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After more than a quarter-century, the nation’s largest national forest is getting a new management plan. On April 22, Wrangell community members will get a chance to learn about the proposed revisions to the forest plan and share their thoughts. A forest plan can be compared to zoning, Paul Robbins Jr., public affairs staff officer for the Tongass National Forest, explained. The plan helps guide management decisions, such as focusing on what areas are managed for recreation versus other activities, rather than looking at specific trails and c...
The chamber of commerce at its annual awards dinner last weekend honored several members of the community for their service, including the fire department and emergency medical services crew, municipal electric line crew and borough employees for their response to the deadly Nov. 20 landslide that hit Wrangell. “Nowhere was the ‘I can help’ spirit more evident than in November of last year when a tragic landslide befell our community. For weeks, volunteers and first responders showed just what an amazing place Wrangell is,” said Carolin...
The South Tongass Volunteer Fire Department station in Ketchikan caught fire early morning April 9, damaging multiple fire and EMS response vehicles. When the Wrangell Fire Department heard about the damages, they responded quickly by lending an ambulance to Ketchikan, sending it out on a barge later that same day. The fire started at 2 a.m. April 9, according to information from the Ketchikan Gateway Borough, and was under control by 3:49 a.m. and extinguished by 4:30 a.m. No one was injured in the fire. The Ketchikan department lost a 20-year...
The WCA Cultural Center filled with the sweet aroma of cedar as students sat around tables, focused on their hats in progress in front of them. They dipped the strips of red and yellow cedar into bins of water and occasionally spritzed their weaving with water to keep it from drying and cracking. Quiet chatter filled the room as they shared stories and advice. Master weaver Holly Churchill, from Ketchikan, made her way around the room, offering helpful tips and reminding students not to get...
Hundreds of high schoolers across Alaska participated in an organized walkout April 4 in protest of the Legislature’s recent failure to override Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s veto of an education funding bill. The bill would have included a historic increase in state money for public education. Outside Eagle River High School in the Anchorage School District, more than 100 students stood outside in the blustering snow for nearly a whole class period chanting “Fund our education!” and “Save our arts, save our sports!” Similar protests — all organized...
One hundred and fifty years ago, the Stikine beckoned people to its rugged landscape with the promise of wealth. This was the Cassiar gold rush of 1874, a huge moment in Wrangell history, according to Ronan Rooney, historian and creator of the podcast "Wrangell History Unlocked." Rooney's newest series "Strange Customs" tells the story of the gold rush in Wrangell in three parts. The story, however, is not just about the search for gold on the Stikine. It involves a political corruption ring in...
The community's medical equipment loan closet that has been in a number of locations over the years will likely have to look for a new home once more. With the forthcoming sale of the former hospital next to Evergreen Elementary School later this month to Georgia-based real estate developer Wayne Johnson, the Wrangell Community Loan Closet will have to move its reserve of medical equipment to a new location. Don McConachie Sr., who runs the service, talked on April 4 with borough manager Mason...
The Island of Faith Lutheran Church will host a free monthly movie for their Faith and Film Ministry at the Nolan Center over the next two and a half years, thanks to a $3,000 grant from the Alaska Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America. “We’re trying to do lots of genres, from ‘Galaxy Quest’ to ‘Magnificent Seven’ (the 1960 version),” said the church’s pastor, Sue Bahleda. The next movie will be “The Princess Bride” on Tuesday, April, 16 at 6 p.m. The concession stand will be open. Movies that have already been shown as part of th...
Kevin McCallister is the new facilities and maintenance director for the school district. He arrived with his family on March 25 and started work April 1. Outgoing maintenance director Josh Blatchley will stay on until the end of April to help with training his replacement. While McCallister is just getting started, he hasn't "really dug into the meat and potatoes of everything yet." He's already been made aware of some of the larger projects coming over the next few years, such as the...
The U.S. Forest Service is calling on Alaskans to create handmade ornaments to decorate the U.S. Capitol Christmas tree and the smaller companion trees that will represent Alaska in Washington, D.C. The trees will come from the Tongass National Forest; it’s only the second time ever that an Alaska tree has been chosen to serve as the U.S. Capitol Christmas tree. The tree will require 3,500 large ornaments made from lightweight, durable materials that should be colorful, reflective, weatherproofed for outdoor display and 12 inches in height a...
The chamber of commerce would like to put on the community’s 69th king salmon derby this year but hasn’t figured out the details, as it takes into consideration the state’s efforts to limit fishing in the area to help preserve and rebuild returns to the Stikine River system. “We’d love to have one,” chamber executive director Tommy Wells said of a king derby. The chamber is working on plans and hopes to have details soon, he said. Catch numbers in the past two king derbies confirm the weak runs and sportfishing restrictions. District 8...
Commercial trollers had a productive winter catching kings along the outside waters of Southeast, but area runs are still weak and sportfishing restrictions around Wrangell this summer are similar to recent years. District 8 in front of the Stikine River and the waters closest to town will be closed to king fishing through July 14. “The retention of king salmon is prohibited, any king salmon caught must be released immediately,” according to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. District 6 and most of District 7, encompassing the Back Cha...
Fourteen Wrangell High School students will participate in the annual three-day Southeast Regional Music Festival this week at Sitka High School. The event will feature morning and evening performances that will be livestreamed on the Sitka Fine Arts Camp YouTube channel and via links on the Music Fest website. Music teacher Tasha Morse, who will accompany her students, described the April 11-13 event as a showcase. High school music groups from across the region, including orchestral, jazz and choir, will perform in various concerts, along...
This year’s U.S. Capitol Christmas tree will come from the Tongass National Forest, only the second time an Alaska tree will light up the official spot. Known as “The People's Tree” (reflecting the nickname for the U.S. House of Representatives, “The People's House”), it will stand on the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol. The only previous Alaska tree, a spruce, came from the Chugach National Forest in 2015. The tree has been selected each year since 1970 from a different national forest. Brandon Raile, the project’s Forest Service spokesman i...
It’s officially spring and almost gardening season in Wrangell, but Sentry Hardware and Marine won’t be able to provide the plants they usually do this year, nor will IGA. The stores’ supplier, Skagit Gardens, of Washington state, announced in February it was going out of business by the first week of April after 57 years in operation. There will be no plant starts, vegetables or hanging baskets at Sentry this year. However, there will be trees and shrubs. Typically, Sentry starts getting plants in the last week in April, and the Febru...
A blue plastic baseball, part of a wooden clarinet, a glass Horlicks malted milk bottle, a 1938 Mercury dime and a net sinker made of slate, potentially from prehistoric times. All these items were discovered on the property of the former Wrangell Institute during archaeological monitoring completed last fall. The borough is developing the property of the former Bureau of Indian Affairs boarding school into the Alder Top Village (Keishangita.'aan) subdivision and plans to offer 20 residential lo...
An experienced Fairbanks educator who has dreamed of moving to Southeast for years will finally achieve his goal when he starts work in August as the new secondary school principal in Wrangell. Greg Clark will be the new principal for the high school and middle school. He was among 16 applicants and chosen from three finalists. The school board approved the contract and Schools Superintendent Bill Burr hired Clark on March 18. He will replace Jackie Hanson, who is leaving at the end of the...
Federal financial aid made available by a presidential disaster declaration requested by the Wrangell Cooperative Association is now available for people who suffered economic damages from the Nov 20 landslide. The assistance includes grants for home or vehicle repairs, temporary rental assistance, replacing essential personal property and loss of subsistence foods, as well as medical, dental and funeral expenses. The assistance through the Federal Emergency Management Agency is not available for damages covered by insurance, state disaster...
The Fourth of July is three months away, and the start of ticket sales for the annual fundraising raffle is still eight weeks away, but the chamber of commerce figures it’s not too early to start asking who wants to volunteer for this year’s royalty competition. The royalty contestants sell tens of thousands of $1 raffle tickets that pay for the community’s Fourth of July fireworks, festivities and events. They get to keep a portion of their sales for all their hard work, using the money for college or anything else. Ticket sales start May 3...
The time is coming once again for residents to help clean up the town, with Wrangell’s annual community cleanup scheduled for Saturday, April 20. The spring cleanup includes volunteers picking up as much trash around town as possible. The event will start at the Evergreen Elementary gym at 8 a.m. and continue until noon, when there will be a free lunch. Free trash bags and disposable gloves will be provided and there will be drawings and cash prizes for volunteers. After the bags and gloves are handed out, volunteers can head out and clean u...
Get out your crockpots, The Salvation Army is hosting a chili cook-off April 13 at the Nolan Center from 11 a.m. until 1 p.m. Anyone is welcome to register to compete with their favorite chili recipe. Chilis will be tasted by three judges and members of the community. The judge’s favorite and the community favorite will each win a cash prize, said Capt. Chase Green of The Salvation Army, though the amount hasn’t been determined yet. If you’re not competing, be sure to arrive to the event hungry. Community members will vote for their top three...
Work has begun to install 830 corrosion-preventing anodes on the pilings in Heritage Harbor and the Marine Service Center. The anodes are pieces of oxidizing metal that protect the steel pilings and piers from underwater corrosion. During a routine check of the pilings last year the borough discovered that anodes had never been installed during construction of Heritage Harbor in 2009. The Marine Service Center boat haul-out pier and T-dock also were not fitted with anodes when they were designed and constructed. The total project is estimated...
Alaska telecommunications company GCI no longer plans to end its longtime email service. The company had said last summer it would end the service and cancel gci.net and alaskan.com accounts sometime in mid-2024. It also launched a new fee for the old accounts, at $4.99 monthly. The company said it hosted about 40,000 email accounts last summer. The announcement upset many customers who had used GCI for their email for decades. But last month, the company said in an online statement that it is “no longer pursuing any options that would a...
Presidential approval of a disaster declaration for the Wrangell Cooperative Association will make more than half-a-million dollars available for the tribe to remove hazardous material from the beach covered in debris by the 11-Mile landslide on Nov. 20. WCA is the first tribe in Alaska to receive a federal disaster declaration, and the fourth in the nation to provide individual assistance under the program, said Esther Aaltséen Reese, WCA tribal administrator. President Joe Biden signed the declaration on March 15. The funding will cover the...
Mason Villarma, the interim borough manager since November, is no longer interim: The assembly has agreed to offer him the job. In an executive session March 19, the assembly interviewed three applicants - two from out of state - and ultimately decided to proceed with contract negotiations with Villarma. Mayor Patty Gilbert and Vice Mayor David Powell will negotiate a contract, which will likely come before the assembly for approval at the April 9 meeting. Villarma went to work as finance...