Sorted by date Results 1678 - 1702 of 6232
What started as the seed of an idea has germinated into a full-grown program to help the community get involved in gardening. Over the past couple months, the Wrangell Community Garden board has been meeting, planning and organizing cleanup days. As such, the garden, located at the old Lions Ball Field at 1.5 Mile, is ready for gardeners looking to grow their own plants and produce. Once overgrown with weeds, the site is now cleaned up, garden beds are set up and soil is piled up and ready to...
A workshop at a Wrangell boat-building company on Case Avenue caught fire and was destroyed in the early morning hours of May 3. A firefighter was hurt in the response to Svendsen Marine at 3:18 a.m. after falling but is OK, Fire Chief Tim Buness said May 3. The firefighter was taken to the hospital and released. An occupant inside the Quonset hut workspace - a half-moon, fabric-covered "tinker shop" - was also unharmed, he said. It took 30 minutes for 18 firefighters to put out the blaze,...
A pair of mobile towers on wheels that were anticipated to arrive this month in Wrangell for a pilot broadband network have been delayed until around September. Chris Cropley, network architect at Central Council of the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska, said delivery is 16 to 18 weeks out. One of the components for the towers got “kicked out” of the global supply chain, Cropley said May 4. The delayed order which Cropley placed in early February for the two mobile cell towers on wheels come from Pierson Wireless in Omaha, Neb...
Six teens returned to Wrangell on May 2 after nine days in Washington, D.C., and New York City. The trip is part of the national Close Up program which aims to get kids more engaged in the political process. Along with chaperone Sarah Merritt, seniors Jimmy Baggen, Sophia Hagelman and Tyson Messmer, juniors Paige Baggen and Ashleigh Loomis and sophomore Sierra Hagelman were able to visit sites of historic interest, meet with and hear from various political leaders, and participate in lively...
After less than a month in operation, the River's Mouth Resale thrift store is moving into a new space twice as large. They need more room "due to overwhelming support," owner Kelly Ellis said Thursday. Ellis, who opened the store April 4, said they plan to accept their last donations at the current spot on Lynch Street next to Groundswell on Saturday - the same day River's Mouth plans to open in the Churchill Building, behind Baked for Breakfast. It's the storefront where Silver Liningz Boutiqu...
The Wrangell Sentinel received four awards in this year’s Alaska Press Club contest, including third place for best weekly newspaper in the state. The Nome Nugget was judged the best weekly in the state. The awards were announced April 30, based on work in 2021. Sentinel reporter Sarah Aslam won second place among small newspapers in the best short feature story category for her Oct. 21, 2021, reporting, “Tlingit culture, language lives on through heritage learners.” The judges described it as “an important story told with heart and purpose.” S...
It's time to dust off that Duster and shine up that Chevelle. Proud owners of anything from classic cars and clunkers to tricked-out trikes and awesome ATVs will have a chance to cruise into infamy on July 2. A yet-to-be-named car show is scheduled to be part of the Fourth of July festivities, with prizes awarded to best in show and other categories. Ellen Jellum, a masseuse at Arctic Chiropractic, had the idea for a car show to raise funds for Wrangell's schools. It's something she used to do...
The assembly has raised rates for cemetery plots and other fees to help pay for the expansion of Sunset Gardens. The fee for a full-casket cemetery plot went up by $670 to $1,000, effective April 26. Previously, a grave plot cost $330 and plots for children under six years of age were $150. Opening and closing of the plot during the weekdays remains at $900, but a weekend opening/closing now costs $1,500, an increase of $415. Headstone installation costs $200, an $80 increase. The borough plans to start work later this year to add 50...
The Petersburg Borough Assembly has voted to write a letter opposing federal legislation that would transfer federal land to new Native corporations proposed for Petersburg, Wrangell, Haines, Ketchikan and Tenakee Springs. The assembly action was prompted by a request from Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski for a Senate committee hearing on legislation to create the corporations as an amendment to the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act. The bill would allow the so-called “landless Native communities” to form corporations and receive 23,040 acres of...
The borough assembly has approved a 30% boost to water rates effective May 1 instead of a 21% rate hike with additional smaller, staggered increases until 2026 originally suggested by staff. The assembly approved the increase April 26 after it postponed a decision on the 21% rate increase at its March 22 meeting. Several assembly members including Patty Gilbert said they had wanted to hear more public comment on the issue. At the April 26 meeting where the 30% increase was approved, no one from the public showed up to speak on the issue....
As borough staff finalize the budget for the upcoming fiscal year, the Capital Facilities Department is requesting $350,000 toward a fuel tank project to bring the high school and Public Safety Building into regulatory compliance by replacing underground diesel storage tanks with aboveground tanks. The Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation inspected the now almost 40-year-old underground tanks in 2020 and determined they were out of compliance with regulations, and recommended they be taken out of service and removed. The Public...
For as long as the Tlingit people have built canoes, they have carved paddles. Just as there are many different sizes and styles of canoes for various purposes, paddles are created to be just as unique to their users. The tradition of carving paddles continues today throughout Southeast for cultural celebrations, dancing, decorations and even paddling canoes. In Wrangell, a workshop held April 22-24 educated about 15 participants on the type of wood to use, how to carve it and properly finish...
High school students were urged to use their smartphones and laptops during an assembly for once. It was announced last Monday that the painted and decorated shoes entered into the Vans Custom Culture design contest had won Wrangell High School a spot in the national top 50 and a chance at $50,000. Staff and students are calling on family, friends, neighbors and the online universe to go to https://customculture.vans.com/, click the "VOTE NOW" button and choose Wrangell. Public voting closes at...
Anyone who wants to get a pizza midweek at the Marine Bar or a steak or burger at the Elks Lodge knows that worker shortages have forced employers to reduce their days and cut back on offerings. “This worker shortage is real, and it’s not going away anytime soon,” Dan Robinson, research chief at the Alaska Department of Labor, told legislators last month. “For nine years in a row, more people have left the state than have come here,” he told the Senate Finance Committee. The population has been stable as births have outpaced deaths, but the y...
The borough assembly has approved applying for a $3.8 million loan from the state to fund construction of a new water treatment plant, estimated to cost nearly $15.4 million. The borough has nearly $11.1 million in funding from two federal grants and one federal loan, leaving a shortfall of $4.3 million, according to information presented to the assembly for its April 26 meeting. The assembly approved seeking a loan from the Alaska Drinking Water Fund, to be paid back over 20 years. It would cover construction of a new building to house...
A black bear cub seen wandering Shoemaker Loop off Zimovia Highway at 5.5 Mile last week was euthanized in Petersburg on April 24, a day after a state wildlife trooper and U.S. Forest Service officer captured it following several sightings by residents who live along the roadway. Trooper Chadd Yoder with Alaska Wildlife Troopers got a call from Wrangell police about people seeing a bear cub for days without its mother. “It was apparent the bear was separated,” he said April 25. “What happened to mom, we don’t know.” Jimmy Nelson, a Forest Se...
The borough assembly on April 26 postponed a vote to put the old hospital building up for online auction after assembly members raised the question if the $830,000 starting bid went up to or beyond the $1 million limit in the law for selling municipal property without a vote of the people. If that were to happen, the sale would have to be approved by voters at an election — either the regular one in October, or the borough would have to hold a special election. The assembly will consider the issue again at its May 10 meeting. “If it (bi...
"A River Runs Through Us" is the theme chosen for this year's Fourth of July celebration in Wrangell, prompting event organizers to hold a first-ever art contest, with the winner's work being featured on posters and other swag. Plus, there's a chance to win $1,000. Entries can come from anyone and can be hard copies or digital. The piece should capture the theme of the contest, which refers to the Stikine River. The deadline is Friday by 4 p.m. "It's a connection that everybody from here...
Legislation to restore and increase the state licensing fee on sportfishing guides and operators ran into problems in the Senate Finance Committee last week, as lawmakers questioned why out-of-state boat owners who bring up guests are not required to get a license and pay the fee. “My district has got to be one of the top guided areas in the state,” said Committee Co-Chair Sen. Bert Stedman, whose district stretches from Sitka to Prince of Wales Island, including Wrangell. And while that means a lot of non-residents pay local operators for fis...
The borough assembly at its April 26 meeting approved an ordinance to hold boat owners liable for disposing of derelict vessels, after the port commission passed a resolution at its April 7 meeting requesting the change. The change to municipal code says, “the owner shall be liable for the costs of disposing or destroying the vessel.” The intent is to lessen the burden on the borough of paying for derelict and impounded vessels, which drains the Port and Harbors Department coffers when clunkers take on water or sink, leading the department to...
In a two-page letter to the community, Schools Superintendent Bill Burr on Friday cautioned that ongoing staffing shortages, particularly aides and substitute teachers, could push the schools into considering a move to distance learning in lieu of in-person instruction. “As we have had a number of unfilled positions over the last month, we need to continue looking at the need to move toward distance learning,” he wrote in his letter Friday. “We have worked very hard to keep our schools open during (COVID) mitigation and adversity, but without o...
Some commercial fishermen prefer to sell their hauls in Wrangell. Some look for the best price, even if it's a few cents higher. Some decide where to sell based on services offered. No matter what determines where a fisherman will sell, processors try to lure as many their way throughout the year, including buying a bevy of different species. "What Pacific Seafood does here in Wrangell, we have our hands in a little bit of all of it," said Cody Angerman, general manager at the processor's plant...
Just as other communities, Wrangell is enduring a springtime bloom of COVID-19 cases. As of April 20, the state health department reported 79 new cases in the community in the past 30 days. Most of those were reported to the state in late March and early April, with new infections declining in the past week. The spread of the highly infectious disease is of particular concern at the schools. “We have had an increase in COVID and other illnesses during the past month and the schools have been struggling to find ways to stay open,” Sup...
The borough assembly may put the old hospital building up for online auction next month, at a starting bid of $830,000, the value deemed by a recent commercial appraisal. A Florida-based substance abuse treatment center that had expressed interest last year in taking over the property had told borough staff it was waiting on an appraisal but hasn’t been back in touch. The borough assembly on Tuesday considered a resolution to put the 30,596-square-foot former Wrangell Medical Center on nearly two acres along Bennett Street up for auction on p...
The Alaska Senate could vote this week on a new formula to calculate the annual Permanent Fund dividend, though proposed amendments and lengthy debate are expected and passage of the bill is uncertain. The bill that passed the Senate Finance Committee last Thursday would set this fall’s dividend at about $2,600 per person, putting the same cash in Alaskans’ pockets as the House plan to pay out half that amount as a dividend and half as a one-time energy relief check to help Alaskans paying the price of higher heating fuel, gasoline and diesel b...