Sorted by date Results 76 - 100 of 8191
Prompted at a work session with the borough assembly last week to gather more public input into its long-term budget plans, the Wrangell school board is seeking volunteers to serve on a special committee. The school board announced March 28 that it is seeking letters of interest from people willing to serve on an ad hoc committee “to research long-term budgetary considerations,” such as a four-day school week, consolidation of the district’s three schools or other measures to cut expenses. “This is your opportunity to be a part of what could l...
A software problem with the borough’s transition to cloud-based servers resulted in missed auto payments for some Wrangell utility customers in March. Instead of the autopays going through as normal they went nowhere, and the April 1 account statements will show a delinquency for March, explained Jackson Pool, the borough’s finance director. “Please be assured that all late fees related to this issue will be waived,” Pool reported in a March 26 announcement of the problem. Wrangell has about 1,150 residential and commercial utility accounts cov...
DaNika Smalley and Amber Wade traveled to Juneau last month to go back in time. The pair conducted research at Sealaska Heritage Institute, the Tlingit & Haida Central Council archives and at the Alaska State Museum. Their four-day trip was covered by grant funding through Museums Alaska with additional support from the national nonprofit Henry Luce Foundation and the CIRI Foundation, established by the Native corporation for the Cook Inlet region. Smalley oversees collections for the Wrangell M...
Sealaska, the regional for-profit Native corporation for Southeast Alaska, has scheduled a meeting for its shareholders from 5 to 7 p.m. Wednesday, April 9, at the Nolan Center. The corporation is holding shareholder meetings across Southeast this spring, leading up to its annual meeting scheduled for June 21 in Kake. The Sealaska board of directors will be at the Wrangell meeting, said Christian Gomez, communications lead for the Juneau-based corporation. Tables will be set up in the civic center for shareholders to collect information and...
The beach between City Park and Heritage Harbor reopened to the public last week after a closure of more than six months to repair damage to the community’s sewage outfall line. The borough last month collected and tested samples from the beach to ensure the area is safe for the public. “Results of those tests have come back within regulatory compliance and historical averages,” according to a March 28 announcement from City Hall. A boat owner last September pulled anchor in front of the beach area, damaging the deepwater outfall line from...
A two-lane bypass around the Wolfe Point landslide area on the North Tongass Highway in Ketchikan opened last week for traffic to move in both directions. The gravel-surface bypass will remain the only route around the slide “until the stabilization project and full roadway repairs are completed,” according to a March 26 announcement from the Ketchikan Emergency Operations Center. The bypass was built as a temporary roadway for traffic after the March 20 slide of rocks, trees and debris blocked the highway and cut the town into two disconnected...
A couple of Wrangell kids scored victories in the state Elks Hoop Shoot competition. Jude Johnson placed second in the state among boys 10 and 11 years old, with his score of sinking 15 of 25 free throws at the Wrangell event. Connor Blake placed third in the state among boys 12 and 13 years old, with his score of making 18 of 25 shots. They were among the half-dozen kids who placed first in Wrangell’s annual Hoop Shoot in November. Their scores were sent to the state director, who ranked their record against first-place finishers from the 1...
Alejandro Calvillo, 24, was being held in the Wrangell jail last week on extortion and coercion charges for allegedly threatening a victim in an attempt to collect $1,000, Wrangell police said. Bond on the initial charges was set at $10,000, and the suspect was held pending his next court date on April 1, Police Chief Gene Meek said March 27. Police arrested Calvillo on March 23 — a day after the alleged crime — after stopping him just past where Front Street changes into Shakes Street. The victim reported to police on March 22 that Cal...
The Alaska Legislature is considering a roughly $200 million draw from savings to address a deficit for the fiscal year that ends June 30. That would still leave lawmakers with an additional gap of several hundred million dollars in the budget year that starts July 1. Declining oil revenue has helped balloon the state’s deficit. That’s due to lower-than-expected oil prices and an increase in oil company expense deductions for investments in new fields. In total, the Legislature is facing a roughly $680 million deficit over two fiscal years base...
It was always going to be tough for City Hall to follow up a fiscal year that brought in over $50 million in federal and state funding, but 2025 hasn't exactly gotten off to a rip-roaring financial start. Congress' failure to reauthorize funding for the Secure Rural Schools program means that the borough is beginning to build next year's budget in a $800,000 hole after losing the federal aid; the pending launch of Sitka's new haul-out boatyard could take business away from Wrangell's economy; an...
Alaskans have until 11:59 p.m. Monday, March 31, to file for this year’s Permanent Fund dividend, whether they file online or mail a paper application to the PFD office. But if they mail the application, it absolutely positively must be postmarked by March 31. Anything dropped in the mail after that date will be rejected. Last year’s dividend was $1,702, though this year’s amount — which will be set by legislators during the budget-writing process this spring — likely will be at least several hundred dollars less. The state is facing a combine... Full story
Starting next week, SEARHC patients will be able to schedule appointments, message their medical team, renew prescriptions, check lab results and more, all through a new online portal. The online service is optional, and there is no charge. “We’re really excited about the MySEARHC portal,” said Dr. Cate Buley, SEARHC’s chief medical officer. “It’s really a step up.” It will be available to patients in every Southeast community served by SEARHC. Outreach to publicize the new service will start Saturday, March 29, Buley said. Everyone who has a c...
Petersburg is going through the same problem that Wrangell confronted last September: Its sewage outfall line is broken. Petersburg officials discovered that the diffuser section at the end of the outfall pipe, which disperses treated effluent from the wastewater treatment plant into Frederick Sound, had become detached from the line. The outfall pipe extends about 800 feet offshore, reaching a depth of 60 feet, to disburse the sewage into the larger waterbody with strong currents. It’s not known when the line was damaged. “At some point in the...
“There’s nothing off the list,” Superintendent Bill Burr said about potential cuts to the school district’s 2025-2026 budget. From exploring what life would be like as a satellite site of the Petersburg school district to eliminating teacher positions, Burr said the district is exploring everything and anything. The draft budget presented to the school board last month showed a $1 million shortfall between projected revenue ($5.05 million) and proposed expenses ($6.1 million). Covering that gap — without a significant boost in state funding ...
The Salvation Army has cut back from opening its food pantry every week to every other week until it can restock the shelves with enough donated food to meet demand. “I feel that in the past couple of months, we’ve been receiving less donations,” said Capt. Belle Green. The Tuesday pantry serves an average of 25 to 30 households a week, she said. The two grocery stores in town, City Market and IGA, are the biggest donors to the food pantry shelves and “have been unbelievably supportive” in donating, she said. Individuals, food drives at the sc...
It may not seem like it, but it’s springtime, and for the third year in a row Parks and Recreation is organizing an adopt-a-garden program to maintain and beautify Wrangell’s downtown botanical offerings. “Spring has sprung!” recreation coordinator Devyn Johnson said. “Beds are going to need to be cleaned up and taken care of.” Parks and Rec is actively seeking volunteers for the program and the department hopes to begin working as soon as possible, weather permitting. Last year there were 10 groups and individuals who volunteered to keep up Wr...
The borough assembly on March 11 approved moving ahead with Mason Villarma’s request to buy two borough-owned industrial lots at the corner of Etolin and Pine streets. The vote to sell the land to the borough manager was 6-1. Villarma plans to clear both lots and eventually build a 40-by-60-foot building on each of the lots — “one for personal storage and one for a fabrication business venture,” he wrote in his request to the borough. “It might be boat storage or container storage until I can save up enough to build a shop,” Villarma sa...
Juneau has done it the past three years. The city of Ketchikan and the Ketchikan Gateway Borough will start doing it this year. And Wrangell may do it too. “We’re considering it,” Borough Manager Mason Villarma said of amending Wrangell municipal code to require cruise ships and tour boats to collect sales tax on goods and services they sell while in port. Juneau changed its code in 2021 to apply to onboard sales when the ship is tied up at the dock or in Gastineau Channel in front of town. Both the city and the borough of Ketchikan chang...
The chamber of commerce is surveying its more than 100 members to ask where they think the town’s barge ramp and freight yard should be located. The borough earlier this month closed down the facility on the downtown waterfront after an engineering report cited structural issues with the 47-year-old, 140-foot-long steel ramp. Even before the shutdown decision, the borough has been looking at moving the freight loading and unloading facility and staging area to the former 6-Mile mill property, which the borough purchased for $2.5 million in 2...
In most instances, the tenor saxophone lies under the surface. It's the wind blowing over the ocean - the invisible force that brings life to the world's waves. It acts as a railway, offering a platform for a jazz ensemble to thrive. In a way, the tenor sax - one of Ander Edens' artistic mediums of choice - is the perfect instrument for the graduating senior. He's someone who enjoys working outside the limelight, in roles that frequently go underappreciated, despite their necessity for a...
Crews were able to clear enough rock and debris over the weekend from a landslide that covered North Tongass Highway in Ketchikan to open a single-lane bypass with limited hours as of Monday morning. The road was open for two hours Monday morning and three hours in the evening. The limited hours are necessary so that crews can continue working the rest of the time to fully clear the highway. Flaggers will control traffic during the openings, allowing vehicles to move in only one direction at a time on the single lane. Ketchikan schools...
The Alaska House of Representatives is asking Congress to appropriate funding for a program that pays money to rural school districts affected by the decline of the timber industry — including Wrangell. The state House voted 35-4 on March 17 to pass a resolution urging Congress to reinstate the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act of 2000. The U.S. Senate approved extending the program and providing funds last year, but the U.S. House never took up the legislation before it adjourned in December, leaving a big hole in c... Full story
U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski said the Trump administration needs to realize federal employees are operating programs that "truly are saving lives," and there needs to be support for agencies "that Americans are relying on for livelihoods and for safety." "Weather forecasters save lives in our state," Murkowski said during her annual speech to a joint session of the Alaska Legislature on March 18. "Public servants are not our enemies." Murkowski is one of the few congressional Republicans openly...
Sitka-based Silver Bay Seafoods has reached a deal to acquire a 50% stake in OBI Seafoods, expanding the company’s processing capacity in Alaska. The company announced March 19 that it will take over management of all OBI facilities and operations including plants in Southeast, Southcentral and western Alaska, and Washington state. Silver Bay is buying Icicle Seafoods’ 50% stake in OBI, partnering with the Bristol Bay Economic Development Corp. (BBEDC) which holds the other 50%. OBI was created in 2020 by a merger between Ocean Beauty Sea...
In remarks to the Alaska Legislature on March 20, U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan praised the work of President Donald Trump, saying the new president's pro-mining and pro-drilling views are "great for those of us in Alaska." Sullivan, who walked through a crowd of anti-Trump and pro-democracy protesters en route to the speech in the state House chambers, downplayed the chaos caused in Alaska by the Trump-empowered Department of Government Efficiency, which has orchestrated the firing of hundreds of... Full story