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Wrangell is great at helping neighbors in need, at filling holiday food baskets and supporting student activities. The community excels at watching out for each other, watching over our elders and keeping watch over mariners. There are multiple examples just in last week’s and this week’s Sentinel and on the Wrangell Community Group Facebook page: Volunteers working to reopen the roller rink after a three-year shutdown; all the effort that has gone into growing the community garden; the dedication, labor and money that have gone into bui...
Workers, families and retirees are not the only Alaskans squeezed by inflation, rising interest rates and tumbling investments. The state is in the same tight spot. And it could get worse. The price for Alaska North Slope crude oil was down to $86.57 a barrel as of last Friday, dropping a third from almost $128 in early June. U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate was even lower, at $78.74. The stock market, where the Alaska Permanent Fund invests much of its money, as of Friday was down 20% from the start of the year. Bond and real estate...
I promise, this will be the first and only column I write that makes fun of how people behave in Washington, D.C. Well, maybe I’ll write another one someday if I see something that is so silly it’s worth sharing with readers. OK, I guess then it’s pretty likely there will be another, but I absolutely, positively promise this will be the last one that laughs at people and their addiction to so-called smartphones. I don’t know why we call them smartphones when they make people act so dumb. I arrived in Washington, D.C., last week to start m...
Starting this week, I will be working as a policy adviser to Mary Peltola, Alaska’s newly elected congresswoman. I hadn’t planned on it, but she asked and I accepted. Fortunately, I saved my suits from when I worked in Washington, D.C., for the state and federal governments a decade ago. I’ll be advising Peltola on oil and gas and other energy issues, natural resources, tax, fiscal, transportation, federal agency issues and whatever else is on the work list for Alaska as she fills out the rest of the late Rep. Don Young’s House term until J...
Normally, I do not respond to anonymous questions. Most all newspapers, the Sentinel included, will not print anonymous letters. To do otherwise would allow people to take free shots at anyone they want, hiding from view and protecting their own identity while they criticize or question others. However, sometimes the questions raised in an anonymous letter are worth sharing with the community. Such as the case of an unsigned letter mailed to the Sentinel, raising multiple questions about the proposed bond issues to pay for repairs to the...
Given my aversion to long planning sessions, whiteboards with erasable markers and consensus building exercises, I can’t believe I am saying this: The town needs a plan for its economic future. A forum to start making that plan is a good beginning. Wrangell’s economic future is as cloudy as a fall day in Southeast, as uncertain as the state ferry schedule, and as chancy as winning a raffle. Improving those dreary odds can’t be based on hope. Wrangell needs a realistic plan. The chamber of commerce is sponsoring an economic forum on Sept. 30 at...
People vote their pocketbook, or so the old adage says. And certainly more so in this year of high inflation, painful gas prices at the pump and fears of a global recession. It’s understandable that Wrangell voters will think about their household finances when they select which candidates they support. In Alaska, particularly in the past few years, that support has gone to the candidates that promote loudly, promise passionately and pledge sincerely that they will deliver the largest Permanent Fund dividend to voters. OK, I get it. This y...
Lust for a supersize Alaska Permanent Fund dividend and giving the government a larger role in dictating personal choices are about as miserable a pair of reasons for rewriting the state constitution as imaginable. Problem is, they are not imagined, they are real. Alaskans will vote in 12 weeks whether they want to convene a constitutional convention to embark on rewriting the state’s founding document. The constitution requires that voters get a chance every 10 years to decide if they want a do-over on the 1950s’ guiding principles of law...
Of course the Sentinel wants to tell stories about what’s going on in town, what’s happened, what’s coming up, what government and businesses are doing that interests or may affect people. The staff depends on the community to share information and opinions so that we can tell all those stories. It’s the same when a member of the community dies. And it’s even more important at those times to tell the person’s story so that friends and family, acquaintances and even strangers can read and remember the person’s contributions to the community and...
As American households strain under the weight of high gasoline prices, as cities and school districts look for extra money in their budgets to cover the cost of heating fuel, and as everyone is paying more to get everything delivered by diesel-fueled trucks, the election-year political rhetoric is accelerating to a high-octane level. Big Oil and political opponents are just too tempting of a target to pass up as elected officials and candidates want to direct voter anger toward an easy scapegoat. Republicans loudly blame President Joe Biden...
Inflation smacks drivers in the wallet when they fill up the tank, punches shoppers in the stomach when they load up a grocery cart, and brings travelers down to Earth when they want to buy an airline ticket. The public complains loudly about rising prices that escalate without limits. Why then so quiet about unlimited contributions to political campaigns — it’s just as harmful to democracy as inflation. Maybe even more so. Inflation eventually will come down. Campaign donation limits will only come back when the Legislature and governor tak...
Some argue that the federal government paid out far too much money to too many people under the headline of “pandemic relief aid.” The list includes up to $3,200 per person in cash, expanded and extended unemployment and food stamp benefits, child tax credits, mortgage assistance payments, rent relief payments, help with utilities, larger subsidies for health insurance on the Affordable Care Act marketplace, business grants and low-interest loans, federal aid to cities and states with few strings attached. But those programs, which started more...
“Bouncy” sounds less dramatic than “volatile,” and certainly less depressing than “money-losing.” And it’s not nearly as scary as “billion-dollar bust.” But bouncy is an appropriate word for forecasting state earnings this year. It’s not unexpected, as pretty much all of Alaska’s money is based on oil prices and investment returns, and both are about as stable these days as a small boat on rough seas, with an underpowered outboard. And though Alaska needs leaders who know what to do to safely ride it out, it’s an election year and Alask...
Riverboats have operated on the Stikine since the gold rush days of the 1860s and 1870s. The commerce was a big part of Wrangell’s economy in those days, with a long history of family-owned businesses moving people and freight up and down the river to and from Canada for 100 years. And long before that, the river, which provided a natural passageway through the Coast Mountains, was used as a trade route by Indigenous peoples. The Tlingit and Tahltan knew the value of the river. Wrangell was a hub, with the Stikine serving as the equivalent o...
Election-year politics have a way of bringing bad ideas to the top — when they belong at the bottom of the settling pond. Yes, fuel prices are high, painfully so in many communities and particularly so for people and businesses that have no choice but to fill up the tank and drive to work or deliver for a living. But suspending the federal tax on gasoline and diesel would not accomplish much good. Same for getting rid of the state tax. The Alaska Legislature this past session, with the support of Gov. Mike Dunleavy, considered suspending the s...
Legislators, the governor, members of the public — and most certainly candidates in this year’s state elections — should be paying attention to stocks, bonds, real estate and other investments. Energy prices are fueling high inflation; stock markets are tumbling steeply downhill; Russia’s war on Ukraine is disrupting most everything in the world of finance and commerce; and a growing number of economists are talking “recession.” But rather than focusing on their own savings, elected officials and candidates need to pay close attention to the fa...
The weekend headline in Anchorage said an Alaska North Slope natural gas pipeline project “could be closer than ever, Alaska politicians say.” The first clue was “Alaska politicians say.” No offense, but pinning your hopes on what politicians say in an election year is like believing your kid really cleaned up his room like you asked. The kid will tell you what you want to hear to avoid punishment, just like a candidate will tell tall tales and exaggerate to avoid losing an election. The only difference being the politician should know better....
Most of the bylines you read in the Sentinel each week are names you probably recognize. Marc Lutz and Sarah Aslam work out of the newspaper office on Front Street and attend meetings and events around town. Amber Armstrong manages the community calendar and obituaries. I live mostly in Anchorage and Juneau and write about state politics, fiscal and other issues for the Sentinel, along with opinion columns and occasional reporting on Wrangell news when Marc and Sarah are booked up. But there are a lot of other writers whose work appears in the...
Former President Donald Trump, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and other elected so-called leaders say the answer to protecting innocent students and teachers from attack is to turn schools into fortresses. High perimeter fencing, every entrance door locked but one, metal detectors, cameras, hardened doors to classrooms, armed security guards. Sounds like a prison, not a school for young children to learn, play and enjoy. And after speakers at last week’s National Rifle Association annual convention in Houston condemned the evil of the Uvalde school s...
The Legislature adjourned on time last week, a nice change from past special sessions that got in the way of summer fishing, watching baseball, eating anything off the grill (except eggplant) and sitting outdoors in the sun doing nothing. Lawmakers settled on a healthy and wealthy but not necessarily wise dividend that will put $12,800 into the hands of a family of four this fall. As expected months ago, that single issue consumed the largest amount of political negotiating in the Legislature’s final days. House and Senate members also p...
The community’s future depends on adequate, affordable housing, and the same for child care services. Without both, Wrangell will find it difficult to keep the businesses, jobs, school enrollment and services it has, much less grow. You could say the same for salmon returns, state and federal funds, a dependable ferry system and better weather, but all of those are outside the community’s control. Housing and child care are something Wrangell needs to confront, look for answers and even help pay to improve. Both are so basic to the wel...
The Legislature is working toward the largest capital budget in a long time. Municipalities are hearing “yes” instead of years of “no” to some of their public works funding requests. In addition, more state money is headed to schools. And Alaskans are likely to get a check from the state this fall more than double the amount of last year’s Permanent Fund dividend. All thanks to elevated oil prices — more than 50% higher than a year ago — and the large tax and royalty payments that are flowing to the treasury from North Slope oil producers. Lawm...
The Permanent Fund dividend ranks among the most divisive issues in Alaska politics, along with such longstanding battles as oil taxes, salmon fisheries catch allocations and subsistence rights. Sadly, the dividend has grown in political importance in recent years, overwhelming all other issues confronting the state. Candidates scramble to find a dividend flag large enough to wrap around themselves for campaign speeches, reasonable voices get drowned out by chants of “I want my PFD,” and state budget work is held hostage by advocates for a sup...
This isn’t about a time-out for misbehaving children; it’s about adults who behave as children, or worse. The federal law requiring face masks on airplanes is no longer in effect. That means big changes for flyers. For travelers who had grown tired of masking up before heading into airports and boarding planes, they are free to show their smiles and put away or throw away their masks. For travelers who remain concerned about catching COVID-19, they are free to keep wearing masks in their best efforts to protect themselves and others. What it sh...
Just when we thought Alaska politics couldn’t get any sillier, we now have so many candidates running for Congress that debate organizers will need to borrow the microphones from all the karaoke bars in the state to accommodate everyone on the stage. Just imagine harmonizing 48 voices in “Don’t Stop Believin’.” Almost twice as many candidates have filed to run in the June primary for the late Don Young’s seat in the U.S. House than lost to the congressman in his unbroken streak of 25 consecutive election victories. If you believe in heaven,...
