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Alisha Armstrong won this year's Fourth of July royalty contest with a fundraising tally of $84,582, while Kayla Young raised $60,500 - setting a new record with their effort. The combined total of $145,082 more than doubled the numbers of the past couple of years - $53,704 in 2023 and $56,260 in 2022 - when only a single royalty candidate signed on for the annual fundraising effort to help pay for Wrangell's Fourth of July celebration. The totals were announced prior to the start of the talent...
The extension to the Mount Dewey trail is nearly complete and will connect the existing trail to a new trailhead on Bennett Street. Work began on the three-quarter-mile trail extension in December and is expected to be complete by the end of the month. It will provide a pathway from the backside of Mount Dewey, supplementing the longstanding route up the front from downtown. The borough worked with the Wrangell Cooperative Association to name the trail Sháchk Kináa Deiyí, which means “path over the muskeg.” The total project cost added up to...
The borough will construct Fifth and Sixth avenues in the Industrial Park Subdivision to provide access to eight platted lots to be made available for sale to the public. Borough Manager Mason Villarma said he is unsure of the timeline, but estimates the lots could be ready for sale by fall. The area is off St. Michael’s Street, about a block away from the Airport Loop Road and across from the turnoff to the Spur Road. The assembly approved the street construction contract to Ketchikan Ready-Mix and Quarry for $233,000 at its meeting July 1. T...
Georgia-based real-estate developer Wayne Johnson has rescinded his offer to purchase the former Wrangell Medical Center property and six adjacent lots from the borough. Johnson had negotiated a new purchase agreement covering the parcels, but said he withdrew his proposal due to community concerns over the new deal. He blamed a Sentinel headline for stirring up concerns. Johnson notified borough officials on Friday, June 28, of his decision to walk away from the project. The Sentinel reported on Johnson’s requested changes to the l...
The borough has been awarded a $25 million Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity grant to rebuild most of the downtown harbor floats, install new pilings and improve parking. The federal money, which requires no match from the borough, will fund most of the estimated $28 million project that will include an overhaul of the Inner Harbor, Reliance and Standard Oil floats, new fire suppression systems, pilings and relocated parking. The borough will likely get the remaining $3 million for the project through the...
The assembly’s June 25 meeting produced the largest turnout of community members at a meeting all year for the public hearing on the budget for the fiscal year that started July 1. The budget item that drew the most public testimony was the proposed layoffs at the police department, which had been in the draft budget prepared by the borough manager. Though the budget, as approved by the assembly, lacks enough money to fund the entire police force for the full fiscal year, there will be no change in staffing levels for a few months and the assem...
After months of workshopping a proposal that boat owners carry marine insurance, the borough assembly decided June 25 to give up on the endeavor. The proposal would have required most boat owners in the harbor to carry a minimum of $100,000 coverage to indemnify other boat owners and the borough from fire damages or cleanup expenses. Boat owners could opt out of the insurance and pay a monthly surcharge per foot of their vessel. Borough Manager Mason Villarma recommended to assembly members June 25 that they postpone the ordinance...
Wrangell is facing a network of aging underground utilities. Some pipes are up to 70 years old, said Tom Wetor, public works director. Since the first of the year, at least five water and sewer line leaks have sprung up around town. Wetor explained that a lot of the underground utility work was done in the 1980s and is beginning to age out. He explained that the environment in Wrangell is particularly harsh and causes pipes to degrade faster than they should. A lot of the pipes in town are made of ductile iron, which he said were estimated to...
The pending sale of the former hospital property to Wayne Johnson, a Georgia-based real estate developer, has been delayed due to further negotiations. Johnson still plans on purchasing the former hospital for $200,000, but now wants the additional six lots behind the building for free in exchange for demolishing the former hospital. The original purchase and sales agreement, which was set to close May 31, stated that Johnson would purchase the hospital property for $200,000 and the six lots for their appraised value of $316,800. The original...
Mountain lions are not commonly spotted in Southeast Alaska, but earlier this month one was killed on the south end of Wrangell Island. Alaska Wildlife Troopers and the Alaska Department of Fish and Game were notified that a mountain lion had been shot and killed on June 3. They took possession of the carcass and are conducting an investigation. Troopers leading the investigation declined to comment. Riley Woodford, information officer with the Alaska Division of Wildlife Conservation in Juneau, said he knew of three other documented sightings...
In his most recent work, historian Ronan Rooney published a blog post about Walter C. Waters, a man he calls the Walt Disney of Wrangell. Waters was a businessman brought to Wrangell during the gold rush, who opened a curio store in 1922 called the Bear Totem Store which sold Native artifacts and attracted tourists from far and wide. Rooney said this has been his most popular blog post yet, adding, “controversy is always popular.” Waters, Rooney explained, is a controversial figure. He was a successful businessman who did some great things for...
Wayne Johnson, the real estate developer planning to purchase the former Wrangell Medical Center property, won the GOP nomination for U.S. Congress in Georgia’s 2nd District on June 18. Johnson said in an interview on June 20 that his election campaign won’t affect his plans for building a condo development on the former hospital property. He is still committed to Wrangell, he said, adding that he hopes people will like the idea of having someone in Congress with a special interest in the community. With the campaign slogan “Stop the stupi...
The Southeast Alaska Solid Waste Authority, or SEASWA, an organization trying to reduce the cost of trash disposal in the region, has received a $500,000 grant from the federally funded Denali Commission to study more economical and efficient options for getting rid of waste. Waste disposal costs in the region have increased dramatically over the past few years, Wrangell Public Works Director Tom Wetor said. Increases could be due to a number of reasons like inflation, COVID disruptions or fuel and other costs charged by barge companies that...
The state of Alaska experiences some of the highest rates of domestic violence and sexual assault and abuse in the nation, yet most health care personnel are not trained to document and collect medical evidence crucial for aiding victims of assault and abuse. Creators of the Alaska Comprehensive Forensic Training Academy, who visited Wrangell last week, are trying to bridge the gap in training. ACFTA provides free training to nurses and health care providers that “teaches medical providers the correct way to collect forensic evidence from t...
The borough assembly has set a public hearing for June 25 on an ordinance that would require boat owners to show proof of marine insurance or pay a monthly surcharge on their moorage fees. If approved by the assembly, the insurance requirements likely would not be applied until next year, Borough Manager Mason Villarma said in an interview June 12. The port commission has recommended the assembly require marine insurance to protect the borough from damages caused by boat fires and to ensure payment of any cleanup or salvage expenses. The...
The borough will allow people to pay sales and property taxes online by credit card, though they will be charged a credit card processing fee of 2.75%. The assembly approved the credit card option and fee on a unanimous vote at its June 11 meeting. Utility customers already are allowed to pay their bills with a credit card, with no fee. The new option for tax payments will take effect July 1. Property tax bills will go out by July 1 and payments are due by Oct. 15. Businesses generally pay sales taxes quarterly, with the next round of returns...
The Alaska Department of Fish and Game has tightened the sport fishing limits for Wrangell Narrows and Blind Slough Terminal Harvest Area where hatchery kings return. The new limits were put in place due to poor returns of king salmon in the area, and will be in effect Saturday, June 15, through July 31. In the Wrangell Narrows, south of Matinsens’s dock and north and east of the northern tip of Woewodski Island at the southern entrance to the narrows, the new bag and possession limit for all anglers is one king salmon. Nonresident annual l...
"Good morning Paddle to Celebration 2024! It's time to get up!" Jim Zeller's booming voice echoed through the forest. It was 4:30 a.m. and rain pattered the roof of my tent on Read Island. I could hear people in nearby tents begin to stir, along with the faint snoring of those that hadn't been roused by Zeller. We were a couple days into our seven-day canoe journey from Wrangell to Juneau, where we would arrive for Celebration, the biennial gathering of Tlingit, Haida and Tsimshian people. The...
Centennial Hall in downtown Juneau filled with energy June 5 as Alaska Natives from all over the state paraded through, singing, dancing and wearing their regalia with pride. This was the grand entrance for Celebration, the Alaska Native cultural festival held in Juneau every other year, put together by Sealaska Heritage Foundation Dakhká Khwáan Dancers (People of the Inland) from Whitehorse, Yukon Territory, led the Grand Entrance on the first day, lining the stage as they kept singing and d...
Wayne Johnson, a Georgia-based real estate developer, came to town to finalize his $516,000 purchase of the former hospital property and six adjacent borough-owned lots. Johnson said in an interview Sunday, June 2, that he still needed to work out some details on the purchase of the six lots but anticipated no problems and expected to sign the papers this week, before he needs to return to Georgia. He plans to start demolition in October, with site preparation and start of construction by year-end, he said. Johnson has changed his plans...
The Marine Service Center is extremely busy right now, but Harbormaster Steve Miller said the amount of business is normal for this time of year. “The end of March through June is our busiest time of the year,” he said. Commercial and sport fishermen are getting ready for their active season, and the summer tour business is getting started. Most of the business comes from commercial vessels, but Miller added that sailboats and yachts come out of the water for work too. Most of the labor this time of year is “what we call a shave and hairc...
A canoe with 16 paddlers from Wrangell and at least four more canoes from other communities were scheduled to push off Wednesday morning toward Juneau, roughly a 150-mile journey to Celebration, the biennial Tlingit, Haida and Tsimshian cultural festival. The paddlers are scheduled to arrive in downtown Juneau at 11:30 a.m. June 4. Celebration will run June 5-8. The Wrangell canoe planned to leave from the Reliance Float. The theme for this year's event is "Together We Live in Balance," and the...
When Alisha Armstrong and Kayla Young heard there were no royalty candidates this year, they both decided they had to step up for the community. The chamber of commerce now has two candidates running for Fourth of July royalty this summer: Armstrong and Young. Armstrong graduated high school earlier this month, and Young will be a senior next year. Raffle ticket and food booth sales will kick off Friday, May 31, at 6 p.m. at the downtown pavilion. The duo volunteered after concerns over zero...
The U.S. Forest Service is preparing for another busy season at Anan Wildlife Observatory, one of the biggest visitor attractions around, just 30 miles south of town. This summer, the daily fee to visit the bear observatory during the permit-only season of prime bear watching July 5 through Aug. 25 will remain at $10. Starting in 2025, however, the fee will increase $10 per year, raising next summer's fee to $20 per day. The fee will increase every year until it reaches $50 in 2028. The...
Wrangell Cooperative Association’s most recent test for paralytic shellfish toxins in blue mussels at two sites in town showed unhealthy levels. “Paralytic shellfish toxins (PST) levels are above the FDA regulatory limit. … PSTs cause paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP), and eating wild shellfish from these sites may increase the risk of PSP,” WCA published in a report May 17 after tests from shellfish at City Park and Shoemaker helipad came back with elevated levels of toxins. The toxins are caused by Alexandrium, a type of phytopl...
