Sorted by date Results 476 - 500 of 812
September 5, 1918 Tom Fugita, well known in Southeastern Alaska as a successful restaurant man, has recently returned from a trip to Japan and taken over the Wrangell Restaurant. Tom has an enviable reputation as a chef, and it is not a bad thing for Wrangell that he has returned from the land of cherry blossoms and is again on the job of relieving the hungry public. September 10, 1943 Mr. and Mrs. A. W. Bennett and three children Ardeth, Alaska and Ila, arrived here this week from Petersburg and intend to establish their future home in Wrangel...
August 29, 1918 School will open September ninth, a week later than usual this year owing to the repairs that are being made to the interior of the school building. These repairs were very necessary from a sanitary standpoint and will improve the arrangement greatly besides eliminating considerable wasted space. Besides the alterations, two rooms have been painted and new blackboards will be installed throughout the school. August 27, 1943 The Coast Guard’s widely heralded 35-piece band will play a concert in the ANB hall here on September 7...
Legal representation for the Wrangell school district was discussed in Monday night’s school board meeting. With the new school year beginning August 23, the board had several policy items to discuss. Among them was the potential hiring the law firm Sedor, Wendlandt, Evans, and Filippi for legal representation. The contract presented to the school, according to board member Aleisha Mollen, was fairly standard. Board member Dave Wilson, however, said that there was some wording in the contract he was concerned about. The portion of the c...
The Wrangell Cooperative Association recently received a $50,000 grant from SEARHC. According to WCA Tribal Administrator Esther Ashton, several other communities with First Nations entities also received similar grants. The "Healthy is Here" grant is meant to help promote public health within their community. "The way that it was defined was really left up to the tribal board to determine how they wanted to promote health and culture within our community," Ashton said. "So the board went...
Rick Groshong has been a part of the Wrangell Police Department for 22 years, according to his resume, having joined the force in 1996. As senior patrol officer, Groshong has been responsible for training new officers, responding to calls, collaborating with other law enforcement and government agencies, and finding procedures to deter illegal drug use. His time in Wrangell is coming to an end, however, as he has accepted a new position as the director of public safety and chief of police in...
The Wrangell School Board met last Friday for a short meeting. The purpose of the meeting was to accept the resignation of school board president Georgianna Buhler. Buhler has been on the school board for almost 10 years, she said, from 2002 to 2010, and again from 2016 to 2018. She decided to resign her position so she could pursue a new position as the school district’s business manager. “There are a number of things that are going on, I did not take this lightly,” Buhler said. “But at the end of the day I have a responsibility to be a finan...
With the legislative season at an end and no special sessions left in sight, candidates for Alaska’s primaries and general elections have already put themselves forward for voters’ consideration. By the end of the June 1 filing deadline, House District 36 – an area of representation encompassing Ketchikan, Wrangell, Metlakatla, Saxman and other outlying communities – had three candidates for voters to choose between in the coming election. Two of them will be running unopposed in their prospective primaries against the incumbent, the politic...
Wrangell Public School District learned last week its secondary school principal, Bill Schwan, will be departing after the current academic year ends. His departure is the latest among the district’s top administrators. At Evergreen Elementary, school principal Gail Taylor tendered notice in January. She took off for Oklahoma earlier than expected, departing this week on Tuesday. Faculty member Therese Pempek will helm the school through the year’s end. After a search for Taylor’s replacement, the district announced it will be hiring Virgi...
April 18, 1943 The concentration of Alaska’s salmon canning industry is running smoothly and there is every indication that in the season, which begins next month, the industry will be able to increase its pack over last year. The coordination order, announced early in March, will concentrate canning in 74 of the most modern plants rather than in the 120 previously used. This concentration will save manpower, equipment, and transportation to a large extent. The armed services and the War Shipping Administration have co-operated as far as they c...
The presses were on hold early Wednesday morning as Wrangell Public School District announced its decision regarding the next superintendent. The WPSD Board has selected candidate Debbe Lancaster for the position, who will begin July 1. The board arrived at its decision after a series of interviews and consultation with a selection committee. That committee, representing district staff, a parent and student, also had the opportunity to meet and interview the candidates. Lancaster has reportedly accepted the district’s offer, agreeing to a t...
Three finalists for the Wrangell Public School District superintendent position made a joint visit to the island earlier this week. Patricia Hutcherson, Debbe Lancaster and Bill Schildbach were the top three of eight candidates submitted for consideration by the Association of Alaska School Boards. AASB had been contracted by the Wrangell School Board to help hire a replacement to current superintendent, Patrick Mayer, who will conclude his time in the position at the end of the school year....
Wrangell Public School District has narrowed the field in its search for a new school superintendent. Current superintendent Patrick Mayer informed the WPSD Board in February his intention to move on after finishing out the current academic year. Since then the district has been working with the Association of Alaska School Boards to find a replacement. AASB had been the organization which had referred Mayer when he was hired in 2014. After working out a fee with the Wrangell district, the association put forward eight interested candidates...
Since the Petersburg Pilot was founded, our mission has remained the same as that stated by its first publisher, Jamie Bryson. Bryson also published the Wrangell Sentinel. The Pilot is a publication dedicated to running news, features and photos about and of specific interest to Petersburg and southeast Alaska. We only run state, national and international news items that pertain to Petersburg’s interests. We strive to publish a newspaper that is “bright, newsy, entertaining and a responsible observer of the public affairs of the com...
Safety was the watchword of last week’s meeting of the Public School Board, with parents and staff alike weighing in on security at Wrangell’s public schools. The crux of their concern was an incident involving a high school student on February 12, in which the student was recorded by peers during class discussing the setting off of fireworks or explosives at the school, with the intention of getting expelled. Faculty and the school administration had been alerted to the conversation by concerned students afterward. Superintendent Patrick May...
Residents and city employees sat in on some crisis response training sessions last week, outlining proactive responses to conflict. James Nelson, now working as an officer with Wrangell's Forest Service office, led the courses at the Nolan Center March 15 and 16. He used to serve on the Wrangell Police Department, a position he had first taken in 2008. With scheduling in the works since last fall, his presentations last week were being done on behalf of the city, primarily for the benefit of...
Homecoming weekend went well for the students at Wrangell High School, with girls basketball winning both their games against visiting Petersburg, and the boys getting a split after two hard-fought games. For their last regular season games the Lady Wolves started the weekend with a real nail biter, taking things into overtime. Friday's game started off well enough with the team taking an early lead, which the Lady Vikings shaved down to three points by the half. Petersburg propelled itself ahea...
Southeast Conference held its annual Mid-Session Summit in Juneau last week, turning the region’s attention to the state of its economy as legislators reach the mid-point of their 2018 regular session. For much of it, the outlook is pretty grim. Indicators since 2014 put the region’s population and jobs on a worrisome decline, along with earned income. “We’re just taking a hit in almost every way you can imagine,” explained Meilani Schijvens, a consultant to SEC and a former executive director. Faced with continued multibill...
Wrangell Public Schools will begin searching for a new superintendent. Meeting Monday, the Public School Board approved moving forward with a search for candidates. Superintendent Patrick Mayer had since last month's meeting submitted his letter of resignation. Mayer has been in the post since 2014, and will finish out the 2018 school year. When asked about his decision or future plans after Wrangell, he declined to respond. However, a notice put out by Valdez City Schools last month listed Maye...
February 14, 1918: The Metlakatla basketball team was unable to give Wrangell a return game. When H. J. Murchison, the manager, announced a return game in the Rink the night of the game here he made the proviso, “If we have any bones left after playing Juneau.” At Thane the game was very rough and four of the Metlakatla boys were knocked out although they defeated Thane 44 to 17. The next night the Metlakatla boys played the Hoover boys of Juneau using substitutes for the four boys who were knocked out. This game resulted in a score of 20 to...
The committee responsible for organizing Wrangell's annual king salmon derby decided last week to alter its usual scheduling, in light of anticipated emergency orders limiting sport opportunity at the Stikine River. In its 66th year now, the 2018 Wrangell King Salmon Derby is an annual activity put on by the Chamber of Commerce. Its derby committee is a voluntary body filled by community members, currently chaired by Shawn Curley. The Alaska Department of Fish and Game intends to issue an...
January 31, 1918: The next contract for carrying mail from Wrangell to the West Coast points will almost certainly go to Leo McCormack. Mr. McCormack has received notice from the government that his proposal has been accepted. The West Coast mail contract is now held by W.J. Neil, who, it is understood, was an applicant for the new contract. When seen by the Sentinel reporter Mr. McCormack stated that the acceptance of a proposal by the government is merely tentative and that until the contract is actually signed there is nothing certain about...
Radio station KSTK is now awaiting decision by the Federal Communications Commission on whether to approve a proposed acquisition by CoastAlaska, a regional service headquartered in Juneau. Applications to transfer the station's four licenses were filed with the FCC in early December, with a public comment period ending last week. If approved, Wrangell Radio Group, whose board administers the local station, would transfer KSTK's physical assets along with its licensed channels to CoastAlaska as...
Wrangell's public school system got encouraging marks for its special education provision, during a special report Monday evening. The Public School District board met with Bob Hadaway, a consultant who has been working with the school system's administration and special education staff since September in preparation for a districtwide monitoring this fall by the Alaska Department of Education and Early Development. Superintendent Patrick Mayer explained the review was routine oversight, perform...
Another year begins this week, and 2018 both holds promise and poses challenges to Wrangell residents. Economic trials will perhaps be of the greatest concern as state coffers seem set to dry up and fishing forecasts continue to disappoint. Limits to funding sources will be of particular bother as the borough continues to address an aging infrastructure, though securing state funding for the Shoemaker Bay Harbor refurbishment and an expected start to the belated Evergreen Road repaving should...
The girls and boys basketball teams brought back no awards but learned some lessons in a preseason tournament in Ketchikan last week. The Clarke Cochrane Christmas Classic is a longstanding Ketchikan tournament, typically held between the holidays. As with previous years, Alaska teams paired off with schools from as far afield as New Mexico ahead of their regular season openers. The Wrangell High School boys opened the tournament on December 28, matched up with Washington’s Anacortes High School. A well-regarded team in its own division at h...
