Sorted by date Results 226 - 250 of 1088
The Alaska Native Sisterhood recently honored one of their members, according to a press release from Anne Fuller, ANS Camp 70 secretary. Ethel Lund was recently elected to Grand President Emeritus. Her Tlingit name, according to the press release, is Aanwoogeex', meaning "The Raven as he walked about when creating the earth." Grand President Emeritus is an advisory role, Fuller explained to the Sentinel, and there is only one Grand President Emeritus at a time. These people have years of...
With polls closing at 8 p.m. on Tuesday, preliminary numbers show Wrangell had a large turnout for the 2020 election. Sarah Whittlesley-Merrit, Legislative Information Officer, told media that over 700 ballots were cast on election day. They received 732 ballots, she said, plus four special needs ballots and 23 question ballots. On top of that, she said that Wrangell saw 316 votes cast early in this election. This is a total of 1,075 ballots cast. According to the Alaska Division of Elections,...
Wrangell's Unified Command announced a new case of COVID-19 the evening of Tuesday, Nov. 3. This is Wrangell's twenty-first total case, and at the time of writing the only active one. According to the press release, this case was confirmed in a non-resident, who has been notified and is in isolation. Of the 21 total cases Wrangell has seen, 13 have been locals and eight have been non-locals. Four cases were identified through airport testing. The others were identified by a routine testing plan...
A local member of Wrangell's Emergency Operations Center recently received threats on social media, according to city officials. The COVID-19 pandemic, and governments' response to it, has been a contentious issue across the nation and at home. The EOC is a collection of city officials who are tasked with gathering information on the pandemic, keeping in touch with state officials, and helping the community organize its response. Nothing has come of these threats, according to officials, but...
The Coast Guard pulled a man out of the water last Sunday evening, Nov. 1. The incident occurred in Union Bay, near Meyers Chuck, south of Wrangell. Petty Officer Janessa Warschkow, with the Coast Guard, said that they were notified of a man in need of rescue at about 4:46 p.m. Warschkow said, in an email, that they were on-scene at 9 p.m. According to a Coast Guard press release, an air crew from Sitka and the cutter Anacapa were sent to conduct the search and rescue. A 70-year-old man was foun...
More progress has been made on the Wrangell Mariners' Memorial, but several aspects of the project have been put on hold as winter begins. Jenn Miller-Yancey, with the Wrangell Mariners' Memorial Board, reported that concrete work around the memorial has been finished for the time being. More will be done next spring, she said, as they install more light posts. While concrete work has paused, there is still work ongoing. "The material to build the actual memorial walls has arrived,"...
Last Tuesday evening, in the agenda packet for the borough assembly's meeting, was a report on Wrangell's economic conditions. The report, by Rain Coast Data, was updated this past October, and looks at a variety of aspects of the local economy. With the COVID-19 pandemic impacting many aspects of life in Wrangell, the community's economic survival has been a topic of much discussion. "In 2019, Wrangell, Alaska had 1,143 year-round equivalent jobs and nearly $50 million in workforce earnings,"...
Construction of the new Wrangell Medical Center is nearly done, according to a press release from the SouthEast Alaska Health Consortium. They are about 85 percent complete with the project, the release reads, and the entire project remains on budget and slightly ahead of schedule. The hospital, according to previous reports, is aiming to be ready for use by early-2021. Drywall work is nearly complete, according to the press release. Siding on the hospital's exterior is finished everywhere...
The Wrangell Lady Wolves travelled to Klawock this past weekend for a set of volleyball games against the Chieftains. The three games were hard-fought and all were close, but they all went to Klawock. The first game started with both teams neck-and-neck for a significant portion of the game. Wrangell held a narrow lead at several points, but was never able to build off of it. The Chieftains always managed to come back and take a narrow lead of their own. The final score was 25-23, Klawock. During the second game, the Lady Wolves took the lead...
The Wrangell Borough Assembly held a workshop last week, Oct. 20, to discuss the water treatment plant improvement project. This has been an ongoing project for some time now, and the workshop was to make sure new assembly members were up to speed on the current situation, and to share opinions on how it is going so far. Capital Facilities Director Amber Al-Haddad led much of the initial discussion, providing a history lesson on the project. Plans to renovate and improve Wrangell's water...
The Wrangell Borough Assembly met Tuesday evening, Oct. 27. The main focus of the meeting was a discussion on the COVID-19 pandemic, and the situation across the state. Multiple guest speakers from the state were invited into the discussion, to answer questions and talk about what people need to do to stay safe. Guests included DHSS Commissioner Adam Crum, Bryan Fisher with Alaska's COVID-19 Unified Command, DHSEM Deputy Director Paul Nelson, and Eliza Muse with DHSS. It is pretty clear that Ala...
Starting next Monday, Nov. 2, Evergreen Elementary school will be returning to a full-day schedule. After the district closed down late last school year in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Wrangell's schools have been following modified schedules and operating plans this year. Thanks to the situation in Wrangell being comparatively safe, and a recent staffing increase, Lead Teacher/Assistant Principal Jenn Miller-Yancey said Evergreen Elementary is ready to get back to their normal schedule....
A meeting between school officials and concerned community members was held in the WHS commons last Thursday evening, Oct. 22 about a then-recent announcement by the Alaska School Activities Association. The announcement, shared on the Wrangell Public Schools' Facebook page on Oct. 19, made it a requirement for high school athletes to wear face masks during competition. Previously, students were not expected to wear masks during activity. The only exception for this new announcement was for...
With the COVID-19 pandemic still ongoing, and with cases increasing across the state, there has been some discussion in Wrangell about what Halloween could look like this year. Stephanie Cook, with the chamber of commerce, wanted to let everyone know that Halloween is still on this year. Peoplecan go trick-or-treating at businesses like normal, but some precautions should be taken. "We're just going to encourage everyone to mask up and social distance, and stay home if you're sick during the...
The Nolan Center, Wrangell's movie theater, is known for its variety of showings. The theater has brought the biggest and latest movies to the small town, but has also shown oldies and nostalgic films for young and old audiences to enjoy. This Friday evening, Oct. 30 at 8 p.m., the theater will be showing The Rocky Horror Picture Show. "It's just something that I've kind of always wanted to do here," said Nolan Center Director Cyni Crary. "I thought that it would be a good opportunity to dress u...
The Wrangell Swim Team met last Friday and Saturday for another swim meet. According to times provided by Coach Jamie Roberts, there were several personal bests made by her swimmers this weekend. It was a unique meet, Roberts said. Not only was it virtual, as most swim meets have been this past season due to COVID-19, but she said she was not actually sure how many other schools they were competing against. "I am unsure of how many teams, if any, participated in this weekend's virtual meet,"...
The Wrangell Lady Wolves hosted their second home games of the volleyball season last Saturday, Oct. 24, against the Petersburg Lady Vikings. A previous article in the Wrangell Sentinel reported that Wrangell would be traveling to Petersburg for these last games, but this was incorrect. While Wrangell played hard, they only managed to pull off a single win. "They played hard," said Coach Alyssa Allen. "We need to work on our serving and our passing. They hit the ball well." The first game went...
The Southeast Alaska Power Agency provides power to the communities of Wrangell, Petersburg, and Ketchikan. CEO Trey Acteson said they have not had a rate increase in over 23 years, holding steady at 6.8 cents per kWh. However, due to anticipated costs in the near future, he reported that they are expecting a necessary rate increase sometime next year. "It is still a little early in the process to provide a firm number on any potential rate increases, but I can assure you the SEAPA Board...
The Wrangell Borough Assembly considered several purchases for the Wrangell Police Department during their meeting last Tuesday evening, Oct. 27. Two items were approved by the assembly, a Text-to-911 router switch and body cameras. The police department requested approval to purchase a Text-to-911 router switch in the amount of $4,000. There are several benefits that this would provide, according to Police Chief Tom Radke. For one thing, he said that someone texting 911 would also provide them...
Wrangell’s Unified Command announced a new case of COVID-19 the evening of Tuesday, Nov. 3. This is Wrangell’s twenty-first total case, and at the time of writing the only active one. According to the press release, this case was confirmed in a non-resident, who has been notified and is in isolation. Of the 21 total cases Wrangell has seen, 13 have been locals and eight have been non-locals. Four cases were identified through airport testing. The others were identified by a routine testing plan or other testing platform. The city’s press relea...
Disruptions to ferry service have become a relatively common occurrence in recent history. The Alaska Marine Highway System has faced tight budgets, a strike, and an aging fleet in need of upgrades. With winter drawing near Wrangell will not see any ferry service for about two months if the winter schedule remains the same. According to the sailing calendar, found at www.dot.alaska.gov, the last ferry Wrangell will see in 2020 will be on Nov. 2. The M/V Kennicott will arrive from Ketchikan in the afternoon of that day, and depart for...
The Prysunka family, Dr. Lynn and Mayor Steve, met with KSTK and Wrangell Sentinel reporters on the afternoon of Oct. 20 to talk about the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Wrangell has seen a total of 20 cases of the virus since the pandemic began. The most recent case was announced on Sept. 14. All of these cases have recovered, though, and Wrangell has not seen an active case in about a month. However, across the state and the country, cases continue to rise. The Alaska Department of Health and...
Kate Thomas, Wrangell's parks and recreation director, recently earned an award from the Alaska Recreation and Parks Association. ARPA held their annual conference in early October, virtually in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Among the people and organizations recognized during the ceremony was Thomas, who received the Professional Award. "The Professional Award is the highest recognition that ARPA can bestow upon a deserving candidate," an Oct. 16 press release read. "Kate is passionate...
Having won in the primary election in September, Leslie Becker is now competing against incumbent Dan Ortiz to represent House District 36 in this November's general election. District 36 covers several Southeast Alaskan communities, including Ketchikan, Metlakatla, and Wrangell. Becker spoke with the Wrangell Sentinel about the campaign so far, and her priorities if she is elected. "It's a great learning experience," she said about the campaign trail. "You stretch your mind, you learn a lot ......
Representative Dan Ortiz visited Wrangell last week, going door-knocking and speaking with constituents as part of his re-election campaign. He is running again for House District 36, against Leslie Becker. District 36 covers several Southeast Alaskan communities, including Ketchikan, Metlakatla, and Wrangell. This campaign has been a good competition, he said, mentioning that Becker was ahead of him on fundraising. An Oct. 17 article in the Ketchikan Daily News reported that Becker was ahead...
