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After three days of intense play, the Wrangell High School boys varsity basketball team won fourth place in the state Division 2A championship in Anchorage. It was the first time the team went to state since 2015. The Wolves defeated Petersburg at regionals a week earlier to secure a second-place finish, giving them a spot at state. Petersburg was selected in a wild card draw after the loss to Wrangell, also giving them a spot at state last week. In the end, Wrangell finished higher up than the...
Wrangell’s economy has been in decline since long before the COVID-19 pandemic erupted three years ago. But the economy — meaning jobs, businesses and families — would be a lot worse off if not for federal assistance. Oppose federal spending if you want, but the $30 million or so in pandemic relief aid that the U.S. Treasury poured into Wrangell the past few years for the borough, schools, businesses, individuals and the tribal government made a huge difference in people’s lives. Criticize the IRS and income taxes if it makes you feel better,...
National Reading Month is in its final week, and some of the community’s literature lovers are sharing their favorite books for anyone who wants to add to their list — this month, or any month. The month was first celebrated in March of 1994 to commemorate the contributions of author and illustrator Dr. Seuss, who helped foster enthusiasm for reading in American youth by producing children’s books that were engaging despite their simple language. Every year in March, readers celebrate by picking up their favorite novels, visiting their local...
The Senate Education Committee on March 13 advanced a bill to increase state funding for public schools, clearing the bill’s first legislative hurdle. The bill to increase the base student allocation, the per-student formula used to calculate school funding, heads next to the Senate Finance Committee. The Senate bipartisan majority has named increasing public school funding as one of their top goals for the legislative session, and the measure has support from a broad coalition of education advocacy groups who are warning that districts will b...
Randy William Churchill Jr., 39, of Wrangell, passed away on Feb. 22, 2023, after a logging accident. Randy was born on Dec. 27, 1983, to Carol and Randy Churchill Sr. at Wrangell General Hospital. After graduating from Wrangell High School in 2002 he went on to study welding at the Alaska Vocational Technical Center (AVTEC) in Seward, and graduated in May 2003 with welding technology and pipe welding technology certificates. After graduating, Randy started his first welding job in Bellingham...
While the high school state championship tournament in Anchorage was attracting a lot of hoopla, the Stikine Hoops Invitational was netting plenty of its own excitement back home, including a big win. Team Wrangell Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) Girls Basketball Club hosted teams from Petersburg, Ketchikan and Juneau and won first place in the A Team category over the weekend. Three teams competed in each the A and B divisions, which were set up as a round-robin, double-elimination bracket....
Vying for state titles in three different sports is behind him, but Ethan Blatchley still has to blaze a trail to finish his senior project before he graduates. And though training and competing in cross country, wrestling and basketball might have been challenging, he faces his biggest challenge yet: Dressing up like a dalmatian and teaching fire safety to kids. There is no medal for this kind of bravery. Blatchley will aid the Wrangell Fire Department in its annual safety training for elementa...
In four days of tough battles on the hardwood, including an overtime win in the third round, the Wrangell High School boys basketball team took second place in the Southeast regional championships last Saturday in Juneau and a berth at the state tournament The boys and girls varsity teams, along with the cheer and pep squads, traveled to the capital city to vie for a chance to compete for the state championship in Anchorage. Like the boys team, the cheer squad took second place to qualify for...
Zach Taylor of Muddy Water Adventures is a self-described "small-town person." He likes striking up a conversation with his barista and greeting the familiar people he passes on the street. However, he acknowledges that life in small towns like Wrangell may not be for everyone. "Folks who grew up here, (Wrangell) they either stay here and they really like it," said Taylor, or they "have never been back, not for any reason." The Alaska Department of Labor is interested in the factors that...
While education advocates continue to push for increased state funding to Alaska public schools, Gov. Mike Dunleavy last week opted to introduce proposals that would limit sexual education in schools and impose new requirements on gender-nonconforming students. The governor at his March 7 news conference did not propose any increase in the state’s per-student funding formula for school districts, essentially unchanged in six years, though he did ask legislative approval of retention bonuses for teachers. Most legislators have said an i...
March 15, 1923 Wrangell basketball boys faced an assembly of 900 in Olympia, Washington, on Tuesday and gave detailed reports of Alaska. Wrangell lost the game to Olympia on a canvas floor. Then Wrangell lost to Everett, 19-18. The Seattle Chamber of Commerce is giving a big feed to the boys Friday. The Pacific Steamship Co. arranged to take the Wrangell boys on a free excursion including a big dinner. The Seattle Chamber of Commerce made arrangements for the boys to go through the Navy Yards at Bremerton, with all expenses paid from Seattle....
When Jan Kanitz of Juneau and Antonia Lenard of Eagle River testified before a legislative committee last Saturday about personal responsibility and the Permanent Fund dividend, they spoke from completely different perspectives. For Kanitz, it was about acknowledging that current state spending on schools, health care and the ferry system is woefully inadequate, with too much emphasis on paying out large dividends. “I think a fixed, limited PFD as a symbolic thing helps people have buy-in to the state … I support that, but it should not ban...
George Phillips, 74, of Wrangell, passed away from lung cancer at the Veterans Administration Puget Sound Health Care System Medical ICU in Seattle on Feb. 24. A celebration of life is planned for 2 p.m. April 1 at the Harbor Light Assembly of God Church in Wrangell. George was born on Jan. 19, 1949, to George and Betty Jane Phillips in Kalispell, Montana. When he was 8 years old, his parents moved to Oregon, where his mother could carry on with her music career. When his parents moved to Astori...
Zeke Yéeskáa Young always enjoys meeting new people, traveling to new places and learning about different cultures. But he had no idea when moving to Wrangell last year from Port Angeles, Washington, that he'd be helping to sustain a culture. Young's high school senior project is to create five new signs in Tlingit and English to direct residents and visitors to five Native points of interest. "When I came up here last year, I needed a fine arts credit," he said. "I was put into Tlingit for m...
Alaska's rugged and frigid Interior, where it can get as cold as minus 50 Fahrenheit, is not the place you'd expect to find an electric school bus. But here is Bus No. 50, quietly traversing about 40 miles of snowy and icy roads each day in Tok, shuttling students to school not far from the Canadian border. It works OK on the daily route. But cold temperatures rob electric vehicle batteries of traveling range, so No. 50 can't go on longer field trips, or to Anchorage or Fairbanks. It's a...
Who cheers on the cheer squad? A weekend that began with disappointment turned into determination and the will to beat defeat. As the Wrangell High School boys and girls varsity basketball teams were scheduled to go to Juneau to compete this week, so too was the cheer squad. But there weren't enough funds to cover the trip. That is, until the squad and community jumped into action. "We're going (to regionals)," said cheer coach Stephanie Cartwright last Saturday. "Between the parents and me ......
A state House committee last week held its first hearing on a bill intended to settle the Legislature’s biggest annual political battle: The amount of the Permanent Fund dividend. The bill, sponsored by Rep. Dan Ortiz, who represents Ketchikan, Wrangell and Metlakatla, would amend state law so that 75% of the annual draw on Permanent Fund earnings goes toward paying for schools and other public services, with 25% designated for the PFD. “Tonight, we’re going to open a can of worms,” Chairman Ben Carpenter, of Nikiski, said at the March 1 meeti...
A school budget presentation meant to engage the public in the decision-making process on Feb. 27 drew a scant few to ask questions and offer suggestions. Outgoing district business manager Tammy Stromberg, whose last day was Feb. 28, went over the draft budget for the 2023-2024 school year, detailing projected revenues, expenditures and where the Wrangell School District could fall short. According to the current draft, the district is projected to be short by $53,179 in its spending plan of about $5 million, and will draw on its general fund...
Canadian educator, nonprofit director and human rights advocate Catherine Morris is visiting Wrangell this week to share a message about human rights challenges that are playing out on the international stage. After graduating from the University of Alberta law school in 1978, she began working in the University of Victoria's Institute for Dispute Resolution, where she served in leadership roles from 1992 to 1998. She founded the nonprofit organization Peacemakers Trust, which focuses on...
For many years now, Google Maps street view allowed travel planners to tour cities in a realistic, 360-degree-view platform. But not people planning to visit or those living in Wrangell. One teen decided to fix that. Senior Killian Booker photographed all of the borough's streets and popular tourist attractions to upload to Google Maps, allowing people to use the street view option. He chose the undertaking for his graduation project. Booker began taking photos and editing them on Sept. 12 last...
State funding is being directed to help stock Alaska food pantries — including those serving rural communities — as part of a broader effort to address a monthslong state backlog in processing food stamp benefit applications. Major delays in processing applications for the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program have stressed thousands of Alaskans who depend on the monthly benefits to feed their families, and strained food bank resources across the state. State officials have attributed the processing delays to staffing sho...
Bills under consideration in the Legislature to cap state spending are not addressing the main challenges Alaska is facing, said Sitka Sen. Bert Stedman, co-chair of the Senate Finance Committee. “We don’t have a spending-side problem; we have a revenue-side problem,” said Stedman, who also represents Wrangell and the rest of Southeast except for Juneau, Haines, Skagway and Gustavus. He is in his 20th year in the Legislature. The senator pointed out that the latest spending-cap proposal advanced by an Anchorage Republican would exclude the P...
In a change of plans from just a few weeks ago, the Alaska Marine Highway System reports it lacks enough crew to operate the Kennicott this summer. The loss of the Kennicott from the schedule likely would mean dropping service to Prince Rupert, British Columbia, and the loss of two additional port calls in Wrangell each month, May through September. It also could jeopardize state ferry service to Yakutat on the cross-gulf route, and abandoning plans to run the Kennicott to Bellingham, Washington, once a month to help move the heavy load of summ...
The Wrangell school board voted unanimously Feb. 20 to approve a contract for business manager services with a private company based in La Center, Washington. K12 Business Services will fill the role after district business manager Tammy Stromberg submitted her resignation in January and left the job at the end of February. Kristy Andrew, the owner of K12, served as business manager for the Cordova School District before relocating to Washington state to be closer to family. Because she still...
How much does Wrangell shake, rattle and roll? Shake Club wants to find out. Four students from grades seven through 12 have been involved with the seismic data-collection program since last fall and are getting ready to present their findings at a conference in Fairbanks this weekend. Shake Club is a joint effort of University of Alaska Fairbanks Earthquake Center and the Teaching Through Technology (T3) Alliance program. Senior Will Ashton, sophomore Ander Edens, eighth grader Andrei...