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A sewer main broke early Monday morning, necessitating a temporary shutdown of nearby pump stations and causing an overflow of untreated water into Inner Harbor. The main line connecting town to the sewage treatment plant ruptured near the Sea Level Seafoods processing facility at 1204 Zimovia Highway. City crews responded to the scene, shutting down pump stations near the Public Works Department building and City Park in order to repair the break. Eighty-five percent of Wrangell households are connected to the municipal sewage system, and the...
Members of First Presbyterian Church were invited to a bit of fellowship last week, meeting with two missionaries operating in Indonesia for the Presbyterian Church U.S.A. (PCUSA) Coming from one archipelagic nation all the way to the Alexander Archipelago, on Aug. 4 and 5 Bernie and Farsijana Adeney-Risakotta made Wrangell a stop on their three-month interpretation assignment for PCUSA. The two visited Anan Wildlife Observatory and were treated to some local hospitality during their brief...
The local corps of the Salvation Army is continuing its work running a food bank with the arrival of Michael Bates and his wife, Jennifer. The couple has served together as majors in the Salvation Army for the past 26 years. Arriving in Wrangell in March, the two were previously stationed in Kodiak for three years, and have served elsewhere in Alaska, Wyoming, California and Utah. While the Salvation Army thrift store closed last year, the local organization has maintained its other outreach services, such as the food bank. “The food bank is a...
Events for the 7th Annual Bearfest are already underway, with the first two workshops and symposium presented yesterday at the Nolan Center. The annual activity was started in 2010 by Sylvia Ettefagh, an outfitter with Alaska Vistas and commercial fisherman. Drawing a number of notable speakers and participants each year, Bearfest serves to highlight the local bear population, particularly that found at nearby Anan Wildlife Observatory. About 30 miles southeast of Wrangell, the observatory...
Wrangell’s Borough Assembly revisited its local contractors list, which it had adopted last year in order to streamline hiring for small projects. An idea was first put forward to the Assembly by Borough Manager Jeff Jabusch in December 2014, drafting a list of licensed local contractors who could be called upon for small-scale jobs under $25,000 on a rotating on-call basis. A pool of qualified local contractors hirable by the city was created, ensuring those contacted for jobs were qualified for the work and that all those qualifying would b...
A Wrangell resident has been named among this year's Path to Prosperity competition finalists. Dixie Booker has put forward a proposal to cultivate and sell fresh produce. Called Mighty Bear Roots, the business would involve the construction of a 72-by-30-foot greenhouse housing a series of aeroponic growing towers. Gardening since childhood, Booker has only recently experimented with this less conventional method, which maximizes space and conserves resources by arranging plants vertically. "I...
Though a crisis in the local water supply has subsided, Wrangell remains in a state of conservation through most of the rest of summer. The City and Borough Assembly formally declared a state of disaster in a special meeting held July 19, after ready water reserves had fallen to a fraction of capacity. Problems with the water treatment plant’s filtration process meant supply could not keep up with demand, and early last week local seafood processors and the wider public were asked to reduce consumption. Efficiencies undertaken by both p...
The Wrangell Borough Assembly held an executive session on July 15 to discuss the sale of its belt tunnel freezer facility. It had been approached by the building's current lessee, Trident Seafoods. Giving some background, Assembly member Julie Decker explained the freezer had been part of a three-phase process to enhance local seafood processing infrastructure. Beginning in 2003 with the addition of mobile equipment such as the plate freezer and fillet machine line, in 2004 the belt freezer...
With the supply of treated water dangerously low, the Borough Assembly officially declared the city to be in a state of disaster Tuesday evening. The decision was reached during a special session in which officials met with departmental staff and representatives of Wrangell’s two fish processing plants, Trident Seafoods and Sea Level Seafoods. With the processing season already underway and production ramping up, the two together are consuming about half of the community’s water. Alarm bells were raised by Public Works when it reported its res...
The City and Borough of Wrangell has officially endorsed a plan being put forward by the United States Forest Service concerning future timber sales on the island. In a special meeting on July 15, the Borough Assembly gave its input on a letter of support being drafted by economic development coordinator Carol Rushmore. A final copy was formally submitted to the Wrangell Ranger District on Monday, the last day of the public comment period for its Wrangell timber sale’s Draft Environmental Impact Statement. The DEIS puts forward five alternative...
A steering committee has been selected to head up restructuring of the Alaska Marine Highway System. In May the office of Gov. Bill Walker tasked regional economic forum Southeast Conference with revitalizing the state’s maritime transportation network, a two-phase process which will involve looking both at its organizational structure and business model. To that end, a committee representing AMHS’ varied user base was selected from around 25 applicants. “We had quite a few names to choose from,” commented Robert Venables, transpo...
As Wrangell gears up for its 7th Annual Bearfest next week, locals may have already noticed the festival's distinctive bears popping up around town. Since its founding in 2010, each year a new plastic bear is decorated by a local artist to celebrate. The design styles have been distinct and highlight different facets of the community, from its school spirit to its marine life to its geography. This year's is no less unique, designed as a Russian matryoshka doll by resident Larissa Siekawitch....
Wrangell has moved a step closer toward the opening of licensed marijuana-related businesses, with Planning and Zoning forwarding its recommendations for code updates to the city’s clerk and lawyer. Basing the proposal on conclusions reached by the commission over the course of several meetings this year, economic development director Carol Rushmore passed out a draft for review she had prepared at a July 14 meeting. “I’ve kept it pretty simple,” she told commissioners. Given the go-ahead by the Borough Assembly in June, the proposed ordinan...
Close to 100 people participated in a memorial walk on Sunday, held to remember those killed or injured in a car crash in Petersburg early last week. Meeting at Wrangell's city dock, more than a third of the walkers were from the neighboring community. Organized by local running group Southeast Beasts, the five kilometer (three mile) course was intended to help show support during a time of tragedy. The route taken brought walkers down Front Street from the dock, up to Zimovia Highway and out to...
Reaching local postal boxes last week, the quality report for Wrangell’s water supply indicates a slight decline. The study was conducted last year by the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation Drinking Water Protection Program, and provides a snapshot of water quality for 2015. Of the 80 contaminants being measured for by the the assessment, Wrangell’s water showed 11 but passed muster for 10 of them. One area, the level of haloacetic acids (HAA5), measured beyond the maximum contaminant level allowed by federal guidelines. HAA5 is...
Following the July 4 weekend, last Wednesday Wrangell's Public Works Department began closing off Wood Street for resurfacing work. The project is expected to last into September, with contractors laying out underground utilities and paving the road in concrete, from where it meets Zimovia Highway to the entrance of the Alaska Island Community Services clinic parking lot. The city made resurfacing the road a priority for the new year, as a grant acquired for the project expires in June 2017....
Fisherman Gig Decker holds up a sockeye pulled from his nets aboard the F/V McCrea on July 6, near 14-Mile Zimovia. The drift gillnet fishery for the Stikine River and Prince of Wales Island areas opened on July 3, with an additional 60-hour opening beginning July 7. Alaska Department of Fish and Game reports the effort has been near average, with a better than usual sockeye harvest so far. The districts opened again for another four days beginning Sunday. As of July 8, the inseason summary for...
A local resident got to celebrate her first Independence Day as a United States citizen this week, after gaining citizenship on June 24. Originally hailing from the Philippines, Josie Olsen first arrived to Wrangell in 1999. She recalled she had not lived in her home country since 1985, living and working abroad in the interim. Olsen was working as a diplomat in Brussels, Belgium, when she came to America to visit a friend. "It was the end of June when I came," Olsen said. What began with a...
Wrangell's annual Independence Day celebration draws hundreds of visitors, from former residents and current ones' relatives to returning tourists. Among the weekend's visitors were Sen. Bert Stedman of District R and Republican candidate for House District 36 Bob Sivertsen. On a brief break before returning to Juneau for a special session beginning on July 11, Stedman explained the purpose of his visit to Wrangell was twofold: catching the first two days of its Fourth festivities and visiting w...
Carter Howell shows off his catch during the Tiny Tots Scrap Fish Derby on Saturday. Dozens of kids angled for whatever they could catch, and were rewarded with toys and games donated by a variety of local businesses....
"Romane Event" goes shoulder to shoulder with a competitor during the Garnet Grit Betties' mashup bout at Evergreen Elementary School's basketball court on Saturday. The friendly match featured roller derby girls from Wrangell, Petersburg and Ketchikan playing together on a joint team. Despite a few hard falls on the concrete, no injuries resulted from the match....
A finalized event schedule has been put out for the 2016 Fourth of July Celebration in Wrangell, which begins tomorrow and will last through Monday evening. This year’s celebratory theme is “Back to the Rock,” highlighting the annual Fourth holiday as a time when Wrangellite relatives, former residents and family friends return to the island. “It’s just kind of that catch phrase people in Wrangell use for coming back home,” explained Aleisha Mollen, Chamber of Commerce treasurer and chair of this year’s festivities. Though she has organized the...
A survey to gauge the housing needs of Wrangell’s Native population launched last week. Wrangell Cooperative Association is conducting a housing needs assessment, following up on a community needs survey completed last year and the results of a special stakeholders meeting held in December. As housing issues ranged high among the identified community needs, this recent survey gathers demographic data and residential information from participants. “We’re trying to get every tribal household in Wrangell to take the survey,” explained WCA tribal...
The City and Borough Assembly passed a budget this week, at a specially held session at City Hall on Monday. The meeting involved a work session which gave its members time to discuss individual line items with finance director Lee Burgess. The budget which was passed works within the current property tax rate of 12.75 mills and includes several new revenue or cost-saving items, such as allowing city employees to pay 15 percent of all premiums and receive a 5-percent credit if they participate in the plan’s wellness program. Two other items w...
Wrangell officially threw its support behind a proposed accelerated high school program, after the Borough Assembly issued a resolution in favor of it at Tuesday’s meeting. Coming to view during the planning process for the former Institute property’s future development, the Alaska Native Science and Engineering Program is looking to take its advanced summer curriculum to the next level with a residential facility. Currently operating between between regular school years, the program helps give rural, primarily Native Alaskan students ext...
