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Once upon a time in Alaska, there was a young Coast Guardsman named Frank Murkowski. His adventures on the high seas and waterways of coastal Alaska were far from great legend – but it taught him and led him to a future life of leadership in state and Federal government. When he was 18 years old, the future U.S. Senator and chief executive of the Last Frontier received a graduation gift of a 19-foot runabout christened Emerald. The boat, which was built by noted Southeast shipwright Sexton J...
Members of Wrangell’s Boy Scout Troop 40 joined forces June 19-24 with the Southeast Alaska Conservation Council, the Sitka Conservation Society, the US Forest Service, and local Wrangell volunteers to conduct a number of Wilderness stewardship activities on the Stikine River. The outing, funded in part by a grant through the National Forest Foundation, focused on managing invasive weeds near Twin Lakes and was part of a nationwide effort by the Forest Service to steward Wilderness areas. D...
In a heavy drizzle of rain and high humidity, Muskeg Meadows Golf Course hosted the Ottesen’s True Value, 9-Hole 4-Person Best Ball Scramble, and 9-Hole, 4-Person Mystery Scramble tournaments June 30-July 1. The course welcomed 20 participants who took part in the tournament on Saturday, while 12 golfers – three teams of four players – took part on Sunday. On Saturday, the first place team consisted of Wrangell Golf Club members Bill Messmer, Pete Walden, John Morse, and Eric Kading with a Net 22 score (team handicap, 13.) The No. 2 spot went...
Outgoing Borough Clerk Christie Jamieson accepts a plaque from Mayor Jeremy Maxand acknowledging her 32 years of service to the city during her retirement celebration last week....
In November 2011, the Alaska Island Community Services “Crossings” program went through a metamorphosis when it was forced to shed a group of nine full- and part-time core staff members. Employees from Crossings, the largest wilderness therapy program for emotionally at-risk teens in the State of Alaska, received letters on Friday, Nov. 4, 2011 telling them their positions were being eliminated due to “unforeseen circumstances.” Those circumstances related to procedures regarding Medicai...
Sealaska held its annual shareholders’ meeting Saturday, June 23 at Juneau’s Thunder Mountain High School with a shareholder’s fair and comments from board of directors’ candidates on both sides of a term-limits resolution. The meeting also included a business report and election results. Approximately 400 tribal member shareholders and guests attended the meeting in person, with another 420 households participating via webcast. The board of directors re-elected Senator Albert M. Kookesh...
With the loss of 8 members of the Wrangell Medical Center Board of Directors, the question of how those seats will be filled came to the forefront during the Borough Assembly’s June 26 meeting. The assembly, in conjunction with borough attorney Bob Blasco answered that question after an executive session. Blasco informed the assembly that the only method to fill those seats, under Alaska law, was to hold a special election on Aug. 21 – and that those elected to fill the vacancies would hold their seats for the remainder the respective sea...
The latest meeting of the Wrangell Road Improvement on June 21 held the promise of Front Street being ready – at least partly – for the Fourth of July celebration in the borough. When asked about whether the intersection of Front Street and Campbell Drive would be ready in time for the annual Independence Day parade, John McGraw of McGraw Construction was less than sure about the state of the intersection come July 4. “It should be ready,” McGraw said. McGraw also added that his crew is pushing...
Nutrition is elementary for healthy living in both mind and body. Proper dietary consideration is especially important for seniors living in Wrangell since many of our most precious citizens – who are a tie to our past – are frequently unable to leave their homes in the borough. And that is precisely where the Wrangell Senior Center comes in. The center, which has been feeding lunch to seniors both in-house and by delivery for decades is now able to offer meals five days a week for those in nee...
The Wrangell Borough Assembly met in special session on Monday, June 25 to certify the June 19 special recall election of eight members of the Wrangell Medical Center Board of Directors. Before the election could be certified, however, the canvassing board of Mayor Jeremy Maxand and assembly members Bill Privett and Pam McCloskey reviewed 183 absentee and 25 questioned ballots. A total of 851 ballots were used in the election, with 627 of those ballots being cast locally. A total of 835 ballots...
On what was the warmest and most humid day of the year so far, Muskeg Meadows Golf Course hosted it best-attended event of the year on June 23-24 during the R&M Engineering tournament. The event featured an 18-hole, 2-person best-ball format on Saturday, and a 9-hole, 2-person best-ball tourney on Sunday. Shannon Booker, the co-manager of Muskeg Meadows said the tournament is one of the biggest at the course and helps support the mission of R&M’s local office. “This tournament is important to...
Once upon a time, Wrangell sported a band of local musicians with their sights on domination of the world – or at least the Seattle music scene of the early 1990s. That band, DXD, who at one time were the house band for the Stikine Inn, took their music south to the Emerald City in 1994 in an attempt to ply their trade in the bigger market where so many bands cashed in on the hugely popular “grunge” movement. The band, which was fronted by the husband and wife duo of Glen and Kelly Decke...
Alaskans and nonresidents alike may now apply for the chance to buy more than 2,500 acres in the State of Alaska’s Initial Over-the-Counter land sale. Nearly 350 parcels in rural and remote locations in the Southcentral and Northern regions of the state are available in this land sale. Amenities include oceanfront, lakefront, riverfront, roadside, and fly-in access, with parcel sizes ranging from 1 to 40 acres. The properties are priced at market values between $3,000 and $32,500 each. Applications are due by 5 p.m. on August 1 and the w...
In what was their final meeting as an elected quorum, the Wrangell Medical Center Board of Directors terminated the contract of WMC CEO Noel Rea on Wednesday, June 20. The dismissal came in a 6-1 vote, with board member Dorothy Hunt-Sweat voting against the termination, and members Jake Harris and Delores Norman not present. Eight members of the board; Mark Robinson, Jake Harris, Linda Bjorge, Lurine McGee, Delores Norman, Jim Nelson, Sylvia Ettefagh and Leann Rinehart were recalled by a large...
Uncertified Results Jake Harris – Recalled, 330-295 Mark Robinson – Recalled, 399-226 Linda Bjorge – Recalled, 414-210 Lurine McGee – Recalled, 389-234 Delores Norman – Recalled, 376-247 Jim Nelson – Recalled, 382-243 Sylvia Ettefagh – Recalled, 381-241 Leanne Rinehart – Recalled, 393-229 A number of absentee votes are still outstanding and the borough’s canvassing board will review ballots on June 21, with the Borough Assembly certifying the final tally during their June 25 special meeting....
When the Eagle totem at Shakes Island came down for renovation in September 2011, it was a beginning for the renovation project on the island – a project that would take more than a year and see the Chief Shakes Tribal House gutted down to its bare framework of original cedar. Another milestone in the life of the house came last week when workers raised the first newly adzed corner post for the building on June 15. The cedar plank, which is part of a batch of wood acquired by the Wrangell Cooper...
Modern mammography, or the ability to detect cancerous growths in the breast has existed in medical science since 1969, when inventor Albert Salomon developed a dedicated X-ray unit for the procedure. Before that time, simple X-ray machines were used to seek out malignant tumors in the breast. With the passage of time, however, technology has taken the science – and art – of detecting those tumors to new heights. Wrangell Medical Center can now add their name to the list of hospitals across the...
Bicycle safety, at any age, is an important factor for those of us that love riding through the borough on two wheels. For the youth of Wrangell, however, bicycle safety becomes a more important factor based on how difficult it can be to see smaller children – and on their relative inexperience in navigating the roads in the borough. That’s where the annual Bicycle Rodeo and safety training comes in. The event, which was held this year at the covered area near Evergreen Elementary School, offere...
Illegal drugs are becoming more accessible to residents of Southeast – courtesy of the U.S. Postal Service. As communities throughout the region report significant volumes of illegal drugs transported via the USPS, Senator Lisa Murkowski asked the Postmaster General to address the matter, possibly by devoting additional US Postal Inspection Service resources to the area or increasing collaboration with local law enforcement agencies to reduce the flow of drugs into Southeast. Wrangell Police Department Lieutenant Merlin Ehlers said his o...
When the City and Borough of Wrangell celebrates Fourth of July this year there will be an added treat – live music on Tuesday, July 3 and during the street dance on Wednesday night. The Sale, a pop-rock quartet from Portland, Ore. will be performing for Wrangellites and visitors to the borough during its most popular summertime event, with a pre-Fourth concert during the early part of the day on July 3. The street dance, which will take place behind City Hall on Campbell Drive, will kick off a...
The annual KSTK/Alaska Power and Telephone golf tournament was held last weekend on June 16 – and though heavy rains fell, the spirit and competitiveness of the participants was apparent as the team of Wayne and Kathleen Harding took home a No. 1 spot with their net 26 (20 handicap) score. The tournament, which was a 9-hole “2-person best-ball” format, was a fundraising event for KSTK, which relies on community support to keep the lights on and transmitter broadcasting around the borough and o...
A letter from Alaska’s deputy fire marshal is lending some clarity to recent claims that the older Wrangell Medical Center would face closure if a new facility is not funded and built in the borough. According to Robert Plumb, the deputy marshal based in Juneau, the federal guidelines covered in the Center for Medicare/Medicaid Services (CMS) could require renovations to patient rooms at WMC. “If the new hospital is not built, the (CMS) may require bathrooms in the resident rooms in the existing facility to be made accessible (meeting ADA req...
Goldbelt, Inc. held its 38th Annual Meeting of Shareholders in Juneau on June 2. At the meeting, three directors were elected to the Board. This year, fifteen shareholders ran as candidates for the open board seats. Incumbent board members Ben Coronell and Katherine Eldemar were re-elected to three-year terms. Candidate Richard A. Beasley was also elected, replacing board member Andrea Cadiente-Laiti. The newly elected board members were sworn in at the Annual Meeting. The Board of Directors immediately convened after the meeting and held a...
Sometimes it only takes a few pounds to make a difference in Wrangell’s annual King Salmon Derby. David A. Svendsen can attest to that fact. Svendsen will take home a $6000 prize and bragging rights for the next year after landing a 46.5-pounder at Found Island on June 3. “We left on my boat, the Tideline at about 4:30 a.m., and at about 2 p.m. I got the bite,” Svendsen said. “It was my only bite of the day, but after that, the fight was on.” Shawn Curley takes home a No. 2 spot with his 43.3-...
