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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...
A home-harvested fundraiser raised just over $3,800 for a child's medical expenses on Sunday, which follows another effort in October that had raised $1,800. The funds are for Taryn Lee, a five-year-old diagnosed with spitzoid melanoma earlier this summer. According to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, melanoma is the most serious form of skin cancer due to its tendency to spread quickly. While rare among the general population for skin cancers, it is even more rare among pediatric cases,...
The Planning and Zoning Commission moved forward several developments of properties neighboring the ferry terminal at its monthly meeting last week. It signed off on a conditional use permit for the corner property at Church Street and Evergreen Road, which had been purchased from the Stough Family Trust by Tidewater Investments LLC in October. Owners Benn Curtis and Shirley Wimberley wanted to continue using the undeveloped lot for outdoor storage. Under the commission's recommendations,...
School may be out for Wrangell students’ winter break, but the Public School Board still came together for its last meeting of the year on Monday. Board members were given a preview of a new disciplinary policy for students at Evergreen Elementary School. A committee of teachers, parents and even a student had developed the exhibit over the past semester. “We all had ideas on the table,” explained kindergarten teacher Mikki Angerman, one of the committee’s members. “We were all really happy with what the end result was.” The new disciplinary ma...
In an announcement last week, the public is reminded a comment deadline for proposed changes to fisheries management is quickly coming up. The Board of Fisheries, the regulatory body charged with oversight over the state’s fisheries management will gather in Sitka on January 11 for a 13-day meeting, during which it will consider 153 proposals specific to finfish and shellfish issues in Southeast Alaska and Yakutat. Proposals come from the board itself, the Department of Fish and Game, fishing organizations and the general public, and comments a...
Wrangell’s high school wrestling team finished up its season at the state championships in Anchorage last weekend, securing 11th overall with 58.5 points. Competing at the Alaska Airlines Center Friday through Sunday, students from 56 different schools took part in the 1-3A tournament. Wrangell’s inclusion comes after its third-place finish at Region V in Ketchikan the week prior. “It went very well,” said Wolves coach Jeff Rooney. “We didn’t have any champions, but we had some great wrestling. It was a good time.” Wrestling in the 106-pound we...
By popular demand, the Chamber of Commerce will be bringing the holiday spirit back to Wrangell's shores next week with its annual boat parade. Once a tradition every Christmas season, mariners of every stripe would string up lights and decorations on their vessels for a floating parade. The event started with physician Wayne "Doc" Davenport, who arrived to the island to practice medicine during the mid-1970s. Just before the holiday he would decorate his boat, and had afterward encouraged...
Board members on the Wrangell Convention and Visitor Bureau last week approved funding site construction for a new web page showcasing the community to potential visitors. The borough’s current page for tourists, WrangellAlaska.org, has proven a pain to maintain. Economic development director Carol Rushmore explained that site had been designed some years ago primarily with conventions in mind. The information it does have to share is limited and mostly links over to the city’s formal Wrangell.com site. “It’s an old design. We can’t get in th...
The regional forest supervisor with the United States Forest Service issued a final decision on the Wrangell Island timber sale project on Monday. Addressing a number of objections to the project as it was proposed last year, the scope of the sale approved by the Tongass National Forest supervisor’s office in Ketchikan will be but a fraction of what it had been. Among five alternatives presented, it was Alternative 2 which the USFS opted for. Of the plans, it had the greatest amounts of acreage and timber deemed to be sustainably harvested, a...
A Wrangell organization will this evening hold a storybook reading along with other communities across the country, to support transgender and non-binary youth. The book is I Am Jazz, a children's book written by transgender teen Jazz Jennings, an online and television personality and youth ambassador for the Human Rights Campaign Foundation. Her book's intent is to introduce the concept of gender identity to young audiences. "It's a good way to start the conversation, expose people to different...
Wrangell’s wrestlers took third at Region V in Ketchikan over the weekend, and will be sending all seven of its students to state-level competition in Anchorage this weekend. The team brought six boys and one girl for the tournament, and between them took third place overall. Four wrestlers took championship titles for the region and the other three were runners-up. “Extremely good tournament for all our wrestlers,” Wrangell coach Jeff Rooney said afterward. “They were all standouts. They wrestled hard, and they wrestled smart.” JD Barratt s...
After volleyball's silver-place showing at State last month and as the wrestling team wraps its own season, Wrangell High School's basketball program is already practicing for its new year. After bidding goodbye this spring to its coach of 30 years, the boys team will be headed up by a new coaching staff this season. Cody Angerman will be replacing retiring Ray Stokes as head coach, and Graham Gablehouse has been hired as assistant coach. Both men grew up in Wrangell, and are familiar faces on...
A preseason forecast for next year's king salmon return to the Stikine River has come up worryingly short, boding ill for local fisheries. Released last week by Alaska Department of Fish and Game, the preseason terminal run size forecast for the Stikine River was at only 6,900 fish, less than half the lower threshold of the stock's escapement goal range. The Stikine EGR is between 14,000 and 28,000 Chinook salmon, and such a low forecast does not allow for an allowable catch under treaty...
A dozen members of Wrangell Swim Club joined swimmers from six other clubs around the region in Ketchikan earlier this month. Entering its second year of competitive swimming, the Wrangell group saw some first and second place finishes from its kids during this year's Mike Smithers Southeast Championship. There were 144 swimmers in all, coming from Juneau, Sitka, Craig, Haines, Petersburg and Ketchikan. Wrangell coach Bruce McQueen explained the meet is equivalent to the league's regionals,...
In an effort to curb roadside eyesores around town, Wrangell Public Works announced at last week’s meeting of the Borough Assembly its intention to allow people to dispose of their excess scrap metal for free through the end of December. The twice-extended arrangement was initially meant to last through mid-November, when a construction firm was expected to bring a barge to retrieve the city’s scrap. Channel Construction of Juneau had previously removed tons of the stuff earlier this April, in an arrangement where it charged no fees for the...
With a stellar conclusion to its 2017 season, the Wrangell High School volleyball team finished second at the State 2A Championships on Saturday. The team headed up early last Tuesday, practicing the next morning at Dimond High School. It was a crowded tournament, between the 2A and the mix-six. Teams were practicing two at a time on court throughout the day. Beginning play November 30 against King Cove, the Lady Wolves had already been preparing for their first meet. Whitaker said her girls...
At its regular meeting Tuesday, the Borough Assembly approved moving ahead with seeking a consultant on the hospital’s future, while members also learned city computers had been targeted by a hacking attack. A letter recommending hiring a consultant had been submitted to the city by the Wrangell Medical Center governing board last month. Currently the hospital is a municipal service, but recent cash flow troubles and sizable costs for a replacement facility have had administrators and elected officials alike considering other alternatives. A...