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Following a clean bill of health from contaminants testing of dredge material at Shoemaker Bay, the harbor restoration project looks to be continuing on schedule. Department of Transportation and Public Facilities match grant funding in the amount of $5,000,000 was approved for the project in this year's budget, enabling replacement of the harbor's aging float network. The wooden float structure is in a deteriorated state, with one of its five finger piers currently unusable. Wrangell Harbor Dep...
The sole ferry linking the region’s seaside communities has had to skip a week of its winter schedule due to mechanical problems. Alaska Marine Highway System reported the M/V Columbia has had to remain in Bellingham, Washington, after its arrival last Friday. On its approach to the dock there its bow-side maneuvering thruster stopped working. AMHS public information officer Aurah Landau explained the thruster is a necessary feature for the vessel, particularly during winter weather conditions and while navigating narrow passages. While AMHS h...
The Lady Wolves won a pair of games last week against Haines, during Wrangell's first home games of the 2017/18 season. The two wins put Wrangell at 4-2 so far during its regular basketball season, which had been preceded by an eighth-place showing at an interregional tournament at the Clarke Cochrane Christmas Classic in Ketchikan late last month. During January 17's midweek game the Glacier Bears had started out with a 14-9 lead after the first quarter. Wrangell's girls fought back, outscoring...
Wrangell High School's boys basketball team split another weekend with its regional rivals during last week's games. Hosting Haines, it was the Wolves' first home games after several weeks on the road. "It went pretty well I think," head coach Cody Angerman commented. Playing on Wednesday and Thursday due to travel considerations, both games ended up being close ones for the two teams. "They actually match up with us pretty well," said Angerman. Haines senior Dylan Swinton was a leader on the...
Despite a rescinding of Obama-era orders allowing for the state-by-state legalization process of marijuana earlier this month, the relationship between federal and Alaskan agencies seem unlikely to change at the moment. On January 4 Attorney General Jeff Sessions issued a memorandum to all United States Attorneys rescinding guidance articles previously issued during the previous presidential administration. This included the memo issued by then-Deputy Attorney General James Cole in 2013. The Cole memo had laid out a more hands-off policy regard...
Radio station KSTK is now awaiting decision by the Federal Communications Commission on whether to approve a proposed acquisition by CoastAlaska, a regional service headquartered in Juneau. Applications to transfer the station's four licenses were filed with the FCC in early December, with a public comment period ending last week. If approved, Wrangell Radio Group, whose board administers the local station, would transfer KSTK's physical assets along with its licensed channels to CoastAlaska as...
Wrangell's public school system got encouraging marks for its special education provision, during a special report Monday evening. The Public School District board met with Bob Hadaway, a consultant who has been working with the school system's administration and special education staff since September in preparation for a districtwide monitoring this fall by the Alaska Department of Education and Early Development. Superintendent Patrick Mayer explained the review was routine oversight, perform...
The Wrangell Wolves had a winning weekend over the Panthers last weekend during their games at Craig High School. “It was a long trip, but we came out with two JV wins and two varsity wins, so you can’t be too disappointed about that,” Wrangell coach Cody Angerman said afterward. On January 12 Wrangell’s varsity players played hard against the home team, racking up 72 points to Craig’s 61 in a high-scoring game. Trevor Miller made a difference during the game’s second half, dropping half a dozen three-pointers and going two for two on free thr...
You win some and sometimes lose some, the Lady Wolves showed during the weekend’s basketball matches in Craig. The high school girls’ performance was their second split so far of the regular season, following a similar showing at Petersburg the week before. At Craig the shortened weekend was only between the two schools’ varsity teams, as the Lady Panthers lack a junior varsity squad. During Friday’s game Wrangell had begun the game with an early lead at the half, ahead 27-12. Kaylyn Easterly led her team for points, sinking four extra attempt...
After deliberation on Saturday the Alaska Board of Fisheries rejected a proposal to scrap the Southeast Alaska management plan for Dungeness crab fisheries. The BoF is currently convened in Sitka for its meeting on the region’s shellfish and finfish regulation change proposals. It meets every three years, the last one being held in Wrangell in January 2015. Starting its shellfish meeting on January 11, members took testimony for 155 different proposals related to crab, shrimp and other miscellaneous shellfish. A late comer to this year’s sla...
The city will be trying to return court services to the Public Safety Building as quickly as possible. The Alaska Court System curtailed its courtroom and legal services in Wrangell just before Thanksgiving, citing air quality concerns with the space it rents from the borough. The building, which is home to the majority of the city’s emergency services, has experienced long-term leakage issues with its roof and siding. The problem at the court offices came to a head in September after the discovery of carpenter ants in an exterior wall, and i...
A Wrangell store owner was surprised to discover her shop had been entered during the night last week, with some items stolen. Located on the back side of the Churchill Building, Silver Liningz Boutique had apparently been broken into sometime during the evening of January 3. One of the town's newer businesses, the shop deals mainly in women's apparel, decorative coffee mugs and exotic scents. Store owner Terie Loomis had recently been working through her year-end inventory, so had a fresh idea...
Before the 30th Alaska Legislature meets for its second regular session next Tuesday, Sen. Bert Stedman (R-Sitka) stopped in Wrangell last week to meet with constituents. Visiting with the city manager and staff on January 4, Stedman's visit came on the heels of meetings with officials in Petersburg and was to be followed by a trip to Ketchikan. "Before every session I try to come down and run through the district, talking to city hall, finding out what's going on with the city councils and...
The Wolves split a two-game tournament in Petersburg over the weekend during its regular season opener. They weren't the team's first games of the year, however, with the Wolves taking part in the Clarke Cochrane Christmas Classic the week prior in Ketchikan. A bit closer to home last weekend, the players were not alone in making the jaunt over to Mitkof Island as dozens of local fans and supporters joined them in the stands when play began January 5. "We had a lot of support," Wrangell coach...
The Lady Wolves finished the weekend with a win and a loss, starting its regular season on an even footing. Playing in Petersburg during that high school’s homecoming weekend, the Wrangell girls started things out with a close loss Friday evening. Coach Laurie Brown said players showed difficulty making shots, and that free throws through the game had been inconsistent. Still, the two teams kept close together throughout the game. “It was back and forth,” she said. Heading into the fourth quarter Wrangell held a slight lead, but a late-...
Another year begins this week, and 2018 both holds promise and poses challenges to Wrangell residents. Economic trials will perhaps be of the greatest concern as state coffers seem set to dry up and fishing forecasts continue to disappoint. Limits to funding sources will be of particular bother as the borough continues to address an aging infrastructure, though securing state funding for the Shoemaker Bay Harbor refurbishment and an expected start to the belated Evergreen Road repaving should...
The Wrangell Assembly will be holding a workshop with its state representative Tuesday, ahead of its regularly scheduled meeting. Set for 6 p.m., Rep. Dan Ortiz (Unaffiliated – District 36) plans to present thoughts on the budget and fiscal plan put forward by Gov. Bill Walker last month, which will be making the Legislature's agenda when it convenes for its next session on January 16. "I just want to give the opportunity for the Assembly to give me some input with regards to what they would l...
The girls and boys basketball teams brought back no awards but learned some lessons in a preseason tournament in Ketchikan last week. The Clarke Cochrane Christmas Classic is a longstanding Ketchikan tournament, typically held between the holidays. As with previous years, Alaska teams paired off with schools from as far afield as New Mexico ahead of their regular season openers. The Wrangell High School boys opened the tournament on December 28, matched up with Washington’s Anacortes High School. A well-regarded team in its own division at h...
10 was a cooler, wetter year than usual for Southeast Alaska, according to National Weather Service data. Looking back on the weather for 2017, Juneau meteorologist Rick Fritsch summed things up on Tuesday with his annual climatological report. The year began on a blustery note, with high wind warnings issued five times during the month of January. Though the month had started at or below average temperatures, by its end a warm spell presaged a return of rainfall to the region. This carried into February and the climatological end of winter,...
A group of Wrangell firefighters raising money for cancer research will have grown this year, with nine to take part in the Scott Firefighter Stairclimb in Seattle March 11. Drawing 2,000 firefighters this year from around the world, the climb benefits the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society of Washington and Alaska. Founded in 1949, it is the world's largest voluntary health organization dedicated to researching and treating various blood cancers. Last year's climb raised a record $2.4 million for the...
Winter wasn't the only source of wonder in Wrangell last week, as residents crowded into the public library to watch a magic show. Illuminating minds under the stage name of Rondoc, Dr. Myron Fribush commanded the southwestern corner of Irene Ingle Public Library the evening of December 20. Children crowded around in front, with as many adults watching from as far back as the main doors. There were 58 audience members in all. Wearing a conical hat and Chinese gown, the visiting physician...
The board of Wrangell’s public radio station last month approved a deal which would transfer its ownership to a regional corporation. Following a decision by its governing board to do so in November, Wrangell Radio Group (WRG) on December 11 filed an application with the Federal Communications Commission to transfer its four channels to CoastAlaska in Juneau. Among the four would be KSTK, a source for news and entertainment on the island since the noncommercial station was first built in 1977. CoastAlaska is a nonprofit corporation which provid...
The borough and Alaska Court System are awaiting results of air quality testing at Wrangell’s Public Safety Building before courthouse services can be resumed. ACS shuttered the office space it rents there just before Thanksgiving, citing safety concerns for its staff. Long-term water damage and rot to exterior walls of the court offices had been revealed back in September when maintenance workers opened up the drywall, following reports of a carpenter ant infestation. A judicial officer had to be relocated to another part of the office w...
Action plans for the emergency management of Chinook salmon in Southeast Alaskan rivers have been drafted ahead of next month's Board of Fisheries meeting in Sitka. The board, which reviews regulatory oversight of fisheries across the state, planned to meet on January 11 to discuss shellfish and finfish proposals for the coming year. But added to its plate will be a trio of action plans drawn up by the Department of Fish and Game designating king salmon populations in several rivers as stocks...
Wrangell Medical Center passed its annual financial audit without complaint, though its cash flow situation is still not in the best of health. Financial officer Doran Hammett ran down the numbers for members of the hospital’s governing board during their monthly meeting December 20. Revenues for the past five months still are lagging behind expectation, around eight percent below budget. Expenses have also been lower than expected, by about six percent, but the hospital is nonetheless running at around a $224,460 loss for the 2018 fiscal y...
