Opinion / Letters To The Editor


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  • Resuming regular state ferry service to Rupert a priority

    Oct 18, 2023

    On Friday, Sept. 15, I and other stakeholders and community leaders participated in a ferry system focus group workshop for the southern Southeast service area. As state ferry service is one of the very essential elements of Southeast culture and lifestyle, sustainability of this important resource is a priority for me and the constituents of our legislative district. The first meetings of the group began last May. At that time, the Alaska Marine Highway System was soliciting feedback from stakeholders on the service schedule. The most recent...

  • Wrangell needs to exercise more control over large cruise ships

    Oct 11, 2023

    The Sept. 20 article in the Wrangell Sentinel made it clear that the community of Wrangell has been infected with cancer. “Dam” cancer to be exact. That being the Nieuw Amsterdam and the Westerdam, along with accompanying disease names the Queen Elizabeth, the Ruby Princess and Grand Princess. Not too long ago the people of Wrangell rejected the idea of turning the former sawmill site into some type of tourist-related mecca. Who gave this upcoming plague permission to infect Wrangell? Were our community leaders contacted? The mayor? The ass...

  • Report shows area economy is improving, but still work to do to boost Southeast

    Sep 27, 2023

    I had the opportunity last week to attend my 10th Southeast Conference, hosted this year by Sitka. Attending the conference has always been a very efficient and effective way for me to communicate with a large cross-section of business and government leaders from the communities of House District 1, which I represent. One of the regular presenters is Meilani Schijvens of Rain Coast Data, who provides an economic report on the state of the Southeast economy. Her report highlights how the region continues to build upon economic gains made in...

  • Thank you

    Sep 6, 2023

    The Beta Sigma Phi ladies sincerely thank everyone who donated pies for the group’s Fourth of July pie sale. We appreciate your awesome support! Alice Rooney...

  • Library appreciates support for another successful summer reading program

    Aug 23, 2023

    The public library would like to thank all the individuals, businesses and organizations that donated prizes for the summer reading program. We appreciate your continued support in assisting us by encouraging children to read during the summer and improve their reading skills. We would especially like to thank: First Bank, for the funds to purchase Skull Candy earbuds for all those who completed the program; Alaska Airlines, for the funds to purchase prizes; the City and Borough of Wrangell; Jeff Angerman, for his ongoing support; Friends of...

  • Federal subsidy at risk that helps with internet for low-income households

    Aug 9, 2023

    Alaska is a vast and beautiful state but also one of the most isolated and underserved in terms of broadband access. According to the Federal Communications Commission, only 65% of Alaskans have access to broadband speeds of at least 25 Mbps, compared to 94% of Americans nationwide. This digital divide has serious consequences for Alaskans’ education, health, economy and quality of life. Created by the federal government as a response to the COVID-19 public health emergency, the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) is a $14.2 billion e...

  • Canceled ferry sailing costs tourist $1,000, says governor should support a new ship

    Jul 19, 2023

    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, including a few who just helped prevent me from being a homeless tourist. I made the decision to return to Alaska this summer without using a plane. This was quite an adventure to plan considering I live on the New Jersey shore. The summer ferry schedule was very late this year, and I could not make...

  • Tlingit and Haida council would have preferred photo showing everyone gathered

    Jul 12, 2023

    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 leaders in my youth and admiring them and thinking, “Maybe someday, I came accomplish the same status.” We were disappointed when we saw that only my picture along with Ed Rilatos was featured in a report in the June 14 Sentinel about totem pole work on Shakes Island. We work hard to accomplish pos...

  • Rep. Ortiz wants to hear public's opinions on vetoes

    Jul 5, 2023

    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 majority in the Legislature were disappointed in what the governor chose to veto. His largest veto was education funding. The legislature passed a $175 million increase in the base student allocation for K-12 public school funding, equivalent to an extra $680 per student. Nearly all of Alaska’s 54 s...

  • Sentinel unfair in its criticisms of Trump

    Jun 21, 2023

    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 be false, he never set the record straight. The last line from his June 14 opinion piece, “Their defense is as offensive as the crime,” looks like a Freudian slip. It says, “No reason to keep an open mind when politics rule the day,” which explains a lot. Being a fan of freedom, democracy a...

  • Thank you

    May 31, 2023

    Thank you to Johnson’s Building Supply and Smitty’s Floor Installation for spring upgrades to the golf course clubhouse. – Muskeg Meadows...

  • Reader appreciates the Sentinel's award-winning, quality journalism

    May 24, 2023

    I just wanted to give a big shout-out for all the recent awards the Sentinel staff received at the annual Alaska Press Club contest. I won’t try to name them all. Wrangell should be very proud of Larry Persily and the entire crew at the newspaper. I am now living in Anchorage since the sawmill shut down, but I still get the Sentinel every week. Larry is one of the most sought after advisers up here regarding oil, gas and Alaska’s budget. We Alaskans can’t afford to lose his voice, or Sen. Bert Stedman’s either. The Wrangell Sentinel receive...

  • Thank you

    May 24, 2023

    We would like to thank City Market, Wrangell IGA, First Bank, Marlene Merritt, Cheri Wickman and SEARHC for their contributions to the Wrangell Community Cleanup. – Paula Rak and WCA IGAP...

  • Most survey respondents favor scaling back PFD to help pay for public services

    May 17, 2023

    Thank you to everyone who took the time to complete my 2023 Legislative Budget Survey. It was a straightforward questionnaire: Do you support decreasing the Permanent Fund dividend to balance the state budget? If yes, by how much? If no, what cuts and new revenue should we implement to cover the nearly $600 million deficit? A few weeks ago, House Minority Leader Calvin Schrage said, “If you were to ask legislators how you solve this, you’ll get a different answer from each and every one of them.” And that seems to ring true for District 1 as...

  • State sales tax to cover larger PFD is a bad idea, distracts from real needs

    May 17, 2023

    The support from our governor and some legislators for levying a statewide sales tax on all Alaskans defies logic. Nor does it even make horse sense. As the Legislature enters its final days, the governor says he supports a $2,700 Permanent Fund dividend. Some in the Senate propose a $1,300 dividend. If the $2,700 dividend were to be approved by the Legislature it would create an estimated $600 million budget deficit. That is about what the governor would need to raise from a sales tax to fund his higher dividend. That tax would come from the...

  • Beware of cruise visitors overrunning Southeast Alaska communities

    May 10, 2023

    Large cruise ship tourism is ruining Juneau. We will see up to six large ships at least one day a week this year. We expect 1.7 million tourists plus crew. In addition to that, smaller ships and air travel will bring in even more tourists. My neighborhood is inundated with vehicular traffic. Walkers stream by and gawk at me working in my yard. Helicopters buzz overhead. My advice to Wrangell and Petersburg is to put the brakes on now before your nice towns are gone six months of the year. Kim Metcalfe Juneau...

  • Hardings say thank you, and welcome new owners of the Sourdough Lodge

    May 10, 2023

    After nearly 40 years and two generations of Hardings having a dream, building and operating that dream, the Sourdough Lodge now has a new generation of owners, the John and Zach Taylor families of Wrangell. We enjoyed every minute of our journey. To our loving families, old friends, our new friends and the community of Wrangell, Darlene and I want to say a heartfelt thank you for your continuous support and for all the wonderful memories during those years which we will share for the rest of our lives and hopefully you as well. In addition,...

  • Thank you

    May 3, 2023

    The Wrangell Golf Club board of directors would like to thank everyone who helped make our annual fundraising dinner and auction a success. This was our first time back at it since before COVID, and we couldn’t have asked for a better event. Thank you to all the businesses and individuals that donated items to auction and raffle: Alaska Airlines, Cindy Baird, Pacific Seafoods, All American Mechanical, Monterey Peninsula Country Club, Sentry Hardware, Angerman’s Inc., Ottesen’s Ace Hardware, Breakaway Adventures, Rayme’s Bar, Lucy Robinso...

  • Southeast at risk of losing Alaska Marine Highway service to Prince Rupert, permanently

    Apr 19, 2023

    Ketchikan, her close community neighbors and all of Southeast Alaska are in danger. We are at risk of losing our Alaska Marine Highway System ferry run to Prince Rupert, British Columbia, permanently. Ferry service to Prince Rupert is vital. It is the only way we can reach the mainland quickly at a reasonable cost. Prince Rupert is less than a seven-hour trip from Ketchikan versus a 44-hour trip to Bellingham, Washington. The one-way fare to Prince Rupert is approximately $400 for a Subaru, driver, one passenger and a dog, while the fare for...

  • House version of state budget falls short of long-term help for more school district funding

    Apr 19, 2023

    The Alaska House has debated the state budget and, as the representative for southern Southeast, helping to create the budget is one of my main duties. There were some amendments in the House Finance Committee that are encouraging: We increased funding to Head Start, public radio, the multi-state WWAMI medical program to accommodate 10 more Alaska students, dive fisheries assessments, and community-based grants through the Division of Senior and Disabilities Services. My biggest issue with the current budget is that there is a significant defic...

  • New director should sequester her party affiliation while running Alaska Division of Elections

    Apr 12, 2023

    Will Carol Beecher, who was appointed to serve as director of the Alaska Division of Elections, comply with Alaska state statutes in the future? The relevant statute clearly states that the elections director must be nonpartisan and may not make political contributions. The Sentinel reported Feb. 22 that Beecher made recent contributions to the campaigns of Republican candidates including Donald Trump, Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy and Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom. Four months later, Dahlstrom appointed Beecher as director of the Alaska Division of...

  • River's Mouth is inexpensive and has cheerful, helpful staff

    Apr 12, 2023

    There isn’t another business in this town, bar none, that looks out for its citizenry the way River’s Mouth does. That is the most important thing I have to say, so I’ll repeat it, and hold that thought. But first let us take a peek at this endearing little place on Earth that we call home. In Wrangell, as residents we fall into one of those two categories: buyers and/or sellers. We are all in this together. We are all trying to survive in this day and age while inflation is eating us alive and the almighty dollar buys nothing. Enter the solut...

  • Thank you

    Apr 12, 2023

    I want to give a special thank you to Dawn Angerman and everyone else at the Elks Lodge for the ham donations to Wrangell veterans. Thank you for honoring us who served in the Armed Forces of the United States. Bill Donavan...

  • U.S. needs Alaska oil as world transitions to new energy sources

    Mar 29, 2023

    Kudos to all who got behind ConocoPhillips’ effort to open up the Willow oil project on Alaska’s North Slope. The effort by our congressional delegation to present directly to President Joe Biden, and our record of responsible resource development over the past 40 years in Alaska’s Arctic, is a reflection on the bipartisan effectiveness of our Alaska delegation. But we are not over the goal line yet. We must be wary of the coming onslaught of outraged extreme environmental groups that will go to any means to delay and block the project. These...

  • New year begins for Baha'i faith both as a festive and spiritual time

    Mar 22, 2023

    Naw-Ruz? What is Naw-Ruz? Naw-Ruz (Persian language) is the Baha’i new year. It’s the first day of the Baha’i calendar year, and one of 11 holy days for adherents of the Baha’i faith. It occurs each year on the vernal equinox on or near March 21. Baha’u’llah (which means the Glory of God in the Persian language), the founder of the Baha’I faith, adopted this lunar calendar made up of 19 months of 19 days each and the use of Naw-Ruz as a holy day. This day follows the Baha’i month of fasting (a daily 12-hour fast for 19 days). Baha’u’llah’s son,...

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