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A team of four Alaska State Department of Health and Social Services surveyors were onsite in Wrangell last week to conduct Wrangell Medical Center’s annual re-certification and State licensure surveys. The surveys were conducted in the Long Term Care Center and the Critical Access portion of the hospital. These visits, which are unannounced standard surveys, are conducted annually to determine compliance with Federal Medicare/Medicaid and State Licensure participation requirements for s...
Wrangell’s radio station, KSTK FM, brought their newest reporter on board this week with the addition of veteran journalist Ariel Van Cleve to the station’s staff. Van Cleve, who most recently worked as a reporter at KDLG FM in Dillingham, comes to the station with a background in broadcast journalism and holds a Masters in Public Affairs Broadcasting from the University of Illinois at Springfield. Prior to her time in Alaska, she worked as an intern at WCBU in Peoria, Ill. from 2004-07, as an...
The Wrangell Wolves cross-country team traveled to Ketchikan last weekend with a smaller group than usual – only four runners for each of the boys and girls teams – but they came away with an eye towards preparing for the Region V tournament this weekend in Juneau. In the girls’ side of the competition held Sept. 15, Wolves senior Kayla Rooney finished in the top-25 with a final time of 23:18; Andrea Gillen ended the day with a time of 26:32. Hannah Armstrong ended her run at 30:06. Roone...
Wrangell Medical Center has a new administrator – courtesy of a yearlong management agreement with PeaceHealth of Ketchikan. Kendall Sawa, whose first day on the job was Thursday, Sept. 13, takes the reins of the hospital as interim CEO Olinda White retired the same day. White had been in the position since the firing of former hospital chief Noel Rea on June 20. Before coming to Wrangell, Sawa was Vice President for Patient Care Services for Ketchikan Medical Center. He took over that p...
A raging fire brought out more than 30 firefighters and destroyed a trailer home last week near the end of Zimovia Highway. The call for the fire came in at approximately 1 a.m. on Thursday, Sept. 13 with two fire trucks, a water tanker and 31 volunteers dispatched to the scene just past 12 Mile. According to WVFD chief Tim Buness, the cause of the fire was electrical in nature. “Upon arrival, the structure was completely engulfed and on fire,” he said. “We managed to get it knocked a little bit before the walls caved in. The probable cause...
After more than a year of digging, installing utilities and pouring concrete on Front Street, the Wrangell Road Improvement Project team meetings wrapped up this week with a final conference at City Hall. The project, which began on Aug. 16, 2011, has seen Wrangell’s main thoroughfare and underground utilities ripped out and rebuilt from the City Dock to the Case Avenue intersection, costing nearly $6 million, and significantly altering the way Wrangellites moved about downtown for more than 400 days. Project engineer Eric Voorhees said n...
Wrangell resident Jody Lindley looks on as Derek Meissner hoists his moose at the Inner Harbor dock. Lindley took his catch on the lower Stikine over the weekend....
With the flurry of activity on Shakes Island, including the redesign and construction of a new Chief Shakes Tribal House, the cleaning and renovation of the totem poles, and planning for a rededication ceremony in May 2013, the Wrangell Cooperative Association is busy focusing on the future of tribal assets in the community. But a portion of Wrangell’s Tlingit history is also spread to the wind as a part of two separate exhibits at museums in Washington and Colorado. The Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture at the University of W...
The Borough Assembly met in open session on Sept. 11 to take the most recent report from Borough Manager Tim Rooney, and to deal with a pair of resolutions dealing with disposal of property and the establishment of a canvass board for the upcoming general election. The lawsuit between the city and former Wrangell Medical Center administrator Noel Rea, and six former members of the WMC Board of Directors, was a key part of Rooney’s report to the assembly this week – and informed them of actions t...
Dr. Greg Salard has been granted an extension of time to file a Reply Brief in appeal of a decision to withhold privileging at Wrangell Medical Center by the former hospital board. First District Court Judge Kevin Miller filed an order on Aug. 28 giving Salard until Sept. 20 to file documents in court challenging the decision to prevent him from practicing at the hospital. He is currently restricted to seeing patients at Alaska Island Community Services’ Tideline Clinic. The order gives Salard some breathing room in his pursuit of the a...
At the outset of World War II, Alaska had not yet achieved statehood, but rather was a territorial possession of the United States. The world was at war, and the land that was to become the Last Frontier was the front line of defense against the Imperial Japanese armed forces. Against that backdrop, Territorial Governor Ernest Gruening established the Alaska Territorial Guard in March of 1942 to protect the future state against any possible invasion of the Japanese. Wrangell contributed nearly 1...
After standing proudly for nearly a century, the historic SNO Building in downtown is getting a facelift. The building, which features apartments, as well as GCI and other tenants, is being renovated as part of the Downtown Revitalization Plan which will rehabilitate and remodel eight units in the building. The Tlingit-Haida Regional Housing Authority now owns the historic structure that was built in 1932 in downtown and originally owned by the Stikine Native Organization. Construction began in...
The Wrangell Search and Rescue team swung into action on Sunday, Sept. 9 as they traveled up the Stikine River to extract a young man who had fallen from a moose blind. According to Chief Tim Buness of the Wrangell Volunteer Fire Department, the eight members of the SAR team were dispatched before dawn on Sunday, Sept. 9 to an area northeast of the borough. The teen had apparently been on a hunting trip with family when he attempted to climb down from the blind and slipped on steps that were wet from the extreme rains experienced last weekend....
Wrangell is special for a lot of reasons – and thanks to the work of a company from Oregon, the world of acoustic musicians may soon discover just how special the wood in our forest really is. Bringing Wrangell’s Sitka spruce to instrument manufacturers around the world is part of the mission of North American Wood Products, a Portland-based wood company that, among other niche markets, specializes in delivering high grade wood to guitar, piano and violin makers. Alan Ollivant and Randy Vol...
The Wrangell Medical Center Board of Directors met in a workshop setting on Sept. 5 in the lobby of the hospital to discuss a number of items related to the operation of the facility, and to revisit the hope that a new medical campus will be built in the borough. Borough Manager Tim Rooney gave the board – and residents of the borough – hope as he informed the group that the WMC renovation project was ready to move forward, contingent only upon approval of a new loan package from the US Dep...
Sometimes Mother Nature cooperates with a business endeavor – and sometimes, she doesn’t at all. Such is the case at Muskeg Meadows Golf Course over the past few weeks, with rainouts and generally bad weather delaying the end of their 2012 season by at least a week. Of the two tournaments that had been planned for last weekend, the “Two clubs and a putter,” tournament was cancelled on Saturday, with the Breakaway Adventures’ end-of-the-season event rounding out the year on Sept. 9. Grover Ma...
September is National Alcohol and Drug Addiction Recovery Month and is promoted nationally by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration Center for Substance Abuse Treatment. The theme for 2012 is “Join the Voices for Recovery: It’s Worth It,” which emphasizes that while the road to recovery may be difficult, the benefits of preventing and overcoming mental and/or substance use disorders are significant and valuable to individuals, families, and communities. Because of the high incidence of drug and alcohol abuse in the r...
A collection of dolls representing the First Ladies of the White House, from Martha Washington to Nancy Reagan, are currently on display at the James and Elsie Nolan Center. The dolls, which were crafted by Wrangell resident Julia Robison are on display until the November election....
The newly constituted Wrangell Medical Center Board of Directors held their first meeting on Wednesday, Aug. 29 at City Hall to elect officers and plan for upcoming meetings as a group and with other officials. Board member Woody Wilson was elected as the president of the group over Bernie Massin in a 6-3 vote, with Terri Henson nominating Wilson and Dorothy Hunt-Sweat nominating Massin. During discussion, Hunt-Sweat spoke up first in favor of Massin. “My reason for suggesting Bernie is because...
If all goes according to plan, the Front Street improvement project in downtown Wrangell should wrap up within the month of September. In their second-to-last scheduled meeting, the project team met at City Hall on Thursday, Aug. 30 in the Borough Assembly chambers to discuss the wrap-up of construction and reopening of roads through town. According to project engineer Eric Voorhees and superintendent Mike Ashton, the end is in sight for the renovation. “All underground utility installations f...
Representative Peggy Wilson easily won the nomination for the Republican ticket in the race for District 33 on Aug. 28, with 986 votes cast in her favor – a 46 percent margin of victory. Wilson, who has held her seat in the legislature since 2001, will now face off against Democrat Matt Olsen and Rep. Kyle Johansen of Ketchikan in the Nov. 6 general election. The incumbent from Wrangell was effusive about her opponents the day after the election. “I really want to thank my opponents for keeping the focus on the race and not dirty pol...
The Chief Shakes Tribal House restoration project is more than halfway to completion, thanks in part to good weather and the hard work of the adzing team involved in the renovation. “If I had to put a number on the total project, I’d say we’re about 65 percent done,” said Project Manager Todd White. “We expected to salvage about 30 percent of the existing Tribal House, but that number turned out to be closer to 7 percent, creating additional work. But even with the additions, we’re still on-time for the 2013 re-dedication.” The Shakes Island tr...
Due to very low public use, the cabin at Binkley Slough has been removed from the U.S. Forest Service’s public reservation system – a situation not unusual among other structures in Southeast. Because of this, the USFS is looking for public comment on whether a number of cabins across the Tongass should be removed from public use. “Many of these cabins are dilapidated and have not been on the cabin reservation system for many years,” stated Tongass National Forest supervisor Forrest Cole in an email. “The cabins that were available for rent...
The Borough Assembly has entered into an agreement with PeaceHealth of Ketchikan to focus on interim management of Wrangell Medical Center, and to assist the city in the selection and hiring of an administrator at the hospital. Under the plan, Kendall Sawa, who is currently the Vice President of Patient Care Administration for PeaceHealth, would move from Ketchikan Medical Center to Wrangell to take the interim position while WMC searches for a new administrator. Sawa, a native of Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada is a registered nurse and holds a...
The sun was shining just long enough on Sept. 1 for 11 members of the Muskeg Meadows Golf Club to compete individually for the 2012 course championship. Shooting a 92, with handicap of 20, club member Randy Littleton seized the championship for the 3rd annual event. Littleton’s best game shined on Nos. 6, 11 and 18 as he shot for par, and drained a pair of reasonably long putts as well. “Randy’s game improved a lot, as he hadn’t been out to practice much lately,” said course co-manage...
