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The Parks and Recreation Department is looking to buy a new large inflatable for the pool, and is asking community members to help raise the estimated $7,000 it will cost to purchase the toy. The new inflatable is a Loch Ness Monster-looking rubber creature named Nessie, and will take up about half the space of Wrangell’s indoor pool, which is approximately 25 yards long. Wrangellites will have the opportunity to participate in a swim or walkathon April 14 to raise the funds to purchase Nessie. Participants will request community members p...
Wrangell fourth-grader Kaylyn Easterly traveled to Washington state earlier this month to participate in the Hoop Shoot regional competition. The Hoop Shoot is an annual contest put on by the National Elks Foundation. Participants - boys and girls ages 8 to 13 - have to shoot 25 free throws. Those who sink the most baskets win and move on from a local contest, to regionals and onto the national competition. Easterly won Wrangell’s Hoop Shoot late last year among the eight-and nine-year-old g...
The Stikine River Jet Boat Association of Wrangell was awarded an Adventure Green Alaska (AGA) certification earlier this month. AGA is a certification program offered through the non-profit, The Alaska Wilderness Recreation & Tourism Association. It encourages businesses in the state to be environmentally conscious while promoting sustainable tourism in Alaska. AGA is the only sustainable tourism certification of its kind in the state. Marjy Wood, executive director for the Stikine River Jet Boat Association said she wants the community to kno...
Last week, the Wrangell Medical Center filed an opposition in court to local physician Greg Salard’s request to have his privileges restored at the hospital pending his appeal process. The WMC Board of Directors, acting as a review committee, voted in early March to deny Salard the right to practice at the hospital. A week later, on March 9, Salard filed an appeal to that decision in Wrangell trial court, and also requested he be allowed to work at WMC pending the court’s decision on that appeal. In its memorandum of opposition, WMC states Sal...
At a workshop March 13, the Wrangell Port Commission discussed plans for the mariners’ memorial planned for Heritage Harbor. The Port Commission has yet to finalize a specific design for the project, which will pay homage to those lost at sea. However, last week, Port Commission members talked about their hopes for what the memorial will become. Commission member Clay Hammer said ideally, the memorial would be crafted using local products and people. “This is a Wrangell thing, and I think it would be really cool if it was a Wrangell thing mad...
Borough Assembly member Dave Jack has proposed changes to several ordinances that would create additional responsibilities for the Wrangell Medical Center (WMC) and its board of directors. Another amendment would change the necessary qualifications needed to be a member of the WMC board. Jack introduced his amendments at an Assembly meeting last month, at which time Assembly members decided to discuss the proposal at a later date. The topic is on the agenda for the March 27 Assembly meeting. One of Jack’s proposed ordinance changes relates t...
Wrangellites will have the opportunity March 29 to participate in a statewide event aimed to raise awareness of domestic violence and sexual assault in Alaska. A march from the elementary school, down to the ferry terminal and back, will be held at 4 p.m. next week in Wrangell. Public Health and the Healthy Wrangell Coalition are sponsoring the event, which is part of the governor’s “Choose Respect” campaign. Gov. Sean Parnell created the annual event began in 2010. Each year, thousands of Alaskans from over 100 communities participate in an...
The Wrangell School Board voted three-to-one Monday in favor of having a fruit tree orchard planted on property at the elementary school. The orchard is being provided by the Fruit Tree Planning Foundation’s (FTPF) “Communities Take Root” program. In January, FTPF arborist Rico Montenegro visited Wrangell to scout possible locations for an orchard. Kris Reed of the volunteer Tree Care Committee told the school board last month the space in front of the elementary school on Bennett Street would be an ideal location to plant 30 to 40 trees...
Wrangell Medical Center (WMC) has filed an opposition to local physician Greg Salard’s request asking the court to expedite his appeal process. The WMC Board of Directors, acting as a separate WMC committee, met March 2 and decided not to allow Salard to continue working at the hospital. A week later, Salard filed a civil appeal in Wrangell court to the WMC board’s decision. Salard and his attorney Lee Holen also filed a motion for “stay pending appeal,” which would allow the doctor to continue practicing at WMC pending his appeal. A motion...
Wrangell resident Dale McMurren will travel over 3,700 miles to Boston next month to run 26.2 miles in the world’s oldest annual marathon. This will be the 52-year-old’s sixth marathon in four years. McMurren ran his first in 2008, and has traveled to Phoenix, Juneau, Anchorage, Birmingham and Honolulu to participate in marathons. McMurren said he enjoys running the lengthy races, and finds the first 18 miles of a marathon “easy.” “That’s when the race begins. It’s mental after that,” he said. McMurren started running years ago to get into shap...
Boats sit in Heritage Harbor on a sunny afternoon. Tuesday marked the first day of Spring, and Wrangell was welcomed with warm temperatures and bright blue skies...
This year marks the 15th anniversary of the Stikine River Bird Festival, which is scheduled for the last full week of April. The Wrangell Convention and Visitor Bureau is seeking local artwork for a festival logo. The bird fest does not have a logo of its own, said Joel Delabrue who works with the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) in Wrangell, and is involved with the planning for the bird fest. The logo contest will hopefully get more people interested in the bird festival, Delabrue said. The logo could also be used in the making of t-shirts, pins...
Attorneys Michael Gatti and Krista S. Stearns lead a class Friday on Alaska’s laws regarding open meetings. The class continued Saturday. The City and Borough of Wrangell hosted the two days of free classes at the Nolan Center, which attracted members of the Borough Assembly and other local volunteer boards. Gatti is an attorney working for a private firm in Anchorage, and Stearns works as the city attorney for Kenai....
Friday afternoon an excavator fell into a trench on Front Street located between the Sentinel office and the Kadin building. The incident occurred shortly before 4:30 p.m. Friday, March 9. The trench, approximately six-feet-deep, had been dug to install a new water line as part of Wrangell’s road and utility improvement project. The fall crushed the cab of the 320 excavator. An operator employed by Southeast Earthmovers was inside the cab at the time of the fall, but was able to escape from t...
Rep. Don Young was in Wrangell Monday as part of a Southeast Alaska tour this week for the state’s sole U.S. congressman. During his quick visit, Young met with community members and business representatives at the Nolan Center for lunch where he heard about a number of issues facing Wrangell as well as local economic development projects. Nearly a dozen people attended Monday’s event with the congressman. Members of the Wrangell Cooperative Association talked about the restoration projects on Shakes Island. Mark Robinson, chair of the Wra...
The construction company operating at the medical campus will be allowed to begin working as early as 8 a.m. on Saturdays. The Wrangell Planning and Zoning (P&Z) Commission approved the extra weekend work hours at its meeting March 8, after receiving an application for a noise variance from Ketchikan Ready Mix and Quarry Inc. The construction company is building a new clinic for Alaska Island Community Services (AICS) at the medical campus on Wood Street behind the Mini Mart. The site is also where the new hospital is set to be built. Under the...
A Wrangell resident and AmeriCorps member has teamed up with the Parks and Recreation Department to offer a number of fitness programs to residents this year. Holly Hammer is a member of the Building Initiatives in Rural Community Health (BIRCH) AmeriCorps Program, which supports health education and wellness activities in rural communities throughout Alaska. This is Hammer’s second year as an AmeriCorps member in Wrangell. Last year, Hammer worked with the Wrangell Medical Center, but this year will be working mostly out of the Wrangell p...
Borough Assembly members, acting as the Borough Board of Adjustments will hear testimony next week on McGraw Custom Construction’s appeal to last month’s Planning and Zoning (P&Z) Commission decision regarding the company’s operating hours on the Front Street improvement project McGraw is asking permission to work as early as 6 a.m. and as late as midnight Monday through Saturday on main street. On Feb. 9, P&Z voted in favor of allowing construction to occur 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Friday and 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Saturdays. A week later...
The first community market in Wrangell is scheduled for May 19, and members of the market steering committee have asked the town permission to use the covered play area by the elementary school as the site to sell locally-grown and crafted goods. Wrangell’s Parks and Recreation Department manages the covered play area. Holly Owens and Kris Reed of the market steering committee attended the Parks and Recreation Board meeting Wednesday night to see if they could use the space on market days. Markets are currently set to take place every third S...
In two weeks, residents will have an opportunity to offer input on Wrangell’s draft outdoor recreation plan, which has outlined a dozen priority projects aimed at enhancing local recreation opportunities for residents and visitors. The draft “Wrangell Sustainable Outdoor Recreation Action Plan” was released in February, after about a year of preparation. Projects discussed in the plan include extending existing trails on the island, improving outdoor facilities and community recreation programs, as well as creating new outdoor activitie...
The City and Borough of Wrangell plans to address the old and often dilapidated homes and properties sitting on vacant lots throughout town. Wrangell resident Janell Privett addressed the Borough Assembly at its Feb. 28 meeting, asking if there was something the city could do to deal with these “dangerous” properties. “We have a lot of homes that, for one I consider, in my opinion, dangerous, [and] that are not homes anymore,” Privett said. “They are dilapidated properties, places that are no longer livable, rentable [and] can’t be occupied....
At its meeting Tuesday night, the Wrangell Borough Assembly approved a plan that aims to enhance local industry and boost economic development. The “Wrangell Economic Cluster Initiative” will now be forwarded to the Department of Agriculture (USDA) and congressional representatives. The Wrangell economic development plan is a product of an effort throughout Southeast Alaska to try to enhance the region’s economy. Last fall, the USDA contracted the Juneau Economic Development Council (JEDC) to create the “Southeast Alaska Cluster Initiative.” Th...
Trident Seafoods in Wrangell plans to begin processing fish oil this year, which will be used to create fish oil capsules for human consumption. The oil extraction operation will generate just over $7,000 for the city annually and is expected to create several new jobs in the community. The oil extraction equipment will be installed this spring at Trident’s belt freezer facility in Wrangell, and oil extraction from salmon heads will begin in time for the summer’s salmon fishing season, said Paul Padgett, who is in charge of Trident’s Alask...
Travis Brown, also known as “Mr. Mojo” speaks to a crowd of students in the Wrangell High School gymnasium Monday afternoon. Brown gave three presentations in Wrangell Monday focused on anti-bullying and student leadership....
During Wrangell’s cold snap in mid-January when temperatures dipped to zero degrees, residents were cranking up their heat. As a result of that jump in electrical power usage, the Tyee Hydroelectric Plant near Wrangell maxed out, forcing the town to turn on diesel generators to continue to provide energy. Members of the Borough Assembly and Thomas Bay Power Authority, which operates Tyee, held an informal meeting Feb. 21 to discuss how to avoid that “crisis” situation in the future. “That was the key that tripped the switch that says we have...