Week of June 4, 2025
Week of June 4, 2025
The Central Council of the Tlingit & Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska plans to expand its Head Start program in Wrangell to 30 kids from the current 20 spots — and add child care services for the community. The borough assembly on May 27 approved a no-cost lease on two unused classrooms at the back of Evergreen Elementary School for the expanded Head Start program. With its new quarters, Head Start will move out of the building Tlingit & Haida occupies across the street from the school, behind the old hospital, and that space will become home... Full story
Borough officials are negotiating with American Cruise Lines and the two barge companies that serve Wrangell, and the results could produce big changes for the downtown waterfront. Officials from American Cruise Lines presented at a work session at City Hall last week, telling a roomful of people about their company, its business model of smaller ships and more time in each port, and plans to put a third ship into service for Southeast Alaska. The cruise line would like to strike a long-term deal with the borough to use a proposed new...
A bell recovered from a Southeast Alaska shipwreck that claimed 112 lives more than a century ago rang Thursday, May 29, for the first time in 117 years, signaling its future role in a Wrangell maritime tradition. Jeanie Arnold, director of the Nolan Center, struck the bell at the close of a community presentation, marking a significant moment for the artifact. If the bell can be restored in time, it will be used to ring out names at the community's annual blessing of the fleet in 2026. The...
One of Southeast Alaska's most prolific pink salmon rivers, known for attracting copious numbers of bears, wildlife photographers and tourists, may soon add a new category of visitor to its ranks: citizen scientists from across the globe. This summer, Anan Creek and the surrounding Anan Wildlife Observatory will be outfitted with a new and expanded array of web cameras installed by Wrangell High School students in partnership with the U.S. Forest Service and a multimedia producer of real-time...
Faced with strong community pushback to an ordinance that would limit e-bike and e-scooter drivers to 14-year-olds and up, the borough assembly postponed action and scheduled a town hall meeting on the issue for 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, June 11, at the Nolan Center. “The public is encouraged to attend and speak to the proposed ordinance,” the meeting announcement said. The ordinance would require that operators have a driver’s license or learner’s permit. The state-issued permits are available in Alaska to anyone at least 14 years old....
Joshua Garrett will be the new superintendent for Wrangell schools after the school board unanimously approved his contract on Friday, May 30. Garrett attended the meeting virtually from his current home in Kazakhstan. The board announced on May 23 that Garrett was their top choice, and that they would enter into negotiations on a contract. The three-year contract starts July 1. The board approved the contract without discussion at a brief special meeting. A native of Derby, Kansas, Garrett...
In raising the limit on purchases subject to sales tax to $5,000 — the current cap is $3,000 — the assembly removed a provision from the ordinance that would have raised the taxable limit on work at the Marine Service Center to $50,000. Under the new rules that will take effect on Oct. 1, a $5,000 purchase of goods or services in town will be subject to $350 in sales tax at the 7% rate, an increase from the current $210 tax bill which shuts off after $3,000 in any one purchase. The ordinance approved by the assembly on May 27 also extends...
This year’s property tax rate is unchanged from last year, at 9.75 mills, or $975 per $100,000 in assessed property value for homeowners, landowners and commercial property owners. It’s the third year in a row of no change in the tax rate, though tax bills will go up for many property owners because their land and/or buildings are assessed at a higher value. The assembly set the tax rate at its May 27 meeting, in a unanimous vote. The tax rate is lower — just 4 mills — for the small number of taxable parcels outside the borough’s...
The assembly has approved higher lease rates for borough-owned property. The annual rates for leased tidelands and uplands parcels will increase from 6% of the property’s market value to 10%. Lease rates are reset every five years, based on the property’s market value. The assembly approved the higher rates in a unanimous vote on May 27. The rate increase will take effect with each property’s next five-year reassessment. Several lots around town are borough-owned tidelands and uplands, leased to private businesses or individuals. The...
When Brianna Schilling started compiling names of youngsters for the Little League season, she was excited to see the largest number of sign-ups in the past 10 years. But while the number of athletes was exciting, the number of volunteers has come up short. “We need a minimum of 13 volunteers for each game that is played,” Schilling said. “And, unfortunately, we had to cancel the Tuesday (May 27) game. We just didn’t have enough volunteers.” Schilling wears multiple hats with the Wrangell Little League, most notably as president....
A federally funded residential job training center in Palmer must close completely by the end of June and begin sending students home this week under an “operations pause” ordered by the U.S. Department of Labor. The Don Young Alaska Job Corps Center in Palmer is one of more than 100 no-cost residential training centers nationwide operated by Department of Labor contractors. About two dozen additional centers are run by the U.S. Forest Service and focus on conservation-related training, according to the Job Corps website. Nationwide... Full story
Serjoe Gutierrez stood above the Kodiak High School Orchestra, violin in hand, as students rifled through their sheet music for pieces like "The Barber of Seville" and "Canyon Sunset." Gutierrez often plays with his students instead of conducting them. Gutierrez, who was born and raised in the Philippines, was in his fifth year of teaching there when he decided he wanted to try to work in another country. "I think it's time for me to come out of my comfort zone, explore a lot of opportunities,...
A Kodiak fisherman has been sentenced to spend a year in jail for illegally shipping thousands of pounds of tanner crab, much of it infected with a parasitic disease, out of Southeast Alaska for sale in Washington state, federal officials said. The fisherman, Corey Potter, was also sentenced to two years’ supervised release following his jail term, during which he will be barred from commercial fishing anywhere in the world, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said. The investigation was led by NOAA Fisheries’ Office of... Full story
By a more than 2-to-1 margin, voters in Sitka’s May 28 special election turned down a ballot proposition to limit cruise ship visitors to town. The vote was 773 in favor and 2,071 against the proposition that among other requirements would have limited cruise visitors ashore to 300,000 annually and 4,500 daily; required at least one day a week with no cruise visitors; and implemented a permit system for cruise ships visiting Sitka. The turnout was high for a special election, and higher than the last regular local election. Sitka expects to...
The cruise industry is suing Skagway over a new policy that makes a controversial change to how the borough taxes excursions sold by cruise companies. Skagway charges its local sales tax on tours that start and finish in the borough. Historically, that excluded commissions that cruise lines slap on top of tour prices in exchange for arranging the excursion. But late last year, Skagway approved an ordinance to change its tax code to collect taxes on the full price that tourists pay — including the commission retained by cruise lines. The...
An Alaska man who was pinned face down in an icy creek by a 700-pound boulder for three hours survived the ordeal with only minor injuries, thanks in part to his wife’s quick thinking and lots of luck. Kell Morris’ wife held his head above water to prevent him from drowning while waiting for rescuers to arrive after Morris was pinned by the boulder, which crashed onto him during a hike near a remote glacier south of Anchorage. His second stroke of luck came when a sled dog tourism company that operates on the glacier overheard the 911...
In his first-ever state track and field meet — in his first year as a high school track and field runner — Wrangell’s Boomchain Loucks raced to fourth place in both the 800-meter and 1,600-meter runs in Anchorage last weekend. Loucks, a competitive runner on the cross-country team, was the only Wrangell high schooler to run at this year’s Division II state track and field championship meet. He finished the 800-meter event in a time of 1:59.77, almost three seconds faster than his winning time at the Southeast regional championships a...
June 4, 1925 The G. Craeb, a Vickers-Viking airplane from Three Rivers, Quebec, piloted by Col. J. Scott Williams, of Montreal, arrived here Monday, having made the flight from Prince Rupert, British Columbia, in two hours and 24 minutes. Capt. Little, who was in charge, stated that they were on an aerial mining exploration expedition, but that their plans were too infinite to be given out until after they get into the Cassiar and confer with Mr. Platzer. The G. Craeb is a flying boat which can land and take off from either land or water. It...
Sonja Christine Turner died Sept. 29, 2024, in an apartment fire in Ketchikan. She was born on July 29, 1987. A celebration of life will be held at 3 p.m. Saturday, June 7, at the main shelter of Wrangell's City Park. Appetizers will be provided. Bring a dish to share if you can. Sonja had been working in the tourism industry in Ketchikan the past few years. She got her start in tourism by selling garnets to the tourists off the cruise ships and ferries in Wrangell when she was about 7 years... Full story
Monday, May 19 Citizen assist: Vehicle unlock. Bar check. Tuesday, May 20 Agency assist: Pretrial. Civil paper service. Wednesday, May 21 Trespassing: Unfounded. Speeding complaint. Minor consuming: Unfounded. Thursday, May 22 Parking complaint: Citation issued for parking in the roadway. Friday, May 23 Alarm. Traffic stop: Verbal warning for faulty headlight. Traffic stop: Verbal warning for failure to use turn signal. Saturday, May 24 Agency assist: U.S. Forest Service traffic stop. Fraud. Sunday, May 25 Drug complaint. Motor vehicle...
The Central Council of the Tlingit & Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska’s decisions to expand its Head Start program in Wrangell and add licensed child care services for the community are great news for families. The announcements also are good news for employers looking to hire and for potential employees who need child care before they can leave the house to take a job and earn money for their families. Tlingit & Haida plans to expand its Head Start program to 30 students, up from the current enrollment limit of 20. The child care program will...
I have written opinion columns for the Sentinel since January 2021, never missing a week. Until now. It’s not that I have run out of opinions — that will never happen, not in today’s political environment. And it’s not like I decided that readers needed a break from my personal views, my odd humor or my storytelling. I just need a day off. My siblings and their spouses are visiting this week from Denver and San Francisco. As much as I enjoy writing my columns and actually enjoy the occasional disagreeing email from a reader, I figure...
Please allow me to introduce myself; I'm not a man of wealth or taste. And I haven't been around for very long; but I have been to many different places. My name is Jonathon Dawe and I started as the Sentinel reporter last week. I am from southeast Missouri - or, as many from my home refer to it, swamp-east Missouri. I have been working in journalism for about 10 years altogether, and I have had the pleasure of working at both small and (somewhat) larger newspapers. I have received awards from... Full story
Recently, my son, Brian Merritt, was given a ticket for shrimp pots that lacked his name and address. Elements of salt, water and sunshine had erased his identification on the floats. He had two sets in close proximity: One was properly identified with his name and address. Obviously, Brian understood the regulation and failed to notice the faded information. For over 30 years, he has set out shrimp pots in the spring for his personal use, but he also does it for two other reasons. No. 1, he takes groups of four or five students from his...
