Sorted by date Results 1952 - 1976 of 6253
There were about 1,000 stories in the Wrangell Sentinel last year, covering state and local budgets, the ailing state ferry system, ongoing pandemic and more — including a new owner for the Sentinel. On Jan. 1, Larry Persily bought the newspaper — for the third time over the past 45 years — with a promise to return the operation to Wrangell, expand the paper and its staff, and focus on more local news. “We plan to add more news from around Southeast and the state, but not at the expense of crowding out news of Wrangell. It’s not one or the ot...
The borough assembly has selected an almost quarter-million-dollar recreation center project for Wrangell’s application to a competitive, federally funded COVID-19 aid grant program, while it has also adopted its projects wish list for consideration by the Legislature this year. The assembly at its Dec. 21 meeting approved upgrades to the heating and ventilation systems and carpet replacement at the recreation center as its selected project for a federal COVID aid community development grant program. The estimated $225,000 rec center work w...
Almost 60 borough employees, union and non-union, will receive a 2% raise retroactive to July 1, 2021. A second 2% raise is scheduled for July 1 of this year. The new wage scale is the result of a collective bargaining agreement between the borough and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 1547, which represents power plant operators, the line crew, port and harbor workers, water treatment plant workers and other public works employees. The three-year IBEW contract run to June 30, 2024. The borough traditionally extends to...
Pieces of rigid foam — polystyrene — broken away from harbor floats installed in the 1970s and 1980s are bobbing along Wrangell’s waters and washing up on beaches along Zimovia Strait. Holdovers from the Shoemaker Bay harbor float replacement project in 2018, the pieces were part of 60- to 80-foot-long old floats that the borough sold in 2018 when it should have trashed them, Port Director Steve Miller said. While records were kept of the individuals who bought the old floats, it’s now impossible to identify who owns the debris floatin...
As of Jan. 1, Wrangell’s roadways won’t look much different after a new state regulation adopted by Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s administration took effect. Alaskans are now allowed to drive their ATVs on most roadways where the speed limit is 45 mph or less, unless the city or borough opts out. The new law will only affect one portion of Wrangell streets. “For us, there’s really not much of a change of anything,” said Lt. Bruce Smith, of the Wrangell Police Department. Except for the Airport Loop, he added. Municipal code already allows ATVs to be...
Mason Dingwall operates a tire cutter at the community's solid waste transfer station, working his way through the immense stack of tires that the borough hopes to dig into, chop up and ship out of town. Cutting up the tires makes it easier to fit the pieces into containers for the barge ride out of state. Wrangell is the first of the Southeast Alaska Solid Waste Authority members to get the $56,700 hydraulic shear, which was purchased by the Southeast Conference with a grant and is being...
Wrangell’s water reservoir dams need fixing, and the borough assembly last week approved spending $100,000 to help determine the best options. The state dam safety engineer at the Department of Natural Resources has identified Wrangell’s upper and lower dams as Class I (high) hazard potential with recognized deficiencies that require rehabilitation, said the borough’s Capital Facilities Director Amber Al-Haddad. A stability study performed for the U.S. Forest Service in 1993 and a 2006 seismic study for the borough both indicated that while...
Two hundred at-home COVID-19 test kits were delivered to Wrangell’s emergency operations center last Friday, and more will soon be on the way. Capt. Dorianne Sprehe, of the EOC, said the fire department received the kits via SEARHC, and is making them available free to anyone who requests them. “We’ve already handed out a couple over the weekend,” Sprehe said on Monday. The kits are available to pick up any time at the fire hall between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday. People who plan on large gatherings, especially those with friends...
Fundraising efforts are a year-round task for most organizations, but during the holidays those efforts are increased. People in Wrangell are willing to give their time, energy and money to support everything from the food pantry and pets to high school athletes. A pressing need "This community, hand over fist, is one of the most generous communities I've ever had the privilege to work in," said Lt. Jon Tollerud, of The Salvation Army. The Christian-based organization coordinates the community...
Eat your fruits and veggies, move around plenty and drink lots of water – a combination of these recommendations have come from health care providers for generations. Doctors have always told patients exercise is important, said Dr. Victor Sanoe Harrison, lead hospitalist at Wrangell Medical Center under the SouthEast Alaska Regional Health Consortium. What's new is that an entity like SEARHC is helping to pay the costs for exercise. "Exercise has been prescribed forever," Harrison said, "just f...
SEARHC soon will move into its second year of providing free COVID-19 testing for Wrangell residents and visitors to the community. The testing is covered under a state contract that had been scheduled to stop Dec. 31 but which has been extended to the end of the state budget year June 30, said Carly Allen, hospital administrator for the SEARHC-operated Wrangell Medical Center. The state-funded tests for travelers and community members who are not showing any symptoms of the virus are available from noon to 4 p.m. Monday through Saturday at...
The out-of-commission barge ramp where Wrangell usually unloads its freight needs to be replaced. Until that happens, repairs will suffice. A 2011 condition assessment of the barge ramp estimated it had another 10 to 15 years of useful life remaining before reaching a point where it would have degraded enough that it may no longer be considered safe to use, Port Director Steve Miller wrote in his report to the port commission’s Dec. 16 meeting. Miller estimates replacing the ramp could cost $2 million. A timeline will be dependent on f...
The results of a $7,300 study the borough commissioned in October to take a closer look at the cost of shipping goods by barge to Wrangell shows the average annual increase in marine freight costs from Seattle to Southeast Alaska from 2006 to 2021 was 4.5%, based on published rate tariffs. The global cost of marine freight has increased at an average rate of 5.7% annually, excluding 2021, while the Consumer Price Index has increased at 2.3% annually. The 12 Wrangell businesses Rain Coast Data surveyed for the report, representing some of Wrange...
The contractor hired by the borough for survey and design work of the former Institute property has signed up a subcontractor to advise on historical and archaeological ground searches, which are required before the borough can move ahead with permitting for residential development of the 134-acre site. Interim Borough Manager Jeff Good and Trevor Sande, principal at R&M Engineering, in Ketchikan, which is doing the survey work, have met with representatives of the State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to...
Like eight-track, cassette tapes and VCRs, cable TV will soon be a piece of entertainment nostalgia — in Alaska anyway. GCI announced a year ago that it would cease providing cable television service, and has introduced its streaming app, Yukon TV, to replace it. The company had set Dec. 31 as the deadline for customers to turn in their cable boxes and sign up for the new service, but later extended the deadline to March 31 — though fewer channels will be available on cable as the company transitions its service. “The whole industry is movin...
As the holiday season is upon us, people who leave town or receive visitors are hoping for an easy, breezy ride. No overheads or ferry breakdowns. But it doesn’t always go that way. Residents were happy to share their holiday travel stories, from heartwarming to humorous. Brittani Robbins, executive director of the Wrangell Chamber of Commerce In 2013, her grandmother Marian Robbins, in her 70s at the time, came to visit for Christmas from Tacoma, Washington. There had been a blizzard the day before and she overheaded Wrangell to Ketchikan. J...
Responding to the loss of power at the airport during the windstorm which tore through the community on Nov. 30, the borough assembly has voted to spend $80,000 in federal funds to install a backup generator for the airport runway lighting. At its Tuesday meeting, assembly members approved using money from a CARES Act grant fund for the generator purchase and installation. The capital facilities department will order the generator this week, and expects delivery in four to five months. The generator would solely be for the runway lighting,...
Wrangell's community garden has a chance to grow once more. On Dec. 8, eight people gathered in the community gym classroom to discuss forming a committee to oversee the direction the project will take. "That's really what tonight is all about, is not making any decisions or appointing anyone to a position exactly, but we really just want to find out who is serious about being on the committee and if you don't want to be on the committee, that's OK, there's plenty of volunteer (opportunities)...
Bob Davis, assistant principal of Wrangell’s high school and middle school, has submitted his resignation and plans to retire at the end of the school year. The resignation was on the agenda for Monday’s school board meeting and will take effect next June. “When I took this job, I made it clear that I had a maximum expiration date of three years,” Davis said. “This is my second. From the time I signed my contract this last spring, I’ve made it clear that this would be my last year.” Davis has been a teacher at the middle school since 1994. He b...
Julia Ostrander was voted in to fill a short-term vacancy on the school board on Monday. The vacancy was created when Laura Ballou resigned from the board in early November. The board received two applications to fill the position — from Ostrander and Alexandra Angerman, both of whom ran for seats on the board in the October municipal election but lost. At Monday’s meeting, board president Don Wilson announced that Angerman had withdrawn her submission, citing other responsibilities. Ostrander, a parent and small business owner, was asked to...
It’s the holiday season and all through town, more people need to get a-stirring and pick up their packages. That’s the word from the post office. Postmaster Dorothy Gladsjo declined an interview last week, and said another time maybe, when she wasn’t “covered in sweat.” Gladsjo and a co-worker had just dumped another orange bag full of packages flown into town onto a pushcart at the post office. The shelves were already stuffed full, but they had to find room to add the latest additions. Tommy Brown, who has lived in Wrangell for 18 years, ca...
Friday night drumming at the Wrangell Cooperative Association's carving shed on Front Street brings together Tlingit elders and teens, different generations forming a circle around an overhead projector as instructor Virginia Oliver guided the group through the pronunciation of Tlingit song lyrics. Oliver's son Tommy Rooney Jr., Luella Knapp and Tom Gillen Sr. were among the adults on drums, accompanied by children that included 14-year-old Keaton (Saak, "hooligan") Gadd, 13-year-old Boomchain...
The annual Elks Hoop Shoot is back on schedule this year. The event is set for Saturday morning at the community gym, with staggered times for different age groups. Last winter’s shoot was postponed to January, to stay away from holiday events amid concerns over COVID-19’s impact on the community. Each participant Saturday will receive a free basketball to use in the Hoop Shoot — and will get to keep the ball. A hamburger lunch at the Elks Club for all participants will follow the competition. Boys and girls ages 8 and 9 will shoot at 9 a.m.,...
When Amber Al-Haddad inherited the public safety building project as the borough’s capital facilities director in 2018, she was told the building simply needed a paint job. The now 34-year-old building needed, and still needs, much more than that. The assembly convened in a work session Monday night to discuss a phased rehabilitation plan for overhauling the water- and rot-damaged building, a plan it had requested of Al-Haddad at its Nov. 9 assembly meeting. The latest proposal comes with an estimated price tag of at least $14.7 million, in t...
Wrangell Medical Center will get an extra month of help from three traveling health care professionals, as the state has extended its contract for the workers. Alaska is adding to its $87 million contract that brought in about 470 out-of-state health care workers to assist hospitals, clinics and schools stressed this fall by the heavy workload of COVID-19 patients and testing, and to provide relief for overwhelmed medical staffs in multiple communities. In September, the state signed up Atlanta-based DLH Solutions to bring the workers to...