Opinion
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We're meant to grow throughout life
Did you know some churches are color coordinated? We use colors to visually represent the purpose of a church season: blue is for Advent hope, purple is Lenten repentance, white is Christmas and Easter joy. The longest season is the one we’re in n...
If it's broken, someone will know how to fix it
If there ever was a town well suited to a fix-it clinic, it’s Wrangell. The community’s residents pride themselves on adapting, making do with what is available, repairing and reusing and repurposing most anything and everything that can find a secon...
Time to stop being afraid for no good reason
Like many kids, I grew up afraid of lots of things. Maybe I had a longer list than many, but I’m sure they all made sense at the time: Dentists, needles, bees, snakes, putting my head underwater, roller coasters, heights, fastballs thrown anywhere n...
Giving away hospital property may be best for the borough
The borough assembly is making another attempt at selling the former hospital property. It contracted last month with a real estate agent who will search near, far and wide for a buyer willing to pay the asking price of $470,000 — or anything c...
Change could make it more permanent
The Alaska Permanent Fund has prospered for almost half a century, growing ever more important for the state’s future. What started as a source of pride and prudence — showing the naysayers going back to statehood that Alaska can manage its mon...
Canceled ferry sailing costs tourist $1,000, says governor should support a new ship
Last year, I wanted to visit a few small towns in Alaska, traveling aboard the state ferries. I liked it very much and even though catching a ferry at 4 a.m. was inconvenient, I loved traveling with the locals. I met so many wonderful people,...
Borough is smart to think regionwide about trash
Out of sight, out of mind probably is how most people think about trash. That has pretty much worked for Wrangell since the municipality closed its landfill at the north end of the island more than a decade ago and started shipping its garbage to an...
Hiding behind a church is no way to run a campaign
Opponents of ranked-choice voting in Alaska want to put an initiative on the ballot so that voters can overturn the law in the 2024 election. To do that, they need to collect signatures from about 26,000 registered voters to win a spot on the...
Tlingit and Haida council would have preferred photo showing everyone gathered
We requested that the Sentinel publish a photo of the Wrangell Tlingit & Haida Community Council so that we could be transparent as leaders in the Native community. The reason I asked was because I recalled seeing a picture of the local tribal...
Independence Day a good time to think about taxes in Alaska
As Americans celebrate the anniversary of the Declaration of Independence this week, it’s good to remember that taxes helped drive the push to break away from the king’s control and the laws of Parliament. However, it wasn’t so much taxes themselves...
Getting old would be easier, if I could sleep
There are many joys of aging, such as discounts at stores and services, using it as a convenient excuse for being forgetful, and smiling that few thieves would know how to drive my stick shift VW Beetle. I can also stop obsessing about everything I...
Rep. Ortiz wants to hear public's opinions on vetoes
Gov. Mike Dunleavy last month announced his vetoes for the budget passed by the Legislature. After lawmakers had reached a bipartisan compromise, I was ultimately pleased with the final budget numbers that we passed. Therefore, I and a significant...
The governor talks fiscal plan but has not followed through
More than two months ago, Gov. Mike Dunleavy told legislators he would introduce a state sales tax as part of a long-term, budget-balancing fiscal plan. Something is needed to end the annual budget battles that have dominated Alaska politics for the...
The Sentinel will pay you to know the news
Actually, more than just knowing the news, you need to know more of the news than your neighbors. And if you do, you can win. But this isn’t about gossip. It’s about the news that affects your community, news that tells you what your elected off...
Hopefully, there's a way to keep children's services job in town
It took the community several years of pushing, pleading and politics before it succeeded in convincing the state to restore the Office of Children’s Services caseworker position in town. The job had been eliminated more than a dozen years earlier b...
A good outcome, and a good lesson, too
All I did was supply a pen and a writing tablet. Other than that, I was useless. Everyone else did the real work that made a difference. A woman two rows ahead of me suffered a seizure on an Alaska Airlines flight to Anchorage last Saturday evening....
Permanent Fund needs to share more investment details
I congratulate the Permanent Fund trustees for adopting Resolution 23-01 at their April 12 meeting to limit additional investment in the in-state investment program in which Barings and McKinley Capital Management have each been given $100 million to...
Sentinel unfair in its criticisms of Trump
Wrangell Sentinel publisher Larry Persily’s reaction to former President Donald Trump’s latest indictment was as predictable as the rain in Wrangell. He always seems to have something negative to say about Trump, but when past accusations proved to...
The numbers are heading in the wrong direction
It’s impossible to miss the shortage of workers across Alaska, and certainly in Wrangell. Whether it’s the help wanted signs and advertisements, the social media posts or the cutback in hours and service, the staff shortages are obvious. And it...
Their defense is as offensive as the crime
The reactions by Alaska’s top elected leaders to former President Donald Trump’s indictment last week say a lot about what they think of the public. Two out of the three — our governor and junior U.S. senator — must think the public is politic...
It's the little budget items that can make a difference
The biggest headline in the borough’s draft budget for the fiscal year that starts July 1 is the proposed 24% reduction in the property tax rate, though a substantial drop had been expected. This year’s comprehensive assessment review of every pie...
Governor needs to think before he hires
People are growing increasingly cynical about government: How money is spent, how hiring decisions are made, and how it seems there are few consequences for actions that hurt the public. Yet too many elected leaders continue making bad decisions...
Measure of a man is how he treats others
On a recent Sunday, as I was heading to the store, my phone rang. I don’t get many calls these days unless it’s somebody trying to sell me something. To my surprise, the caller ID showed the name of someone I hadn’t seen in years. Was it coinc...
Borough makes right moves to deal with costly repairs
Every homeowner, car and boat owner knows that maintenance is expensive. It’s also necessary. Particularly so in Alaska, where the weather is unkind to most everything except solid rock, and even that can erode away given enough time. Maintenance i...
Alaska shouldn't have followed this Texan into court
Remember what your parents, teachers and truant officer said: You are judged by the company you keep. Too bad Gov. Mike Dunleavy and his attorneys general didn’t think more about that before signing on to multiple lawsuits against the federal governm...
