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At least 973 Native American children died in the U.S. government’s abusive boarding school system, according to the results of an investigation released July 30 by officials who called on the government to apologize for the schools. The investigation commissioned by Interior Secretary Deb Haaland found marked and unmarked graves at 65 of the more than 400 U.S. boarding schools that were established to forcibly assimilate Native American children into white society. The findings don’t specify how each child died, but the causes of death inc...
BACK-TO-SCHOOL REGISTRATION for grades K-12. Online registration is open. In-person registration on Monday, Aug. 12, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the Evergreen Elementary gym for grades K-12. Check the school district website at www.wpsd.us. Classes begin Aug. 22. BRAVE MEETING (Building Respect and Valuing Everyone) 2 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 8, at the Lutheran Church. All are welcome. To join the Zoom session, contact brave.wrangell@gmail.com for a link, or call Kay Larson at 907-209-9117. BACK-TO-SCHOOL backpacks for tribal youth who signed up for...
It would be wonderful to see a picture of Dan Trail and his dogs who helped rescue the baby seal pup. How many dogs? What breed? I am one of the many dog lovers in Wrangell and it was cool to read about how Dan’s dogs were a catalyst for a seal pup rescue. This is such a perfect place to get outside and walk dogs. And look what could happen — lives are saved. Sometimes lost, too. We have stories. After spending 20 winters of not walking outside in Wasilla, my husband Greg and I are loving being senior citizens who live somewhere in Alaska, lik...
It was a close finish in the Bearfest half-marathon, with one minute separating the top two finishers of Carter Howell, at 1:51, and Steven Ditgen, with a time of 1:52. Ian Fuller was the runaway winner of the full marathon at 2:49, with Wrangell High School alum Galen Reed coming in second at 3:25. The 26.2-mile marathon drew nine runners, with 11 racers in the half-marathon on the last day of Bearfest on July 28. Reed, a 2008 graduate of Wrangell High School, planned a family trip from Grand Rapids, Michigan, to run in the marathon. His...
Wrangell is not immune to the nationwide shortage of electrical transformers, and the delivery delay has pushed back the borough’s sale of 20 lots at the residential subdivision near 6-Mile Zimovia Highway until the spring. The borough wants to wait until the streets and utilities are finished at the property before opening access to the land for potential buyers to evaluate which lots they may want to buy. The transformers and buried electrical lines are part of the work. The land sale had been tentatively planned for late summer or fall, b...
So, you want to see bears at the Anan Wildlife Observatory. But maybe you couldn't get one of the limited number of permits, or you live out of town and can't make the trip, or maybe you are a little more afraid of them than you care to admit. But now, thanks to the U.S. Forest Service, explore.org and 14 Wrangell high school students in the T3 Program, anyone worldwide can view Anan's fish-crazed black and brown bears. Last week, after months of preparation, planning and prototyping, the two...
LEARN TO LINE DANCE 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. Tuesdays through Aug. 27 at the community center multi-purpose room, with Issabella Crowley. For ages 18 years old and up. Entry fee is by donation. NOLAN CENTER THEATER “Despicable Me 4,” rated PG, at 6 p.m. Friday, 6 p.m. Saturday, 4 p.m. Sunday Aug. 2-4. The animated adventure comedy runs 1 hour and 34 minutes; tickets are $7 for adults, $5 for children under age 12. Children under 12 must be accompanied by an adult. MUSKEG MEADOWS Compass Line Shop, 9-hole best-ball golf tournament, with special prizes,...
July 31, 1924 The most disastrous fire that Wrangell has seen in years occurred last Thursday night when the Alaska Sanitary Packing Co. cannery burned. The fire was discovered about 1:30 o’clock near a gasoline engine in the front end of the cannery. The fire department quickly responded to the alarm, but all efforts to check the flames in the main building proved futile. It was only by the most persistent efforts that the flames were kept from spreading to the office building, mess house and other buildings in the vicinity of the cannery. It...
The borough assembly has started a lengthy process that will include a lot of public input, as it should, to possibly amend the municipal charter so that a future assembly, if it chooses, could change municipal code to pay mayors and assembly members for their work. Allowing the option of paying members a few hundred dollars a month is a good idea — not because so many other cities and boroughs in Alaska have been doing it for years, but because it takes a lot of time to be a good assembly member, more than should be expected of volunteers. S...
First it was radio, then television. Then it was video games and TikTok. Many book lovers, bookstores and parents of reading-age children feared the demise of the printed story. Yet, with just a few days to go before the end of the Irene Ingle Public Library annual summer reading program for kids, the youngsters are far ahead of last year’s pace. The program ends Saturday, Aug. 3, with prizes for readers and a party on Aug. 10. Wrangell’s young readers entering kindergarten through ninth grade in August had gone through 2,603 books as of Jul...
WRANGELL SCHOOL BOARD special school board meeting 6:30 p.m. Thursday, July 25, at Evergreen Elementary School Room 101. Agenda: superintendent’s evaluation. LEARN TO LINE DANCE 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. Tuesdays from July 30 to Aug. 27 at the community center multi-purpose room with Isabella Crowley. For ages 18 years old and up. Entry fee is by donation. BEARFEST Wednesday through Sunday, July 24-28. An event dedicated to bears and their surroundings. Enjoy symposiums, cultural events, art and photo workshops, fine dining, a marathon and much m...
Bearfest this week provides an opportunity for people to try their artistic skills at making holiday ornaments. In the shape of bears, of course. But nothing ordinary about these ornaments — they will hang on the national Christmas tree on the lawn of the U.S. Capitol. The U.S. Forest Service has selected a tree from the Wrangell Ranger District of the Tongass National Forest — they won’t say which one yet — and the agency has called on Alaskans to create 10,000 ornaments for the big tree and multiple smaller trees that will be display...
HELP WANTED Tongass FCU is looking for someone to join our team as a Member Service Representative in our Wrangell branch. If you want to make an impact, learn and grow, apply online at tongassfcu.com or stop by the branch! HELP WANTED Wrangell Chamber of Commerce is accepting applicants for executive director who plans, organizes, coordinates and directs chamber business as well as oversees the daily operation of the chamber. Posting open until filled. Full job description and applications are available by emailing Chamber President...
The candidacy filing period opens Aug. 2 for this year’s municipal elections for mayor, borough assembly, school board and port commission. Candidates will have until Aug. 30 to complete the declaration form, which will be available starting July 31 at the borough clerk’s office in City Hall. Mayor Patty Gilbert’s two-year term expires this fall and will be on the Oct. 1 election ballot, along with the assembly seats currently held by Bob Dalrymple and Jim DeBord. The assembly seats are for three-year terms. Gilbert, who is finishing her first...
Wrangell schools online student registration will begin on Wednesday, Aug. 7, for grades K-12 at wrg.powerschool.com/public/. For those who need assistance, in-person registration will be held Monday, Aug. 12, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the elementary school gym. The first day of school for students is Thursday, Aug. 22, with teachers starting earlier in the week. This year’s holiday break will start after classes end on Friday, Dec. 20, with school reopening on Monday, Jan. 6. Student fees remain unchanged from last year and are due at the t...
The age of presidential candidates is all over the national news, where the focus is on how old is too old. With the opening of the filing period for Wrangell municipal offices just two weeks away, the community’s focus should be on the opposite end of the age spectrum. The minimum age to serve as mayor or on the borough assembly is 18, same as the school board. Port commissioners must be at least 21 years old. Nothing against all the people in their 50s, 60s and 70s who have volunteered for public office in Wrangell — they’ve done solid work,...
Wrangell is in a Goldilocks situation when it comes to tourists. Too many is no good. It would leave the town feeling stuffed. Too few is what we have, leaving the town hungry to fill its economic bowl. Just enough more visitors to warm up the economy would be the right amount. Too bad it’s not as easy a choice as Goldilocks picking which porridge to bear down on. Wrangell is not a tourism-dominated community like Skagway or Juneau. Nor does it want to be. But a little more sales tax revenue would be a good thing, particularly if those sales t...
The Wrangell Wolves cross country boys team outran strong competition last year to take home their second state championship title in a row, and head coach Mason Villarma has high hopes for the runners returning for a new season. “I’m hoping to keep the culture alive,” he said. “We’ve had a lot of excellence in the program right now, particularly on the boys’ side.” Villarma is still working on building the girls’ program, and he hopes that the addition of middle school teacher Laura Davies as the team’s new assistant coach will help to attract...
HELP WANTED Wrangell Chamber of Commerce is accepting applicants for executive officer who plans, organizes, coordinates and directs chamber business as well as oversees the daily operation of the chamber. Posting open until filled. Full job description and applications are available by emailing Chamber President bburr@wrangellchamber.com. HELP WANTED Wrangell Public Schools is accepting applications for the following positions for the 2024-2025 school year: - Special Education Paraprofessional: This is a part-time, 9-month classified position,...
The borough has been awarded a $25 million Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity grant to rebuild most of the downtown harbor floats, install new pilings and improve parking. The federal money, which requires no match from the borough, will fund most of the estimated $28 million project that will include an overhaul of the Inner Harbor, Reliance and Standard Oil floats, new fire suppression systems, pilings and relocated parking. The borough will likely get the remaining $3 million for the project through the...
Gov. Mike Dunleavy vetoed more than $230 million in spending from the state budget but left intact $6.5 million for repairs to Wrangell school buildings, along with $5 million for stabilization work at the community’s water reservoir earthen dams and $200,000 for the borough to start planning an emergency access route from the southern end of Zimovia Highway. In addition to covering state-provided public services, construction projects and community grants, the budget bills signed by Dunleavy on June 27 also will provide an estimated $1,650 t...
FOURTH of JULY PIE SALE hosted by Beta Sigma Phi is seeking donations of homemade pies for their Fourth of July pie booth. Funds raised will go to their charitable activities. For more information, contact Olinda White 907-874-3078, Alice Rooney 907-305-0007 or Joan Benjamin 907-874-3252. BACK-TO-SCHOOL backpacks now available for tribal youth; applications accepted through July 7. Tlingit and Haida provides backpacks in partnership with Southeast Alaska village tribes. Children must be Alaska Native and/or American Indian, between the age of p...
Wrangell is on a financial winning streak these days. It has received multiple state and federal grants to pay for construction, repairs, rebuilds and improvements. But that does not help pay the operating costs of public services and local support for the schools. It’s a distinction people need to keep in mind. Money in one pocket does not automatically transfer to another pocket. The borough has received notice of a $25 million federal grant to rebuild most of the downtown harbors floats. It will receive $6.5 million from the state to go t...
It's been an adventure for Alisha Armstrong and Kayla Young, who both stepped up at the last minute to become candidates in this year's Fourth of July royalty contest, selling raffle tickets and food at booths in the downtown pavilion. They have been working for more than a month to raise money for the town's holiday celebration. Armstrong graduated high school last month and Young will be a senior this fall. They have worked on donation lists, sponsorship letters, menus, events and gathered vol...
Sarah Lewis from the University of Alaska Fairbanks Cooperative Extension Service will return to Wrangell July 27-29 to teach more health and food preservation classes for free. Lewis, based in Juneau, will travel on her family’s boat, the Pacific Sapphire, to visit nine communities in Southeast Alaska during the month to teach a variety of home skills and food preservation classes. “More reliable than the ferry and less expensive than flying,” she said. The Wrangell classes are a collaboration with the federal Tribes Extension Program, 4-H,...