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Sales tax data made available this month suggest a slight dip in local consumer spending. The news comes at a time when the region's economy appears to be fragile. Earlier this fall, Southeast Conference released its annual By the Numbers economic report, which found 2016 to have been the first time since 2007 that jobs and earnings were both down from the previous year. The labor force had declined by 434 net jobs, bringing the total number of positions to 45,260 regionally. The dip...
The learning experience for Wrangell students continues to get more technological, with new devices and programs hitting local schools this year. Technology director Matt Gore gave the Sentinel a run-through of some of these developments Tuesday. It started with “tech time in the morning,” an informal zero-hour period where students are encouraged to undertake various technological projects. For instance, that morning found senior JD Barratt soldering together components for a lighting setup, while Kellan Eagle put together the frame for a hom...
Hundreds of students, faculty members and special guests dined together at Evergreen Elementary School last week ahead of the holiday. Held November 22, this year's Primary Thanksgiving Feast was the fourth annual. The celebration includes a real meal of turkey, potatoes, dressing and all the fixings. Dishes were prepared by parents and served up by volunteers. Aimed at kindergarteners through second graders, the festive gathering is preceded by lessons on the Thanksgiving holiday, traditionally...
Legislators wrapped up their fourth special session called for the year last week, passing a crime reform bill but failing to take up any new revenue measures. Passing both chambers, Senate Bill 54 revises the criminal justice reform package passed under SB 91 in 2016. The latest bill is based on recommendations by the Alaska Criminal Justice Commission, including tightening up penalties for Class C felonies and repeat thefts, violations of release and sex trafficking offenses. “There was definitely a need to work the Senate Bill 91, which I di...
A Wrangell freshman was invited to join the state-level treble choir this year, at the All-State Music Festival in Anchorage. Held between November 16 and 18 at the Bartlett and West Anchorage high school campuses, the Alaska School Activities Association event drew around 175 students from around the state to participate in its two choirs. Robyn Booker has been singing for "as long as I could talk," she reckoned. Participating in the annual Christmas concert through her school years, as a new...
Sports fans and other television viewers subscribing to General Communication Inc. have likely noticed that its FOX programming has been absent for most of the month. Since November 8 the telecommunications provider has been unable to show FOX in Southeast Alaska due to a contract row with television station KJUD. Based in Juneau, the television station is an ABC affiliate owned by Vision Alaska LLC, and in addition to FOX, carries programming for the CW network. In a media release GCI...
Until further notice is given, the clerical offices and courtroom at the Wrangell Public Safety Building have been closed down temporarily. The closure began Monday morning, with the Alaska Court System citing air quality concerns for staff using the premises. The space is rented from the city, which maintains the entire facility and surrounding property. "We've got some water issues that need to be addressed," explained Neil Nesheim, area court administrator for the First District Court. He...
Following talks earlier this month with the city, the hospital board drafted a letter requesting that it move forward with finding a third party partnership. At their November 15 meeting, Wrangell Medical Center governing board members discussed the pros and potential cons of partnering up with another organization. A major reason for considering the move is seeking out project support for construction of a new medical facility, an elusive goal for much of the past decade. Among the board’s more immediate concerns is maintaining cash flow to t...
After a rollicking three days in Petersburg for Region V, the Lady Wolves volleyball team will be headed to State next weekend. Twelve Wrangell students headed to the tournament, seeded third among their division's teams after a hard-fought season. "Everybody got to step onto the court over the weekend," said Jessica Whitaker, Wrangell's head coach. Her girls began their tournament against Haines on November 16, starting off with a strong 25-9 win. The second match came out more closely at 25-18...
Meals have been brought to 74 families’ tables for Thanksgiving this week through the efforts of a local charity drive. The annual Thanksgiving basket drive organized by the Wrangell Ministerial Association has for each of the past sixteen years provided traditional meals to hundreds of residents. Donations of cash and goods from community members are pooled together to assemble turkeys, dressing, vegetables and other sides for a family feast. Don and Bonnie Roher, Damon and Eva Roher, and Mike and Jennifer Bates this year packed and d...
At last week’s meeting of the City and Borough Assembly, a number of ongoing infrastructural needs made the agenda. One item of interest was acquiring a new backup generator to support one of the city’s recently upgraded sewer pump stations. The pump station on Case Avenue is one of two primary stations servicing Wrangell’s waste that were upgraded last year. In the event of a power failure, Public Works has requested permission to purchase a 175 Kilowatt backup generator capable of running the pump. Currently the department has one smaller gen...
One of the state's public ferries will help collect data on ocean acidification during its regular route. The news was announced last week by Alaska Coastal Rainforest Center at University of Alaska Southeast, which has partnered with the Alaska Marine Highway System, British Columbia's Hakai Institute, Alaska Ocean Observing System and other federal agencies on the project. The vessel chosen for the data collection study is the M/V Columbia, which at 418 feet and a gross tonnage of 3,946 is...
Wrangell's mayor chose the community's new voting and alternate member on next year's Southeast Alaska Power Agency board. Based in Ketchikan, the regional power provider services that community, Wrangell and Petersburg. The three member utilities pool production from their hydroelectric facilities and collectively purchase power from the agency through 25-year power sales agreements, with the current agreement extending through 2034. Decisions guiding the agency is overseen by a governing...
The Wrangell Advisory Committee (AC) to the Board of Fish reviewed shellfish proposals for the coming 2017-18 year last week, focusing primarily on several shrimp and crab measures. Made up of various sport, commercial and subsistence users, locally-formed advisory committees each year put together proposals for changes to fish and game management policies, and have the opportunity to review and weigh in on proposals from other committees. Their comments are then considered by the two boards when the different proposal sets are considered each...
Wrangell's Wolves wrestlers had a good tournament in Petersburg over the weekend, edging out the home team for pins in a two-day tournament. "It was good," said coach Jeff Rooney. "We ran a couple of different styles," he explained, with a scramble format followed by a round robin on November 10. The following day, round-robin match-ups were followed by a bracketed format. In a mixed face-off on Friday, JD Barratt wrestled his way to the top of his 113 weight bracket. In a round-robin he won all...
Wrangell's volleyball program had some close games over the weekend during its one home meet of the season. The high school team hosted neighboring rivals Petersburg last Friday and Saturday. The girls followed up from Metlakatla the previous weekend, where it maintained its third-place seeding after a closely-contested round-robin. Wrangell won its games versus the hosts, Haines, and Skagway by default. Craig won after a drawn out five-match game and Klawock pulled a third win in a four-match...
Wrangell's youth swim team started its second competitive year at Petersburg's November Rain meet last weekend, hosted by the Viking Swim Club. The annual event was last year Wrangell Swim Club's very first to field in competition, and its participants have since taken part in several more around the state in the year since. "It's not too big, it's not too far from home, and the meet only lasts six or seven hours a day. It's a nice beginning swim meet," explained Wrangell coach Jamie Roberts....
In a special workshop at City Hall on Monday, administrators at Wrangell Medical Center and members of its governing board met with the City and Borough Assembly to discuss the cost of a new facility. The municipally-managed hospital has been interested in constructing a new facility for at least a decade, with its current building in use already for the past four decades posing a number of maintenance and compliance issues. The Assembly had directed WMC staff a year ago to seek architectural...
The Cub Scouts held a recruiting drive at Evergreen Elementary School on Monday evening, with a number of boys and their parents stopping by to express interest. The purpose of the Boy Scouts of America is to promote youths to do things for themselves and for their communities, instilling among other things values of patriotism, courage and self-reliance. Part of the broader Scouting movement, Cub Scouts is geared toward elementary school boys from kindergarten through fifth grade. A pack is bro...
A wide-ranging recall of fire extinguishers produced by Kidde has been issued, after a device failure led to a death and multiple injuries. Announced last week by the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission in conjunction with its Canadian counterpart, the recall involves 134 different models of extinguisher manufactured domestically and in Mexico between January 1, 1973, and August 15, 2017. The extinguishers were sold in red, white and silver, and are either ABC- or BC-rated. In all,...
Wrangell Public Works announced Monday it will be extending a window for free disposal of metal waste at the local scrapyard through the month’s end. The department had initially opened a month-long period for residents to get rid of household scrap without fees on October 11. An expectation of a barge arriving in mid-November to take excess salvage off the city’s hands had prompted the move, with the hope that residents might be encouraged to clean house a bit. Following a lengthy, expensive and still unresolved cleanup of severely con...
The City and Borough Assembly authorized a pair of grants to be applied for in its name while narrowly nixing a third. Meeting Tuesday, the first item the body considered was participation in the Community Development Block Grant program offered by the Department of Agriculture. An application put forward to the program for $304,297 in funding would fund just over half of rehabilitation work to the building envelope of the Public Safety Building. A recently revised cost estimate for the project put together by Jensen Yorba Lott totals...
Wrangell got its first, brief introduction to winter on Monday, with a temporary dousing of snow and sleet. But chimneys have already been puffing away since September as minimum temperatures for the month dropped to 42 degrees. After remaining chilly throughout the following month, the thermometer finally dipped below freezing for the first time on November 2. With summer well past and winter by now on the way, keeping homes and businesses heated becomes an important proposition. In a housing...
At last week’s Park Board meeting, the department head reported the lack of qualified lifeguarding staff has been causing problems. Parks and Recreation director Kate Thomas explained last Wednesday that Wrangell’s public pool operates 63 hours per week, requiring 105 lifeguard hours to operate. While 10 available staffers would be ideal, the department currently only has four to try and cover shifts. Both herself and the assistant director have been spending up to half their time filling in at the pool. The pool is the most heavily used ame...
Wrangell’s wrestlers headed up to Anchorage over the weekend to participate in Anchorage Christian School’s 2017 Lime Solar Invitational. Taking place beyond the usual regional play, the ACS invitational is often touted as a midseason preview into the state finals, with schools from around the state sending teams. This year’s tournament was also the first featuring an all-girls bracket, which had 27 teams participate. In the boys varsity 106-pound weight bracket, Wrangell senior JD Barratt finished in fourth place overall. After a first-round b...
