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The school board has adopted a budget for the next school year that relies heavily on funds from two different reserve accounts to balance revenue with expenses. By withdrawing $976,000 from its operating reserves — just about emptying the longstanding account — and transferring $250,000 from its capital improvement projects reserves, the school district is able to cover its $5.98 million operating budget. The 2025-2026 spending plan includes two fewer full-time teaching positions than this year. Any increase in state funding for schools would...
The borough’s continuing work on its downtown waterfront master plan is ramping up after the community’s nearly 50-year-old freight barge landing was shut down. The assembly will hold a work session on the master plan at 6 p.m. Tuesday, May 13, at the Nolan Center. The barge ramp, next to the City Dock, was closed down in mid-March after an engineering report detailed structural and safety concerns about the steel bridge and other components. The closure has prompted the borough to accelerate its quest for a permanent solution. The freight comp...
The chamber still needs volunteers - and sponsors - to run events at the town's multiday Fourth of July celebration. And there's just one big, bright, sparkly unknown. "The only worry is the fireworks," said Tracey Martin, executive director of the chamber of commerce, which organizes the holiday extravaganza. Wrangell no longer has a certified pyrotechnician to take charge of the fireworks. "Someone in the fire department is working on passing their state-proctored test so that they can do the...
Amid a severe state budget deficit, the Alaska Senate Finance Committee is proposing the lowest Permanent Fund dividend in five years and — if adjusted for inflation — the lowest dividend ever. On May 1, the committee unveiled a new version of its proposed state operating budget with a $1,000 dividend, a $400 reduction from its first draft. That cut reduces the Senate’s budget draft by $265 million, likely balancing it once additional legislation is considered. The dividend figure is not final: The full Senate will vote on the commi...
Starting July 1, residents and businesses will be charged higher rates for water and sewer services and trash pickup. Moorage fees and other rates at the port and harbors also will go up. The utility rate increases will be small, adding up to just under $10 a month for a residential account at the minimum level of water use and garbage pickup. The borough assembly adopted the annual rate and fee schedule unanimously at its April 22 meeting. The monthly base rate for residential or commercial metered water service will increase 10%, from $45.61...
How do you take an hour's worth of interviews and additional video footage and shape them into a three- to eight-minute film? That's the cinematic goal of the Stikine Stories Film Festival presented by Stikine Middle School and Wrangell High School students on Monday, May 12, at 6:30 p.m. at the Nolan Center. The event is free to the public. The short films cover a wide range of topics, including hooligan fishing, totem carving, the pride and trauma of serving in the military, and bowling....
Whether by land or by sea, everyone is invited to participate in the annual blessing of the fleet, scheduled for 5:30 p.m. Monday, May 12, at the Wrangell Mariners’ Memorial at Heritage Harbor. For those who arrive by sea, “we will broadcast the event on VHF,” said memorial board president Jenn Miller-Yancey. “Having those vessels out there makes the whole experience more meaningful,” she said of the boats that drift in front of the memorial during the ceremony. Wrangell has held a springtime blessing of the fleet for decades, moving to the He...
For the third time in two years, the Alaska Legislature has approved a bill to increase long-term state funding for the state's K-12 public schools. On April 30, the state Senate voted 17-3 and the House voted 31-8 to approve House Bill 57, which would permanently increase the base student allocation, the core of the state's per-student funding formula, by $700 per student, almost 12%, at a cost to the state of $183 million for the 2025-2026 school year. The increase would send more than...
Creating safe and accessible community playgrounds is not child’s play, and so the Parks and Recreation Department will host consultant Heather Plucinski, of Northwest Playgrounds, as the next step in a planning process to reimagine and recreate Wrangell’s playgrounds. The public meeting is set for Friday, May 9, from noon to 1 p.m. at the Nolan Center. Parks and Rec Director Lucy Robinson said the general worn-out status of Wrangell’s playgrounds has been a community concern for years. She is encouraging community involvement and engag...
Alaska bars and liquor stores will be required to post signs warning of alcohol’s link to cancer, under a bill that became law on April 25. The new sign mandate, to go into effect on Aug. 1, makes Alaska the first U.S. state to require such health warnings specifically related to colon and breast cancers. The warnings about the alcohol-cancer relationship will be added to already mandated warnings about the dangers that pregnant women’s consumption can lead to birth defects. The requirement is part of a measure, Senate Bill 15, that allows empl...
Wrangell police, working with law enforcement personnel from a regional task force, arrested three men on April 30 on felony drug possession charges. Justin G. Churchill, 39, Richard “Daniel” J. Eklund, 38, and Cooper J. Seimears, 39, were arrested after police confiscated a package containing 88 grams of methamphetamine (about three ounces), with a street value of approximately $17,600, according to a prepared statement issued by Wrangell police on April 30. The package had been shipped to Wrangell. Police Chief Gene Meek on May 1 declined to...
As Alaska lawmakers confront a major budget deficit, disagreements over how to solve the problem appear likely to lead to a lower Permanent Fund dividend this fall and cuts to services, including public schools. In public statements, members of the Alaska Senate’s majority caucus have said they oppose spending from savings to balance the budget and want to see new revenue bills instead. Meanwhile, members of the state House and Gov. Mike Dunleavy have said they oppose new revenue bills and would prefer to spend from savings. Those different p...
At least 87 federally funded AmeriCorps volunteers were notified last week that their current or upcoming service work in Alaska was abruptly canceled. They include local aspiring teachers planning to tutor young Alaskans, out-of-state volunteers set to work at Girl Scout Camps in Chugiak this summer and school and parks workers in Sitka. AmeriCorps is a federal agency aimed at volunteerism that operates a network of local, state and national service programs. But last month, Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency began dismantling t...
Nine AmeriCorps volunteers serving in Sitka learned on April 25 that they had to leave their jobs by the end of the day April 28. The volunteers, who had been working with the Sitka School District, Mt. Edgecumbe High School, Sitka Parks and Recreation and nonprofit organizations, were notified that their employment was ending by order of Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, which was closing out $400 million in AmeriCorps grants nationwide. The order terminates more than 1,000 AmeriCorps programs and 32,000 positions across the c...
As President Donald Trump marks 100 days in office, U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski is urging anxious Alaskans to keep protesting against his administration. During an hour-long radio program on April 29, Murkowski expressed deep concerns with Trump’s use of executive power and the priorities supported by his administration and Republicans in Congress. She mentioned the 50501 movement, which has protested against the Trump administration, including with rallies in Alaska. “I think that type of engagement is important, and people shouldn’t feel discour...
Voters in Alaska, Missouri and Nebraska were asked last year whether they wanted to require employers to provide paid sick leave to their workers. They overwhelmingly said yes. Now some lawmakers in each of those states are trying to roll back the benefits, citing concerns from businesses about costs. The efforts mark the latest attempt by legislators to alter laws backed by the voters they represent. In February, for example, Michigan enacted revisions to a paid sick leave law initiated by voters seven years ago, delaying the date when small...
A Wasilla-based rental property owner wants to build 16 units on 1.3 acres of borough-owned land behind the old hospital building. The developer, Jiaying Lu, has applied to purchase the six vacant lots, which were last appraised at $316,000. The assembly will hold a public hearing on the land sale during its May 13 meeting at City Hall. The planning and zoning commission on April 10 unanimously recommended approval of the sale. Lu proposes to build four fourplexes on the property. She said she does not yet have a construction estimate for the...
As recommended by the borough manager, the assembly voted on April 22 to sell the first 20 lots of the Alder Top Village (Keishangita.’aan) subdivision by auction to the highest bidder, dropping plans of the past 18 months to sell half of the parcels by lottery. The intent of an auction is to raise more money than in a fixed-price lottery to help cover a larger share of the development costs for the borough-owned land just past Shoemaker Bay. “It would be imprudent of us to use public dollars to subsidize a lottery,” Borough Manager Mason...
Alaska Airlines has been flying the “milk run” for decades, serving the string of Southeast communities between Ketchikan and Juneau, but this weekend will be the first flight for the Milk Run Music Festival in Wrangell. Two days of music, food booths, corn hole competition, kids events and more are planned for Friday and Saturday, May 2-3, in front of the City Dock. The Nolan Center is the backup plan if the rain gets to be too much. “We’re hoping for great weather,” said Reme Privett, one of the organizers. “We’re doing a sun dance.” The e...
The Legislature appears to have reached a deal on an education bill. The Senate passed the measure with a $700 increase in per-student funding, almost a 12% boost, on a 19-1 vote at midday Monday, April 28. The House was expected to take up the bill on Wednesday. House approval would send the bill to Gov. Mike Dunleavy for his approval or veto, though the wide margin of legislative approval indicates lawmakers could have enough votes to override a veto. House Bill 57 started three months ago as a measure to place limits on student cellphone...
The 459-foot-long, 530-passenger Roald Amundsen is scheduled to start Wrangell's cruise ship season on May 8. To discuss plans for the season and share information, the borough's Economic Development Department has called a tourism stakeholder meeting for 9 a.m. Thursday, May 1, at the Nolan Center. "This meeting is intended for businesses that operate within or provide services to the tourism industry. This includes tribal partners, agency partners, tour operators, accommodation providers,...
The third annual plant swap and seed potato sale will sprout from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, May 3, in a yard on St. Michaels Street, near the bottom of the hill. “It’s kind of been building each year,” said Mya DeLong, one of the organizers. Sponsored by the Wrangell Community Garden and Wrangell Cooperative Association, the event provides gardeners with an opportunity to swap out their excess plants and starters for something they may want to add to their greenery. “You can swap your Brussels sprouts for celery,” DeLong said, or any other...
To clarify the school district’s and borough’s responsibilities for maintenance and repairs at the school buildings, the assembly has approved an agreement that says the borough will pay for major repair and rehab projects that cost more than $25,000. The district is responsible for “routine maintenance,” as specified in the three-page agreement adopted by the assembly in a unanimous vote on April 22. In addition to removing any doubt as to who pays for what at the schools — the borough owns the buildings and the school district covers op...
This year’s first tax-free shopping day in Wrangell is Saturday, May 3. Continuing a yearslong tradition, the borough assembly has approved a second tax-free day, accepting the chamber of commerce request for Oct. 6. The assembly vote on April 22 was unanimous. “These events have historically stimulated the local economy by encouraging increased consumer spending and supporting Wrangell's small businesses,” Borough Finance Director Jackson Pool reported to the assembly. “By temporarily removing the barrier of sales tax, these days help drive r...
The borough assembly voted 7-0 on April 22 to approve the chamber of commerce moving into the Nolan Center — in the interest of closer collaboration between the borough and the chamber. The move provides a more heavily trafficked site for visitor information than the chamber’s current offices in the Stikine Inn. Although the vote was unanimous, a couple of assembly members raised questions. “I’ve seen it go up and down too many times,” Assembly Member David Powell said of the chamber’s finances, adding that while chamber and Nolan Center staf...
