Sorted by date Results 999 - 1023 of 3090
Early voting will open Aug. 1 for the Aug. 16 special election to fill the unexpired term of the late U.S. Rep. Don Young and the primary election, also Aug. 16, for governor, Legislature, U.S. Senate, and to select the top candidates for a full two-year term in the U.S. House. Voters may cast their ballots between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. weekdays through Aug. 15 at City Hall assembly chambers, said Sarah Merritt, state elections worker in Wrangell. “You never have to give a reason” to vote early, Merritt said. Voters can choose to vote early if the...
BearFest is coming out of hibernation and is planned for July 27 through July 31 throughout Wrangell. The popular event, in its 13th year, will offer pie contests, live music, art and music workshops, symposiums, a marathon and more. "It's a celebration of bears. That's the short of it," said Sylvia Ettefagh, chairperson for the event. "Its mission is to promote Wrangell and to promote the environment; one part of our environment - a very important part of our environment - the bears." Not only...
July 6, 1922 The U.S. Secretary of Commerce has approved an amendment to the general rules which requires that no candidate for original license as master, mate, pilot or engineer shall be examined unless he has completed a course of instruction in first aid. “The manual is intended primarily to furnish officers and men of the American Merchant Marine a simple but comprehensive textbook on ship sanitation and hygiene, an outline of surgical and fundamental information regarding the treatment of disease,” an announcement by the Health Ser...
THANK YOU Thanks and Gunalchéesh to Alaska Vistas, ANB, the Wrangell Chamber of Commerce, Harbor Department, Parks and Recreation Department and WCA for all their support with the July 3 canoe races. Both scheduled and spontaneous helping hands made it possible for 100 entrants to participate. John and Cindy Martin THANK YOU Thank you to Alaska Native Brotherhood and Sisterhood for the donation and frybread sale on the Fourth of July. Gunalchéesh ho ho! Wrangell JOM THANK YOU The Stough family, James and Rachel, would like to say a big thank y...
No one bid on the former Wrangell hospital building, which the borough had offered to sell at a minimum asking price of $830,000. The bidding period was open for a month and closed last Thursday. The property is now available for an over-the-counter sale. “It means that the first person to come in to sign an intent to purchase with a 20% down payment (payment in full within 60 days of signing) would be the buyer,” Borough Clerk Kim Lane explained last Friday. “If that happens, I would then take a resolution to the assembly to approve the sale....
Sealaska Heritage Institute has made available online for the public recordings of two important treasures in the preservation of traditional Southeast Native culture, knowledge and history: Radio interviews with Native leaders that go back almost 40 years and the biennial Celebration festival. The 164 radio interviews preserved in digital files are from an hour-long program, “Southeast Native Radio,” that aired on Juneau public station KTOO 1985 to 2001. “The collection is remarkable, as it offers so many interviews with people on topic...
Though he vetoed funding for several projects and public services around Alaska, Gov. Mike Dunleavy did not cross out $4.1 million in state grant funding toward a new $15 million water treatment plant in Wrangell. The borough hopes to finish design work and go out for bids on the project later this year. Federal funds are covering about $11 million of the cost. The governor also left intact a one-time $57 million legislative appropriation to boost state funding by 5% for local school district operating budgets. The increase for the 2022-2023...
School district staff, a school board member, borough assembly members and law enforcement met on June 28 in a work session to discuss school safety measures in the case of an intruder. Ideas such as single points of entry on campuses, student identification cards, video surveillance, arming teachers and others were brainstormed as possible solutions to increase the security of each school. Nationwide so far in 2022, there have been 27 school shootings that resulted in 27 deaths and 56 injuries, according to Education Week, a publication that...
Friendly competitions, food tosses, tests of endurance and plenty of fun filled the weekend as hundreds flocked to various Fourth of July events throughout Wrangell. Tourists, visitors, family and former residents returning home joined locals in watching and participating in the parade, talent show, basketball and many other events from Friday through Monday in celebration of the Fourth. Despite a change in venue for the fireworks show from Volunteer Park to a barge in Zimovia Strait due to dry...
Running has provided Mason Villarma with the discipline needed to set and achieve goals, not only with the sport but in other aspects of life. It's training he will lean on as he is taking on two new part-time jobs in addition to his full-time work as the borough's finance director. On June 20, the school board voted to accept two contracts for Villarma: One as the high school assistant cross country running coach and another as the activities director for the school district. Villarma sees...
HELP WANTED Wrangell Elks is looking for a part-time employee to work three to four hours on Friday/Saturday nights selling pull-tabs and raffle tickets. Inquire at the Elks Club or call Dawn at 907-305-0552. Great opportunity to earn extra money and support our local charity fundraising efforts. 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 Schedul...
A babbling creek and screeching eagles weren't the only music that could be heard among the swaying trees at Shoemaker Bay. The first Music in the Parks concert was held at Shoemaker Park last Wednesday evening, with about 200 people listening to the tunes played by artists Kaylauna Churchill-Warren and The Powers. First Bank and Alaska Marine Lines sponsored the free concert, which was organized by the Parks and Recreation Department. The Wrangell Police Department donated 250 hamburgers and...
August Schultz Jr. was born June 23, 1960, in a hospital that's now an apartment building in Wrangell. He grew up in a house up behind that hospital, surrounded by family. Schultz, known to friends as Augie, still lives in the same house, though alone, being the last living member of his immediate family. Though it's been hard, he has found healing through the town's history in the form of a Facebook page. At his therapist's suggestion, Schultz created "Wrangell yesterday - place where old...
Robert "Bob" Wickman, 76, of Wrangell, passed away on Jan. 13. A celebration of life and potluck picnic will be held at 11 a.m. July 6 at Shoemaker Park. Bob was born in Ketchikan to Robert Wickman Sr. and Helen Gross Barr on March 3, 1945. The family moved to Wrangell shortly afterward. He went to Wrangell High School. Bob fished many years, worked as a longshoreman and worked in construction around town and on the North Slope. The jobs he most enjoyed were working for Campbell Towing and...
Terry Whittlesey, 81, "a man of great faith, was called home to be with his Lord and Savior" on June 6 in Spanaway, Washington. He had served as pastor at Harbor Light Church in Wrangell from 1979 to 1990. "He was a beloved husband, father, grandfather and friend. He had an unconditional love for his family, and leaves behind a lasting legacy with many cherished memories," his family wrote. He served more than 50 years as a minister and teacher, bringing him great fulfillment. Terry and his fami...
A memorial service will be held at 1 p.m. July 6 at St. Rose of Lima Catholic Church for Rosemary Pagano (Kalkins), who passed away at the age of 87 on Nov. 7, 2021, in Anchorage, leaving behind two children and four grandchildren. Rosemary graduated from Wrangell High School and was a cheerleader for the Wrangell basketball team when they won the 1952 state championship. After graduating in 1955, she attended college in Corpus Christi, Texas. She then became a flight attendant for Pan American...
Just as Alaska’s tourism season heats up, Princess Cruises said it will close one of its five lodges in the state this summer because of staffing shortages. The Copper River Princess Wilderness Lodge will close this Friday, according to a statement provided June 6 by Negin Kamali, a spokeswoman with Princess Cruises. The lodge had opened on May 19 for the first time in more than two years, after the COVID-19 pandemic halted major cruise sailings to Southcentral Alaska until this summer. Located a 3½-hour drive northeast of Anchorage in Co...
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. The successful applicant will...
The recent news that the longtime Alaska Marine Highway System ferry Malaspina will be officially retired and will remain in Ketchikan's Ward Cove as a privately owned and operated museum and a training vessel is good news to its fans who had feared that the "Mal" would suffer the same fate as its sistership, the Taku, which was sold in 2018 and scrapped in India. The Malaspina, along with the Taku and the Matanuska, were the first mainline ferries in the fleet, all going online in 1963. They...
The borough has listed the former Wrangell Medical Center for sale to the highest bidder until June 30, at a minimum bid of $830,000, the value assigned by an April appraisal. The hospital has been vacant since health care provider SouthEast Alaska Regional Health Consortium moved into its new building in February 2021. The borough has been spending close to $100,000 a year to heat and insure the empty structure, and the assembly has decided to sell the surplus property. The lot is 1.95 acres, o...
When Christi Slaven's kids were tiny, she set her typewriter down on the breakfast bar in her parents' house and wrote a novel. She burned all 300 pages when she was done. "It was terrible," Slaven said. But she felt better afterward, because she was "going nuts" taking care of her two young daughters. Writing gave her a creative outlet. Her daughter, Kelly Ellis, who lives and works in Wrangell, remembers that time. "I was little, 2, 3, 4?" Ellis recalled. "She had a typewriter, and she had a k...
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. The successful applicant will begin...
June 1, 1922 Five dollars will be paid to any person who furnishes information leading to conviction of anyone fishing in the city dam or the waters above the dam. Fishing or taking fish from the city dam has been prohibited and the parents of minor children will be held responsible for the acts of their children in the violation of this municipal law. Evidence given will be held strictly confidential and unless absolutely necessary the informant need not be present at the trial. “The city council desires to protect the health of every p...
If oil prices stay above $100 a barrel for the next 12 months, the state could end the fiscal year in June 2023 with about $2.3 billion in its savings accounts, not counting the Permanent Fund. It hasn’t had that much in savings since 2018. “That’s not enough cash,” Sitka Sen. Bert Stedman, co-chair of the Senate Finance Committee, said last Friday. The state treasury needs a healthier shock absorber to cushion against the inevitable periods of low oil prices, he said. It all depends on oil markets and prices. Alaska North Slope crude has ave...
About 1.75 acres of a former junkyard will be put up for auction for residential development by the borough this summer. The borough-owned lots at Mile 4 Zimovia Highway will be listed on publicsurplus.com, a privately owned online auction service that handles government property sales nationwide. The entire 2.5-acre property was valued at $205,000, according to an April 27 appraisal report from Roger Ramsey at Ramsey Appraisal Resource, of Juneau. However, a portion was carved out to be sold to an adjoining property owner. The appraised value...