Sorted by date Results 761 - 785 of 1297
After a public hearing and much discussion Tuesday evening, the Wrangell City and Borough Assembly approved a contract zone for light industrial use for a transportation office, storage and maintenance area requested by Wrangell Cooperative Association. The item had been approved by the Planning and Zoning Commission in December with several stipulations, including its review of a final site plan, the addition of unobtrusive lighting, exclusively indoor storage on site, and a 50-foot buffer along shared boundary lines. The property, the...
At its regular monthly meeting, the Wrangell Public School Board approved the purchase of a new phone system for its two campuses. Board members approved a $65,000 contract with AP&T to install the new system, which replaces the district's 71 phones with IP-based handsets and will include a one-year service agreement for parts and equipment. "The current system that we have right now, they say they can't support them," explained Matt Gore, technology director for the school district. The new... Full story
Wrangell High School finished its second weekend of the regular basketball season with a win, splitting games with Haines on its visit last weekend. Playing Friday, the Wolves kept a close game with the Glacier Bears. Wrangell was leading at the start of the fourth quarter, but the final score hinged on free throws – Haines placed 10 of its 12 throws in the quarter, which with another 10 points put it two ahead at the last buzzer. Wrangell had the opportunity to win though, sinking only four of... Full story
The community’s coalition for health and wellness organizations is looking for a new image. The Healthy Wrangell Coalition has announced a sort of logo contest, through which it hopes to make its activities more recognizable to the community at large. “We’ve kind of been operating under the radar for a while,” explained Kris Reed, with HWC. “Folks don’t really know who we are and what we do, and that we’re available for things like letters of support for grants.” Member organizations include Alaska Island Community Services, Wrangell Medica...
The workshop at Wrangell High School is humming, hammering and making all sorts of noise as students in the various fabrications classes work on a number of projects. Under the Wolf Fabrication umbrella, students of industrial technologies teacher Drew Larrabee have been learning to use a widening array of tools on and off campus. The humming comes from the new tech room, which Larrabee and the school's technology department set up inside the high school's old computer lab. The dust from the...
Members of the community were invited to the Wrangell Ranger District Office on Jan. 13, to meet and greet with some of the minds behind the latest proposals for the future Tongass management plan. The United States Forest Service is amending the current Land and Resource Management Plan for the Tongass National Forest, which is the largest in the country. Covering 16.7 million acres in Southeast Alaska, 3.4 million acres of that has been set aside for resource development. The purpose of the am...
Playing in Haines over the weekend, Wrangell’s Lady Wolves basketballers were not quite able to take a win, despite a close game Saturday. The Glacier Bears maintained a lead throughout the first game Friday, finishing with 58 to Wrangell’s 38. Among the Lady Wolves, Amy Jensen led the team for points with 12, followed by Helen Decker with nine. Teresa Flores scored eight points, Anna Dow Allen five, and Abby Armstrong and Abigail Gerald each had two apiece. On Saturday evening the Lady Wolves played a much closer game, bringing the score to a...
Wrangell’s Planning and Zoning Commission concluded its discussion of entitlement lands at its Jan. 14 meeting. Along with the Economic Development Committee, the commission will use its recommendations as a framework for public discussion of possible uses for properties transferred to the Borough from the Department of Natural Resources last year. Just over 9,000 acres of undeveloped parcels were transferred, encompassing land at Thoms Place, Crittenden Creek, Sunny Bay, Earl West Cove, Mill Creek and other locations on and around Wrangell I...
Alaska's Legislature returns to work next week to begin its second regular session, and by far its biggest task will be to make the state's budget sustainable. Convening in Juneau on Jan. 19, legislators in the House and Senate will begin putting together budgets for the 2017 Fiscal Year, which will have to address a projected $3.6 billion spending deficit. Last month the office of Gov. Bill Walker released its budget plan, which proposes $100 million in net cuts to agency spending and $360... Full story
In an unexpected move, the Wrangell City and Borough Assembly sent back a request to renew a lot lease to the committee which approved it. After extensive discussion, its members agreed to send a facility lease agreement between the city and and Chuck Jenkins back to the Port Commission. Approved unanimously by commissioners last month, the agreement would extend the lease on Jenkins' lot in the boatyard for another five years at the rate he had been paying. The action was recommended by Assembly member Dave Powell after he learned two more lea... Full story
Members of the Wrangell Port Commission were frustrated to find no progress was being made in extending water to one of the boatyard's major contractors. Speaking at the commission's meeting Jan. 7, Don Sorric informed it the taps at Superior Marine Services were still dry after 13 months of waiting. After previously being cited by Occupational Safety and Health Administration inspectors in 2014, Sorric came to the Port Commission that November to request that utilities be extended to his lease... Full story
Wrangell’s Parks and Recreation Board held its first meeting of the new year on Jan. 6, reviewing a new draft of the department’s liability waiver. Parks and Rec director Kate Thomas explained a review of the policy came about after two patrons expressed dissatisfaction with the waiver’s language. At the time, Thomas found herself unable to clearly explain or justify several of the lines. In particular was line six, releasing the City of Wrangell and recreation department of legal liability “even if they, or any of them, negligently cause m...
The Wrangell Wolves regular high school basketball season started up in Petersburg last weekend during the Vikings homecoming games. During the weekend's opening game on Friday, the Vikings built on an early lead through the second and third quarters. In the fourth, the Wolves scored 17 points to their opponent's six, but were unable to catch up. Petersburg won with a final score of 44 to 29. During the game, Bryce Gerald led Wrangell's team for points with eight scored. Garrett Miller followed...
Petersburg's varsity team picked up a pair of wins while hosting Wrangell for homecoming Jan. 8 and 9. During Friday's game, the Lady Vikings built up a formidable lead through the first half. While the Lady Wolves led for free throws with 7 of 10 landed, they finished up the game 29 to 56. Amy Jensen led the team for scores with 12 points, including a free throw and a three-pointer in the final quarter. Teresa Flores and Anna Allen each scored seven points, Abby Gerald scored two and Abby...
The Wrangell Port Commission will move ahead with plans to reexamine rates, it decided at its regular meeting on Jan. 7. The meeting was prefaced by a rate change workshop, where commissioners pored over sheets comparing local lift, storage, work and moorage fees with other communities. The sheets were put together by harbormaster Greg Meissner, who made the case for an increase. The commission had previously considered a 50-percent raise in work area rates to 75 cents per square foot, but decided last March to wait amid concerns from contracto...
Ahead of statewide regulatory meetings scheduled for February and March, the local Advisory Committee (AC) for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game’s regulatory boards met at the Fire Hall on Monday to start putting together its recommendations. High on the list of its hunting priorities for this session was Prop. 6, put forward by Wrangell’s AC. This would modify the definition of a moose antler, specifically having “spike-fork antlers” to mean antlers of a bull moose with only one or two tines on at least one antler, antler project... Full story
The former Wrangell doctor convicted of child pornography charges last summer has had his motion for a new trial rejected. Greg Salard is still awaiting sentencing, which has been moved to Feb. 8 due to his counsel’s unavailability in January. Previously sentencing had been scheduled for Jan. 4, and defense attorney Steven Wells would be busy with another trial on that date. Salard took on Wells’ services following his conviction by a Juneau jury on July 28. On Nov. 13 he filed a motion for a new trial, stating he had been poorly rep... Full story
Ringing in the new year, Wrangell's American Legion Post 6 decided to take an opportunity to thank several of its longest-serving members over coffee at the Stikine Inn on Saturday. Certificates were presented to four veterans who have been with the organization for more than half a century: Gilbert Gunderson, Harry Churchill, Willy Eyon and Cappy Bakke. Post commander Chuck Petticrew Sr. explained the award ceremony was a first for him since taking the position last March. "We admire you boys t... Full story
J&W's sold to new ownership last month. Josh and Clarissa Young bought the building from Carol and Randy Churchill, who had run the restaurant for 33 years. "It's time for me to get some young blood in there, let someone else take care of it," Carol Churchill explained. She was happy when a local family offered to buy the business, and that the name would continue on. A first job for several generations of Wrangellites, J&W's has become a sort of local institution. Though he's worked...
The region experienced some weather oddities in 2015, with the tail end of Hurricane Ignacio arriving in September. Across the state, communities logged record warmth on Dec. 30 and 31, capping off what has on average been the warmest year in a decade. In addition to being the driest on record for Wrangell, last May had also been the warmest with an average temperature of 53.8 degrees. Overall, temperatures remained warmer than usual throughout the year. The highest temperature was 80 degrees on July 6, with a low of 14 recorded on Feb. 7. On...
The year 2015 was largely a good one for Wrangell, with the appearance of several new businesses, large infrastructural developments undertaken by businesses, the formal opening of the Tribe's cultural center, and a balanced financial outlook for the city despite tumultuous budget negotiations in Juneau. The state deficit will remain the largest issue moving ahead into 2016, as will continued mining developments in Canada along shared waters. January On Jan. 12 and 14 the first of three sets of... Full story
Wrangell Medical Center is alerting residents to a recent phone scam seeking credit account information. Hospital development coordinator Kris Reed conveyed reports that a caller “with a strong foreign accent” has been claiming to be a representative of “a local medical center” or a member of its billing service, asking for payment on a medical bill. The caller has been vague on details and has been unable to give any particulars on a potential patient’s care. The hospital would like to remind residents its staff does not demand payment over th... Full story
Alaska State Troopers and the local fire department have suspended their search for a Wrangell man missing since Dec. 17. A welfare check was requested of Wrangell Volunteer Fire Department for Brandon Peterson, age 38, the second within the week. Peterson had last been seen in the early hours of Dec. 13 in the vicinity of Thoms Place, where he has a cabin. Peterson had been given a ride to the end of the road the previous day. Fire service volunteers were contacted to check on him that evening and found Peterson on foot at the roadside. In... Full story
Heralding the onset of winter, power went out across swaths of Wrangell the afternoon of Dec. 17 after a distribution feeder failed. At around 3:15 p.m. Feeder 1 near the Public Works yard went down, affecting distribution to much of Church and Cassiar streets, Evergreen Avenue and Spur Road. Power to Wrangell Airport’s runway lights was also cut out, though fortunately after a plane had already landed. “There were certainly some concerns to be had there,” commented Municipal Light and Power superintendent Clay Hammer. Residents elsewhere in to...
In a brief meeting Dec. 23, the Planning and Zoning Commission approved findings of fact for a special contract zone requested by Wrangell Cooperation Association’s road office. The findings are based on discussions held by the commission at its Nov. 12 meeting, when it recommended allowing the WCA to build a permanent office, storage and maintenance facility for its Transportation Office at a property currently zoned residential. City staff had initially recommended denying the request, which would see the addition of a light industrial proper...
