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The Alaska Marine Highway System’s ongoing crew shortage has eased up for entry-level steward positions but remains a significant problem in the wheelhouse and for engineers, likely keeping the Kennicott out of service again this summer. As of March 8, the state ferry system was short almost 50 crew of what it would need to put its full operational fleet to sea this summer, which means keeping the Kennicott tied to the dock, Craig Tornga, the system’s marine director, reported to a state Senate budget subcommittee on March 19. That is abo...
The state ferry system carried 181,000 passengers in 2023, still short of the pre-COVID numbers in 2019 and down substantially from almost 340,000 in 2012 and more than 420,000 in 1992. Overall vehicle traffic also is down, from more than 115,000 in 2012 to 63,000 last year. Much of the decline corresponds to a reduction in the number of vessels in operation, according to statistics presented to a state Senate budget subcommittee on March 19. The fleet provided almost 400 “operating weeks” in 2012, with each week a ship is at sea counting as an...
Tax credits have long been popular, growing more so every year. Supporters push them to provide government backing for new initiatives or ongoing programs, steering money to worthy causes — some unworthy ones, too — bypassing actual appropriations by federal, state or municipal lawmakers. With a tax credit, businesses or individuals can make donations to a program or invest in a project, such as housing, and reduce their taxes to the federal, state or municipal treasury. Tax credits divert private money that otherwise would become public mon...
Five Wrangell teens know their books, chapters and verses better than any other team in Alaska, and for the second year in a row Wrangell won the state title at The Salvation Army’s Bible Bowl competition. The team was so dominant and won by such a wide margin at the competition March 16 in Juneau that “Anchorage actually forfeited,” said Capt. Chase Green of The Salvation Army’s Wrangell church. Haines took second and Juneau won third in the four-team contest, he said. With the state title in hand, Wrangell will move on to the nationa...
Alaska lawmakers fell one vote short Monday in an attempt to override the governor’s veto of a comprehensive school funding bill, which included a permanent increase in the state funding formula for K-12 education and which could have provided an additional $440,000 for the Wrangell school district. The additional funds would have covered about two-thirds of the deficit in the Wrangell district’s draft budget, reducing the amount of money it will need to pull out of reserves for the 2024-2025 school year. The vote in a joint session of the Hous...
The Sentinel has never charged for listings in the community calendar, which has been displayed on Page 2 for years. Easy enough for print subscribers to open the paper and see what’s happening in town, whether public meetings, fundraisers, youth activities, multiple Parks and Recreation activities, movies and more. But it did not dawn on me until last week that anyone wanting to read the calendar online needed a subscription. My apologies for never thinking about that. It’s another reminder that my 72-year-old head still thinks of new...
Illegal dumping of trash, appliances and whatever else people don’t want to take to the waste transfer station has long been a problem in town. “It’s not just a Wrangell issue,” Police Chief Tom Radke said last week. Radke, who spent almost 26 years in law enforcement in Minnesota before taking the Wrangell job in 2020, said he has seen it many times before. But just because it’s commonplace doesn’t mean it’s legal — it’s not. Illegal dumping of garbage in Wrangell is subject to a $150 fine. “It’s one of those issues we’re trying to get ahead o...
Even in winter, there are hot opportunities. And since the state’s prospects for economic well-being are in short supply these days — like being short of buyers for Alaska salmon, running short of energy for Southcentral residents and businesses, and falling woefully short of funding for public schools — the state needs to seize whatever unexpected opportunities arise. Alaskans have long prided themselves on ingenuity, making something anew from the discard piles left behind by others. In this case, there are six ice-class liquefied natur...
A Georgia-based developer who has taken a liking to Wrangell has offered the borough $200,000 for the former hospital property, with plans to tear down the building and construct as many as 48 new housing units. Wayne Johnson’s offer on the 2-acre property is contingent on striking a deal to purchase six smaller borough-owned lots behind the hospital building, adding an additional 1.3 acres to the development site. The purchase price for the hospital property, which has been vacant since SEARHC moved into its new Wrangell Medical Center t...
The state is working toward a possible timber sale at Earl West Cove in 2025 or 2026, with the borough hoping it could piggyback on the effort and put up its own acreage in the area to increase the logging work and generate revenue for the municipality. A state timber sale of approximately 160 acres is part of the state’s five-year plan covering 2023-2027. But there is work to do before the state timber could go out for bid. The Department of Natural Resources, Division of Forestry and Fire Protection hired a consultant two or three years a...
While it’s uncertain if the state could transfer funds to the borough for maintenance work at Petroglyph Beach, the more immediate concern is that neither the borough nor the state have any idea how many visitors commercial tour operators bring to the site each year. The state this year is requiring tour operators to buy a license and pay a per-visitor fee, which had been required under state law for more than 20 years. But the fee was never enforced for Petroglyph Beach because the Alaska Division of Parks and Outdoor Recreation essentially l...
The state, which administers the federally funded Community Development Block Grant program, has awarded Wrangell $695,000 toward a new roof at the middle school. The borough assembly designated the school roof — most of which is almost 30 years old — as its top priority for the grant program this year. The project is estimated at about $1.4 million. “We would have to provide the balance to make it a whole project,” Amber Al-Haddad, the borough’s capital facilities director, said Feb. 28. “It’s possible we can get the (middle school) roof done...
It was a perplexing week in the Legislature. While the Senate Finance Committee was reviewing honest numbers about real budget needs hitting up against the limit of available state revenues, the House was debating whether the exalted Permanent Fund dividend belongs in the Alaska Constitution, putting the PFD above all else in life. The Senate committee last week was doing the math, realizing the state would not have enough money for a fat dividend this year, no matter what the governor and too many legislators may pledge, promise and promote....
After a scaled-back reopening last summer following a three-year closure of its Wrangell processing facilities, Trident Seafoods anticipates having 200 to 240 workers on the job during the peak salmon months this summer. That would be about double the 100 to 120 workers at the shoreside facility last summer. “Trident is looking forward to operating its Wrangell plant again this year. We anticipate employing 200 to 240 people at peak this summer. The company will focus on processing pink and chum salmon starting in mid-June,” Alexis Telfer, vic...
Wrangell has lost three cruise ship stopovers this summer to Klawock, where a partnership of three Native corporations is developing a tourist destination with facilities, shore excursions and other activities for passengers. The 746-passenger Seven Seas Explorer has crossed Wrangell off its schedule for a May visit, with the 670-passenger Regatta canceling a stop in June and one in September but retaining a Wrangell stop earlier in September, according to the schedule posted by the Wrangell Convention and Visitor Bureau earlier this month. The...
The borough is waiting on a federal disaster declaration to cover the expense of power line repairs and other immediate and near-term costs from the Nov. 20 landslide at 11.2-Mile Zimovia Highway. The Wrangell Cooperative Association is seeking federal funding for the longer-term expense of cleaning up the tidelands of debris and toxic material. Under federal law, only the governor can request a federal disaster declaration, which the Federal Emergency Management Agency reviews before sending it to the president for signature. The state has...
The borough has been looking for a developer or long-term tenant after paying $2.5 million for the former 6-Mile sawmill property in June 2022, but now is turning its attention to short-term leases to generate income and jobs until something bigger and more permanent comes along. “The borough would like to consider making the mill property as productive as possible in the short term,” Interim Borough Manager Mason Villarma told the assembly earlier this month, asking for direction on negotiating leases for the waterfront property. His pre...
The governor’s growing obsession with charter schools is frightening for the future of public education in Alaska. He talks as if charter schools are by far the best answer to the state’s low student test scores. He has told Alaskans he would not support an increase in state funding for public schools unless the Legislature also backs his proposal to bypass local school boards when parents want to start up a new charter school. At the same time, he resists providing adequate support for public school districts that have not seen any real inc...
The Get REAL Financial Reality Fair for high school students isn’t just about learning to balance a checkbook, manage money and handle credit cards. It’s also about learning what their parents deal with in managing the family’s finances, said Marisa Fulgham, Wrangell branch manager for Tongass Federal Credit Union, which is organizing the event. “We give each kid a life and a budget. … (Then) we threw curveballs at them.” Those include expected expenses, such as housing, groceries, medical bills and a vehicle, and maybe the unexpected,...
Borough officials are concerned that Wrangell continues to lose population, while those who stay in town grow older and leave the workforce. As a whole, the state has lost more residents than it has gained in new arrivals every year since 2013, with only the birth rate keeping Alaska from showing a population decline. However, unlike the statewide totals, Wrangell recorded more deaths than births between 2017 and 2022, adding to the community’s overall population decline. The state’s latest estimate for Wrangell’s population, as of last summe...
A majority of the borough assembly supports changing municipal law to pay the mayor and assembly a few thousand dollars a year for their work, but it would require a change in the municipal charter to adopt such a compensation plan. “If this would get one or two more younger people (to serve on the assembly) … to start giving us their ideas … I’m all for this,” Assembly Member David Powell said as members discussed the proposal at their Feb. 13 meeting. “I think it would bring in a younger wave of people,” said Assembly Member Anne Morrison...
The borough assembly has voted to proceed with an application for $25 million in federal funding to rebuild the Inner Harbor, Reliance and Standard Oil floats, including a commitment that Wrangell would come up with $5 million needed to fully fund the estimated $30 million project. “This is a little bit of a gamble,” Mayor Patty Gilbert said at the Feb. 13 assembly meeting. Still, it’s a good bet “if you can parlay $5 million into $30 million,” she said. “This is an ambitious project, but it’s very much needed,” Gilbert added. The harbor floa...
Assembly members agreed that a port commission proposal to require boat owners to carry marine insurance — or pay a monthly fee in addition to their stall rental — needs a lot more work. The port commission has been discussing since 2022 the financial risk to the borough when an uninsured vessel catches fire or sinks in the harbor, requiring cleanup and removal. The commission last month voted unanimously to recommend assembly approval of an ordinance requiring boat owners show proof of insurance or pay an additional monthly fee so that the...
The advice for Las Vegas gamblers is don’t bet more than you can afford to lose. It’s generally the same advice for investors: Don’t take more risk than you can afford, even when the riskier bets look like they could pay off the same as 21 at the blackjack table. The six members of the Alaska Permanent Fund Corp. board of trustees should take this advice to heart. Most every investment is a gamble — company stocks can drop in price, bonds may be worth less if borrowers stop repaying their debts in full, real estate can fall in value, interes...
Site prep work is finished and concrete foundation work has started on a new multimillion-dollar treatment plant to improve water quality and quantity for Wrangell. “We’re actually pouring our first footings,” Amber Al-Haddad, the borough’s capital facilities director, said Feb. 14. The metal building that will house the water treatment system is scheduled for mid- to late-March arrival, she said, with the equipment to follow later. Completion is planned for June 2025 under the terms of federal funding for the project. The new plant will re...