Sorted by date Results 126 - 150 of 322
Lavina “Lovey” Brock, 68, of Wrangell, pleaded not guilty to four counts of promoting illegal gambling Tuesday before Wrangell First District Magistrate Chris Ellis. Brock, a prominent member of the local community, had been charged with promoting Texas Hold ‘em games for cash prizes at American Legion Post #6. The charges are Class A misdemeanors, punishable by up to one year in prison for each upon conviction, according to Alaska statutes. The offense dates listed on the criminal complaint range from Feb. 18, 2009 to Feb. 10, 2010. Court...
Alaska Gov. Sean Parnell was in Wrangell Monday to discuss his proposed election-year education reforms with teachers and meet with select borough officials. Parnell also answered questions about a wide range of topics. Parnell sought to use the speech to turn the 2014 legislative session into the "Education Session," and proposed a slate of educational reforms during his Jan. 22 State of the State Address before the Alaska Legislature. He also used the speech to declare his support for a...
Borough officials have officially released a six-page summary of their hopes for the Wrangell Institute Property. The prospectus, which is designed to attract as many potential developers as possible, estimates the property’s worth at $1,625,000, and lists the plot’s size as 134 acres. Officials released the prospectus two weeks ago, and marks a new foray by the borough into real estate match-making. A single firm had notified the city that they had downloaded the proposal as of last week. The prospectus’s listed closing date is May 22. “The...
A recently completed survey shows Wrangellites value recreational uses for the Tongass Forest more than other uses. Britta Schroeder, formerly of the Wrangell Ranger District, but now living and working in Denali Forest Park and Preserve, will present a speech reviewing 200 results from local residents conducted about a year ago. In the survey, people were asked to place acceptable uses on a map of the Wrangell Ranger District to indicate areas where they found management strategies acceptable, and areas where they found certain management...
A campaign targeting the issue of interpersonal violence in Wrangell will pick up steam this month. Today and tomorrow, patrons of the Stikine Inn Coffee Shop may notice a small green sticker on the side of their morning pick-me-up, as well as a nearby informational table. The green dots appeared Monday, and will continue throughout the month, said Julie Falle, the Alaska Island Community Services Strategic Prevention Framework State Incentive Grant administrator, who is helping organize the campaign. The red dot and green dot campaign started...
Spines cracked and pages turned Friday at Evergreen Elementary school. Fortunately, the only spines cracked were those of books. Guest readers in the form of parents and other relatives showed up to participate in the "Read the Most Coast to Coast"event. The event aimed to get 5 million students reading and taking online accelerated reading quizzes from 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. Teachers and fellow students recognized particularly prolific readers at an assembly Monday morning. The event's nationwide...
The Wrangell Medical Center just got a little warmer. As part of the hospital's ongoing pursuit of a Level IV Trauma Center certification, which officials say could both enhance treatment and open up new avenues of funding, the Hospital Auxiliary recently purchased a fluid warmer. The new warmer – which cost about $4,000 according to a press release – is used to treat patients suffering from hypothermia in the emergency room. The auxiliary contributed $3,500 toward the machine's cost. Off...
Sentinel writer Youthful swimmers were hard at it in the lanes of the public pool Saturday. More than a casual weekend dip, the swimmers were in the pool to raise money as part of the Wrangell Swim Club' Swim-a-thon. The event drew 18 total swimmers to do continuous laps for three hours (with some breaks to grab parent-provided snacks). The swimmers had circulated around town and collected pledges on either a per-lap or lump-sum basis said Ally Adams, the club' coach. "Some of them had 50 cents...
Sydney Reed had looked forward to the trip to Israel from the time she was a young girl. She wasn't expecting an impromptu marriage proposal shortly after arriving. The proposal was based in part on a miscommunication. The Baha'i World Centre in Haifa, Israel draws representatives of the faith's more than 5 million followers from around the world, Reed said. "When you're working over there there's a lot of people from different cultures, and a lot of cultural rules you just don't know about," sh...
A 38-foot fishing trawler has a potential date with fire after sinking in Shoemaker Bay earlier this month, authorities said. Harbor users reported the Falcon had sunk on the morning of Feb. 13. The boat's Ketchikan-based owner contacted local harbor officials shortly after they contacted the National Response Center, said harbormaster Greg Meissner. Officials aren't sure how much oil was aboard when the boat went down, but as of Monday, the vessel had been refloated and all oil and batteries...
The borough assembly voted 5-0 Tuesday to approve a joint letter inviting the Southeast Alaska Power Agency (SEAPA) to submit an offer on Tyee Lake. A widely disseminated informal offer for SEAPA to take over operations at the Wrangell hydroelectric plant has been circulated since early September. The letter, which has already been approved by the Petersburg borough assembly, requests “SEAPA review the attached resolutions and provide a written proposal back to the two communities under what terms SEAPA would accept this transfer.” The request...
The Wrangell Chamber of Commerce launched a letter-writing campaign aimed at getting capital funds placed in the 2015 state budget. A first draft of the budget by Gov. Sean Parnell’s administration included no new capital money for Wrangell projects. Previously allotted state funds will provide for engineering for the refurbishment of Evergreen Street this year, with construction slated to begin in 2015, borough officials have said. State transportation officials also mentioned apron construction at the airport as an imminent project. A d...
The Wrangell Medical Center (WMC) board of directors discussed collaboration at the Feb. 19 board meeting. Specifically, board members and medical center officials discussed the growing number of shared services between Alaska Island Community Services (AICS) and the hospital. While medical collaboration has long been a component of overlapping clinical services at both healthcare institutions – AICS and the WMC share a social worker, for example – recent personnel shifts have led to a growing administrative collaboration. The two institutions...
Ruth Stough will enter this year a third act in a varied career. After completing three days of in-flight training last week, Stough will join the ranks of the attendants for Horizon. She'll make regional hops on Bombardier Q400 turboprop planes to locations in Alaska. Prior to becoming a flight attendant, she managed properties in Wrangell and owned a rental business in Sitka. Before that, she was a dental hygienist for 22 years. "My daughter graduated from high school, and it just seemed like...
The Thursday night beading workshop is quiet, for now. Soon, more than 20 prospective craftspeople will descend on the Johnson-O'Malley room at the Stikine Native Organizations building to finish headbands, octopus bags, and ceremonial vests ahead of this year's 2014 Celebration, a biannual gathering in Juneau of Tlingit, Haida, and Tsimshian Alaskan Natives. For now, the loudest sound is that of the television, which plays "Alvin and the Chipmunks 3: Chipwrecked" for a future craftsman too...
The Wrangell High boys' varsity basketball team lost twice in Haines this weekend. Friday's 48-60 loss and Saturday's 47-53 brought the Wolves' record against Haines to 2-2 on the season. The Wolves own a conference record of 4-8 and third-place seed headed into the Region V tournament in Juneau March 5, in between second place (and first round opponents) Craig and last-place Haines. Perennial power Metlakatla holds the first place seed in this year's four-team double-elimination tournament....
Five Wrangell High School students attended the State Drama Debate and Forensics meet at East Anchorage High School the weekend of Feb. 15. Ben Florschutz, Tyler Eagle, Matthew Covalt, Molly Prysunka and Malachi Cole all performed, debated, and interpreted their way to the Alaska finals. Unlike other school activities, Drama, Debate and Forensics, or DDF, doesn't divide schools into different divisions based on school size. The Wrangell team thus competed alongside teams as large as 15 students....
The Lady Wolves split games this weekend in Haines. They won the opener 35-26 and lost the Saturday sequel, 34-43. Senior Erica Smith led the Wrangell offense Friday with 11 points on four field goals and two-for-three from the line. Sophomore Taylor Bean and Amy Jenson followed with eight points each. Bean sank two field goals and shot four-for-seven from the line. Jenson scored four field goals. The Haines offense was unable to muster a major response Friday. Sophomore Kayley Swinton led the...
Dancers and speakers from several local tribal organizations re-enacted the Chief Shakes House rededication as part of what the school called Native Awareness Day, Feb. 13 The event featured traditional dress, dancing and songs, as well as a few less-than traditional songs performed by the Tlinget-Haida Headstart students. The event was aimed at commemorating the life and struggles of Elizabeth Peratrovich, a Tlinget woman from Southeast who worked to end discrimination against Alaskan Natives...
School board members and officials reviewed a second draft of the 2015 budget at Monday night's regular school board meeting. The second draft cuts projected shortfalls by $192,168, or almost 88 percent. A first-draft version of the budget circulated among city officials, board members, and the public had projected a $219,461 gap between revenue and spending. The second draft circulated Monday night shows a gap of only $27,293. Officials expect additional drafts as the school system revises figu...
Authorities charged Lavina “Lovey” Brock, 68, of Wrangell with four counts of promoting illegal gambling. A criminal complaint filed Feb. 5 in district court alleges that Brock held Texas Hold ‘em games for cash at American Legion Post #6, and promoted the games around town using flyers. The prosecuting agency is the Office of Special Prosecutions and Appeals. The complaint lists offense dates as Feb. 19, 2009, June 29, 2009, Dec. 20, 2010, and Feb. 10, 2010. Brock is a prominent community member, and sits on the governing body of the Wrang...
The borough staff returned to normal levels Tuesday with the addition of Finance Director Lee Burgess. The position had been vacant since the borough assembly named former finance director and Interim Borough Manager Jeff Jabusch to the manager post permanently Nov. 12. Jabusch announced the new hire to the borough assembly at the Feb. 11 assembly meeting. Jabusch has essentially performed both functions since the borough assembly accepted former manager Tim Rooney's resignation June 25. The...
The Wolves downed Region V power Metlakatla Friday night but were unable to repeat on the Chiefs Saturday. The Wrangell High School boys' varsity basketball team put double digits on the board for three quarters Friday night, and won the opener handily, 31-49. They were outscored every quarter but the first and lost the closer 54-37. "It was nice to get a win, especially against the king of the conference, I guess," said head coach Ray Stokes. "We did it pretty handily, but then we...
The Wrangell girls’ varsity basketball team lost twice in Metlakatla this weekend. Friday’s 22-55 loss was typical of scores for Wrangell teams visiting the fiercely competitive Metlakatla teams. Saturday’s 25-31 loss was closer, and from the perspective of Head Coach Edna Abella-Nore, counts as a win. “Personally, from what I’ve heard around town, you never really win a game in Met,” she said. The Lady Wolves faced foul trouble early Friday. Junior Darian Meissner eventually fouled out. Amy Jenson recorded four fouls. Sophomore Taylor Bean...
Scouts from Troop 40 recently delivered a presentation to the Alaska Forum on the Environment discussing their local environmental conservation. The troop has worked for the last few years removing debris from the shore of Zarembo Island near Roosevelt Harbor, said Kellan Eagle, 13, a Tenderfoot who delivered a speech as part of the presentation. The troop has also been praised by U.S. Forest Service officials for the adoption and maintenance of the Twin Lakes Cabin, and plans to visit the...
