Sorted by date Results 426 - 450 of 461
It's like nothing they've ever had to deal with in business. Supply chain disruptions stemming from the pandemic have made it harder and more expensive to get groceries, building supplies, appliances and even flowers, causing Wrangell businesses to wait sometimes more than a year for deliveries. COVID-19 has had crippling effects on the U.S. economy, decreasing the amount of workers and increasing the amount of time it can take to receive goods and services. In a report issued by the White...
Moose hunting season came to an end on Oct. 15, and the trend to top 100 kills in the region continued for the eighth year in a row. According to Frank Robbins, Alaska Department Fish and Game wildlife biologist, 85 moose were killed in Unit 3, which includes Wrangell, Mitkof, Kupreanof, Woewodski and Zarembo islands. Of those 76, five were on Wrangell. Unit 1B, which encompasses Farragut Bay, the Stikine River, Thomas Bay and other mainland areas, had 34 legal kills. The Stikine had the...
Fourteen personal bests, five first-place finishes and four qualifying performances highlighted last weekend's swim meet for Wrangell High School swimmers in Juneau. Senior Renée Roberts upped her game by finishing first in every one of her competitions, and Roberts, along with junior Nikolai Siekawitch, sophomore Jack Roberts and senior Jimmy Baggen, qualified for the Alaska Senior Championship in Sitka in January. According to head coach Jamie Roberts, freshman Max Lloyd swam a personal best in all four of his events, Tyson Messmer swam perso...
The borough is moving forward with a much-needed elevator project at the high school. After researching options, it was determined that the entire elevator needs to be replaced rather than repaired. School district staff hopes that, if all goes smoothly, the project will be finished by the start of the 2022/2023 school year. Josh Blatchley, head of the school district maintenance department, said an oil leak was discovered at the bottom of the elevator's hydraulic ram in March of 2020. Any resea...
The school board on Monday night reviewed an updated COVID-19 mitigation plan which now allows student-athletes to go mask-free during training and while competing against other schools. Mask-wearing and social-distancing guidelines remain in place if athletes are sitting on the sidelines or not actively engaged in play. The updated policy does not change the requirement for face masks in classrooms and elsewhere in school buildings. “The mitigation plan … we are looking at it and making adjustments as we move forward as situations cha...
A group of Wrangell High School students saw a problem and decided to do something about it. Those students wanted to make the school warmer and more inviting. They created BASE - Building A Supportive Environment - a program aimed at inclusivity and helping each other. It's grown from decorating the halls to making sure other students get needed food, recognizing staff, and even securing money to make microloans on a global scale. The year before COVID-19 hit, several students attempted or...
By the time they are done touring the state on Nov. 1, the Alaska Redistricting Board will have visited 24 communities to gather public comments on six proposed maps for redrawing boundaries of every legislative district in the state. On Oct. 7, four of the five board members met with community members in Wrangell at the Nolan Center to explain the maps and how the boundaries were determined. The board will consider the information from its community meetings to decide on its final maps by the Nov. 10 deadline. When completed, each of 40 state...
Two nights of volleyball at Wrangell High School had spectators cheering, groaning and cheering some more as the Lady Wolves gave their all against the Craig Panthers. The two-day action saw wins and losses, with the Wolves coming out victorious in Saturday's sets. In the first game of Friday night, Wrangell came back from a 10-point deficit, coming within four points of Craig toward the end. The Panthers proved formidable as the team surged forward with scoring. In the end, the Lady Wolves...
Senior Liana Carney and freshman Daniel Harrison were the only two Wrangell cross country runners to qualify for the state championships in Anchorage last weekend. Both finished strong. Carney placed third out of 65 girls in the Division 3 race, finishing with a time of 21:40.5, and Harrison placed 11th out of 84 boys with a time of 18:45.1. "They both did amazing, and it was such a great finish to an amazing season," said head coach Kayla Rooney. In her first mile, Carney ran a 6:47 mile, then...
The first rule of Tech Club is talk about Tech Club. Science teacher Heather Howe wants the students who attend Wrangell High's newly formed program to share what they're learning and doing to interest more kids in attending. The T3 Alliance -often referred to as Tech Club - is a program designed to supplement the U.S. Department of Education's Upward Bound program, which helps students increase their ability to complete a secondary education, whether college or a technical school. Not all membe...
Tracy Churchill believes in "Keeping it Authentic." That's the tagline the graphic designer uses to celebrate the uniqueness of Wrangell, the community that inspired her Compass Line brand and led to the opening of a gift shop by the same name. "We wanted to initially do some designs to sell in the other shops, and then decided at that time we might as well try to just carry some things nobody else has in town," Churchill said. The space at 321 Front St. became available in 2017, and the...
The Wrangell and Petersburg region took the top spot for Southeast commercial crab catches this past summer season, according to the Department of Fish and Game. Even better, it was a record year for prices. From June 15 to Aug. 15, 680,000 pounds of Dungeness crab was harvested in District 8, which includes the waters north and west of Wrangell up past Petersburg. Sixty-nine permits were issued for the district. For all of Southeast, 3.09 million pounds of crab were harvested with 205 permit holders reporting. The catch equates to $13 million...
"Low, guys! Heads up, elbows in! Tap that floor a couple times," said Jack Carney, assistant coach of the high school wrestling team. His direction is met with a resounding THUMP! as the squad of 14 student-athletes hits the mat. They continue to run drills and warm up without any further instruction from their coach. Wrestling season started on Wednesday and athletes are already poised to pin the competition at the first meet on Oct. 22. "They're looking tough," said head coach Jeff Rooney in...
Kayla Rooney hated running when she started. Now she can't imagine her life without it. The four-time state placer returned to Wrangell specifically to coach the high school cross country team, continuing a family legacy of coaching. "My mom (Trisa Rooney) made me start running. I told her I didn't want to do it. She told me I could try it out, and if I didn't like it, I could quit," Rooney said. "So, a few weeks in, I didn't like it and I wanted to quit, and my mom told me, 'Well, you've...
Even though high winds canceled last Friday's flight to Ketchikan, Wrangell runners were able to travel there and clock their times on Sunday, the day after the Southeast regional championship meet was held. Two did well enough to qualify for state. Senior Liana Carney and freshman Daniel Harrison both qualified for state after placing second and seventh, respectively. Both the boys and girls cross country teams placed fourth overall. "My team did amazing given the situation we were given and...
To some it may look like a pile of dirt; to others it's a way to sustain agriculture and nurture the land. The popularity of composting is catching on, giving growers a way to keep operations affordable and sustainable, and potentially helping the borough save on landfill costs. Composting is the process of breaking down organic materials to be used in growing plants, providing needed nutrients and saving on irrigation. Composting runs hot and cold, literally. Passive or anaerobic composting,...
It's one thing to experience Alaska's waterways from a ferry, cruise ship or even a fishing boat, but what about a Jet Ski, sitting atop a couple hundred horsepower of a thousand-pound jet pump with handlebars? One company is doing just that, guiding tours via personal watercraft, from Seattle to Juneau with stops in Wrangell and other Southeast communities. Dangerous Waters Adventures was founded in 2018 by Steven Moll, offering thrill seekers a chance to experience the Alaska and Canada Inside...
Ever since Nancy Murkowski’s friend had a cancer scare in the early 1970s, Murkowski has made it a mission to raise funds to help fight the disease. On Aug. 20, the Waterfall Foundation, a nonprofit organization Murkowski founded more than 20 years ago, presented the WMC Foundation with a check for $10,000. In turn, the Wrangell foundation helps cancer patients and their families with travel and lodging expenses related to cancer care. Murkowski’s friend had to travel from Fairbanks to Seattle all those years ago in order to find a clinic with...
The district is in dire need of paraprofessionals at each school. Not only has it been difficult to fill the positions, retaining staff has added to the problem since people can often make more in other jobs. “Paraprofessionals are – sometimes we call them ‘aides’ – they help out with kids, particularly right now,” said Bob Davis, assistant principal for the high school and middle school. “We have a lot of intensive-needs kids. A lot of them need a lot of one-on-one help.” Intensive-needs children can have trouble with educational, em...
A plan to start testing student-athletes for COVID-19 will produce faster results and make it possible to continue scheduled home and away games while keeping kids safe, school officials said. Athletes have to test twice a week, before and after games. Results from the tests that look for genetic material from the virus in a nasal swab take two to three days, known as PCR tests. The schools are going to use an antigen test, which looks for a protein from the virus and can yield results in 15 minutes. Antigen tests for COVID-19 “are generally l...
Wrangell's water supply has its troubles. From the source reservoirs to the end users, the system for filtering and delivering water to businesses and residences needs some major overhauls -and they won't be cheap. The problems, officials say, start at the top at the lower reservoir and dam, which send water into the treatment plant where it goes through multiple phases of filtration and then is piped to customers. At an assembly meeting on Sept. 14, Public Works Director Tom Wetor presented a...
Wrangell is seeing some positive growth. The number of farming operations is on the rise throughout the community, and it's contributing to a healthier economy. There are two farms in Wrangell that grow a variety of fruits and vegetables and sell to residents and businesses, no less than nine residents that grow for their own consumption, and even Evergreen Elementary has a small farm. According to the Alaska Farmland Trust, the number of farms in the state increased by 30% from 2012 to 2017,...
Event organizer Jill Privett is looking to make a positive change with Tent City Days. In the past, the event celebrated the gold rush era, but Privett wants to focus more on “celebrating all things Wrangell, whether that be your love of the land, people, fishing, berry picking, etc.,” she said. From Oct. 14-17, various in-person and virtual events will be held, such as the Gold Nugget Open Swim, Alaska Day Fun Run, Tent City Steak Night, a food cache contest, Shady Lady Saturday Night, Zoom Story Time, Fisherman’s Crawl and the Wild Woman...
Six candidates are vying for three seats on the Wrangell school board. Angela Allen, Alex Angerman, Brittani Robbins and Elizabeth Roundtree are running for two open three-year terms. The top two vote-getters will win the election. Julia Ostrander and Jessica Whitaker are competing to fill one seat for an unexpired one-year term. Although each candidate has similar goals they want to achieve during their term if elected, they all have varied backgrounds and experience they believe would lend a...
The Wrangell High School swim and cross country teams competed in meets last weekend. The results were mixed, but a few athletes turned in personal bests and first-place finishes. Swimming The swim team competed in the Petersburg Invitational Swim Meet, going against teams from Juneau-Douglas, Thunder Mountain in Juneau, Petersburg, Craig, Sitka and Ketchikan. Renée Roberts finished first in three of her events: the 50-yard freestyle (25.92); the 100-yard backstroke (1:05.02); and the 50-yard...
