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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...
Wrangell delegates returned from last month's annual conference for the Alaska Federation of Natives at Anchorage's Dena'ina Center. AFN is the largest statewide Native organization in Alaska, representing 151 federally recognized tribes, 150 village corporations, 12 regional corporations, and various nonprofit and tribal consortiums. Its annual October conference, this year held between the 19th and 21st, provides AFN membership the opportunity to put forward resolutions as well as to discuss...
The hospital is scheduled to implement a new smoke-free campus policy at the start of the new year. Wrangell Medical Center administrators and key staff signed the new policy on October 24, to take effect on January 1. Currently the hospital sports designated smoking areas for staff, patients and visitors, one of the few hospitals in the state still to do so, reckons Scott Glaze, WMC compliance and risk manager. Its health provision counterpart Alaska Island Community Services has had such a policy in place since February 2015. The new policy...
While costumed revelers celebrated Halloween Saturday night, fire fighters suited up and responded to a call on Case Avenue near the boatyard. A pedestrian passing by Freeman & Sons Machine and Fabrication just before 11 p.m. noticed smoke coming from an upstairs office. They reported it to the bartender on duty across the street at Rayme's Bar, and the Volunteer Fire Department was called. "They were here before I was," commented Randy Freeman, co-owner and manager of the machine shop. "They...
Wrangell’s wrestlers continue their season with a handful of first placements and other top-three showings, following a pair of tournaments the past two weekends. At the Pilot Invitational in Juneau October 20 and 21, eight Wrangell High School students participated after one was pulled for an injury. Of them, in bracket play two wrestlers finished with first placements, two with seconds, and two with thirds. “They jumped in there, they really wrestled tough,” commented coach Jeff Rooney afterward. Competing in round-robin play in the 106-p...
With October finally gone, Don and Bonnie Roher remind the community that Thanksgiving is on the way, which means it’s time to prepare their annual food baskets. The couple has been putting together food baskets for families and single residents in need for the past 15 years, with 2017 marking their 16th. Neighbors and friends nominate those they think might benefit best from the drive, which makes sure there’s a turkey and trimmings on every table this November 23. Volunteers bring together the ingredients, arrange the baskets, then distribute...
A new group of shooting enthusiasts has formed in Wrangell with the intent of forming a competitive trapshooting group for local youth. Friends of the NRA – referring to the National Rifle Association, a gun rights advocacy group – is its own nonprofit group with chapters located around the country. State committees raise money for the NRA Foundation, which in turn allocates half of all net proceeds back to the state of origin. In the form of grants, these funds then go toward programming and projects related to shooting sports. Since its start...
The Alaska Marine Highway System has put forward its draft summer schedule for next year, one which is similar to 2017 sailings. The proposed schedule covers service between May and September 2018. Nine of the system’s 11 vessels will be operational during the season, Wrangell will be serviced through the summer by the Malaspina and the Columbia. The Malaspina will sail from Prince Rupert to Skagway once per week, and from Prince Rupert to Juneau once per week. It will make southbound stops into Wrangell Monday mornings and Thursday e...
Cash flow problems have again been ailing Wrangell Medical Center, with the public hospital putting forward a request for $250,000 to the city on Tuesday. At its own board meeting on October 18, WMC’s chief financial officer, Doran Hammett, explained the situation. Cash on hand had by the end of September dropped to $311,069, down from $838,604 at the start of the fiscal year on July 1. It costs around $28,000 a day to operate the hospital, meaning WMC had only around 11 days’ worth available for its payroll and other expenditures. The hos...
Just under a dozen students at the local middle and high schools took part in a two-week hunter education course, earning their certifications in the process. The course was led by Winston Davies, who teaches the district's Alaska skills course. "It's the first time to my knowledge that hunter safety has been taught here in years," he explained. The state-approved curriculum provides a well-rounded course, covering firearms safety training, wildlife conservation, and respect for natural resource...
Preliminary harvest and value figures for the 2017 commercial salmon fishery indicate the season was a step up above the previous year's disastrous harvest. The Alaska Department of Fish and Game reported a 66.7-percent increase in exvessel value between the two years, with 224.6 million wild salmon worth around $678.8 million brought in by the state's fishing fleet. Chum salmon saw the biggest boon of the year, breaking records with 25.2 million fish, worth about $128.3 million. The haul...
Wrangell High School's volleyball team is poised to be in contention with the region's leaders, following a busy game schedule two weekends ago. Leaving on the ferry October 12, the Lady Wolves took part in the Juneau Invitational Volleyball Extravaganza over the following two days. The tournament gave the team an early opportunity to play against an array of schools in quick succession. First up were the girls at Thunder Mountain High School, who won 25 to Wrangell's 13. The Lady Wolves...
A statewide assessment of grade schoolers taken this spring has suggested education has some room for improvement. The Performance Evaluation for Alaska’s Schools (PEAKS) exam was administered for the first time to students between third and 10th grade, testing for proficiency in mathematics, English language arts and science. Mirroring standards used in the widely-used National Assessment of Educational Progress, PEAKS provides a snapshot of student performance in relation to grade-level standards. Overall, schools across the state did not a...
Members of the Wrangell Assembly commiserated with Wrangell Cooperative Association leadership Tuesday evening to discuss possible alternatives to a proposed monofill for the Byford cleanup. The Department of Environmental Conservation proposes interring 18,350 cubic yards of treated, lead-contaminated soils in a rock pit managed by the Department of Natural Resources. The material was removed during cleanup of acres of property at the former Byford junkyard, which the city had previously acquired through foreclosure. DEC stepped in to manage...
At Wrangell’s regular meeting of the Borough Assembly Tuesday, members opted not to withdraw their opposition to a proposed timber sale package. The United States Forest Service has over the course of years been putting together a timber sale for Wrangell Island, of which it manages 93 percent of the borough’s land area, which has been nearing its final stages. In August the city responded to the project’s final draft record of decision with an objection letter. After speaking with staff, Tongass National Forest supervisor Earl Stewart propo...
A group of local musicians banded together to raise funds for the school music program, performing at the elementary school last Thursday evening. Dubbing themselves the Wrangell Bear-oque Players – a portmanteau of bear and baroque, referencing past appearances together at Bearfest and the musical style – the ensemble was actually divided into two groups for the evening. A woodwind and strings set performed pieces of classical music, while a brass quintet played jazz. The evening was org...
The Alaska Legislature heads back to Juneau for a fourth special session on Monday. By proclamation of Gov. Bill Walker on September 22, lawmakers will have two bills to consider during their 30-day extra session. One will be Senate Bill 54, which revises the criminal justice reform package passed back in 2016 based on recommendations by the Alaska Criminal Justice Commission. In particular, the bill would tighten up penalties for class C felonies and repeat thefts, violations of release and sex trafficking offenses. The bill had been passed...
Hunters still have until tomorrow to get their harvest reports in, but the 2017 moose hunt has already broken the RM038 district record. As of Tuesday afternoon some 117 animals had been logged by hunters in the Wrangell and Petersburg area. It surpasses the 111 taken last year, and marks the fourth year in a row where the harvest has exceeded 100 moose. The month-long season started September 15 and wrapped up Sunday. The majority of moose were taken on surrounding islands, with 48 taken on...
