Sorted by date Results 2002 - 2026 of 6263
A tree will light up. Santa will greet children. Hot food and drinks and gathering community members will warm the body and soul. Although it’s dubbed Midnight Madness, Friday’s event will feature something for everyone, in addition to special holiday sales at Wrangell businesses. The holiday bazaar will run from 4 to 9 p.m. at the Nolan Center, with about 25 vendors in attendance, selling various products. Santa Claus will make an appearance from 4 to 5:45 p.m. and then again from 6:30 to 9 p.m. in a giant snow globe. “This year, in order...
Wrangell’s yearly Christmas home and business decorating contest is on. The chamber of commerce with Wrangell Real Estate is offering $1,300 in prize money. The same cash prizes will be awarded for both categories. First place nets $300, second place gets $200, third place wins $100 and honorable mention receives $50. Judging will take place Dec. 21. Contact the Wrangell chamber if you’d like to participate. You can reach out on Facebook or Instagram by searching username “wrangellchamber,” call 907-874-3901, or email info@wr...
The Wrangell Senior Center is in need of food donations, especially subsistence foods. In particular, the center is seeking turkeys and hams, plus fish, deer meat, moose meat and liver. Moose or deer is preferred, but cow liver is fine too, because one of the center’s menu items is liver and onions. Donations will be collected through Jan. 31. Site Manager Solvay Gillen said all the donations benefit the seniors, and people in town also can donate other food items, such as produce and seafood, if they’d like. Donations can be dropped off at...
The Wrangell Senior Center is receiving a loaner bus from Juneau, equipped to handle transporting passengers in winter weather. The loaner bus arrived early Thanksgiving morning on the Kennicott ferry, part of the Catholic Community Service fleet. “It’s one of the newer ones,” said Solvay Gillen, site manager. “It has all the bells and whistles: A chairlift, four-wheel-drive.” Catholic Community Service operates the Wrangell Senior Center. April Huber, nutrition and transportation regional coordinator at Southeast Senior Services, a division...
Lisa Torgramsen has been crafting fabrics since she learned how to make her own clothes at the age of 12. At the age of 24 she added quilting to her repertoire, and she continued to build her skill for 42 years. In May, Torgramsen opened Fishwife Quilts, a shop that centers on all things quilting - from selling supplies and custom creations to teaching others everything she's learned in decades of practicing the artform. She was inspired by her grandmother to learn quilting in the 1970s, so she...
A doctor who served as chief of staff at the Wrangell hospital eight years ago awaits possible life imprisonment for raping an underage female relative in Louisiana more than 16 years ago. Greg Salard faces a possible sentence without parole or probation after a Louisiana jury convicted him of rape, according to the Caddo Parish district attorney’s office. Salard, 60, of Mountain View, Arkansas, was found guilty on Nov. 19 by a six-man, six-woman jury after deliberations that lasted less than 45 minutes, according to the district attorney’s off...
Tom Gillen Sr. and Glenda Gillen met at a teen dance one weekend in Ketchikan. It was either the end of 1957, or the beginning of 1958, he said. He remembered when they married - that was 1959. Their life in Wrangell has lasted a lot longer than the dance. The couple has been married 62 years and have five children: Three boys, two girls; 13 grandchildren; "I've got 27 great-grandchildren," Glenda said. "Twenty-eight," corrected Tom. "Twenty-eight great-grandchildren," Glenda amended. "I missed...
While Thanksgiving has passed and Christmas looms on the horizon, the ghost of Thanksgiving lurks in the fridge. But there's nothing to fear. Wrangell is populated with creative types who are happy to share their tasty ideas on what to do with those lingering leftovers. Diane Hillyer Ivy-Dahlin said her family's favorite leftovers tradition is turkey enchiladas. This recipe can be frozen after preparing, then reheated. "You can use chicken too, but it's just a great flavor with turkey," she...
The state says it will stop paying extended unemployment benefits because the jobless rate has declined, ending a third program of enhanced or extended financial aid for Alaskans jobless during the pandemic. The Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development announced the state’s extended benefits period will end Dec. 11, Anchorage television station KTUU reported. The extension — which has been in place since May 2020 — provided Alaskans the opportunity for additional weeks of unemployment benefits, which range from $56 to $370 a week...
In the Nov. 24 Sentinel, Megan Powell’s last day as secretary of Wrangell High School was incorrectly reported. Her final day at the school will be Dec. 17....
With a few pre-winter snows, a sledding hill popular with children has already seen some use. However, the Wrangell parks and recreation department’s plan to make improvements to the hill behind the covered play area at the elementary school has been delayed. Replacing decaying logs between the parking lot and the hill, and clearing of alders encroaching on the slope will now likely take place in the spring, said Kate Thomas, parks and recreation director. Parks and recreation was teaming up with the public works department to complete that w...
The aftermath of an unexpectedly strong Tuesday weather system affected life in Wrangell, postponing community events and unfurling an outpouring of support amid power outages. Power was restored to about 90 households early Thursday morning, according to Kim Lane, acting borough manager. Power poles at City Park are up and repaired, and power has been restored to the island. Crews worked through the night to restore the power, Lane said in a message. "Having roughly 100 homes without power... Full story
The borough is asking anyone who suffered property damage to their home, business or boat in Tuesday's windstorm to submit a damage report and photos by 3 p.m. Tuesday to City Hall. The borough is taking inventory of the losses in the community to determine the total amount of damages for any possible disaster declaration. People can email their damage report and photos to clerk@wrangell.com, or drop off their information at City Hall. For more information, contact Borough Clerk Kim Lane at 907-874-2381... Full story
The borough assembly last Thursday canceled a special meeting called to consider a face mask ordinance, citing a decline in active COVID-19 cases in the community. The decision to cancel the meeting came a day after Wrangell set a record for new COVID-19 infections in a month. The meeting, which was to be held virtually, would have reenacted the requirement of face coverings in certain indoor settings. The draft ordinance also included a $25 penalty in municipal code for non-compliance — which the borough has never used — and strongly urg...
The borough is looking to move forward with its plan to develop residential lots on the site of the former Bureau of Indian Affairs Wrangell Institute boarding school, while also fulfilling the Department of the Interior’s mandate that former boarding school sites be inspected for human remains. The federal push came after the discovery earlier this year of 215 unmarked graves in British Columbia at the site of what was once Canada’s largest Indigenous residential school, and the fear that unknown burial sites could exist at American Ind...
It takes a village to raise a tree; Christmas tree, that is. On Dec. 3, the efforts of people throughout Wrangell will culminate in the lighting of the community Christmas tree, a decades-long tradition. A "very full and pretty" pine tree located behind the state highway equipment shop on the Airport Loop Road will be cut down next Monday and taken downtown to be set in a stand between the Elks Lodge and L&M gas station, according to Dominique O'Connor, secretary for Wrangell Municipal Light &...
It's commonplace in most communities to see a big, brown delivery van lumbering down the street, or parked curbside with its hazard lights blinking. In Wrangell, the familiar UPS brand is replaced by a white cargo van belonging to C&D Deliveries. The family owned service puts in a lot of hours, especially during the holidays, to ensure people receive their packages despite adverse weather, unknown addresses or unfamiliar names. Since April 30, 2019, when Chris Booker and his wife, Dixie,...
The Wrangell Cooperative Association blessed a tree harvested from ancestral Native land on Etolin Island and headed to the Governor's House in Juneau for Christmas display. The blessing in front of the Chief Shakes Tribal House on Thursday, Nov. 18, was a partnership of the WCA, U.S. Forest Service Wrangell Ranger District, and U.S. Coast Guard, which provided the Elderberry, a 65-foot buoy tender, based in Petersburg, to transport the 14-foot-tall lodgepole tree. The Elderberry left for...
As of Monday, 38% of Wrangell youth ages 12 through 17 had been fully vaccinated against COVID-19, less than the statewide average of 48%, according to state health department statistics. The national rate is about 60%, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Though children as young as 5 became eligible for the shots earlier this month, the state website does not track vaccination rates separately for 5- through 11-year-olds on the “Sleeves Up for School” online dashboard. SEARHC started offering vaccinations for...
JUNEAU (AP) — The federal government said Nov. 18 that it’s beginning the process of repealing a Trump-era rule that permitted road building and logging in the Tongass National Forest, home to about 60,000 people and habitat for wolves, bears and salmon. The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced that a proposed measure to repeal last year’s Forest Service rule will be published for public comment this week, beginning a 60-day process. The previous rule exempted more than 9 million acres in the Tongass from a 2001 nationwide rule that banne...
A representative for a substance abuse recovery business that is exploring purchasing the former hospital visited Wrangell last week, learning from borough department heads how the community's services and facilities might fit the needs of the for-profit inpatient and outpatient treatment center. Casey Odell, who used to live and work in Wrangell as a therapist and health counselor for Alaska Island Community Services in 2013, was in town Nov. 16-18. She has other work that limited her time...
For six and a half years, Megan Powell has helped others navigate through Wrangell High School as secretary. Now, she's moving on. On Dec. 17, Powell will say goodbye to the students and staff that have become like a second family. She'll go to work as a teller at First Bank. "I think it's just time for a change, and doing something different, trying something else out," she said. Powell came to the secretary position after leaving Crossings when she became pregnant with her first child and...
What began 56 years ago on Bainbridge Island, Washington, pingponged around the world, and landed on Wrangell's shores just a few years ago. Now, pickleball is becoming popular among local players of all abilities. The sport, played on a 20-foot by 44-foot court with a tennis-type net in the middle, was invented in 1965 by friends Joel Pritchard, Bill Bell and Barney McCallum. According to the official USA Pickleball website, the game was named "pickle ball" by Joel's wife, Joan, in reference...
Temporary jobs created by the borough last month remain unfilled — an airport greeter to familiarize travelers with COVID-19 rules and two tire shredder positions. The airport greeter position, approved by the borough assembly on Oct. 12, is a part-time, temporary position at $15.09 per hour and requires the worker to drive to the airport, ferry terminal, harbors or other locations to greet incoming travelers and inform them of the borough’s COVID travel testing mandates. The position, which requires a high school diploma or GED, would inv...
Hospice of Wrangell is doing its usual double duty this holiday season, with its annual Dove Tree ceremony to remember lost friends and family members and the Christmas Tree Lane fundraiser. Both events are at the Nolan Center. The Dove Tree ceremony is scheduled for 2 p.m. Sunday and will include readings, a homily by the Rev. Suellen Bahleda of Island of Faith Lutheran Church, and music by Cindy Martin, Sarah Scambler, Bonnie Demerjian and Alice Rooney. The tree, with paper doves in memory of people who have died, “has a place of honor” amo...