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The Wrangell district has hired a new elementary school principal. Jamie Wollman, principal at the Hooper Bay Charter School in the western Alaska coastal community, is moving to Wrangell for the 2024-2025 school year. "I like to go to places that present a different challenge," Wollman said. "I love when people share that want to do exciting things for students." She was hired in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic to start up the charter school. It's open to students in grades 4 through 8 in the...
Amid the rigors of state testing and preparations for prom, members of the Wrangell Wolves girls softball team turned out for informal practice after school with head coach Marsha Ballou at the baseball field near Volunteer Park on Thursday, April 18. While softball season officially started for Southeast high schools on March 4, the Wolves won't start their season until May 9-13 when they travel to Juneau for games. They will return to Juneau near the end of May to play regionals. There are no...
April 24, 1924 Perhaps no keener disappointment has come to a large group of individuals for some time than what came to the Wrangell school and PTA delegations Monday evening when the steamer Alaska left for Juneau without them. Gay with joyous anticipation, 18 contestants for the inter-school meet had left their homes when the boat appeared from the south. An hour or so later they returned to their homes and the community still had a right to be proud of them, for in spite of their disappointment they were showing a brave front and in many...
KSTK SPRING ON-AIR FUNDRAISER ends Friday, April 26. Help KSTK raise $21,000 for broadcast services. All donors are invited to KSTK Friday evening, April 26, for the spring grill-out, with burgers, hotdogs, side dishes and beverages. ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT will host a pre-season tourism stakeholder meeting at 9 a.m. Thursday, April 25, at City Hall. The meeting is intended for businesses and organizations that provide services to the tourism industry. For those unable to attend in person, a Zoom link is available. h... Full story
Who needs artificial intelligence when you have high school students with real digital intelligence. In a generational reversal of older people tutoring younger people with their writing, math and other subjects in school, Wrangell High School Student Government volunteers will tutor the community’s senior citizens in the digital world — a world that did not exist when the senior citizens were in high school. The school volunteers will be at the Irene Ingle Public Library from 10 a.m. to noon Saturday, May 4, providing free advice, ass...
Wrangell parents of homeschooled children enrolled in correspondence programs said they were caught by surprise when an Alaska judge ruled unconstitutional the use of state funds for such programs. The law allowed parents of correspondence students to spend their share of state education money, labeled an allotment, on “nonsectarian services and materials from a public, private or religious organization.” The judge on April 12 ruled the law unconstitutional because it allowed public funding to go to private and religious organizations. The jud...
Julie Williams will step down as school counselor for the district at the end of the school term, after two years in the job. It's the latest in several recent high-profile turnovers of key school district personnel. Secondary school principal Jackie Hanson announced her decision in February not to renew her contract for the new school year, after one year on the job. She was the district's third middle/high school principal in the past three years. Elementary school principal Ann Hilburn...
The school district is requesting $1.75 million from the borough for the 2024-2025 school year budget, an increase from the $1.6 million contribution of the past two years. Even with the increase, the budget will draw down more than half of the school district’s reserves to balance revenues with expenses. The uncertainty of any increase in state funding is adding to the budget stress at Wrangell schools and districts across the state. The state funding formula has increased little more than a few dollars in the past seven years. The annual b...
Registration opens May 1 for the library’s summer reading program for kids, with some big numbers from last year to match. More than 90 kids signed up for last year’s program sponsored by the Irene Ingle Public Library, reading almost 2,000 books. It’s open to children who will be going into kindergarten through ninth grade in the next school year that starts in August. The program starts May 28 and will run through Aug. 3, with a party on Aug. 10, said Sarah Scambler, library director. “Each book is worth a certain number of points. For eve...
The Alaska Senate has passed a capital budget to fund roads, school repairs and rebuilds, housing, water and sewer systems and other public works projects across the state — but the spending plan is short of funds to cover repairs to Wrangell’s three aging school buildings. The budget bill approved by the Senate on April 12 will move next to the House for its consideration and possible amendments before a legislative adjournment deadline of May 15, at which time the governor could exercise his authority to veto individual items in the spe...
The U.S. Forest Service is adding a dozen new positions in Wrangell, plus changing two jobs from seasonal to permanent. Most of the new hires are on the job, with a couple still in the hiring process. District Ranger Tory Houser estimated it's a 15% to 20% gain in staff. "Many of the positions are recreation positions," she said. "In our case, the influx is more a management decision to transition from having seasonal, temporary employees to having permanent employees that work a seasonal...
NOLAN CENTER THEATER “Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire,” rated PG-13, at 6 p.m. Friday, April 19, 6 p.m Saturday, April 20, and at 4 p.m. Sunday, April 21. The adventure comedy fantasy runs 1 hour and 55 minutes; tickets are $7 for adults, $5 for children under age 12. Children under 12 must be accompanied by an adult. WRANGELL COMMUNITY CLEANUP 8 a.m. to noon Saturday, April 20, starting at the Evergreen Elementary gym. Trash bags will be provided. Cash prizes for trash volunteers. Lunch will be served at noon. FOREST SERVICE WORKSHOP 3 to 6 p.m...
The Permanent Fund dividend is important to a lot of Alaska households, but so is education, public safety, ports and harbors, roads and more. The state House did the right thing last week in rejecting a proposed constitutional amendment that would have elevated the PFD to a higher status than any other need in the state. Yes, Alaskans have to find a solution to the annual divisive, debilitating, political fight over the amount of the dividend. It has become worse than a distraction; it’s become an obstruction that prevents elected officials an...
A high school organization founded by students several years ago aimed at inclusivity and students helping each other has expanded its focus, and its store in the school's commons area is selling an assortment of sandwiches, beverages and other snacks during lunchtime. BASE, founded by a group of Wrangell High School students in 2019, has grown over the years from decorating the halls to providing needed food to students, arranging teacher appreciations, working with school staff to learn how to...
The borough assembly on April 9 approved Mason Villarma’s contract as borough manager. The assembly vote was unanimous. Villarma went to work as finance director in September 2021 and has been serving as both finance director and interim borough manager since November 2023 when Jeff Good stepped down as manager to accept a federal job. Villarma’s four-year contract for borough manager goes into effect May 5. During his tenure as interim borough manager, he helped see the borough through the deadly landslide Nov 20 and recovery efforts. He spoke...
An Anchorage Superior Court judge has struck down an Alaska law that allows the state to allocate cash payments to parents of homeschooled students, ruling that it violates constitutional prohibitions against spending state money on religious or private education. “This court finds that there is no workable way to construe the statutes to allow only constitutional spending,” wrote Judge Adolf Zeman, concluding that the entire law must be struck down. The April 12 decision has major and immediate implications for the more than 22,000 students en... Full story
The time of year is approaching when birds flock to the river flats, and Wrangell is once again hosting the Stikine River Birding Festival. The festival will run from April 24 to 28 and will include a variety of bird-themed events and activities free of charge. This year is a bit of a lighter year, Matt Henson, who is organizing festival planning, said. They are focusing on community-centered, family-friendly events. Rather than a couple weekends of programming that the festival has offered in years past, this year’s schedule will be more c...
The chamber of commerce at its annual awards dinner last weekend honored several members of the community for their service, including the fire department and emergency medical services crew, municipal electric line crew and borough employees for their response to the deadly Nov. 20 landslide that hit Wrangell. “Nowhere was the ‘I can help’ spirit more evident than in November of last year when a tragic landslide befell our community. For weeks, volunteers and first responders showed just what an amazing place Wrangell is,” said Carolin...
One of Wrangell's two teams placed second in the Stikine Middle School Invitational Volleyball Tournament, losing to Klawock in the final, while a Petersburg team took first place in the other bracket after defeating a different squad from Klawock. The two-bracket competition of 13 teams from middle schools across Southeast was held at the Wrangell high school and community center gyms on Friday and Saturday, April 12-13. The teams included two from Wrangell, one from Craig, one from...
The Alaska House has sent to the Senate a state operating budget for the fiscal year that starts July 1 with an almost $2,300 Permanent Fund dividend that would be the single largest expenditure in the spending plan. The budget also includes $175 million in additional one-time school funding, raising the total state contribution to school district operating expenses to just over half of what House members voted to spend on this fall’s dividend. The boost in state aid for the 2024-2025 school year, if approved by the Senate and signed into l...
Brian Hernando Fennimore, 53, passed away on March 14, 2024, in Wrangell after suffering from brain cancer. Brian was born on June 16, 1970, in Seattle. He grew up in Wrangell and was a 1988 graduate of Wrangell High School. After graduating from high school, Brian attended Clover Park Technical School in Tacoma, Washington; Lane Community College in Eugene, Oregon; and Fort Lewis College in Durango, Colorado. Brian studied video/audio production at KTOO in Juneau and KTVA in Anchorage. Brian's... Full story
The WCA Cultural Center filled with the sweet aroma of cedar as students sat around tables, focused on their hats in progress in front of them. They dipped the strips of red and yellow cedar into bins of water and occasionally spritzed their weaving with water to keep it from drying and cracking. Quiet chatter filled the room as they shared stories and advice. Master weaver Holly Churchill, from Ketchikan, made her way around the room, offering helpful tips and reminding students not to get...
Hundreds of high schoolers across Alaska participated in an organized walkout April 4 in protest of the Legislature’s recent failure to override Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s veto of an education funding bill. The bill would have included a historic increase in state money for public education. Outside Eagle River High School in the Anchorage School District, more than 100 students stood outside in the blustering snow for nearly a whole class period chanting “Fund our education!” and “Save our arts, save our sports!” Similar protests — all organized...
The community's medical equipment loan closet that has been in a number of locations over the years will likely have to look for a new home once more. With the forthcoming sale of the former hospital next to Evergreen Elementary School later this month to Georgia-based real estate developer Wayne Johnson, the Wrangell Community Loan Closet will have to move its reserve of medical equipment to a new location. Don McConachie Sr., who runs the service, talked on April 4 with borough manager Mason...
FEDERAL DISASTER RECOVERY CENTER open 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. through Friday, April 12, at the Nolan Center for Wrangell residents affected by the Nov. 20 landslides. Residents can register for federal assistance, check the status of their application, learn about disaster assistance programs, meet with a federal Small Business Administration representative, and obtain additional information and resources about protecting themselves and their property from future disasters. Apply by calling Alaska Helpline at 866-342-1699 or visit www.disasterassistan... Full story