Articles written by caroleine james


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  • SEARHC lab receives perfect score from national accreditor

    Caroleine James, Wrangell Sentinel|Oct 12, 2022

    Doctors may get all the attention, hefty salaries and steamy medical TV shows, but they are not the only health care professionals who play essential roles in the real-life drama of a hospital. Laboratory teams work with pipettes and samples behind the scenes, performing the tests that doctors use to diagnose illness. Patients at the SouthEast Alaska Regional Health Consortium's Wrangell Medical Center can rest assured that their test results are being processed with precision. The center's...

  • Public Works urges residents and restaurants to dispose of grease properly

    Caroleine James, Wrangell Sentinel|Oct 5, 2022

    It is tempting to imagine that kitchen sinks, shower drains and toilets are domesticated black holes, transporting our waste to some mysterious nether region outside space and time, where it ceases to exist the moment it is out of sight. However, Public Works Director Tom Wetor knows better than anyone in Wrangell that the spoiled milk, blackened cooking oil and remnants of last night’s dinner that are flushed into the sewer do not disappear. Pouring oil, grease and fat down the drain can damage essential infrastructure, strain the public w...

  • Borough to negotiate short-term lease for scrap metal recycling at 6-Mile site

    Caroleine James, Wrangell Sentinel|Oct 5, 2022

    The borough assembly has granted Manager Jeff Good the authority to negotiate a short-term lease with Channel Construction to use a portion of the 6-Mile mill site for a scrap metal recycling operation. Juneau-based Channel Construction has been running a regional metal recycling operation at the property, which the borough purchased for $2.5 million this summer. Owner William “Shorty” Tonsgard Jr. initially applied for a long-term lease that would allow him to continue operating at the site after the borough took over the land. The port com...

  • Borough sells first of former junkyard lots; 2 more to come on sale

    Caroleine James, Wrangell Sentinel|Oct 5, 2022

    The borough assembly unanimously approved the sale of 29,274 square feet of public lands to Helen and Robert Molinek for $45,000 at its meeting last Tuesday. The sale of a portion of the former Byford junkyard property is part of a longstanding effort by the borough to move public lands into private ownership, where they can be taxed. The parcel at 4-Mile Zimovia Highway used to be part of the junkyard, which the state Department of Environmental Conservation finished cleaning up in 2018. Since then, the borough has negotiated with nearby...

  • Survey data shows Wrangell businesses more upbeat in 2022

    Caroleine James, Wrangell Sentinel|Oct 5, 2022

    After a dismal 2020 and cautiously optimistic 2021, the economic outlook in Wrangell is improving, according to survey data collected by the Southeast Conference. Economic director Carol Rushmore presented the data at the chamber of commerce’s economic forum last Friday. The event was intended to bring Wrangell business leaders, state and municipal government officials, and concerned citizens into conversation about economic problems facing the community. Rushmore said her presentation offered a “30,000-foot summary of the economics of Wra...

  • Borough turns 34 delinquent accounts over to collection agency

    Caroleine James, Wrangell sentinel|Oct 5, 2022

    The borough assembly unanimously approved a motion to write off delinquent harbor and utilities accounts and forward them to a collection agency. The write-off includes a combined $8,197 in utilities fees from 30 different accounts and $50,048 in harbor fees from four different accounts, for a total of $58,246. At the assembly meeting Sept. 27, Finance Director Mason Villarma acknowledged that the amount appeared significant, but assured the assembly that the sum was a small percentage of total billing. Writing off “bad debts” like these — d...

  • Volunteers ready the roller rink to reopen this fall

    Caroleine James, Wrangell Sentinel|Sep 28, 2022

    The roller rink, a community gathering place which has been vacant the past three years, is slated to reopen this fall. According to Jim Freeman, one of the cleanup coordinators, the rink, housed at the Church of God, was a mainstay of Wrangell social life in the 1980s. It was “one of the most popular things in town,” he said, and hopes that skaters will feel a sense of nostalgia once the facilities are up and running again. Organizers are not yet sure when the rink will be open to the public, but they hope the space will be functional by Hallo...

  • Forest Service to start improvements on Wrangell blueberry lands next spring

    Caroleine James, Wrangell Sentinel|Sep 28, 2022

    Next spring, the Forest Service will begin thinning portions of second-growth forest around Nemo Loop to improve blueberry yields in those areas. The blueberry enhancement project is a collaborative effort between the borough and the Forest Service. It has been funded by a $100,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The grant is part of the USDA’s Southeast Sustainability Initiative. The initiative seeks to partner with Alaska Native corporations and municipal governments to bolster local economies and improve food security t...

  • Borough commits to cover 10% of barge ramp project if grant covers the rest

    Caroleine James, Wrangell Sentinel|Sep 28, 2022

    At a special assembly meeting Sept. 20, the borough committed to match 10% of a possible $2,584,650 grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation for design and permitting of a new barge ramp. The borough has not received the grant but anticipates an update on the status of its application around Sept. 30. Last week, DOT Port Infrastructure Development Program staff contacted the borough to confirm their ability to cover 10% of the project, meaning that the grant application has made it to the final stages of the selection process....

  • Davies wants to encourage more boaters to home base in Wrangell

    Caroleine James, Wrangell Sentinel|Sep 28, 2022

    Winston Davies is running for an uncontested three-year term on the port commission to give back to his community and support Wrangell's commercial fishing industry. He has no previous experience in public office, but when he heard KSTK's plea for candidates to fill the empty port commission seats, he decided to "step up to the plate." Davies is a teacher during the school year and a commercial fisherman in the summer. He has taught a variety of subjects in his 18 years in education, including...

  • Yeager wants to help promote Wrangell's marine services

    Caroleine James, Wrangell Sentinel|Sep 28, 2022

    John Yeager, sport fishing guide and commercial halibut fisherman, plans to keep promoting sustainable growth in Wrangell during his upcoming three-year term on the port commission. "Fortunately, I have been on the port commission to see a lot of our projects started, like the Marine Service Center and a lot of our harbors," he said. "I want to stay on and see Wrangell's continued growth." Yeager has served on the commission for six terms already, totaling 12 years. He believes that the...

  • Gilbert runs for mayor to improve infrastructure and economy

    Caroleine James, Wrangell Sentinel|Sep 28, 2022

    After nine years in public service across four different councils, commissions and committees, Patty Gilbert is running for Wrangell's highest elected office. Gilbert is a retired math and science teacher who left the Wrangell School District in 2018 after 23 years. The mayoral candidate has since served in a wide variety of government organizations, including the borough assembly, where she is vice mayor, and the school board, where she served a two-year term as vice president. She also sits...

  • Courson running for mayor, declines new media interviews

    Caroleine James, Wrangell Sentinel|Sep 28, 2022

    Terry Courson, a firearms instructor and retired police officer, is running for borough mayor. Though he declined interviews with KSTK and the Sentinel, he has posted flyers around Wrangell outlining his stances and experience. Courson served on the borough assembly from 2020 to 2021. He is a fiscal conservative and plans to vote no on the bond issues on the Oct. 4 municipal election ballot, which would finance repairs at the schools and Public Safety Building. Officials believe that the borough can cover the annual debt payment on the $3.5...

  • 'Strengthen Your Spirit' program combines physical fitness and cultural values

    Caroleine James, Wrangell Sentinel|Sep 21, 2022

    Exuberant shouts resounded in the Evergreen Elementary gym last Thursday night as a group of nine young runners, between the third and fifth grades, bounded into the room for another session of I Toowú Klatseen, a running program for youth that combines athletic activity with Tlingit language learning and cultural education. The group settled into a circle to learn about the Tlingit subsistence lifestyle, healthy foods and the importance of having respect for the plants and animals we eat. Kim Wickman, a program volunteer, instructed the...

  • Tanner Thomassen bags first moose after trying 15 years

    Caroleine James, Wrangell Sentinel|Sep 21, 2022

    Last Thursday afternoon, Tanner Thomassen, 27, shot Wrangell's first moose of the season on Andrew Island in the Stikine River. The moose is also Thomassen's first - he has been trying to bag one since the fifth grade, and after 15 years of effort, he was finally in the right place at the right time. "I was in a tree and I saw a calf," he said. "I thought that was all there was, so we were ready to crawl down the tree and go down to another spot." Thankfully for Thomassen, he stayed put long eno...

  • Alex Angerman to push for day care, community outreach

    Caroleine James, Wrangell Sentinel|Sep 21, 2022

    Alex Angerman, CARES Act coordinator for the Wrangell Cooperative Association, is running for borough assembly to improve community outreach and foster youth engagement in municipal government. "The community oftentimes feels like they aren't heard," she said, and she hopes to use her assembly seat to provide a voice for the rising generation. She believes that the borough should increase its social media presence to better connect with the community, and has been actively fielding questions...

  • Robbins wants to encourage students and families to stay in Wrangell

    Caroleine James, Wrangell Sentinel|Sep 21, 2022

    Brittani Robbins is running for borough assembly to bolster Wrangell's economic development and stem the out-migration of families and youth from the island. Robbins, 37, is executive director of the chamber of commerce. She has one year of experience in public office as a member of the school board. She was elected to the board last October and intends to keep her seat if elected to the assembly. As a school board member, Robbins said she advocates for students and for non-certified staff,...

  • Powell wants more borough land in private ownership

    Caroleine James, Wrangell Sentinel|Sep 21, 2022

    After seven years on the borough assembly, Bay Co. manager David Powell is running for another three-year term. Powell's desire to get land out of the borough's hands was what first motivated him to pursue an assembly seat, and he is running again in hopes of seeing his goals completed. If elected, his primary focuses will be selling or leasing the 6-Mile mill property, which the borough purchased this summer, and the former Wrangell Institute property, which was the site of a federally...

  • Senior Center foundation in need of repair

    Caroleine James, Wrangell Sentinel|Sep 21, 2022

    One of the foundational wooden beams under the Senior Center is rotting and will have to be repaired, according to Borough Manager Jeff Good. “There is no immediate threat to life and safety,” Good explained, but he hopes to address the problem quickly. “The more you wait with rot, especially with wood, the worse it gets.” He plans to hire an engineer to assess the damage and design a solution, but he does not yet have details about how soon this assessment will take place. “We typically work with a couple of engineers,” said Good, but since n...

  • COVID boosters soon available through SEARHC

    Caroleine James, Wrangell Sentinel|Sep 14, 2022

    The Wrangell Medical Clinic expects to receive doses of the new COVID booster this week or next, according to Randi Yancey, medical office coordinator at the clinic. Both the Pfizer and Moderna boosters will be available once the shipment arrives. The bivalent booster provides an immune response that is “broadly protective” against COVID-19, the Delta variant, and the BA.4 and BA.5 lineages of the Omicron variant, according to a recent U.S. Food and Drug Administration press release. As the original coronavirus has mutated over time, the ori...

  • Homeschooling growing in Alaska, not as much for Wrangell students

    Caroleine James, Wrangell Sentinel|Sep 14, 2022

    Now that in-person school is available, the Wrangell homeschool community has shrunk to roughly pre-pandemic levels, though community awareness of alternative education options has increased. Homeschool education, which has been growing steadily nationwide since the 1970s, experienced a massive popularity boost in 2020, as families who were dissatisfied with their children’s Zoom classes explored other possibilities. While the percentage of homeschooled children nationwide was holding steady at around 3% before the pandemic, that number rose t...

  • Cultural, climate stress can affect Native communities, speaker says

    Caroleine James, Wrangell Sentinel|Sep 14, 2022

    The blood-type diets and elaborate self-care routines of the wellness industry offer an individualized view of health, where sicknesses and cures begin and end within a single person’s body. However, for Meda DeWitt, Tlingit traditional healer, wellness is intrinsically linked to community. DeWitt began her presentation at the Sharing Our Knowledge conference in Wrangell last Friday with a discussion of intergenerational health. “Prolonged exposure to stress changes the physical, mental and spiritual aspects of a person,” she explained, and t...

  • Master carver shares knowledge of totem poles' history and art

    Caroleine James, Wrangell Sentinel|Sep 14, 2022

    When Steve Brown, researcher and master carver, looks at totem poles, he sees details: the quality of the formline design, the subtle curves around a jaw, lip or eyelid, the amount and placement of any weathering or decay, the tiny, intricate figures hiding behind a bear’s ear or sitting on its shoulder, and the composition’s place within the continuum of Tlingit, Haida and Tsimshian art history. Last Thursday, Brown visited Wrangell to present his research on the island’s totem poles as part of the Sharing Our Knowledge conference. His lectu...

  • Boarding school panelists talk of maintaining cultural strengths

    Caroleine James, Wrangell Sentinel|Sep 14, 2022

    Last Saturday at the Sharing Our Knowledge Conference, a “Break the Silence” panel discussion highlighted a wide range of perspectives on and experiences with Alaska Native boarding schools. Some panelists identified with the term “boarding school survivor;” others did not. Some lost their language while attending a church- or government-run institution; others did not. Even the act of recounting boarding school experiences, while healing for some, was exhausting for others. “We have different experiences. We’re different people,” sa...

  • Borough considers timber sale, other uses for Sunny Bay property

    Caroleine James, Wrangell Sentinel|Sep 7, 2022

    The borough’s Sunny Bay property, a parcel of land on the Cleveland Peninsula about 37 miles southeast of Wrangell, is a potential candidate for a helicopter logging sale someday, though no definitive plans have been made to harvest timber at the site. On a trip to Sunny Bay with the U.S. Forest Service in late July, Borough Manager Jeff Good learned there are valuable red and yellow cedar trees on the property. However, these trees are sparsely distributed. Helicopter logging, also known as aerial timber harvesting, entails attaching cables t...

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