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The Wrangell School Board elected to offer Kendall Benson the position as the new secondary schools principal during its May 19 meeting. He will replace outgoing principal Colter Barnes who served one year in the position. Barnes will be headed to Southeast Island School District to serve as an itinerant principal and greenhouse manager. Benson begins August 1 and brings with him three decades of education experience. His most recent post was as principal of Cedar Middle School in Cedar City,...
As of Tuesday, the Alaska Legislature meeting in a special session in Anchorage had still not passed a budget for the new fiscal year, which begins July 1. On Sunday, the Senate Finance Committee rejected a compromise budget passed by the House the previous day, which included some small concessions to the minority such as reversing cuts to the ferry system and per-student funding. A conference committee between the two chambers was being organized to negotiate an amended budget as legislators posture around various funding priorities....
As dry conditions pervaded May and continue into June, the City of Wrangell has issued a public notice requesting that residents conserve water after its two reservoirs dipped below the usual levels. Residents and businesses are asked to begin reducing their water consumption until normal levels are restored. Wrangell received only 0.6 inches of precipitation for the month of May, down from a historical average of of 4.58 inches. Other communities in Southeast have also noted record dry months,...
The New Old Time Chautauqua is still set to stop through on its summer tour of Southeast Alaska later this month. Founded in 1981 by a group of performers, health care practitioners and educators, the Chautauqua revives a brand of entertainment widely popular in the rural United States until the Great Depression. As a movement, the Chautauqua emphasizes community building through education and entertainment. Sixty performers will stop into Southeast communities between June 21 and July 13 for...
A delegation of Royal Canadian Mounted Police visited Wrangell last month in search of one of their colleagues, a constable killed in a boating accident near the island over a century ago. Constable Spencer Heathcote was a member of RCMP's Yukon District, Stikine Detachment, and was on patrol with two other constables when he died on Dec. 26, 1901. On patrol, the constables' boat was swamped in a gale when crossing over to Wrangell Island, and Heathcote perished along with Constable Norman Campbell. Though nearly succumbing to hypothermia, the...
The Fourth of July Festival season began Sunday with the kickoff for this year's Royalty Court contest. The Wrangell Chamber of Commerce (CoC) sponsored a gathering at the Stikine Inn, introducing this year's two candidates, Kimberly Cooper and the Athletic Amateur Union basketball team. The competition has had teams run for Queen in the past, but CoC director Cyni Waddington explained this year's AAU team will set a first for size: 16 girls in the program will work together to sell tickets and...
Wrangell's City and Borough Assembly has approved its budget for the next fiscal year, which begins July 1. The budget was previously issued as a draft at a public workshop on April 28 and has since been subjected to two hearings. The state of Alaska's finances still casts a shadow of uncertainty over Wrangell's projections. As of Tuesday the Legislature had reconvened in Anchorage for special session but had not yet settled on a final budget. Which items will ultimately face cuts is still in the air as the state tackles its $3.5 billion...
Borough Assembly members were presented the final form of Wrangell's waterfront master plan before their Tuesday evening meeting. The plan is the product of progressive public discussions and meetings in January, February and March. The core concept is to fill the 2.5-acre area located between the barge and boat yards parallel to Campbell Drive, which the Harbor Department obtained a permit to develop from the Army Corps of Engineers in 2007. Beyond that, the master plan looks ahead at developin...
Flags adorn the graves of a group of unknown veterans interred at the Wrangell Cemetery this Memorial Day. American Legionnaires Einar Haaseth and Jimmy Bell put out around 150 flags at veterans' gravesites over the holiday weekend, meant to commemorate United States military personnel who have fallen in the line of duty....
The Wrangell Medical Center Foundation raised at least $32,000 for charity during its 8th annual prime rib dinner and auction, and the 8th annual Brian Gilbert Memorial Tournament last weekend. “We did a little better overall this year than we did last year,” explained Kris Reed, WMC development coordinator. “With sponsorships, it will be a little higher than that.” Most of the tickets to the dinner were pre-sold, with the rest sold at the door. “We had pretty much a full house,” she said. Earlier in the day, 39 golfers took part in the tour...
Anglers of all ages took to the water over the Memorial Day weekend, hoping to land a salmon fit for the special first prize awarded during Wrangell’s 63rd Annual King Salmon Derby. Chad Smith won the $2,500 weekend prize with a 42.7-pound specimen, and propelled himself to first place in the derby bracket. Ending June 7, this year’s first-place fish earns its captor a $6,000 prize. Thirty-seven fish were weighed in between Friday and Monday, though it is likely many more were caught. Derby par...
The financial situation for Wrangell Medical Center has improved in recent months, but its new chief financial officer told the hospital’s board of trustees at its May 20 meeting that there is still much left to do. Doran Hammett presented the hospital’s budget for next year, which on the revenue side builds from projected income for the 2015 fiscal year. Net revenue after write offs, charity and bad debt are anticipated to total at just over $10 million, better than the previous year, yet still be below a high of $10.7 million for 2012. Ham...
Wrangell’s Planning and Zoning Commission held a brief meeting midday May 20 after establishing a quorum, taking on monthly business rescheduled from May 14. Commissioners approved preliminary plat review for vacation of the remaining 15 feet of Cedar Street between Lot 4, Block 25, and Lot 2A, Block 31. The request was filed by Tony and Sue Guggenbickler and addresses an encroachment issue with a neighboring property held by Alaska Housing Finance Corporation (AHFC). “The vacation was approved a couple of years ago,” explained Carol Rushmore,...
After five months of repair, the Wrangell community pool reopened to the public May 20, just in time for the onset of summery weather. An open house celebrating the repairs was held that evening, with residents finally able to take a dip for the first time this year. Wrangell's pool was built in 1986 as part of improvements to the adjoining middle school. Following detection of a leak last year and the pool's Dec. 18 closure, Jensen Yorba Lott was contracted to perform the first-ever comprehensive condition survey of the pool and community...
A pair of projects have moved toward their next phases after a special midday meeting of the Wrangell Port Commission Tuesday. Commissioners approved plans to finance float reconstruction at Shoemaker Bay Harbor, as well concepts for a mariners memorial at Heritage Harbor. The current concept for updating Shoemaker features four fingers built using polyethylene tubs as floats rather than wood and metal. Three of these envisioned fingers will be enough to accommodate the currently berthed boats, with the fourth offering space for longer, wider c...
Girl Scouts from Wrangell's Troop 4156 recently returned from a four-day field exercise upriver, observing amphibians for this year's "Camp'Phibian." What has become an annual field trip is in its second year and partners the troop with researchers from the Alaska Herpetological Society (AHS) and United States Forest Service. It is part of a broader research project the society has developed called the Stikine Long-Term Amphibian Monitoring Program. AHS president Josh Ream said the project...
The school year came to an end for Wrangell students on May 21, and while they’ve said “so long” for the summer to teachers and homework, they are still invited to pick up a book or two in the interim through the annual summer reading program. The program—hosted by the Irene Ingle Public Library—is already under way, encouraging kids to continue reading while on break with a variety of prizes and cash drawings for participants. Its purpose is to help curb summer reading loss, where students lose some of their newly learned or developin...
Twenty-two seniors graduated from Wrangell High School last Friday. This year's graduating class donned their gowns and mortarboards and walked the aisle in front of friends and loved ones in a confetti-strewn ceremony at the school gym that afternoon. "All of our seniors are headed out in different directions, but all of them have worked very hard to get to this point," said Lisa Nikodym who helped the students prepare for post-graduation. "Wrangell High School staff and myself are very proud...
Wrangell School Board held a special session and workshop Tuesday evening to discuss the future of its school lunch program. At its May 19 regular meeting, the board voted in favor of canceling the school district's contract with NANA Management Services, which this year provided food and preparatory staff. “We are exploring different options,” said board president Susan Eagle. The workshop was not a formal one, with people allowed to offer ideas freely. Additionally, feedback had been submitted to the superintendent's office and was inc...
A local man was arrested by Wrangell Police Department earlier this month, after allegedly attempting to pick up and then threatening a child. The complaint was filed against Randolph Kalkins, 46, on May 8 for Assault in the 4th Degree, a Class A misdemeanor. The charge refers to using words or displaying conduct to cause fear of imminent physical injury. The complaint document explains the arrest followed a report by a local minor, age eight, who told police Kalkins offered her a ride in his...
The Stikine Sportsmen Association raised $48,000 at this year’s annual fundraiser dinner, about $7,000 more than the previous year. Its 35th Annual Game Dinner was held in Wrangell’s American Legion Hall on Feb. 28, and the money was raised through a combination of raffles, auctions, admission and donations. “We give all of it away,” explained Mike Otteson, on the group’s board. Stikine Sportsmen Association is a private organization that directs its funding toward a wide variety of programs and causes. “All our money is spent in town,” said...
Wrangell's roller derby season came to a positive close last Saturday, with the Garnet Grit Betties taking fifth place at the third annual United We Roll: Alaska Statewide Tournament in Palmer, May 15–17. "It was a great way to end our season," remarked the team's coach, Shawna Buness. Though the Betties played in two bouts the previous season, this year was the team's first full schedule, and it finished with five wins and three losses. Ten teams of rollergirls from around the state came togeth...
Public and private groups are looking at new ways to enhance the value of Alaska's seafood industry. The multibillion-dollar sector is of significant importance to the state's economy, and Southeast is among its largest harvesters of fish and shellfish. In 2013, Southeast fishermen brought in a record catch of 479 million pounds, worth $375 million. This was a 79-percent increase over the previous year, according to the 2014 By the Numbers report produced by Rain Coast Data for the Southeast Conference. Fishing and seafood processing provide...
Before the summer weather heats up and the air conditioners kick on, residents are being asked to conserve energy starting May 26. Wrangell Municipal Light and Power (WMLP) announced it will begin its annual diesel run that day, with the scheduled run anticipated to end June 3. Southeast Alaska Power Agency technicians need to power down the transmission lines connecting the hydroelectric facility at Tyee Lake for maintenance, including checking the lines' anchors and insulators, replacing...
A draft budget was passed by the Wrangell School Board at its Monday evening meeting, but contract renewal for four non-tenured faculty members has been put on hold as administrators await news of a final budget from the State Legislature. Speaking up at the meeting in favor of prompt action was Jack Carney, a non-tenured teacher at Wrangell High School until the year's end and the school's activities director. He was critical of the school district's timing in renewing contracts so late in the year. “The job fairs are over. It's now the m...
