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Sealaska Heritage Institute has honored 10 educators from throughout Alaska and Washington for their culturally relevant lessons. Among those is Wrangell's Virginia Oliver, who teaches Tlingit language in the Wrangell School District. She was one of seven given the Distinguished Educator Award, "which recognizes educators who intentionally weave cultural knowledge throughout their lessons and classroom and use approaches that reflect Native students' identity and values through place-based and...
Gov. Mike Dunleavy on Monday vetoed half of the $175 million increase that legislators appropriated for school districts across Alaska — cutting back the first boost in state funding for K-12 public schools in more than six years. The Wrangell School District had expected to receive an additional $425,000 in state aid for the 2023-2024 school year under the Legislature’s budget plan. The governor’s veto cut that by 50%. State funding covers about 60% of the district’s roughly $5 million operating budget, with the rest from the borough and fed... Full story
It took the community several years of pushing, pleading and politics before it succeeded in convincing the state to restore the Office of Children’s Services caseworker position in town. The job had been eliminated more than a dozen years earlier before it was restored in the 2021-2022 state budget. The caseworker has been on the job since February 2022. But now the borough, which agreed to cover half of the expense of the reopened office, is questioning whether the town is getting its money’s worth in the cost-sharing deal with the sta...
St. Philip’s Episcopal Church may be a small building, but it played a large role in Wrangell’s history. Founded in 1903, the unassuming structure tells the story of the Klondike gold rush and the fight for Alaska Native rights. On June 29, historian and podcaster Ronan Rooney will share his research on this nationally recognized historic landmark with the Wrangell community. Though he will be speaking at the church, the talk won’t be a sermon — history buffs of all denominations or no denomination at all can enjoy the story of St. Philip...
WASHINGTON — The Senate Committee on Indian Affairs has advanced a bill to establish a federal “truth and healing” commission to examine Indian boarding school policies. The bill is part of an effort to reckon with the United States’ history of government-run boarding schools that forcibly removed Native children from their homes. The schools subjected Indigenous youths to physical, sexual and emotional abuse, and last year a federal study identified hundreds of deaths of Native Americans, Alaska Natives and Native Hawaiians associated with th...
In 2022, after years of community advocacy for the position, the state Office of Children’s Services (OCS) put a caseworker in Wrangell. However, borough officials will reconsider covering half the cost of the state position, citing budgetary concerns and questions about whether the position meets the community’s needs. OCS seeks to protect and advocate for minors in unsafe living situations. Before caseworker Jennifer Ridgeway transferred to Wrangell from Petersburg last year, the borough had not had an OCS caseworker in the community sin...
June 7, 1923 A much needed improvement at the school house is the storeroom that has been built in the basement, at the front of the building, by Supt. Gross. Since the re-arrangement of the interior of the building about five years ago, the school has had no place to store such things as costumes used for entertainment and programs, extra books, Christmas tree trimmings and many other articles. The result has been that many things have been lost or so scattered that they had to be replaced. Considerable damage by mice has been done to...
A few months ago, passengers on an Alaska Airlines flight trying to get to Wrangell were stranded in Petersburg due to a mechanical problem. Thanks to a local tour operator, the castaways were picked up and brought back to Wrangell in less than an hour. For many years, Wrangell skippers have been offering shuttle services as a quick and affordable means of traveling between the two communities. Last Saturday, Zach Taylor, owner of Muddy Water Adventures, teamed up with Summit Charters and took...
May 31, 1923 The first aerial mail ever received through the Wrangell post office came from Lake Bay Wednesday morning, having been brought by the seaplane Northbird piloted by Roy Jones with Glen Day as engineer. Mr. Jones stated that the flight from Ketchikan to Lake Bay was made in 55 minutes. Arriving here, it soon became known that the Northbird had brought mail and there were many visits to the post office with the result that about a dozen persons received letters within 45 minutes from the time they had left Lake Bay. While the...
Sharpen your pencils, dip your paintbrushes and don your smocks, because Parks and Recreation is offering art classes to youth this summer. There will be two art camps, one in June and one in July. Each will be held on Fridays from 1:30 to 3 p.m. in the community center multi-purpose room. There will be space for 15 K-5 students in each class. The camp costs $25 per student and participants should wear clothes they won’t regret splattering paint on. Tawney Crowley, the art teacher at Evergreen Elementary School, will lead the classes. This i...
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. Start date: as soon as possible.... Full story
Myra Arlene Sarber passed with her family by her side April 14 in Sunnyside, Oregon. Myra was born the sixth child of seven in Spokane, Washington, to Thelma Irene and Faber Sebastian Wondzell. In 1951, her family moved by steamship to Wrangell in the territory of Alaska. 1955 brought a consistent and loving stepfather, Albert Ronning. She married her lifelong love, Homer Sarber, in Petersburg in 1962, and they settled down in Ketchikan to raise their family. Myra and Homer lived in Ketchikan...
Alaska school administrators are welcoming the $175 million in additional one-time funding in this year’s state budget, but warn that they’ll again face large deficits next year. Permanently increasing the base student allocation — the state’s per-student funding formula — was a top priority for many legislators this year. School districts across the state reported being in crisis after six years of essentially flat funding, high inflation and the end of federal COVID-19 relief aid. “The legislature has offered a spring bonus rather than...
With a quiet demeanor and a head for mathematics and physics, one teacher has helped Wrangell's students understand all those calculations for a quarter of a century. After 25 years, teacher Donna Massin has decided X plus Y equals retirement. Last Thursday, she dismissed class for the last time at Wrangell High School and began a new chapter in life. Born in Mount Edgecumbe, she has lived in Anchorage, Ketchikan, Seward and Gulf Port, Mississippi. "I kind of bounced around," she said. Massin's...
May 31, 1923 During the past few days, several trappers have come down the Stikine with good catches of fur which they sold to local buyers. Seven huge bales of furs were included in the cargo of the Hazel B No. 4 which arrived last week from Telegraph Creek, British Columbia. The fur was placed in the bonded warehouse and reshipped on the Princess Mary on Monday, being consigned to the Hudson’s Bay Co. in Victoria. Yesterday afternoon the Hazel B No. 4 arrived from her second trip to Telegraph Creek. This time her cargo included two large bale...
The borough has cut the salary of the Irene Ingle Public Library’s head librarian as it seeks to replace outgoing Library Director Margaret Villarma. At its May 23 meeting, the assembly voted to reduce the position’s salary by roughly $10,000 a year, depending on where the employee falls on the pay scale. The change will make the library director Wrangell’s lowest paid department head. The job’s duties, responsibilities and qualifications have not changed — only the compensation. Villarma plans to retire this summer and though the pay cut will...
Every homeowner, car and boat owner knows that maintenance is expensive. It’s also necessary. Particularly so in Alaska, where the weather is unkind to most everything except solid rock, and even that can erode away given enough time. Maintenance is a smart investment. It preserves the value of the property, whether stationary or motorized, and keeping up with repairs is the best way to avoid even more expensive rebuilds, restoration and replacement later. It’s especially true for borough property, which is why it’s heartening to see borou...
Alysa Horn, center, instructs students Boomchain Loucks, left, and Jackson Pearson last Friday during drills at a three-day basketball camp at the high school gym over the weekend. Horn is the owner of Anchorage-based Make Yourself, a strength conditioning and performance coaching business, which holds about 10 basketball camps throughout the state each year. "I feel like there aren't as many opportunities for Alaskan kids up here as there are in the Lower 48, so I'm making sure I'm doing my...
Denny Leak slowly carves a killer whale totem out of a tree trunk last Thursday behind the Wrangell Cooperative Association cultural center. The totem will be one of two that will replace the old carvings that were mounted on posts around the Chief Shakes gravesite on Case Avenue. Brodie Gardner, who graduated high school on May 19, cleaned up the site by power washing and painting the surrounding fence and cleaning the stairs leading up to the site as part of her senior project. The previous...
The budget that legislators approved last week and will send to the governor for his signature into law or veto would provide about $425,000 in one-time additional state funding to the Wrangell school district for the 2023-2024 classroom year. That would deliver almost a 9% boost to the district’s total operating budget revenue, which is comprised of state money (more than 60%), a borough contribution (32%) and federal dollars. “It will still need to pass the governor, so it’s not guaranteed,” Bill Burr, Wrangell schools superin...
There were plenty of smiles, hugs and tears of joy in a ceremony lasting nearly two hours. Not a moment of the Wrangell High School 2023 graduation was wasted as speakers and video presentations reflected on the lives of 20 seniors taking the step into the next phase of their lives. Salutatorian Brodie Gardner and co-valedictorians Nikolai Bardin-Siekawitch and Kiara Harrison focused on the positive traits of their classmates and the dedication of their teachers. "They go above and beyond for...
Alaska lawmakers reached a compromise on the state budget and adjourned after a one-day special session last week, approving a $1,300 Permanent Fund dividend for this fall with the possibility of a second, smaller payment next year if oil revenues exceed projections. The amount of the PFD and the capital budget — construction and maintenance projects in legislators’ home districts — were the final items that forced legislators into a special session after the regular session ended May 17 without a budget. The governor called them back to work...
As Wrangell prepares for its biggest event of the year - the Fourth of July - one teen has taken it upon himself to ensure that the celebration will be prosperous for years to come. Though Ander Edens is the only contestant in this year's royalty fundraising competition, he is setting his sights on a record-breaking run. The ticket sales are the main fundraiser for the chamber of commerce, which organizes the holiday festivities. The current fundraising record is $126,408 in raffle ticket sales...
May 24, 1923 The health center is now established in the quaint old building which has stood for more than half a century on the government reserve near the courthouse, and which during the past 10 years was used for a time as a U.S. Commissioner’s office and later as a hall for the American Legion. This historic building, which is constructed of logs, was built in 1867 by Capt. Bancroft who built Fort Wrangell. With the exception of the customs house, it is the only one left of the eight buildings which comprised the garrison. The garrison w...
The Legislature earned a passing grade for approving a substantial increase in state funding for public schools — the first since 2017. Think of it as a small gold star for effort, but they still will need to retake the class next year. Rather than permanently raise the per-student funding formula in state statute, lawmakers voted for a one-time boost in funding for the 2023-2024 school year. Helpful, but it does not solve the perennial problem of inadequate funding for public schools. The 15% increase is good for only one year and does not c...