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Parents looking for someone to watch their children so they can earn a living may have to keep looking for the time being. Efforts to find solutions to a lack of child care locally and statewide continue to move forward, but providing the service is taking more time than most people might like. The number of child care providers has dropped by 11% throughout the state since 2021. In Wrangell, there have been some efforts to increase the number of child care options, though only one, through the Wrangell Cooperative Association, is moving...
How many times can you tell your kid to go play in the ocean and mean it? At least once a year for U.S. Forest Service and school staff. On May 9, teachers, parents and Forest Service employees taught 82 kindergarten through third grade students about tidepool sea life, tree identification, animal skulls and fur, digging clams and more at Shoemaker Bay during low tide. "Today, you guys are going to help me get some clams and we're going to send them out to have them tested (for toxins). Who's...
Since 2019, Caitlin Cardinell has worked as the liaison between members of the Stikine River Jet Boat Association and cruise lines to schedule tours and advocate for the organization. After 10 years in Wrangell and seeing the SRJBA through the COVID-19 pandemic, Cardinell is resigning her position as executive director and returning to Minnesota. Though the position has been a challenge, her reasons for leaving are to spend more time with her aging parents. She will maintain a home in Wrangell...
After 12 years of studying, paying attention, taking notes, playing sports and, in some cases, goofing off, Wrangell High School's senior class will receive their diplomas on Friday night. The final two weeks of school for the graduates have been filled with finishing their senior projects, making sure other work is complete and taking time out for a sanctioned skip day up the Stikine River. Nineteen students will walk to the pomp and circumstance at 7 p.m. Friday at the high school gym, make...
One thing Ethan Blatchley did not want to do for another four years was sit at a desk to earn a degree. A recent trip to Western Welding Academy in Gillette, Wyoming, reaffirmed the graduating high school senior’s choice to pursue a welding certificate, finishing up in six months. Since he started learning how to weld in shop class last year, Blatchley has been following the academy’s social media posts. He shared them with shop teacher Winston Davies, who was inspired to pursue his own certificate. “(The academy has) a huge social media prese...
A simple 30-minute trip by jet boat could be the outing of a lifetime for many Wrangell and Petersburg youths, and if they pay attention, it could mean extending that lifetime. On May 2, a mix of fourth and fifth graders from Evergreen Elementary and Petersburg's Stedman Elementary traveled up the Stikine River on a warm, sunny day to Cottonwood Island to learn about everything from identifying wildlife to surviving the elements. Field trips up the river have been going on for about 23 years,...
Want to fly in and out of Wrangell but don't feel like dealing with TSA, long lines and checking baggage? Now you can from the comfort of your home cockpit (aka, couch). Northern Sky Studio, a software developer based in Kharkiv, Ukraine, recently released a Wrangell expansion pack for the popular Microsoft Flight Simulator, and it's just like being here. Flight Simulator, like many long-running video games, had humble origins. Rather than the hyper-realistic detail of modern games, the...
Learning about politics, visiting memorials and even singing for Sen. Lisa Murkowski were all part of a recent trip four Wrangell students took to Washington, D.C. The yearly Close Up program took Sarah Merritt, of the Wrangell Legislative Information Office, along with students Alisha Armstrong, Ander Edens, Sean McDonald and Spencer Petticrew to the nation's capital and New York City for 10 days at the end of April. The purpose of the program is to expose students to the worlds of business...
On June 1, the Wrangell Senior Center will cut back its in-person meals and ride services after a loss of funding. Juneau-based Catholic Community Services, the organization that operates the senior center, announced on May 1 that there would no longer be any funding from COVID-19 emergency relief federal programs, making it necessary to reduce operating hours. “With the White House’s announcement that the coronavirus public health emergency is officially ending, there is no longer emergency relief money available to support the senior ope...
Spring may still be gray and dreary in Wrangell but the sun will come out on May 12. That Friday at 7 p.m., the musical "Annie" will open at the Nolan Center theater and will run again May 13 at 4 p.m., May 20 at 7 p.m. and May 21 at 4 p.m. Last Sunday, cast and crew were busy checking microphones, coordinating and rehearsing a full run-through of the performance for the first time. According to Haley Reeves, in her directorial debut, there are between 30 and 40 cast members, some of whom are...
How does their garden grow? It's elementary, dear reader. Last Thursday, fifth and sixth graders gathered at the Evergreen Elementary School garden to prepare the soil for planting, growing and ultimately harvesting. Tracey Martin's fifth grade class has been learning the science behind growing, along with some math and other lessons. Finally, they were able to put some of that education into practice as they cleaned the garden, which runs along Bennett Street in front of the school. The class...
They tested their abilities to follow instructions. They designed and built structures to withstand seismic activity. They studied the inner workings of marine life. They looked at sea lion poop. Over the course of seven days, six students from Stikine Middle School attended the Alaska Native Science and Engineering Program (ANSEP) at the University of Alaska Anchorage campus. ANSEP began in 1995 as a scholarship program but has since become an educational program to help Alaska Natives follow...
Whether it's the Naanyaa.aayí, Kaach.ádi, Taalkweidí or one of the six other Tlingit clans represented in Wrangell, each has a story of its origins, handed down over thousands of years. One organization is working to preserve those stories, as well as stories of all Southeast Alaska clans, as accurately as possible. About two years ago, the Sealaska Heritage Institute began researching and compiling information on an initial six Tlingit clan crests and how they came to be. The work was pu...
If there's one thing fourth graders can count on each year, it's that they will see a dead animal inside and out. Teacher Brian Merritt uses various animals to teach about science, whether biology, environment or, in the case of this year, the food chain. On April 18, Merritt brought his class outside to show them the food chain of the animal kingdom in action, if only slightly after the fact. "Whoa!" "That's huge!" "Wow!" The students reacted with astonishment at the unveiling of the enormous...
It is a voyage of 43,000 miles encompassing the Pacific Ocean, and it begins in Southeast. The Hawaiian canoe Hōkūleʻa and its crew will set sail from Juneau in June to circumnavigate the vast, blue body of water over the course of four years. On its way south, it will stop in Wrangell for a few days. The double-hulled plywood, fiberglass and resin canoe, which was built in 1975 and made its first voyage the following year, was lifted out of the waters of Honolulu Harbor and was scheduled to be delivered to Tacoma, Washington, last Friday. Fr...
Active shooter drills have become as commonplace in schools across the country as fire drills. However, that is not the case in Wrangell just yet. At the school board meeting on April 17, Devyn Johnson, a parent with two children enrolled at Evergreen Elementary School and one in Head Start, asked that the schools implement some kind of drill. “Wrangell has high access to firearms. Mental illness is high. Depression rates are high. And substance abuse is high,” Johnson said to the board during public comments. “In my opinion, these are all the...
For nearly 40 years, the Sourdough Lodge has served the needs of Wrangell whether through tourist visits, assisted living or pandemic housing. During that time, it was owned by the Harding family, who built the lodge in 1984. Now, Zach Taylor and his father John Taylor have purchased the property from Bruce and Darlene Harding and will continue to operate the business as a bed and breakfast. "We're going to call it the Sourdough Lodge," Zach Taylor said. "Bruce and Dar had it as the Old...
The Planning and Zoning Commission has approved the next step in making a physical location for the St. Frances Animal Rescue facility a reality. Last Thursday, the commission voted to grant a conditional-use permit for the nonprofit organization to put a building on Lot 4, Block 66 in the north portion of an industrial lot on Fifth Avenue, just off Bennett Street. The approval is the latest development in the shelter's ongoing process to have a fixed location since it was created in 2006 and...
Another school year is almost done and, once again, I’m truly impressed by the caliber of young people Wrangell produces. For the past two years, I’ve interviewed the students of the senior class for their graduation projects. Each story revealed unique characters who were all equally prepared to walk into adulthood, albeit by different paths. I have a list of five standard questions I ask in the senior project stories: What’s your name? What’s your project? What are your plans post-high school? What will you miss about high school? What wo...
Like waiting for yeast to rise, customers of Sweet Tides Bakery will have to wait a little longer for the business to reopen. The bakery had planned to open this Wednesday, however a permitting backlog at the state's food safety and sanitation office has delayed the reopening by a week or possibly more. It's proving to be a blessing and a curse, said owner Shawna Buness. The delay has given Buness and her husband Jordan more time to finish the cabinetry and décor, but it's hard to run a...
Elias Decker wants to elevate the stature of the pep band drummer - literally. For his high school graduation project, the 18-year-old senior is building a platform to allow the band's drummer to play alongside the saxes, clarinet and cowbell. The idea for the platform came to Decker when he attended basketball regionals in Juneau in March. Two drum platforms were set up at opposite ends of the bleachers in the Thunder Mountain High School gym so that bands from competing schools could take...
In light of the Wrangell Chamber of Commerce’s operating deficit over the past six years, it has sought to cut costs and find added revenues to continue the popular Fourth of July celebration. To that end, the chamber board of directors will be asking the borough’s economic development department to support funding for this year’s event. The borough this fiscal year contributed $27,000 toward the chamber’s general budget — not specifically designated to the Fourth of July. That is a small increase over $23,000 in the previous year. At a work...
Piper Buness might not be big on words but she's big on making and setting goals. The 9-year-old fourth grader participated in the Big Climb in Seattle on March 26 to raise funds for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, and her accomplishment had big results. Chris Buness, Piper's grandmother, has been participating in the firefighter version of the Big Climb in Seattle's Columbia Building off and on since 2011. Firefighters wear their gear to scale the 69 floors two weeks before the Big Climb,...
What started out as merely a way to show support for her best friend ended up being a life-changing experience for high school senior Brodie Gardner. Last June, she was asked by Mia Wiederspohn to go with her to the Sealaska Heritage-organized Celebration in Juneau, which led to Gardner becoming more involved in the Tlingit culture and restoration of the Chief Shakes gravesite on Case Avenue. "I went to Celebration with Virginia (Oliver), and I'm not part of her Tlingit class but my best friend...
As the school year hastens to its May 25 end, the district took its first steps toward updating its strategic plan, a document that lists specific goals and outcomes, how those will be achieved and the deadlines for each. Though discussions about updating the plan were held at the beginning of the school year, the district has recently issued a survey, inviting community members to share what they think the schools should focus on. “This is our initial foray into getting as much information as possible,” said Schools Superintendent Bill Bur...
