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Wrangell residents are invited to shake off their winter malaise and step down to the annual Health Fair this Saturday from 8 a.m. to noon inside the Nolan Center. The fair will feature booths put up by 45 different agencies, groups and organizations related to health and wellness. Participating groups are many and varied, aimed for all ages. Alaska Island Community Services (AICS) will have its Teddy Bear Clinic for the wee ones, Wrangell Volunteer Fire Department will provide free blood pressure checks for adults, and Hanna’s Place will h...
Environmental organization Earthjustice announced last Friday groups it is representing in a trio of lawsuits opposed to U.S. Forest Service’s Big Thorne timber sale have filed two notices of appeal with the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, following the dismissal of their suits by a federal judge in a March 20 ruling. The Big Thorne sale involves the harvest of around 6,200 acres of forest on Prince of Wales Island and includes the clearcut of old-growth rainforest. Klowock-based mill Viking Lumber was awarded a contract last September to h...
Even before getting into its own upcoming budget, Wrangell’s Assembly had plenty of numbers to crunch at its regular meeting Tuesday evening, with an hour-long joint session held beforehand with the local school board regarding its upcoming budget and a presentation by Wrangell Medical Center’s executive on the state of the hospital’s finances. (see adjoining stories) Borough Manager Jeff Jabusch reported next year’s budget is coming along on task, with a draft likely to be ready for review by mid-April. “We’ll bring you a balanced budget one w...
School Board members met with the Wrangell City and Borough Assembly, city staff and school district officials at a joint work session late Tuesday afternoon. Of particular importance, they discussed a draft budget for the 2016 fiscal year. Ahead of anticipated declines in Foundation Support by $162,188, Wrangell School District staff is looking at making more than $156,144 in cuts to the operating costs. This decline in revenue includes one-time and special education funding provided by the state. One-time funding was promised by the state...
Wrangell Medical Center CEO Marla Sanger updated the Wrangell Borough Assembly on the hospital’s financial situation at its Tuesday evening meeting. “We are solvent. We’re just being very cautious,” she said. In December, Sanger and acting CFO Olinda White approached the Assembly to reveal the hospital was experiencing financial difficulties. An annual audit had, among other concerns, reported finding a $3.5 million loss in written-off costs related to the hospital’s previous bid to build a new facility. “I don’t think our financial sit...
The signs of spring are unmistakable. Migratory birds have begun their return to Wrangell's trees and shrubs, the days have grown longer and somewhat sunnier, and the smell of hooligan smoking and frying waft from residents' homes. Continuing a local tradition, some families have been distributing the oily fish to friends, neighbors and most anybody who wants them. It's a tradition Janice Churchill and her family have been keeping for a long time. "I have fished fifty-some years with my...
Wrangell’s Thunderbirds basketball team had a rough week at the 69th annual Juneau Lions Club Gold Medal Basketball Tournament. The yearly tournament is an invitational event, largely using High School Federation Basketball rules. Second-place winners last year, Wrangell’s team received its invitation in January. Wrangell won its first game March 15, beating Angoon in a close match 69 to 68. The game was a rematch of last year’s B Bracket championship game, only this time Wrangell came out on top. “It was kind of a little payback,” said Cody...
Wrangell's High School boys basketball team members were welcomed as hometown heroes last Thursday, after taking fourth at the State Tournament in Anchorage last week for the 2A division. It was the team's first trip to State in more than a decade, and though it did not bring back a title Wrangell's players brought home several awards. "I was really proud of the boys," said the Wolves' coach, Ray Stokes. "They all did great." The team won two of its three games, and beat region rival Metlakatla...
Legal challenges to the Big Thorne timber sale were dismissed in their entirety by a federal judge last Friday. Ten environmental groups filed three separate legal actions against the United States Forest Service (USFS) last year, challenging its planned sale on Prince of Wales Island. United States District Judge Ralph Beistline denied the plaintiffs’ motions for summary judgement, granting in favor of USFS. The Big Thorne sale would allow timber to be harvested from approximately 6,200 of the area’s 232,000 acres of forested land over sev...
Wrangell Public School District will be partnering more closely with the University of Alaska Southeast’s Tech Prep Program in coming months, setting up an office for the program’s coordinator, Kimberly Szczatko. A memorandum of understanding was approved by the Wrangell School Board earlier this month and a formal agreement is in the process of being signed, but tentatively, Szczatko expects to be relocated from the Juneau office by May. Once here, Szczatko will be better able to assist high school students to enroll in tech prep pro...
Wrangell’s Planning and Zoning Commission was able to meet last Thursday for the first time since January. Commissioners examined the future of Silvernail Road, whose right-of-way cuts a course through the Marine Service Center yard and connects with Front Street. The Harbor Department would prefer to see the largely conceptual road vacated to free up space for leasing, but Economic Development head Carol Rushmore has expressed reluctance to relinquish it so easily. In Rushmore’s view, having the road guarantees the property access to Fro...
As Wrangell looks to future growth, the owners of its largest hotel are likewise looking to expand. Southeast Properties owner Bill Goodale and Stikine Inn manager Jake Harris have made preliminary appearances at recent assembly, port, and planning and zoning meetings to pitch their idea. They would like to purchase 27.45 square feet of tidelands adjacent to the hotel property. Once acquired, the inn's owners could then begin expanding the building, adding rooms and ground-level retail space. Go...
Nearly 100 residents headed to the Nolan Center the evening of March 11 to preview a short film produced about themselves. Entitled “Water is Life,” the ten-minute video follows the Stikine River from its headwaters to its terminus and highlights its importance to nearby communities. Shooting was conducted last fall by a film crew working for Inside Passage Waterkeeper, which visited Wrangell, Petersburg and Telegraph, British Columbia. In addition to gathering footage of the river and its wildlife, interviews were conducted with a variety of...
A bagpiper sets the mood before Saturday's Shamrock Shuffle, where over 40 participants braved nippy gusts to run, ride or skate a five-kilometer course....
One Wrangell resident hoped to stir up some interest in an alternative to subscription-service television at the Wrangell Borough Assembly meeting March 10. Sue Horner introduced herself as 31-year military veteran and recent arrival to the community. While settling in, one of the things Horner noticed was Wrangell did not make use of Alaska Rural Communication System (ARCS) programming. “I was surprised and disappointed,” she told the Assembly. She explained the ARCS network is a system of satellite-fed, low-power television transmitters pro...
Nearly four dozen runners, bicyclists, walkers and longboarders make their way up Case Avenue at the start of the Southeast Beasts' Shamrock Shuffle 5K. The group's first major run of the year, it raised $560 for Wrangell High School's vocational education program....
Earlier this month, three members of the Wrangell Volunteer Fire Department (VFD) were able to gear up and attend this year's Scott Firefighter Stairclimb in Seattle, Wash. Firefighters Chris Hatton, Adam Sprehe and Dorianne Curley made the trip along with Tim Buness. The three joined 1,897 other firefighters on March 8 to climb the Columbia Center, the West Coast's second-tallest skyscraper. In its 24th year, the annual charity event draws firefighters from around the world, raising money and...
As legislators in Juneau prepare a budget for the state's next fiscal year, Alaska residents have been urged to contribute their say as cuts are considered. Since the Legislative session began on Jan. 20, lawmakers have been weighted with the task of finding ways to address a more than $3.6 billion deficit. To that end, the State House was looking at making a nearly 10 percent, or about $240 million, cut from state spending over the previous fiscal year. Among areas affected by the cuts would be capital improvements, education, transportation,...
Members of Wrangell's City and Borough Assembly narrowly took their first step toward restricting the consumption of marijuana on public or private property, electing in a 3-2 split to approve an ordinance on first reading at their Tuesday evening meeting. Alaska Statute 17.38 took effect on Feb. 24, expanding significantly the circumstances in which a person can legally possess, transport and use the drug, following approval of a ballot measure during last November's elections. More than 57 percent of Wrangell voters approved the measure,...
Wrangell's recreational running group will set this year's pace with its third annual Shamrock Shuffle, a five-kilometer run beginning outside of Rayme's Bar Saturday at 7 p.m. All ages are invited to participate in the evening jog, dressing in green and running through town to get into the spirit of Saint Patrick's Day weekend festivities. "We've had a lot of families participate in this run," explained Lucy Robinson, the Beasts' director. St. Paddy's treats and refreshments will be available...
At its March 4 meeting, members of the Wrangell Parks and Recreation Advisory Board continued to examine their revision of user fees of the city pool and other fixtures. Representing Wrangell’s Swim Club, Jamie Roberts came before the board to inquire about future fees for her group to use public pool facilities. Under a proposed rate structure rejected in February by the Borough Assembly, the club would have to pay $10,000 per year. “I’m just wondering where in the process we’re at,” Roberts asked. Currently there are 15 children enrolled...
For the first time in over a decade, Wrangell High School's boys basketball team is headed to the State Championships in Anchorage next week. The Wolves took second for their division at the Region V Tournament in Ketchikan last weekend. "It was a fun tournament," said the team's coach, Ray Stokes. "The boys played some pretty good basketball this year, I thought." During Thursday's game against Metlakatla the Wolves held a firm lead during the first half. "They looked really good," commented...
The Wrangell Port Commission has decided to hold off on plans to increase space rates for work and storage at the Marine Service Center. At the recommendation of the Harbor Department, a 50 percent raise to 75 cents per square foot was being considered. But after the latest public workshop held on March 9, commissioners decided now would not be the best time to roll out the proposed increase. “It’s been basically put on hold,” said Clay Hammer, chairing the commission at its March 11 evening meeting. Over the past several months’ meeting...
Wrangell's Lady Wolves ended their season last weekend, taking third in the 2A division at the Region V Tournament in Ketchikan. "It went well," said the girls' second-year coach, Edna Abella-Nore. "It's been a long time since the Wrangell girls have made it this far." The team lost its first game to Craig last Thursday, 23 to 27. "They played really tough," said Wrangell High School's activities director, Jack Carney. During the game Amy Jenson led the team for points with 13. "She was on the...
Wrangell may get to experience a bit of old-time entertainment this June, when the New Old Time Chautauqua plans to stop through on its summer tour of Southeast Alaska. But what is a Chautauqua, you might ask? “It's a movement to do community building through education and entertainment,” explained Paul Magid, who paid a visit to Wrangell on behalf of the Chautauqua group last week. The New Old Time Chautauqua was founded in 1981 by a group of performers, health care practitioners and educators as a vehicle for reviving the spirit of the old...
