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The chainsaws are quiet. The laughter and cheers have subsided. The splashing has passed. The Fourth of July celebration and events may be over, but the memories, victories and bragging rights will live on. From catching fish and chopping wood to volunteering and counting raffle tickets, there were plenty of positive outcomes. "I think everything went well considering this is only the second Fourth of July celebration since COVID," said Brittani Robbins, executive director of the chamber of...
The 1,918-passenger Holland America Noordam has added Wrangell to its end-of-season itinerary, with a stop scheduled for Sept. 21. The 935-foot-long ship will be on its final Alaska summer-season voyage, a 14-day trip from Vancouver, British Columbia, with visits to Ketchikan, Juneau, Icy Strait Point (Hoonah), Skagway, Sitka and Wrangell, with cruises into Glacier Bay, Endicott/Tracy Arm, Hubbard Glacier and Misty Fjords. A stop also is planned for Prince Rupert, British Columbia. The company plans to work with Wrangell tour operators to offer...
Families with children in first through sixth grade still have time to sign up for The Salvation Army’s summer lunch program. The program, which began in June, runs through July 29. Ten spots are still available and there is no deadline to sign up. “This is the second year we have done this program and both years it has been a great (program) for us to do,” said Lt. Jon Tollerud of The Salvation Army in Wrangell. “We believe that providing meals for working families is helpful so that parents can worry a little less during summer about their k...
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....
The borough assembly approved a budget for the fiscal year that started last Friday similar to past years — no increase in property tax or sales tax rates, and with more than half of the total spending going to the self-supporting operations of sewage, water, garbage, electricity, port and harbors services. The budget approved by the assembly June 28 includes more than 20 repair, maintenance and improvement projects across the borough and in several departments, including: Repairs and maintenance at the schools, recreation center and pool, i...
The U.S. Forest Service is looking to build a few new public-use recreational cabins in the Wrangell and Petersburg area, hoping to use federal infrastructure funding to pay for the work and considering sites that would be easier for people to reach. The site selection process has been underway for a few years, with the latest round of public comment closing July 6. Past suggestions have included a site several miles south of town along Zimovia Highway, Fools Inlet and a site near the southern end of Wrangell Island, Anita Bay and Burnett Inlet...
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...
The borough last week closed on its $2.5 million purchase of the former sawmill property at 6 Mile Zimovia Highway and separately signed an agreement with the state that would hold Wrangell harmless if any past contamination is discovered at the site. In exchange for the hold-harmless agreement, the borough will need to assess the current situation at the property and monitor the site, such as if any soil contamination is found during excavation or construction on the property, Borough Manager Jeff Good said last week. The agreement with the...
The Heritage Harbor boat launch ramp will close for a few weeks in August under a plan to replace the deteriorated asphalt apron with concrete paving. The 2-inch-thick asphalt is more than 10 years old and in bad shape, Amber Al-Haddad, borough capital facilities director, said last week. “We’ve set aside the first two weeks of August with the contractor” to dig out the approach to the ramp and lay down a 6-inch-thick concrete apron, she said. Another week for the concrete to cure and the ramp should be back open to the public, Al-Haddad said....
Raincountry Contracting cleared the way for visitors to enjoy the Anan Wildlife Observatory in time for this week’s opening of the bear viewing season. The Petersburg-based company needed to pump out the 750-gallon-capacity public toilets, which are typically emptied once a year, according to U.S. Forest Service staff. Due to a delay in changing Raincountry’s address in a federal database for contractors, the contracting department at the Forest Service found a way to work around the holdup, Clint Kolarich, district ranger, said Monday. The...
Bonnie Demerjian used to report for the Wrangell Sentinel in the early 2000s. One of the last stories she wrote for the newspaper in 2004 was about aviation author Greg Liefer. Though she enjoyed writing various stories, it was Demerjian's own aspirations of being a published author that led her to leave the life of journalism to pursue one in writing books. She's written four books in the past 20 years - Demerjian self-published three of them. The third one, "Images of America: Wrangell," was...
The million-dollar project to extend the Mount Dewey trail, add a parking lot off Bennett Street for the new portion of the trail and connect the Volunteer Park Trail to Ishiyama Drive has been pushed back to next year. In addition to resolving a federally required payment to a mitigation bank as compensation for filling in a small amount of wetlands in the work area, borough officials need to wait for further analysis of a slope on Mount Dewey above Third Street that shows signs of soil movement. A geologist was in town in May for another...
Eric Halstead took the lead in the 67th Wrangell King Salmon derby with a 43.4-pound catch near Blake Island on June 17 and never lost it, bringing him the first-place prize of $3,000 cash. Stanley Johnson took second, with his 41.8-pound king on June 19, near Found Island. He will receive $2,000, plus an additional $500 for the largest catch on Father’s Day. Dave Svendsen caught a 39.9-pound king on the first day of the derby June 15, near Blake Island, good for the third-place prize of $1,000, plus an additional $500 cash for reeling in t...
Beer and wine have been available at the bars on board the state ferries Matanuska and Kennicott since late May after the amenities were closed seven years ago, reportedly to save money. The ferry system “has collected feedback on the bar reopening through customer surveys answered by Kennicott and Matanuska passengers — all positive comments,” Sam Dapcevich, Department of Transportation spokesman, said last week. “I’ve also heard from a few Southeast Alaska residents who are happy to see the bars reopened.” There is no additional staff expense...
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...
Tens of thousands of Alaskans will lose access to expanded food stamp benefits in September after the state ends its public health emergency in July. The end of additional benefits under the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program comes as food aid groups say need is reaching previous pandemic highs while prices are soaring. Plus, other pandemic-era benefits, like the child tax credit and rental assistance, are expiring too, said Cara Durr, director of public engagement at the Food Bank of Alaska. “We know families are struggling a...
The borough assembly likes the job Jeff Good is doing as manager, reaffirming a raise that was part of the three-year contract he was given when hired for the job in January. The assembly in executive session at its June 28 meeting conducted its six-month evaluation of Good’s job performance, coming back into public session to verify the raise from $126,000 a year to $132,000. The raise was part of his original contract, said Borough Clerk Kim Lane. In addition to reviewing Good’s performance, the assembly also evaluated Lane’s work durin...
Two key economic indicators are falling in Wrangell—the unemployment rate, and the number of people in the labor force. Combined, the two datapoints help explain the ongoing worker shortage in the community, stressing out business owners who have to manage as best as they can with too few employees. The unemployment rate for May was 5.1%, down from 5.5% in April, down from 7.2% a year ago, and the lowest in at least the past 12 years, according to state Labor Department statistics. It’s probably the lowest rate going back 20 years or so, but...
The final inspection took place on June 16. An entirely new observation deck and shelter are still fresh with the smell of sealant. Anan Wildlife Observatory is almost ready for visitors at the start of the permit season on July 5. Even though the observatory is ready, plans are not flush to open the popular bear-viewing site, U.S. Forest Service staffers say. One thing blocks the way before people can arrive. The public toilets. "We are having complications with getting our toilets pumped,"...
Southeast trollers will be able to target about 23,000 more chinook salmon than last year in the upcoming summer troll opener, the Department of Fish and Game announced last week. All told, 106,900 treaty kings are allotted to the initial summer troll opener, along with 3,300 hatchery chinooks for a total of 110,200 fish. “For the July target, it’s just about 23,000 more than what we were targeting last year, so that’s a fair amount of fish. … That alone, translating into a summer catch rate of 10,000 fish a day, roughly would be four or five...
Michael Hicks has something to shout about. It's Wrangell. "I'm loud about Wrangell right now," said the senior director of marketing for American Queen Voyages. The company operates the 342-foot Ocean Victory cruise ship, which last month made its first of 14 scheduled visits to Wrangell this summer. One of the reasons the cruise line comes to town is jet boat tours. "Wrangell and the jet boats fit so well into what we're doing," Hicks said. "Ocean Victory is only 186 guests. A lot of our...
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...
The fun is returning with four days full of games, music, food, booms, pops, pows and wows. In addition to all the popular events held at last year's Fourth of July celebration, six more have been included in the schedule after being on hiatus for a couple years, and three new events have been added. For a full schedule of events for Friday through Monday, see Pages 8 and 9. Returning favorites include the fireworks show Sunday evening, Monday's parade, Saturday's fish derbies and several waterc...
