WCA with funds from last year’s federal CARES Act. Tribal members must fill out a certification form “to verify the tribal household applying needs assistance due to the COVID-19 pandemic and there have been no changes to household inf...
The borough assembly has denied the school district’s request for an exemption from Wrangell’s testing and isolation requirements for unvaccinated students who travel. In October, the district had requested students and staff traveling for extracurricular activities, such as sports, be exempt from the borough’s COVID-19 emergency ordinance testing and isolation requirements since it wouldn’t allow students and staff to attend events on back-to-back weekends. The assembly denied the request at its Nov. 9 meeting. “We believed, based on the la...
The Wrangell High School wrestling and volleyball teams stayed in town last weekend instead of traveling for matches, due to ongoing COVID-19 concerns. A wrestler tested positive for COVID-19 last week after returning from a match in Anchorage with eight other athletes from the squad. The team was scheduled to compete in Ketchikan last weekend but ended up canceling due to the close-contact exposure. The tournament in Ketchikan was still held. The volleyball team was scheduled to compete in Petersburg for a second weekend in a row, and for a se...
Nov. 10, 1921 The longest period of waiting for mail from the south that Wrangell has experienced in a long time, 17 days, ended Tuesday morning when the mail brought by the Spokane was received. Postmaster Stedman had 100 sacks of mail to distribute Tuesday and the Post Office was a busy place all day. Local merchants received 100 tons of freight. The supply of sugar, eggs, butter and other staples was running low, some of the merchants being entirely out of one or two of these things before the boat arrived. The fresh vegetables which the Spo...
While Wrangell has counted 11 new COVID-19 infections in the past week, Petersburg was at 69 active cases as of late Monday, with a mandatory face mask order in place and public buildings closed. Almost 20% of COVID tests administered in Petersburg in the past seven days had come back positive, the borough reported on its website Monday. The active case count set a pandemic record for the community, going past the old record of 68 from March 3. Petersburg was hit with 85 cases from mid-February to the first week of March, its highest numbers...
Technology has made access to information and connection with people around the world instantly possible. It’s a valuable teaching tool for educators. But that same technology has a dark side, causing kids to misbehave and use social media inappropriately. It’s led to more parent and teacher oversight and, in some cases, suspension, even in Wrangell. Bob Davis, assistant principal of the high school and middle school, recently has sent out messages to parents letting them know about a slew of TikTok challenges that had made their way to Wra...
Wrangell has work, but the workforce is lacking. Since the end of September, the Wrangell Chamber of Commerce has been posting its members’ job openings to help get companies staffed and people working. In the five weeks, three people have come in to fill out applications. Chamber Executive Director Brittani Robbins said despite efforts help get jobs filled, staffing shortages remain due to anything from lower starting wages to unqualified applicants. But Robbins believes businesses can take steps to make positions more attractive. “I thi...
As winter approaches, the Wrangell parks and recreation department has plans to clear a sledding hill popular with children. The hill is beyond the covered playground near the elementary school. Alder trees are encroaching on the area, limiting the space for play, said Kate Thomas, parks and recreation director, so the public works department is going to help clear those trees. In addition, the parking barriers are due for upgrades, according to a parks maintenance report. “The existing logs that delineate the roadway from the parking area a...
The state high school swim meet in Anchorage was derailed for Wrangell’s competitors last weekend when senior Renée Roberts tested positive for COVID-19. Head coach Jamie Roberts (Renée’s mom) reported the test came back positive an hour before the second day’s competition began on Saturday. “As a coach and a mom this was heartbreaking,” Roberts said. “After the 2020 season, we were looking forward to a season of competition. Renée had a goal to go to state four years in a row. She made it her first two years, then state was canceled in 20...
The Wrangell Wolves wrestling team traveled to Anchorage last weekend to compete in the Anchorage Christian School invitational tournament. Several team members placed in their weight classes, with one taking first. Senior Liana Carney took first over Colony High School's Sarah Callender in a 10-0 decision. Her teammate, Mia Wiederspohn, placed fourth, falling to Heaven Matheny, of Fairbanks Lathrop. In the boys competition, Randy Churchill placed fifth by besting Graelin Chaney, of Dillingham,...
With approval from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, vaccinations against COVID-19 for children ages 5 through 11 could be available in Wrangell next week. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration last week approved the vaccine for children, and the CDC late Tuesday also approved the shots. The SouthEast Alaska Regional Health Consortium, which was waiting on that decision, will soon start opening appointments to administer Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine for children ages 5 to 11, Maegan Bosak, a senior SEARHC official in Sitka, s...
Nov. 3, 1921 Miss Liberty Worden gave a Halloween party Monday night in the school room of the post office building for her Saturday afternoon girls sewing club. The decorations and dainty refreshments and favors were all in keeping with the traditions of the day. A ghost and a witch who told thrilling fortunes enlivened the program and some jolly games were enjoyed. Miss Betty Matheson won the prize for adjusting the head of a make-believe black cat as near to its proper position on the body as was possible when blindfolded. Erma Grant was...
The Sentinel on Oct. 28 incorrectly reported on the dedication of a bench at the Wrangell Mariners’ Memorial to Ryan Miller, who died in a 2005 commercial fishing accident. The three memorial benches were a 2017 Wrangell High School senior project. The Ryan Miller bench was built by his son, Garrett Miller. The other two benches were built by Garrett’s cousin, Dawson Miller, and their friend, Sam Armstrong....
Bob Russell recently returned to Alaska to continue his career pursuits in the technology arena. He started the next leg of his journey on July 2 as the school district's tech director, overseeing all computer equipment, internet connectivity, networking and learning devices. In short, if it's technology-related, Russell is in charge. Before coming to Wrangell, Russell and his wife, Kimberly, and Great Pyrenees dog, Yukon, lived in Tennessee. He had lived and worked in Fort Yukon some time...
Three swimmers on the high school team will travel to Anchorage this weekend for the state championship after placing first in their events at regionals last weekend in Ketchikan. Renée Roberts and Nikolai Siekawitch will compete in two events each, and Jack Roberts will compete in one event and be an alternate for another at the state competition Friday and Saturday. Renée Roberts will compete in the 50-yard freestyle and 100-yard freestyle. Siekawitch will compete in the 100-yard butterfly and...
Wrangell’s public library is 100 years old this week and ready to turn the page for its next century. The library’s history includes several chapters, starting with 802 books on the shelves on opening night Oct. 31, 1921, about equal to the 821 residents counted in the 1920 census. It must have been a long wait for popular books back then. Members of the Wrangell Civic Club led the movement to open a library. The town was just 18 years old and ready for a library, which shared the building at the site where the senior center is now loc...
The borough assembly on Tuesday discussed — but took no action — on Wrangell’s COVID-19 testing and isolation policy as it affects unvaccinated students who travel out of town for sports and activities. The school district had requested a waiver of the policy. The district currently allows unvaccinated students who travel for games or other activities to return to school and practice without isolating until their test results come back, so long as the students follow the school district’s weekly testing protocols and mitigation plan. The sch...
A medical equipment loan closet in Wrangell offers items free of charge for anyone who needs assistance on a short-term basis. Alice Rooney, a retired social worker, volunteers with Hospice of Wrangell, also known as Harriet's Helpers. She has been helping run the closet which stocks wheelchairs, walkers, braces, bedpans, hospital beds, grabbers, commodes and other items. The loan closet is located in a corner of the former Wrangell Medical Center next to Evergreen Elementary School on Bennett...
JOB ANNOUNCEMENTS Wrangell Public Schools is accepting applications for multiple positions. All positions are open until filled. Business manager: A 12-month position with benefits paid on the exempt employee salary schedule. Responsibilities include oversight of the school budget using a uniform chart of accounts coding, maintaining financial records, conducting all banking, payroll, accounts payable, annual audit preparation and advising the superintendent in all matters that are financially relevant for the district. Degree in business...
The Wrangell High School volleyball team traveled to Metlakatla last weekend for six matches. They won all but one match during three days of play. In best-three-out-of-five match sets, the Lady Wolves played against Petersburg, Craig, Metlakatla, Haines, Skagway and Klawock, which was the only team to defeat them. Thursday’s match against Petersburg resulted in Wrangell winning three sets in a row, 28-26, 25-16 and 25-19. Friday’s matches were against Skagway, Metlakatla and Haines. Wrangell took all three matches against Metlakatla, 25-19, 25...
Imagine performing in a band or choir but not being able to practice with the other performers on the stage. That's how students from Southeast high schools have to approach Honors Fest. Each year, high schoolers from across the region audition for the event, and this year two students from Wrangell were scheduled to perform on Tuesday with 73 other musicians in Ketchikan. The event was supposed to be held at Wrangell High School last year. Normally, about 120 students perform during Honors...
It gets so heavy, sometimes you just want to put it down is how Virginia Oliver describes preserving the Tlingit language. "You want to cry," she said, "because it feels like your brain is going to explode. But then, your Elders just tell you, 'It's too heavy right now, just put it down for a little while and pick it back up.'" The international Endangered Languages Project and a U.N. agency estimate there are 200 fluent Tlingit speakers left, but the majority of the sources for that data are a...
Rather than grumbling about face masks or grousing about politics, many of Wrangell’s students are working to improve the school, the community and the world. They are thinking about their life in the future and the life of others today. Good for them, and good for everyone. The high school students in BASE — Building a Supportive Environment — are working to help feed other students, recognize staff for their good work, support students who are having trouble, and even contribute to a microloan program that helps people in need around the w...
Skagway’s borough assembly has voted unanimously to work with the Skagway Traditional Council to authorize ground-penetrating radar — and some shovel work — at the former Pious X Mission School site, which operated from 1932 to 1959 and served about 60 Indigenous children. The property is now owned by the municipality, which uses it as a seasonal RV park. The borough in recent years has considered redeveloping the property as a housing subdivision or making utility improvements and continuing RV services for independent travelers. The Skagw...
The borough will be asking for “archaeological proposals” for a ground survey of the former Wrangell Institute property, consulting with state and federal agencies and the Wrangell Cooperative Association on the process before any work begins. The borough had been waiting on guidance from the U.S. Department of the Interior, which has pledged that surveys will be conducted of former Alaska Native and American Indian boarding school sites nationwide. But the department “really doesn’t have any guidance on this,” said Carol Rushmore, Wrangell...
