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One of the practical commitments of pastors and members of the Church of God (Anderson) is that of spiritual example – the demonstration of commitment to Jesus Christ through the practice of the disciplines like praise, prayer and worship. It is these principles, among others, that newly arrived Pastor Steven Williams hopes will imbue upon the members of his flock at his Bennett Street church in months and years to come. Williams, along with his wife Melissa, a Wrangell native, took over the r...
Sentinel writer When Darian Meissner was crowned as the 2013 Fourth of July Queen on Wednesday, July 3, she achieved something special – she became one of the youngest women to even wear the tiara – and she followed in the footsteps of her grandmother, Aileen (Lewis) Meissner, and her great aunts, Patricia (Lewis) Mork and Colleen (Lewis) Morris. The win for Darian came after an exhausting month-long push for ticket and food sales across the Borough and in Petersburg. In the end, she walked away...
Lovers of golf in Southeast Alaska came out in a big way as Wrangell’s Fourth of July events kicked off last weekend at Muskeg Meadows Golf Course. A total of 27 golfers took part in the Ottesen’s True Value 4-person “best ball” tournament that began on Saturday – and saw store manager Ernie Christian’s team of himself Faye Kohrt and Eric Kading take the top spot in competition with a net 18 score on a 14-shot handicap. Christian said being able to host the tournament on the opening day of Four...
The Nolan Center is currently undergoing work to beautify and improve the look and feel of the facility, according to Borough Manager Tim Rooney. The majority of the work is on the waterside green space. “Staff hopes to have the grass planted soon,” Rooney stated. “This area will become ‘Pet Free’ in order to have an area where citizens and visitors can sit on the grass. There has been a new picnic table donated by the Murkowski family that will be installed under the covered area. According...
A Canadian parliamentarian has submitted a bill in the legislature of British Columbia seeking to protect the Stikine, Nass and Skeena rivers Nathan Cullen, Minister of Parliament for the Skeena-Bulkley Valley of Northwestern B.C. has introduced a member’s bill that he says will put the protection back into what he calls a government-gutted Canadian Navigable Waters Protection Act. Cullen said he submitted the bill believing that the Conservative government of Canada has removed what he calls “9...
First District Court Judge Kevin Miller resolved a civil case that pitted a claim of First Amendment rights on the Internet against a claim of defamation focusing on a local physician late last week. The case, which was filed by Dr. Greg Salard and his wife, Laura Salard, claimed that former Wrangell resident Lisa Gillen defamed him and his practice via private messages on Facebook last year. The charges leveled at Gillen revolved around statements allegedly made in an online chat session about the physician, his family, and his ability to...
In the late nineteenth century an American cinema pioneer named Charles F. Jenkins introduced the world to its first taste of movie going with his Phantoscope film projection system. It was the first true motion picture projector that allowed for crisp, clean and realistic movement to be shown to a mass audience. The year was 1894 – now, fast forward to 2013. Last week Wrangell took a step into the digital generation with the installation of a new projector at Castle Mountain Entertainment t...
The Borough Assembly officially accepted the resignation of Borough Manager Tim Rooney during their June 25 regular meeting and cleared the path for Borough Clerk Kim Flores to advertise the position both statewide and nationally. After a unanimous vote accepting the resignation, Assembly member Christie Jamieson spoke about her feelings on the tenure of Rooney as the administrative head during the past three-and-a-half years. “I would like to thank Tim for all of his hard work and efforts,” Jam...
A seventeen year-old girl was fatally injured when an ATV crashed on Thursday afternoon at Lab Bay, near Port Protection just before 5 p.m. An Alaska State Trooper dispatch released on Friday states that Paulette James of Port Protection was the victim in the incident and “had sustained fatal injuries while operating a 'dune buggy' style ATV.” Alaska State Troopers, Alaska Wildlife Troopers and Emergency Medical Services from Klawock responded to the scene and began an investigation. The ini...
A Wrangell jury found a former resident of the Borough guilty last week of three felonies involving sexual assaults against his then 8-year-old victim in 2012. Doug Ely, 33, was found to have committed two acts of first degree sexual abuse of a minor under the age of 16, and one count of sexual abuse of a minor in the second degree. Because of two aggravating factors that were admitted by Ely after the jury returned its verdict he could end up spending at least the next 35 years in an Alaska...
Work crews fill a roadway with cement as a project to pave the Marine Service Center continued last week. The work is being done to accommodate a 300-ton marine hoist the City and Borough of Wrangell will install next year....
Wrangell Medical Center interim CEO Marla Sanger was ebullient about new technology being instituted at the hospital in her most recent report to the WMC Board of Directors at their June 19 meeting at the Nolan Center. Sanger’s report highlighted her use of weekly updates to the board – and how new technology is helping save money at the facility. “Nearly every weekly update mentions an electronic medical record ‘go live’ or new computer module or some other change that staff and physician...
Borough Manager Tim Rooney is no stranger to Oklahoma – he is, in fact returning there in August to take over the City Manager position in Mustang, a suburb of Oklahoma City. While most Wrangellites know of his coming departure, fewer may know of his trip to the city on May 31 for an interview with government officials. It was a trip that was harrowing and fraught with danger. According to the Times, Mustang’s local weekly newspaper, Rooney experienced one of the worst storms to hit Okl...
A former social services administrator for Alaska Island Community Services has found a new home in the Mat-Su Valley helping manage grant programs for the Mat-Su Health Foundation. Desiré Shepler, who departed Wrangell approximately a month ago, has been hired as a program associate with the Foundation. “Desiré (brings) unique skills and experiences to the Foundation, and … will be a great asset as we continue to grow in our mission to help Mat-Su become the healthiest Borough in the natio...
KSTK FM has a new general manager – and she is someone we have all loved on the air and behind the scenes at Wrangell’s community-supported radio station. In a news release on KSTK’s website, station board president Amber Al-Haddad welcomed Cindy Sweat as the new head of operations at the Coast Alaska affiliate. “We are very excited to bring Cindy into this important role,” Al-Haddad wrote. “While we conducted a national search for the position, we believe that Cindy’s passion for broadcasting...
The most recent diesel run for the City and Borough of Wrangell, which lasted from May 28 through June 4, saw a decrease in lubricant oil usage and a total fuel expenditure of just more than $165,000. This year’s run saw 41,245 gallons of fuel consumed during the weeklong event, producing 516,009-kilowatt hours of power. The peak demand for the run was 3.8 megawatts with an off-hour low of 1.9 megawatts. The fuel price was $4.001 per gallon for a total fuel expenditure of $165,023.65 and the fuel efficiency was 12.5-kilowatt hours per g...
In a victory for the Native cultures of Interior Alaska, a U.S. Senate committee voted last week to rename the tallest peak in North America, Mount McKinley, to its original Koyukon-Athabaskan name of “Denali.” The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee approved the bill by voice vote on Tuesday, June 18, allowing the proposed legislation to go to a vote before the full body of the Senate. Senate Bill 155 would officially rename the mountain, stating, “The mountain located … in the Sta...
A scene reminiscent of the road construction on Front Street last year will soon unfold on Zimovia Highway as the Alaska Department of Transportation and SECON Construction begin a renovation project extending from downtown to 13 Mile. The project will have two parts; the crushing of rock and asphalt production, and the actual laying of roadway and other replacement items. With a Sept. 15 project end date, SECON is scheduled to begin soon – though no firm date has been set for the start of a...
The Wrangell Planning and Zoning Commission approved a temporary use permit at the former Wrangell Institute property to allow for sorting and processing of wood from a timber sale – as well as the creation of a logging road for access to the property. Alcan Forest Products of Ketchikan made the request in preparation for a timber cut on property owned by the Alaska Mental Health Trust. Previous discussion about the status of a road through the property, for the purpose of logging, fell flat d...
A celebration of the 2013 Wrangell King Salmon derby was the highlight event in downtown last Thursday as the Wrangell Chamber of Commerce held their annual awards ceremony at the James and Elsie Nolan Center. Jeannie Easterly took home the top prize of $6,000 in the annual event, which saw Mark Soeteber and Jeff Soles take second and third place, respectively. After the ceremony, Easterly recalled her memories of the derby – and the moment she hooked her King. She related that she and her h...
In 2012, thousands of square feet of the greens at Muskeg Meadows golf course were attacked by hordes of ravens – the ubiquitous local bird seeking food in the fertile soil and rich grasses of the course. At the end of last year the course seemed on the path to correcting the problem, and at the beginning of the 2013 tournament many of the areas affected by the ravens had healed and were sprouting green grass again. And then they returned, looking for grubs in the ground of the course. Last y...
Casey Shilts works dockside on Monday morning as some of the first Dungeness crab of the 2013 commercial fishery arrives in Wrangell....
The trial of a Wrangell man alleged to have sexually abused a minor last year begins next week, with the First District courtroom scheduled for four days of jury selection and proceedings. An indictment filed in September accuses 33-year old Doug Ely of three counts of sexual assault against a minor under the age of 13 – two unclassified felonies and one Class A felony. Jury selection began Monday morning and ran through Tuesday. As of deadline for this story a full jury panel had not yet been seated. Ely’s attorney, public defender Jude Pate o...
You know it’s getting close to summer when the Bearfest bears are back in town. This trio of bears currently stands watch outside the Nolan Center. Bearfest 2013 is scheduled for July 24-28....
With Petersburg foregoing a tax-free day this spring, is Wrangell next on the list of Southeast cities that will abandon their customer-friendly days of no sales tax in the Borough? This past weekend’s tax-free day was the latest sales holiday where money the Borough would usually take in did not make it into city coffers. With the distinct possibility of a 5.5 percent sales tax rate reduction looming on the October ballot, the City and Borough of Wrangell could see an end to the tax-free holidays local citizens have enjoyed since its i...
