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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...
A group of residents last weekend took part in a march meant to remind the community that slavery is still a problem in the world today. The United Nations' International Labour Organization estimates that over 40,000,000 people around the world are involved in modern slavery, which involves work or situations performed involuntarily and under threat of violence or penalty. That averages out to 5.4 people for every 1,000, with a quarter of those being children. Just under 25 million enslaved...
Options for finding an alternative site to a monofill selected by the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation last year are limited, according to an exchange between it and the City and Borough last month. Around 18,350 cubic yards of treated, lead-contaminated soil removed from the former Byford junkyard property last year by contractors for DEC are to be interred indefinitely in a monofill site. Sixty containers of heavier-contaminated soil and debris were barged out for reprocessing, but as the unexpectedly large project had...
A local grocery store bid official farewell to its manager of nearly 50 years. Since March of 1968, Chet Powell made sure the shelves at Wrangell's City Market were properly stocked and its employees kept busy helping customers. Originally from Springdale, Arkansas, Powell first got into the grocery business at the age of 14, coming to work for his uncle, William Norton, at his market in the Seattle area. "He was the one that taught me the grocery business," Powell recalled, getting his start fi...
Wrangell Public School District has been trying something new for lunch this year, enlisting local kitchens to keep students at the middle and high schools fed. Five private food services have staked out days of the week to provide meals: J&W's Fast Foods, the delis at Bobs' IGA and City Market, Notsofamous Pizza, and the Stikine Restaurant. Secondary schools principal Bill Schwan explained the arrangement had developed in response to an in-house menu attempted last year. At the end of the...
The 2017 Tom Sims Invitational last weekend saw six of seven Wrangell wrestlers make the finals, with four of them taking first placements in their weight brackets. "It was a great tournament," said coach Jeff Rooney. "A lot of positive remarks." The hosting team's first tournament of the season followed its big fundraiser dinner the previous weekend, where players served around 180 people. "We appreciate all the support from the community for that," said assistant coach Jack Carney. The funds...
At the second school board meeting of the new year on Monday, staff and returning members welcomed newly elected fellows Dave Wilson and Jessica Rooney. Officers were selected for the reshuffled board, with Georgianna Buhler retaining her position as president, Tammi Groshong being elected to vice-president in a 3-2 vote, and Aleisha Mollen named board secretary. Perhaps the biggest news of the evening though had been an announcement from secondary schools principal Bill Schwan and Secondary...
In its Tuesday evening meeting this week, the City and Borough Assembly decided to shift focus for block grant funding to remodeling the Public Safety Building. Sited centrally to town at the start of Zimovia Highway, the aging facility has already neared the top of the city’s capital improvement priorities. In its project outline, city staff recommended putting the building forward as a candidate for Community Development Block Grant funding, a competitive program sourcing $2.4 million of Housing and Urban Development funding each year into A...
Eleven Wrangell high school students took part in a two-day workshop, enabling their certification to conduct fishing vessel drills. Secondary schools principal Bill Schwan explained the 18-hour instructional course was provided through a grant with Alaska Marine Safety Education Association, a Sitka-based organization which provides marine safety training for a variety of nautical activities across the country. Its Coast Guard-approved fishing vessel drill conductor trainings focus on safety is...
