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Concern over a proposed tax rate reduction for the City and Borough of Wrangell – from its current 7 percent down to 5.5 percent – led off Borough Manager Tim Rooney’s report to the Assembly this week saw testimony from two local women brought to the forefront over the issue. The initiative, which will appear on the October ballot, seeks to reduce Wrangell’s sales tax down by 1.5 percent. Currently, Wrangellites pay a 7 percent tax on all goods and services in the Borough. The plan has drawn criticism from Rooney’s office, as well as citizens...
The Alaska Energy Authority has approved the top of the clear-cut across from Muskeg Meadows Golf Course as a test site for a meteorological research tower and work will proceed on construction when all necessary permits are in place. The purpose of the tower is to collect wind data for potential power generation. The current plan calls for the Southeast Alaska Power Agency to enable Forest Service permitting issues, with staff from the City and Borough of Wrangell working with the AEA to cover local data collection for another Wrangell Island...
The Borough Assembly approved the collection of property taxes for the next fiscal year at their May 28 meeting, continuing the mill rate currently paid by residents of the City and Borough of Wrangell for another year. The Assembly voted 7-0 to approve the rate. The ordinance will, except for property that is exempt by law from taxation, set the mill rate at 12.75 mills for the tax year 2013, 4 mills for the Wrangell Service Area, 4 mills for property outside the Service Area, and 4 mills for the tax differential zone. Taxes due and payable...
The Class of 2013 started their march toward graduation in first grade in 2001 – 12 years ago and seemingly a lifetime away from the world we live in today. Regardless of the march of time, the 31 graduates of Wrangell High School walked the aisle on Friday, May 17 into their future of college, work and adulthood. After entering the gymnasium of WHS to the tune of the Pomp and Circumstance march, provided by what was left of music director Tasha Morse’s band – minus her seniors – the collect...
The Wrangell Public School Board of Education is moving forward on a pair of long-term issues – with one involving Evergreen Elementary and Wrangell High School facility upgrades – and another involving the nutritional needs of the district’s students. The board voted Monday, May 13 to initiate a request for proposals to paint the elementary school façade and a portion of the front of the high school. “Painting the elementary school has been on the list of to do items for awhile now and will...
The trial of Wrangell resident Steven Marshall, who is alleged in court document and police statements to have assaulted a former girlfriend – and then attempted to solicit her murder from a jail cell in Ketchikan – is set for June 3-7 in First District Court. Marshall, 52, is accused of sexual assault and assault in the first degree, and is alleged to have raped, strangled and hit his victim, as well as threatening her with a machete, resulting in a hospitalization at Wrangell Medical Center in December 2011. According to court documents, Wra...
With the advent of digital technology, a number of Wrangell’s public and governmental agencies are going “paperless” in an effort to streamline operations, save costs and improve efficiency. One of the main users of digital records technology in town is the Wrangell Medical Center – though the Wrangell Public Schools District can now be counted among such users of this next-generation standard for meetings. According to superintendent Rich Rhodes, a paperless, web-based system known as BoardDo...
Wrangell held tightly to the 2013 Ryder Cup this past weekend as the Borough’s combined teams defeated Petersburg for victory during the annual tournament held May 18-19 at Muskeg Meadows golf course. The tournament, which followed a series of four different mini-tournaments over the course of the two-day event, featured Wrangell beating their neighbors to the north by 8-2 score on Saturday – and forced a tie-breaker on Sunday which local golfer Eric Kading broke with a shot on No. 1 bet...
The entertainment lineup for Bear Fest 2013 has been announced and includes two groups from the Pacific Northwest, notably Portland, Ore. and Seattle, Wash. Opening up the festivities will be the returning musical act of Pearl Django, a Seattle-based jazz group that melds the unique style of Belgian guitarist Django Reinhardt and French violinist Stephane Grappelli. The quintet’s music has been compared to the pre-World War II era “Quintette du Hot Club de France,” though with modern sensibiliti...
Members of the Thomas Bay Power Authority Commission met for their regular meeting on Wednesday, May 15 to discuss possible conflicts of interest within the organization. TBPA Commissioner and Petersburg Municipal Power and Light Superintendent Joe Nelson brought commission policies to light in regard to these conflicts. “Our commission policy states that no one on the commission can hold a direct interest in a contract of a business providing service for us,” Nelson read. “In the past when we had Pac Wing and Sunrise flying for us, the commi...
The Borough Assembly held a public hearing regarding the draft form of the 2013-14 Fiscal Year budget for the city on Tuesday, May 14 at City Hall, taking testimony from two citizens. Cyni Waddington, the manager of the Wrangell Chamber of Commerce spoke first in support of the budget, adding that her organization relies on funding from the city to survive. “Speaking on behalf of the Chamber of Commerce, in regard to the amount that is provided to us, we absolutely need that money,” Wad...
It took more than a year to complete, but the Chief Shakes Tribal House came together late last week as project manager Todd White and his crew installed the newly carved Bear screen and put finishing touches on the interior of the structure. The house cost nearly $1 million to rebuild and saw a crew of adzers spend the majority of last summer carving away at monolithic planks of nearly foot-thick cedar that would go into the new construction. A part of that million-dollar price tag was a $222,000 award from the M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust...
The transition from paper to electronic files in patient records is a move Wrangell Medical Center is currently in the middle of completing – thanks to the implementation of a new, computerized record keeping system at the hospital. According to WMC Chief Executive Officer Marla Sanger, the conversion from paper to digital is currently being implemented. “WMC continues to make progress with the electronic medical record,” Sanger wrote in her monthly report to the WMC Board of Trustees during their May 15 regular meeting. “The large number...
The Irene Ingle Public Library has added a new system to enhance the reading and learning experience for younger users of the library. The Early Literacy Station is a computer-based educational tool that contains more than 55 educational software titles for children ages 2-8. It is a standalone computer system that is not connected to the Internet, affording privacy and safety for some of Wrangell’s youngest library users. Some of the titles included in the software package include La Casa de Dora, ABCs and 123s, Kid Pix 3D, Math Doodles, K...
On May 4, the sun rose on Wrangell Island under gray skies – though those skies would part slightly and sunshine would descend upon a place that is the spiritual heartland of the Tlingit in Wrangell as the Chief Shakes Tribal House was rededicated for the first time in more than 70 years. Last week, over the course of May 2-4, Wrangell entered the pantheon of history as nearly 1,000 visitors from the Native communities of Southeast Alaska and beyond traveled to the Borough to witness the r...
During the rededication of Chief Shakes Tribal House, Wrangell saw an uptick in retail sales and money spent by nearly 1,000 visitors on lodging, food and services, providing a much needed boost to the local economy. Ernie Christian, who is both a member of Wrangell Cooperative Association’s Tribal government and manager of Ottesen’s True Value in downtown said that although he has not crunched the numbers, the Front Street events and the numerous visitors to Wrangell were a boon to his business and others in downtown. “It was a good weekend, I...
After a the recent and successful 2013 Wrangell Chamber of Commerce awards dinner and auction, the group’s Board of Directors is seeing a change in lineup. Cori Robinson, a 13-year member of the Chamber, has stepped into her new position as board president after the resignation of past president John Taylor. In addition to Taylor, longtime member Janell Privett and Wrangell School District superintendent Rich Rhodes also resigned their positions with the board recently. Robinson said she w...
The Thomas Bay Power Authority commissioners met in executive session on Friday, May 3 to discuss the issue of former TBPA general manager Paul Southland’s severance package. In a 5-1 vote, with commissioner Warren Edgely voting to pay Southland and member Dave Galla abstaining, the group decided to reverse course on a memorandum directing the city to provide a post-termination severance package. Southland was terminated by the commission late last month in a 5-2 vote, with commission p...
Three Wrangell High School students are a step closer to their dream of a college degree as they each received a $20,000 scholarship to pay for post-high school education and living expenses. The Sasayama Scholarships, which is named in memory of Tadao Sasayama, the first president of Alaska Pulp Corporation, are given to a choice group of WHS students each year – and the 2013 recipients were named on Monday, May 6. Seniors MiKayla Stokes, Loranzo Silva and Haley Reed will each receive $5,000 a...
The new Chief Shakes Tribal House did not reappear magically overnight. It took a number of years of planning, funding acquisition and construction to see it through to completion, which happened last week in Wrangell. The following stories are a look back in time during 2012 – and what it took to get from there to here – and how the new Shakes House rose in place of its predecessor built in 1940 by the Civilian Conservation Corps. Jan. 26, 2012: Over the next year, the over 70-year-old Chi...
A discovery of a petroglyph along the Stikine River last year by Wrangellites Don and Bonnie Roher has the couple asking questions about the purpose and location of the rock artwork. The Rohers discovered the previously buried monolith under the sand near Shakes Creek last year during a trip up river – and the couple are now propounding a theory that the area the stone was found in was a gathering place for Tlingit and Tahltan traders from the Alaskan coast and Canadian interior. “I heard abo...
A waft of heavy mist and cooler temperatures did nothing to stop Muskeg Meadows Golf Course from opening their 2013 season May 4-5 for the annual Angerman’s kickoff tournament. “We want to thank tournament sponsor, Angerman’s Inc. and Outlet Store, and everyone who joined us at Muskeg Meadows for our season kickoff golf tournament,” said course manager Shannon Booker. “Heavy mist did not deter twenty folks from competing for first place.” The competitors for Saturday’s portion of the event were Greg Scheff, Ed Rilatos, Steve Boehlert, Tymon Com...
Sentinel writer Mike Symons, the general manager of KSTK FM, has resigned his position as head of the station citing a wish to return to California. His position with the station will end on Tuesday, May 14. Symons was hired in 2012 and his 10-month tenure was marked by a consistent goal of reaching pledge levels in the bi-annual fundraising drive the station takes part in each year. Before volunteering at KSTK and being promoted to GM, Symons held down volunteer stints at KFSK in Petersburg...
