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Later this year, when Wrangellites go to the polls to elect new local officials, they might see something different on their ballots. Borough assembly members have traditionally been designated as holding lettered seats. An ordinance approved on first reading at the Feb. 11 borough assembly meeting and slated for a second reading Feb. 25 would eliminate the seat designations. The ballot would instead choose a number of candidates equal to the number of open borough assembly positions from a list, using the phrase “no more than.” The eli...
The borough assembly voted 3-2 Tuesday against a motion which would have made Brueger Street one way. The idea to change the street — which runs from the Elk’s Lodge parking lot to a busy intersection near Bobs’ IGA grocery store and First Bank – first came up at the Jan. 28 assembly meeting when assembly member Pam McCloskey McCloskey expressed concerns about congestion near the well-trafficked intersection. Borough officials provided a cost estimate of $1,700 in signage, plus an additional labor cost, to make the transition. In discuss...
already holds another lease, which would prevent the sale. Sorric's present holdings account for 50.3 percent of the total square footage (34,682 square feet) available for lease at the Center, Meissner said. His business accounts for more than a million dollars in revenue per year, most of which Sorric says he has re-invested. "When I make $100 in that yard, I put $100 back into my business," he told commissioners Thursday. "I'm in business with you guys. Like it or not, we're all in business...
The Lady Panthers outshot the Lady Wolves twice this weekend. Wrangell lost both games to Craig by double digit margins, dropping the opener 58-39 and Saturday's game 58-40. The losses bring their season conference record to 2-6. "Our defense is there," said head coach Edna Abella-Nore. "This is a shooting team, and they all can shoot. They all shot from the outside." "If you look at the score sheet, a lot of them shot three-pointers," Abella-Nore added. "We are playing against last year's...
Local tykes bounced in a jumping castle, took home about 100 goldfish, panned for simulated gold, took in the finer points of fur trapping, and raced beds along a one-block stretch of Front Street this weekend. Despite frigid temperatures and a biting wind, the annual Tent City Days festival drew crowds to participate in many (mostly indoor) events. The festival commemorates Wrangell's role in gold rushes in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. About 200 children showed up to the youth carniv...
Wrangell Volunteer Fire Department Chief Tim Buness celebrated his 25th year on the job with cupcakes and congratulations earlier this month. Buness is the second consecutive fire chief with that name to hold the post. His father served for 25 years as chief before him, and before that, his next-door neighbor served in the post. Buness – who also works as an electrician – manages the department's 35 volunteer personnel and one full-time administrator on a part-time basis, and was born and rai...
Superior Court Judge Kevin Miller sentenced Paul L. Arrington, 65, of Wrangell, to four months of prison for his part in local drug dealing operations, sentencing documents show. Arrington pled guilty Jan. 28 to one count of delivery of a controlled substance greater than one ounce, a class C felony. The plea was part of a plea agreement reached with the District Attorney’s office, according to sentencing documents. Court officials dismissed six additional accounts: one count of possession of a controlled substance, one count of m...
The local environment is a little bit cleaner after the efforts this week of two enthusiastic WCA employees. After two days, Arthur Larsen and Richard Oliver had collected 15 truckloads of discarded garbage. They picked up freezers, furniture, hot water tanks, tires, cans, discarded gill nets. Larger items, like a 500-gallon heating oil tank for a house on the spur road, and an abandoned car near Pat's Lake, will be left for city officials to clean up. Dump sites come about when people seek to...
The varsity boys’ basketball team won one game against conference rivals Craig this week. They lost Thursday’s game 56-58, but won the Friday sequel 50-49. The split result brings the Wolves’ conference record to 3-5 on the season. The Wolves paced the Panthers through three quarters Thursday leading by two at the half, then poured it on in the fourth. They outscored Craig 19-11, coming up just shy of another win in the last minutes. The finish was so close, it might as well be a win, said head coach Ray Stokes. “We really could have won the...
A possible hit-and-run sent one man to the hospital late Monday evening, authorities said. A man said to be in his 60s was discovered laying on pavement between the L N M Services gas station and the Elks Lodge about 10 p.m., in a short alley which connects Front Street to parking lots located behind those buildings. Passersby told the Sentinel they'd found the man and called 911, but declined to be identified for the newspaper. Paramedics transported the man to Wrangell Medical Center for...
Native Alaskans will elect four of seven candidates to the Wrangell Cooperative Association’s leadership council today. The WCA is an umbrella organization for the local Alaskan Native community and maintains, among other things, the Chief Shakes House and the carving shed cultural center. The group has played an increasingly important role in civic affairs, primarily as a go-to organization to obtain funding for infrastructure projects when state or federal authorities are sometimes unwilling to foot the bill. The association appears in discus...
With a little help from two development groups and a Wrangell-Hoonah partnership, a local entrepreneur will see his dreams accelerate. Steve Helgeson of Wrangell and Kevin Skeek of Hoonah, were named the winners in the Path to Prosperity competition Friday, which was co-sponsored by the Haa Aani Community Development Fund, Inc., and The Nature Conservancy. The competition provides $40,000 in seed money to business plans emphasizing sustainable use of environmental resources. Helgeson had made...
It's possible to have your heart broken twice in one weekend, judging by the scores from this weekend's homecoming boys basketball games. The Wolves lost Friday night's game to the rival Vikings by two points after leading by two after the first quarter, trailing by two at the half and at the end of the third quarter by four, and pouring on a 17-point offensive barrage in the final act. In the end, it wasn't to be. The Wolves fell 47-45 in the opening to the latest chapter of the Battle of the W...
Sentinel writer The Wrangell Mariner's Memorial is presently about 3,500 square feet of black empty pavement scattered with mussel shells. It could one day be an educational space. It could one day be an artistic exhibition. It could one day be a memorial shrine. It could one day be a historical exhibit and a place for community gatherings. It could be a navigational aide. It could one day be a tourism draw, though that's not its primary focus, planners said. Wrangell Ports and Harbor...
The borough’s code review committee has started the task of revamping two portions of the borough code. The first has to do with sales tax, specifically a sales tax cap designed to shield large-ticket purchases from the tax. Until 2004, borough code had set a maximum of $84 tax for any single purchase in the borough, officials said. A set of standard and unnoticed revisions took place in 2004 which essentially invalidated it, borough manger Jeff Jabusch told the committee. From 2004 until August 2013, the borough had operated as if the code a...
More aggressive moves toward the hoop couldn't make up the difference, and the Lady Wolves lost twice on homecoming weekend. The Wrangell girls basketball team shot 61 percent from the line as a team, and scored 20 of their points on fouls, indicative of a more aggressive offensive press. The Lady Vikings answered from the field Friday – making only three trips to the free-throw line in 32 minutes – and claimed the win 42-28. The Lady Wolves would pull within three points near the end of the...
The annual Tent City Days event starts this evening with events at the Elks Lodge and Legion Hall. The event is a perennial institution in Wrangell, and features window displays by local businesses as well as a host of events designed to hit the sweet spot between kid-friendly events and events for those simply young at heart. Among the standout new events this year are Friday’s Turkey Shoot dice roll at 4 p.m. Saturday at the Elks Lodge, the Howdy Doody Outhouse 10k Fun run 9 a.m. Saturday at City Park, sponsored by Beasts of Southeast and c...
The Thomas Bay Power Authority commission elected Wrangell borough assembly member and TBPA commissioner James Stough to the commission’s presidency Monday. Stough also briefly served as chairman of the borough’s special energy committee. The election marks the transfer of the presidency from John Jensen of Petersburg, who’d held the presidency since he joined the board in 2007. Stough was appointed to the board in December. Stough has since September been publicly critical of the transfer of an operations and maintenance contract at Tyee...
About 200 men packed Harbor Lights Assembly of God Church Sunday, in part to hear a story involving a cat's posterior. The story (which doesn't bear repeating in a family newspaper) was one of dozens of earthy stories told at the 15th Annual Harbor Light Men's Game Dinner. Large amounts of free meat, door prizes, a story-telling competition and a lack of female company characterize the annual event. Local businesses donate the door prizes, local grillers donate meat and expertise. Organizers...
A Wrangell Public Schools budget presented at the Jan. 20 school board meeting and distributed to the borough assembly shows a $219,461 shortfall. Business manager Pam Roope characterized the drafts as very preliminary, and meetings to refine the numbers are ongoing. The figures have been presented before the school board, but only as a discussion item, and not an action item requiring a vote. Since the budgeting process is only now just beginning for the 2015 fiscal year, potential cuts to programs or other things would likely take place in...
The school board presented the annual Report Card to the Public at a public hearing before the Jan. 20 school board. The document compiles testing results for the entire school system, as well as individual testing results for the component schools, down to the level of individual grades. Preliminary results showing a five-star rating for Stikine Middle School – the only traditionally structured middle school in the state to achieve the Department of Education’s highest five-star ranking – were released over the summer. The Report Card to th...
A popular Evergreen Elementary School archery program has expanded to include a dedicated Middle School program this year, the elementary school chapter has run for longer than five years. The after-school program turns the Elementary School's multipurpose room into an improvised archery range, complete with safety lines, locked doors preventing others from wandering on to the range, and the odd arrow that infrequently sails past a target and strikes the padding of a mobile basketball hoop....
The borough assembly voted 6-0 Tuesday to purchase a new truck. They also voted 6-0 to hold a public hearing Feb. 11 about potentially turning the high-traffic Brueger Street, which runs in front of City Hall to a high-traffic intersection between Bobs’ IGA grocery store and First Bank near the Nolan Center, into a one-way street. They also tabled an agenda item about the creation of a permanent standing energy committee, following a procedural discussion concerning a letter from TBPA manager Mick Nicholls. Assembly members voted 6-0 to add t...
The Garnett Grit Betties traveled to Petersburg for a melding of roller derby minds the weekend of Jan. 18. The bout wasn't a competition. Teams from Ketchikan and Petersburg joined with the Wrangell team, then separated into two different randomly selected teams for the bout as a learning exercise, said team coach Shawna "BabyCakes" Buness. "The goal of this weekend wasn't to compete," she said. "It was just to learn because the three of us teams have never bouted before." In all, seven...
You might not have believed the Wolves who dominated the Glacier Bears this weekend were the same team who lost to Craig in December, if you hadn't seen it. The boys varsity basketball team won games Friday and Saturday by double digits, and led through all four quarters of each game to send the Glacier Bears home empty-handed this weekend. Pacing played a critical role in the Wolves' victory, said head coach Ray Stokes. "We had more patience," he said. "We shot the ball way better as a result...
