Sorted by date Results 201 - 225 of 1088
As of last Wednesday, Nov. 18, all absentee and early ballots have been counted for District 36. According to unofficial results for the Nov. 3 election, there were 3,748 absentee ballots cast this election, as well as 10 early votes and 458 questioned ballots. "All the eligible ballots have been counted," Tiffany Montemayor, with the Alaska Division of Elections, said. "Every district, every precinct." District 36 covers the communities of Wrangell, Ketchikan, Metlakatla, and others....
Wrangell Parks and Recreation has learned a lot about adaptability this past year, P&R Director Kate Thomas said. With the COVID-19 pandemic, she said that things could change quickly and her department would need to change their operations to meet them. As the year is coming to a close, Thomas said they are looking at their options for winter programming. In a previous meeting on Nov. 11 the Parks and Rec Advisory Board decided to maintain a moratorium on travel for youth programming through...
While this holiday season may look different with the COVID-19 pandemic, several Wrangell traditions are still going strong. The public will still be able to participate in the annual Christmas Tree Lane, though there will be some changes. The Dove Tree ceremony is still moving forward, as well. Christmas Tree Lane is a yearly fundraiser for the Hospice of Wrangell. People and organizations across the city donate uniquely decorated Christmas Trees, and then others can place bids on them to take...
The Wrangell Lady Wolves travelled to Prince of Wales this past weekend for regionals. It has been a unique season, with the COVID-19 pandemic requiring schools to organize mitigation plans and to host games with limited access to the public. The Alaska School Activities Association also decided, back in October, to cancel all state championship events for the year. This meant that regionals would be the end of the season for Alaskan volleyball teams. The Lady Wolves played hard against two...
The Wrangell Planning and Zoning commission met Monday afternoon, to hold a work session on potential zoning of the former Institute Property. The former Wrangell Institute was located on land near Shoemaker Harbor. After the Institute closed down, the city has been trying to work out what to do with the property. It has been zoned “holding” since 2011, according to previous reporting in the Sentinel, and a master plan for renovation was developed in 2017. However, not much progress has been made since then. The city has been working to get...
Monday evening, Nov. 30, the City and Borough of Wrangell announced the community’s 25th confirmed case of COVID-19. According to their press release, the case is a Wrangell resident. They are reportedly asymptomatic and are in isolation. The press release goes on to say that this case is non-travel related. This makes 25 total cases of COVID-19 for Wrangell. Of these, 15 have now been found in locals and eight in non-locals. Two cases were announced in Wrangell residents, who were not in town at the time. Only one case is currently active. T...
Last week, on Nov. 10, the borough assembly met for a work session on the topic of electric meter upgrades. According to a memo from Electrical Superintendent Rod Rhoades, Wrangell Municipal Light & Power's metering system has been deemed obsolete by their software and hardware provider, ITRON. Their current metering system was developed in 1994, according to the memo, and ITRON has decided the continued use of this system, MV-RS, is no longer smart or cost effective. This means, Rhoades wrote,...
Last Thursday morning, Nov. 12, many Alaskans received an emergency alert on their phones from Governor Mike Dunleavy. The message contained a link to a video of Dunleavy, in which he addressed the rapid spread of COVID-19 across the state. Effective immediately, he said, all state employees were to work from home if possible, and face masks and social distancing were mandatory at state work sites. On Nov. 16 he also issued a new 30-day COVID-19 disaster declaration. In his address, the governor...
Results are in for the Wrangell Cooperative Association's recent election. The WCA is Wrangell's local tribal organization, and last Tuesday, Nov. 10, they held elections for their tribal council. There were six names on the ballot this year, and voters got to choose among four candidates. According to the WCA, a total of 90 valid ballots were received this election. There were 83 ballots cast, six absentee ballots, three questioned ballots and two invalidated ballots. The new members of the...
Wrangell's port commission met last Thursday, Nov. 12. A large portion of their discussion that night surrounded the installation of ladders between slip spaces at Shoemaker Harbor. Shoemaker has recently undergone extensive renovations, replacing old docking and making the harbor more accessible for vessels. The commission was looking at installing ladders in between each slip space in the harbor. This would cost about $84,000, according to the discussion. Brian Merritt, with the Port...
The Wrangell School Board met Monday night, Nov. 16, for a regularly scheduled meeting. During the meeting, the board approved expenses to the City and Borough of Wrangell for new doors for Evergreen Elementary School. According to attachments to the meeting's agenda, the new doors and hardware procurement will cost $32,250. Additionally, there is another $10,125 for key scanning software. This money will come from an NRA School Shield grant, according to Board Member David Wilson. The motion...
Southeast Beasts will be hosting the 9th annual Turkey Trot next Thursday, Nov. 26. Lucy Moline-Robinson, with the running group, said that participants should arrive at the covered basketball court by Evergreen Elementary School at 8:45 a.m. The run will begin around 9 a.m. This year, the turkey trot is in support of both the Stikine Middle School Running Club and the Salvation Army food pantry. Participants are asked to make a donation of money and nonperishable food. The money will go towards headlamps for the running club, Robinson said, to...
In a Nov. 17 press release, the Southeast Alaska Health Consortium announced that they would soon be discontinuing their free asymptomatic COVID-19 testing program. This program has offered free COVID-19 tests for members of the public not showing any symptoms of COVID-19, freely across many Southeast Alaskan communities. According to their press release, this decision to roll back the tests is in response to the surge of COVID cases across Alaska, and the need to prioritize symptomatic...
Last Saturday morning, The Wrangell Lady Wolves hosted the Petersburg Lady Vikings for their annual senior games. Two Wrangell seniors were recognized prior to the games: Robyn Booker (No. 7) and Jade Balansag (No. 1). Coach Alyssa Allen praised the seniors for their hard work over the season, and said that she and the team would miss them after they graduated. While the Lady Wolves played hard, they were not able to overcome Petersburg's team. The first game started with the Lady Vikings...
The Wrangell Planning and Zoning Commission met last Thursday evening, Nov. 12, to cover several items. There were three plat reviews on the agenda that night, two preliminary and one final. A final plat review of the Alaska Trust Land Survey 2020-2. According to the agenda packet, Johnson Construction and Victor and Kaelene Harrison are seeking to purchase lands behind their existing lots from the Alaska Mental Health Trust. A preliminary plat was approved with conditions back in September....
The Wrangell School Board held a workshop Monday evening, Nov. 16, with Alaska Public Entity Insurance. APEI is the nonprofit administrator of a joint insurance arrangement between a pool of Alaskan entities that self-insure each other. They provide property, liability, and other forms of coverage for 38 school districts and charter school members, as well as 33 municipalities and other related organizations. The City and Borough of Wrangell also receives coverage from APEI. The workshop was...
The following are unofficial results for how Wrangell voted in the 2020 election, as of 3 p.m. on Nov. 4. 732 ballots were cast on election day. As of Friday afternoon, Nov. 6, these numbers have remained unchanged. For President, Wrangell cast 171 ballots for Joe Biden, and 526 votes for Donald Trump. For U.S. Senator, Wrangell cast 167 votes for Al Gross, and 504 votes for Dan Sullivan. For U.S. Representative, Wrangell cast 196 votes for Alyse Galvin, and 519 votes for Don Young. For State...
Friday Nov. 20, the City and Borough of Wrangell announced several confirmed cases of COVID-19. One case is within the community, according to the city’s press release. That individual is in isolation. This is Wrangell’s 22nd case. The press release goes on to state that the city has been informed of two other Wrangell residents who were tested outside of Wrangell. “Those two individuals are Wrangell residents, tested outside of Wrangell and remain outside of Wrangell,” the press release reads. “Those two cases are considered recovered...
During a special borough assembly meeting last Thursday, community members shared their thoughts on a potential mask mandate the city was considering. The mandate would require all individuals, with some exceptions, to wear a mask or face covering in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. This mandate, and Wrangell's response to it in general, has been a controversial topic in the community. Over 20 people called into the meeting, and the city also received several letters. The majority of the...
The Wrangell Borough Assembly met last Thursday evening, Nov. 5. This was only a discussion meeting, to take in public opinion and decide whether or not a mask mandate would be worth considering in a formal meeting. This mandate was being considered at the behest of the local Emergency Operations Center, who requested the city look at the possibility. The potential mandate, outlined in the meeting's agenda packet, would require all individuals to wear a mask or face veering while "indoors in...
The Alaska Division of Elections, in a Nov. 9 press release, announced a schedule for conducting absentee ballot counts. Moving forward, they announced that the public could expect updated counts to be released twice daily, at 5 p.m. and again at the close of business. "It is the mission of my office and the Division of Elections to ensure public confidence in the electoral process by administering elections with the highest level of professional standards, integrity, security, accuracy, and...
The Wrangell School Board met Monday night for a special work session and meeting regarding the district's FY 2020 financial audit. According to the audit, the school district has approximately $3.57 million in total assets across different funds: $2.07 million in assets in its general fund, $1.07 million in its capital improvement projects fund, and $437,786 in other governmental funds. Meanwhile, there are approximately $1.65 million in total liabilities. An income statement of the district's...
The Alaska Department of Fish and Game has released preliminary data on state salmon harvests for 2020. Information for Southeast Alaska shows that only half as many fish were hauled in this year compared to last year. 2020 data shows that 14,301,964 salmon were harvested this year, totaling a little over 74 million pounds. The estimated ex vessel value for this harvest is about $50 million. This is a major decrease from 2019 numbers, reported at about 32 million fish, 163 million pounds, and...
The Wrangell High School swim team competed in their fourth meet of the season last weekend. This was a virtual meet, according to a Facebook post by Coach Jamie Roberts, hosted by Sitka High School. The swim team managed to achieve multiple new personal bests, she said. Friday results Jacob Allen, Jimmy Baggen, Jack Roberts, and Nikolai Siekawitch swam a 200-yard medley relay for a combined time of 1:56.48. Tyson Messmer swam a 200-yard individual medley for 2:45.47, and a 100-yard freestyle fo...
The Wrangell Borough Assembly met Tuesday, Nov. 10. During this meeting, among other items, they held a discussion about the borough's CARES Act funding. They reviewed expenses so far, as well as possible future projects. Wrangell received a $3.85 million grant from the CARES Act, to help the city respond to the COVID-19 update, according to a memo from Borough Manager Lisa Von Bargen. Between March and October of this year, $2.3 million has been spent on a variety of programs and payroll for...
