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At last week’s meeting of the Wrangell Assembly, the city manager and mayor updated members on the outcome of Alaska Municipal League’s Combined Summer Meeting held earlier this month. Held in Haines August 16 and 17, the annual conference combines the summer meetings of the Alaska Municipal Management Association, the Alaska Conference of Mayors, and AML’s Summer Legislative Conference. Speaking on it last Tuesday, Mayor David Jack recalled the main subject happened to be the state’s primary worry, its budget. “The most important thing is...
The Wrangell Tribe’s environmental program office announced last week that most species of shellfish have been cleared for consumption at a pair of local beaches. On August 24 results from the week’s sampling had indicated levels of saxitoxin – the root cause of paralytic shellfish poisoning – evident in mussels at Pats Creek and Shoemaker Bay beaches had dropped below federal safety guidelines. Conducting the site testing, the Indian Environmental General Assistance Program had previously issued a warning for Pats in January and Shoemak...
For the first time, Wrangell will host the Central Council of Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska’s (CCTHITA) annual environmental conference. Hosted at the Nolan Center, the Southeast Environmental Conference will begin the afternoon of September 5, continuing through the middle of the 8th. Since its inception, the conference’s focus has been on building collaboration between the region’s tribes, corporations and other agencies. “This is something we have been doing since the early, mid-2000s,” said Ray Paddock, environmental coordinat...
Before summer gives way to autumn, several Wrangell business owners decided to have one more hurrah downtown with food and live music. Set for Sunday afternoon, "Warm August Nights" was thought up by Heidi Milazzo, Clay Culbert, Lucy Robinson, Brooke Leslie and Brenda Schwartz-Yeager. "All of us have been working on it together," said Milazzo. "We just wanted to have a fun family event." Culbert pointed out the lull in local activities around August, with not much by way of entertainment...
Women from the local American Legion Auxiliary took part in the national organization's 97th annual convention last week. Three members from Merlin Elmer Palmer, Auxiliary Unit 6, joined 1,500 other delegates, as well as alternates and guests from around the United States in Reno, Nevada. Accompanied by Barbara Hommel and Zona Gregg, respectively the chapter's vice president and treasurer, president Marilyn Mork was recognized as Alaska's Woman of the Year. "I was kind of surprised that I was...
Ahead of local kids starting school this week, a regional program wanted to make sure students started prepared. The Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) department for Central Council Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska distributed more than 2,000 backpacks and athletic bags to communities across Southeast Alaska. Working with Wrangell Cooperative Association, several CCTHITA employees were in town last week with 102 bags, each filled with age-appropriate school supplies to start the year off right. “It’s a great pro...
By Dan Rudy Sentinel writer Project leads for a contaminated site reclamation met with townspeople Monday evening to address concerns with a proposed monofill. The monofill – a landfill meant for only one substance, in this case treated, lead-contaminated soil – would be the second phase of the Byford junkyard cleanup, an operation which was undertaken last year by Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation, Environmental Protection Agency and various contractors. In use as a private landfi...
Wrangell emergency responders took part in a search for a missing canoer on the Stikine River earlier this month. Fire Chief Tim Buness reported a call had been received for assistance at around 5 p.m. on August 3. "We had a couple of canoers canoing by the Great Glacier," he said, on the Canadian side of the river about 10 miles from the border. The craft had turned over in the fast-moving water at around 3 p.m., spilling two men into the river. "One of the guys made it up to the beach," said B...
A group of Wrangell residents joined together for peace and solidarity near Front Street last Saturday. A community peace vigil was organized in response to violence a week earlier during a rally and counter-protest in Charlottesville, Virginia. A gathering of white supremacists, members of the "alt-right" movement and neo-Nazis in the college town was planned for August 12, called "Unite the Right." The rally was intended to protest the planned removal of a statue commemorating Confederate...
Overshadowing other agenda items for Tuesday evening’s Borough Assembly meeting, voices were raised and the rare gavel was used during the persons to be heard segment as several residents and representatives of the Wrangell Tribe aired concerns over proposed placement of a monofill site near Pats Creek. (see Monofill article) Under ceremonial matters, Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) environmental program manager John Halverson updated the Assembly on the cleanup at the 4-Mile former junkyard site, which had been extensively c...
A Wrangellite had a unique opportunity to take part in some Alaskan history this year, while revisiting her own family history in the process. Johanna Joseph and her sister, Ann Conatser a Walla Walla resident, were invited by the Ounalashka Corporation to attend an event in Unalaska commemorating the 75th anniversary of the Battle of Dutch Harbor. The town had been the birthplace of their mother, Theadosia Stepitan Nauska, known as Fanny to friends and family. The battle itself was part of...
With one week left to file, candidates are still being sought for a number of Wrangell’s municipal committees and elected seats. As of Tuesday, four residents have put in their names for the October 3 ballot, ahead of the August 31 filing deadline. Assemblyman Mark Mitchell will not seek another term on that body, but will be running instead for one three-year term on the Port Commission. Current commissioner Walter Moorhead has not yet submitted his name for another term. For the Wrangell School Board, Jessica Rooney has also put herself up f...
One of Wrangell’s two seafood processors has drawn down production early for the season due to lower than expected returns this summer. Updated twice daily, on Tuesday the Alaska Department of Fish and Game’s Blue Sheet reported just over 143 million salmon have been harvested statewide, though numbers were not available for the Bristol Bay, Kuskokwim and Aleutian Islands districts. Seventy-four percent of these are pink salmon, with over 106 million already reported in. Coming off of last year’s season – declared a “disaster” by Gov. Bill W...
Public Works changed its summertime water management conservation level back to normal last week, ending a month of minor restrictions. Up until last Friday, users of Wrangell’s water utility have been advised to use less water starting in mid-July, when the city entered the first of a three-stage response status. Better water management has been a key issue with the city this year, with an emergency response plan formally adopted in April. Last summer demand outpaced the water treatment plant’s ability to supply, prompting the borough man...
A two-week clinic for burgeoning swimmers concluded last weekend with a meet on Saturday. The summer swim camp was put on jointly by Wrangell Swim Club and Parks and Recreation, and included about 16 youths. Including kids from as young as five to 12 years old, the hour-a-day sessions were meant to help build intermediate swimming skills for relatively new learners. "The bulk of our kids were around nine or 12," said Jamie Roberts, who along with Bruce McQueen coaches the club. Over the course...
Summer may be at its peak, but for students it’s quickly beginning to wind down. The new year begins for them on August 28, and several new things are in store. At Evergreen Elementary School, Gail Taylor will be settling in as its new principal. Offered the job in June and starting later this month, she was previously the elementary principal at Haworth School District in Haworth, Oklahoma. For students at Stikine Middle and Wrangell High schools, secondary principal Bill Schwan explained a new guidance counselor will be starting soon. The r...
Social media was astir Monday as word spread about the second stage of a project being undertaken to mitigate contamination at the former Byford junkyard. Notice of a proposed use of Pats Creek Road was submitted to the United States Forest Service late last week, informing Wrangell Ranger District trucks would be making extensive use of the road to shift around 18,500 cubic yards of lead-contaminated soil from the former Byford property near 4 Mile Zimovia to a rock pit just two miles down the...
More than just focusing on the local wildlife, Wrangell's annual Bearfest is also an opportunity to focus on the creative arts. Whether it is judging photographs and paintings at the Nolan Center, a "Bear-oque" classical concert and fundraiser lunch for the Wrangell Chorale, local girls playing their violins during the Saturday market, or judges selecting their favorite pies, there were varied ways last week to highlight the beauty and inspiration that comes from living in rural Alaska....
For the first time since last winter, paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP) risk factors for butter clams sampled on beaches near Pats Creek have dropped back to normal. Wrangell Cooperative Association’s Indian Environmental General Assistance Program office made the announcement last week, after samples taken July 24 showed decreased levels of saxitoxin. The cause behind PSP, elevated saxitoxin traces were first discovered at the site in January. Saxitoxin is a deadly neurotoxin produced by phytoplankton of the genus Alexandrium. When a...
Candidates are being sought for Wrangell’s various municipal committees and elected seats. Beginning August 1 and extending through the remainder of the month, the city clerk’s office will be accepting declarations of candidacy and signature petitions for the October 3 ballot. Two three-year terms on the Borough Assembly are coming up for election, with the seats of Stephen Prysunka and Mark Mitchell both expiring. Two seats on the Public School Board – one a full three-year and the other an unexpired two-year term – are likewise up for ele...
The symposium at last week's Bearfest was an opportunity for experts in bear-related research to share some of their knowledge about the different species, as well as highlight the work they have done in their different fields. Lance Craighead of Montana's Craighead Institute has been a longtime supporter of Wrangell's annual festival, which celebrates the area's robust bear population. Speaking last Wednesday, the environmental advocate sought to convey how people directly affect and often thre...
On Monday Gov. Bill Walker signed into law a capital budget for the 2018 Fiscal Year, which had been adopted by the Legislature in a brief special session on July 27. The new budget includes $5,000,000 in the Municipal Harbor Facility Grant Fund, precisely what will be needed for Wrangell’s Harbor Department to proceed with an overhaul of the facilities at Shoemaker Bay Harbor. “We’re excited,” said Wrangell harbormaster Greg Meissner. The aging facility has about passed its useful life, with a portion already closed off to moorage. The project...
Wrangell’s new city manager sat in on her first meeting of the City and Borough Assembly Tuesday evening. Starting work last week, Lisa Von Bargen gave her first report to council members on the state of city departments. Offered the job back in April, the former Valdez economic director reported she has been getting to know the departments under her since her arrival. She has been getting together with staff at City Hall, the Harbor Department and Public Works this past week to visit sites. She further plans to meet with Parks and R...
Intermittent rains and wind on Saturday prompted Muskeg Meadows Golf Course to cancel one of its two days scheduled for the First Bank Golf Tournament. Twenty-six golfers from Wrangell and Petersburg still hit the links on a sunny Sunday morning for the best-ball, team play competition. Players vied for a number of prizes and for First Bank-related raffle items during the lunch to follow. Golfing with a handicap of 16, Eric Koding, Faye and Keene Kohrt, and Tyler Eagle took first place overall w...
A new officer has joined Wrangell Police Department, bringing its staffing levels closer to optimal. Recently retired from the United States Coast Guard, Eric Wolf began work in Wrangell as an officer at the end of June. After 12 years of active service, he explained a medical condition he had developed prevented him from continuing as an aviation mechanical technician. Originally from Washington, he was drawn back to the northwest by an interest in law enforcement. Previously Wolf had worked for just over a year and a half as a reserve police...
