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Tax-free day is coming up this Saturday, June 16 – and many of the businesses downtown are hoping Wrangellites will make the trek through Front Street “hell” to buy their goods and services. The tax-free days come twice yearly, once in June and again in September, and allow Wrangellites to shop without paying the borough’s 7 percent sales tax. Wrangell Chamber of Commerce board president John Taylor said the day helps boost the local economy. “It is awesome and it promotes Wrangell businesses,” Taylor said. “And the dollars stay here. We than...
The Borough Assembly met in two sessions on Tuesday, June 12 to hold a public hearing on a proposed ordinance relating to collection of utility fees, and to pursue a second reading of the ordinance during the regular session. Before the utility issue could be addressed in open session, however, assembly member David Jack, with fellow member Bill Privett, asked to have the agendized approval of the Wrangell Medical Center 2013 budget tabled until a future meeting. Jack asked to have WMC Chief Financial Officer Olinda White come before the...
The deadline for registration in the popular Summer Reading Program is set for June 30 at the Irene Ingle Public Library. This free program, which began June 1 and runs through July 30, is available to students in Kindergarten through Grade 9. The current incarnation of the program began in the 1998 as a way to encourage the children of Wrangell to dive into the world of reading during their summer vacation. After reading a book, children will take a retention test on a computer, which is graded and transmitted to the school at the end of the p...
The development of the timber and salmon fishing industries were the main topics discussed during Gov. Sean Parnell’s visit to Wrangell on June 5. In a meeting with Mayor Jeremy Maxand, Borough Manager Tim Rooney, and Jim Collier and Chris Guggenbickler, the governor was brought up to date – and asked for his assistance – on the possible creation of a value-added timber mill and salmon hatchery in the borough. According to Maxand, the governor was receptive to those ideas. “I wanted to give an...
Concern over momentum in construction along Front Street was a main topic discussed during the Wrangell Road and Utility Improvement project team meeting on June 7. After going over details related to work completed during the past two weeks, Borough Manager Tim Rooney told project engineer Eric Voorhees about concerns Wrangellites have voiced to his office in recent days. “In the last three days I have probably had more questions about the lack of progress than I have had since November,” Roo...
A graduate student from the University of Alaska at Fairbanks is undertaking a study of Wrangell’s amphibians at Muskeg Meadows golf course – and is asking for the public’s help in his research. According to Joshua Ream, a doctoral candidate at UAF, the golf course is of particular interest because amphibians found on the island are easier to access and research near the property. “The majority of my project on local knowledge of amphibian species and the six native species found in Alaska...
A formal complaint against the Wrangell Medical Center Board of Directors was filed last week with the City and Borough of Wrangell – and is calling into question whether the board may have violated Alaska’s Open Meetings Act with a Facebook page. The Facebook group, under the name “Save Wrangell Medical Center,” is a closed group on the social network, and a screenshot taken by WMC recall proponent Judy Allen on June 7 purports to show five members of the board as taking part in the group. Closed groups on Facebook require users to obtain...
The Tribal House restoration on Chief Shakes Island was awarded another grant last week, with a $222,000 award from the M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust inching the project towards full funding. After submitting and revising the grant multiple times beginning in 2009, Wrangell Cooperative Association received notice on May 24 that the grant had been approved. The trust put no restrictions on the grant distribution, and with the paperwork now officially signed, the entire amount will be paid in a lump sum. “We extend our congratulations on your r...
Heavy rains could not stop two die-hard young golfers from taking the top spots during a tournament at Wrangell’s Muskeg Meadows golf course last week. Amos and Jonah Comstock competed for the longest and straightest drives on the practice range in two separate age groups on Thursday, June 7 – with the brothers winning in each group. In the “closest-to-the-pin” type competition, Amos won both the 25- and 100-yard drives, with Jonah taking the 50- and 75-yard drives. With the wins, Amos took ho...
The current Chief Executive Officer at Petersburg Medical Center is now a finalist for the top hospital administrator position in Alaska’s capital city. Elizabeth Woodyard, who has been CEO at PMC since 2011, will travel June 14-16 to Juneau’s Bartlett Regional Hospital to take part in the final assessment of candidates for the job – and will be interviewed by hospital staff, government and community leaders, and a panel of hospital stakeholders. The BRH Board of Directors announced Woody...
With the deadline for candidates to file for Alaska State Senate and House of Representatives seats, as well as U.S. House of Representatives passing last Friday, June 8, we now know the slate of hopefuls looking to unseat Representative Don Young. In the race to face off with Young, five Democrats have filed for the seat held by the Anchorage Republican – Sharon Cissna of Anchorage, Matt Moore of Anchorage, Doug Urquidi of Eagle River, Frank Vondersaar of Homer and Debra Chesnut of Fairbanks. Two Republicans have filed for the primary as w...
Wrangell’s Marine Service Center and City Dock are getting a spruce-up this month as more than $4 million in capital improvements get underway. “We have these two new projects at the haul-out and at the City Dock,” Meissner said. “We have state money and some Denali funding to complete this work and really needed this for a while. We’re really glad it’s happening now.” According to Meissner, the steel pilings at the dock are more than 30 years old and need to undergo maintenance to keep it in...
Everyone knows that walking and brisk exercise is good for your health. In fact, the philosopher and poet Friedrich Nietzsche might have said it best when he spoke of walking. “All truly great thoughts are conceived by walking,” Nietzsche said. For two Wrangellites, the idea of walking – in search of a cure for breast cancer – was conceived during the past six months and will take them to Seattle in search of that cure. Beth Comstock and Megan Clark will travel to the Emerald City in mid-Sep...
Governor Sean Parnell is greeted by Wrangell Medical Center CEO Noel Rea during his visit to Wrangell on Tuesday, June 5. Gov. Parnell met with borough officials and members of private industry at the Nolan Center to discuss capital appropriations, timber and hatchery issues....
The City and Borough of Wrangell hired a new clerk last week, filling a spot held since 1997 by the retiring Christie Jamieson. Kim Flores is a Wrangell resident and former part-time employee of the borough’s finance department and past deputy clerk with the Ketchikan Gateway Borough. She was selected by a hiring committee and approved by the Assembly on Friday, June 1. Her first official day at work was June 7. Outgoing clerk Christie Jamieson said Flores is highly qualified – and will do wel...
The Wrangell Medical Center Board of Directors met in special and executive sessions on Thursday, May 31 to take up issues related to WMC’s responsibility, if any, regarding being signatories to USDA loan documents for the new hospital project and to engage CEO Noel Rea in a discussion about his annual performance review. The resignation of Dr. James Yates from Alaska Island Community Services on May 30 overshadowed the main agenda items during public comment, however, when one concerned resident raised the question of emergency room c...
After a spirited public comment section of the Wrangell Medical Center Board of Directors special meeting on May 31 the board retired into executive session to discuss CEO Noel Rea’s annual personnel review. While the review and discussion of his performance are confidential personnel matters, Rea said afterward that it was a productive session – and gave him goals to work toward in the coming year. “This was, by no means, a perfect review,” Rea said. “But it was a very thorough evaluation. It was good and I am pleased with it because i...
Galen Reed, a 2008 graduate of Wrangell High School participated in the National Student Steel Bridge Competition May 25-26 at Clemson University. Reed is a member of Northwestern University’s steel bridge team. Reed’s team took a number of top spots in the competition, including a No. 9 ranking in display. “It was a great competition,” Reed said. “Building bridges is not an easy thing to do. It’s pretty complex.” More than 500 students from 47 universities participated in the competition ...
The Alaska Department of Fish and Game has rescinded a previous order that liberalized sport fishing for king salmon in waters surrounding Wrangell and Petersburg. Effective June 4, the resident bag and possession limit is three king salmon 28 inches or greater in length, while the nonresident bag and possession limit is one king salmon 28 inches or greater in length. A nonresident annual limit of four king salmon 28 inches or greater in length is also in effect. Between Oct. 1, 2012-March 31, 2013 all sport anglers may use two rods while...
The Alaska Department of Fish and Game announced last week that District 8 gillnet fisheries would remain closed until run sizes increase. The first in-season forecast is projecting a terminal run size of 29,300 Stikine River Chinook salmon. That forecast is well below the preseason levels for commercial fishing. The District 8 gillnet fishery will remain closed until the sockeye salmon season – unless in-season projections of Stikine River Chinook salmon increase. The in-season terminal run size estimate for Taku River Chinook salmon r...
Two of Wrangell’s top government officials are now responsible for authorizing a set of agreements with the USDA regarding loans for the Wrangell Medical Center replacement project. That was the result of the Wrangell Borough Assembly special meeting on Tuesday, May 29 at City Hall. The special session agenda addressed a number of topics of concern; review and approval of a recommendation on contracts relating to the WMC replacement project – and authorization for Mayor Jeremy Maxand or Borough Manager Tim Rooney to be signatories to all USD...
A group of Natives from Wrangell traveled to Celebration 2012 in a convoy of traditional canoes last week. Standing, from left: Joel Churchill, Jason Wright, Willie Nakamura, Shane Gillen, Sue Ramsey, Ken Hoyt, Christopher Feller, Linda Churchill, Mary McDaniel and Vivian Mork. Kneeling, from left: Kayla Rooney, Corey Goichoechea and Aria LaChapelle....
Imagine, for a moment, a City and Borough of Wrangell without a hospital – any hospital. According to Wrangell Medical Center CEO Noel Rea, that could be the outcome if the June 19 recall election changes the majority composition of the WMC Board of Directors. The USDA, which was set to guarantee a $24.7 million loan for the hospital replacement project, has signaled that an overhaul in the makeup of the board would lead them to require the borough to obtain a general obligation bond to fund the facility, rather than a revenue bond paid for b...
With eight members of the Wrangell Medical Center Board of Directors facing recall in a June election, tensions were high among members of the board, supporters of the recall effort, and citizens of the borough at the directors’ most recent meeting at WMC. At the May 23 meeting, board member Jim Nelson inquired of CEO Noel Rea whether allegations of WMC losing as many as 10 beds if the hospital is forced to update to current ADA standards was a “scare tactic.” “I think when the (general obligation) bond question came up everyone started...
The work on Wrangell’s downtown roads is moving along at a healthy pace – and could see Front Street poured and opened up as far as Campbell Drive by the Fourth of July weekend. The most recent report by the project management team and contractors involved in the Wrangell Roads and Utilities Improvement project are painting a rosy picture for the completion of the downtown revitalization and believe the project is on schedule. Project engineer Eric Voorhees said he believes a significant por...
