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Wayne Johnson, the Georgia real estate developer who made a run earlier this year at buying the former Wrangell hospital property to build half-million-dollar condominiums, lost his bid for a U.S. House seat in his home state. Johnson, who pulled out of a deal with the borough in June, lost in the Nov. 5 election to 16-term U.S. Rep. Sanford Bishop. As of Nov. 8, Johnson had 136,399 votes to 175,773 for Bishop. Johnson was endorsed by former president Donald Trump. It was the Republican’s second try at Congress. He failed to get past the R...
The Wrangell Cooperative Association is working with the borough to put together a commemoration and remembrance event for 6 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 20, at the Nolan Center, marking the one-year anniversary of the deadly landslide that hit the community. More details about the remembrance and potluck will be announced this week. The slide started about 1,500 feet up the hillside the evening of Nov. 20, 2023, and flowed down the steep slope, destroying two homes at about 11.2-Mile Zimovia Highway and killing six people: Otto Florschutz, and Tim...
Wrangell Sentinel publisher Larry Persily is part of a new nonprofit, the Alaska News Coalition, which formed this summer to help newspapers around the state find ways to adapt and survive in the changing world of online media, digital delivery and tightening finances. “As the landscape for news and information continues to change and evolve, it’s imperative for the well-being of our communities that local newspapers in Alaska stay alive. The Alaska News Coalition is committed to bringing together news outlets from around the state to fig...
Wrangell resident Sandy Churchill was elected Alaska Native Sisterhood grand president for 2024-2025 Outgoing ANS Grand President Daphyne Alby and President Emeritus Millie Schoonover visited Wrangell to bestow the honors in ceremonies Oct. 24. Virginia Oliver was elected second grand vice president. Both are from Wrangell ANS Camp No. 1, where Churchill is president and Oliver is secretary. The Wrangell camps of ANS and the Alaska Native Brotherhood are scheduled to host the organization's...
Wrangell’s strong support for Republican Jeremy Bynum helped push him over the 50% threshold as the apparent winner for the state House seat to represent Wrangell, Ketchikan and Metlakatla. As of early Wednesday morning, across the district, Bynum had 3,153 votes, 51.57%, to Agnes Moran’s 1,503 votes, 24.58%, and Grant EchoHawk’s 1,448, 23.68%. Though there are still more absentee and early votes left to count, it does not appear they would change the outcome of the race. In Wrangell, Bynum had 424 to EchoHawk’s 144 and Moran’s 89. Bynum, a...
The state primary election is Tuesday, Nov. 5, but Wrangell voters who would rather cast their ballots early can come to City Hall between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. weekdays starting Monday, Oct. 21, through Monday, Nov. 4. Just walk back to the assembly chambers and, if the state elections staff does not recognize you, present a drivers license, voter ID card or other form of identification to get a ballot. On election day Nov. 5, the polling booths will be set up at the Nolan Center from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Voters are reminded that state law prohibits...
The school board on Oct. 7 reelected Dave Wilson as president, defeating John DeRuyter in a 3-2 vote for the position. DeRuyter was elected vice president after board member Liz Roundtree nominated him for the position. Sophomore Kalee Herman will join the board as the student representative. The meeting was the first with newcomer Dan Powers in attendance. He replaced Brittani Robbins, who lost her reelection bid in the Oct. 1 municipal election. Along with Wilson, DeRuyter, Roundtree and Powers, the other school board member is Angela Allen,...
Voters by almost a 3-to-1 margin Tuesday approved a $3 million bond issue for repairs to the water-damaged Public Safety Building. Residents re-elected Patty Gilbert as mayor over challenger David Powell; re-elected incumbent school board member Angela Allen and elected newcomer Dan Powers over incumbent board member Brittani Robbins; and re-elected Chris Buness to the port commission along with newcomer Eric Yancey over challengers Antonio Silva and Tony Guggenbickler. Voters rejected a ballot proposition to amend the municipal charter, which...
Jim DeBord is running unopposed for election to a second consecutive three-year term on the borough assembly. He declined a Sentinel request for an interview. In addition to winning election to the assembly in 2021, DeBord served a one-year term 2018-2019....
Southeast Alaska subsistence users who want current information on sockeye escapement numbers, deer seasons and detailed maps now have a single website providing all the information. The U.S. Forest Service on Sept. 2 went live with its new subsistence dashboard. “This tool was created in response to feedback and requests by tribal organizations and subsistence users throughout Southeast Alaska,” Tongass Subsistence Program Manager Robert Cross said in a prepared statement. “We heard how difficult it was to find subsistence data and under...
Wrangell’s only home cross-country meet of the season, scheduled for Saturday, Aug. 31, was canceled the night before due to forecasts for heavy rain. Earlier on Friday, a tentative plan to run a boys 5K and a girls 5K at the same time as cross country was put in place, but eventually it was decided that even this would have been untenable in the weather. Head Coach Mason Villarma hopes to reschedule the cross-country meet later this season. The cross-country team will race next at the Craig Invitational on Saturday, Sept. 7...
A state geologist walking the landslide area on Sunday morning heard whimpering noises from a collapsed home. He called Ketchikan firefighters, who responded and pulled out two dogs from the debris, reuniting them with their owners. "After an emotional week of recovering from the aftermath of the Third Avenue landslide, Ketchikan - and most specifically, James and Bill Montiver - got some very good news," the city's emergency operations center announced on Sunday. "During the landslide the Monti...
The Southeast Alaska sport fishery is on track to exceed its king salmon allocation for the summer by 14,000 fish, prompting the state to close the region to sportfishing for kings. The closure went into effect at 12:01 a.m. Monday, Aug. 26. “King salmon may not be retained or possessed, and any king salmon caught must be released immediately and returned to the water unharmed,” according to the Department of Fish and Game announcement late Friday, Aug. 23. The king salmon sport fishery will reopen on Oct. 1 for the winter season. “While the (...
The Wrangell Search and Rescue team has received a statewide honor for its days of tireless work after a massive landslide flowed down the mountain at 12-Mile last November, taking out two homes, killing six people and cutting off power and highway access for dozens more. The Wrangell team received the Mel Nading Search and Rescue Award for 2023. The award was established to honor Alaska State Trooper Pilot Mel Nading, who died in a crash during a mission to rescue an injured snow machine operator in the Talkeetna Mountains in 2013. Alaska...
The state primary election is Tuesday, Aug. 20, but Wrangell voters who want to cast their ballots early can come to City Hall between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. weekdays through Monday, Aug. 19. Just walk back to the assembly chambers and, if the state elections staff does not recognize you, present a drivers license, voter ID card or other form of identification to get a ballot. On election day Aug. 20, the polling booths will be set up at the Nolan Center from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. The state has offered early voting for years, making it easier for people...
It was a close finish in the Bearfest half-marathon, with one minute separating the top two finishers of Carter Howell, at 1:51, and Steven Ditgen, with a time of 1:52. Ian Fuller was the runaway winner of the full marathon at 2:49, with Wrangell High School alum Galen Reed coming in second at 3:25. The 26.2-mile marathon drew nine runners, with 11 racers in the half-marathon on the last day of Bearfest on July 28. Reed, a 2008 graduate of Wrangell High School, planned a family trip from Grand Rapids, Michigan, to run in the marathon. His...
The candidacy filing period opens Aug. 2 for this year’s municipal elections for mayor, borough assembly, school board and port commission. Candidates will have until Aug. 30 to complete the declaration form, which will be available starting July 31 at the borough clerk’s office in City Hall. Mayor Patty Gilbert’s two-year term expires this fall and will be on the Oct. 1 election ballot, along with the assembly seats currently held by Bob Dalrymple and Jim DeBord. The assembly seats are for three-year terms. Gilbert, who is finishing her first...
First Bank is celebrating its 100th anniversary with a special event for the community from 5 to 7 p.m. Friday, July 19, at the Nolan Center. The public is invited. The Southeast Alaska bank’s board of directors and staff will host the event, one of several planned for communities where the financial institution operates. First Bank is headquartered in Ketchikan and is the only commercial bank headquartered in Southeast Alaska. It opened its doors in 1924. The locally owned bank has branches in Juneau, Sitka, Petersburg, Wrangell and Craig. T...
The following list of winners was submitted to the Sentinel by the chamber of commerce and event organizers. Volunteers tried their best to get everyone's name correct. These winners are in addition to the names published in the July 10 Sentinel. Boat races Unlimited (head-to-head, at up to 99 mph on the course) First: Randy Easterly Second: Curtis Kautz Third: Gary Allen Jr. Limited (circular course, at 115-hp and under) First: David Gillen Second: Brett Abrahamson Third: Curtis Kautz Greased p...
The chamber of commerce awarded prizes for last month’s king salmon derby at a ceremony July 11 at the Nolan Center. Charlie Webb, of Anchorage, won the $1,500 cash prize for the largest fish of the derby, at 43.5 pounds. Wrangell’s Diana Nore took second place, and $750, for her 38.1-pound catch. Mike Ramsey, of Cheyenne, Wyoming, won $500 for finishing third with his 37.3-pound salmon. The king derby — in its 69th year — ran June 15-30. Connor Blake won $100 for the largest salmon in the 12-and-younger age division with his 22.6-po...
Three lucky ticket holders came away as winners in the Fourth of July royalty fundraising raffle. Wrangell residents Shannon Smith won the $2,500 first place prize and Marilyn Mork won $1,500 for second place in the drawing. Third place of $1,000 went to former resident Mickel Haug, now living in Seattle. The Sentinel is compiling lists of the other winners of Fourth of July events, supplied by the competition organizers. This week's list includes the winners' names that were submitted to the...
The Fourth of July is about a red, white and blue parade, street games, races of all kinds for all kinds of boats, logging skills competition — and food. With two days of events left in the holiday week, the area around the downtown pavilion, behind Wells Fargo bank and the Elks Lodge and in the direction of the Stikine Inn will be filled with booths, games and a wide variety of food. Organizers have scheduled a little more time between events this year to allow people a chance to try out the menus on Wednesday and Thursday, July 3-4. The f...
Charlie Webb, of Anchorage, took first place in Wrangell's 69th king salmon derby with his 43.5-pound catch on the opening day of the derby June 15. The annual contest closed on Sunday, June 30, and no one passed Webb. Wrangell's Connor Blake won the 12-and-under youth division with his 22.6-pound king, caught near Fools Inlet on June 28. It was the first king that Connor has ever caught and kept, said Tommy Wells, executive director of the chamber of commerce, which organizes the fishing derby....
The Alaska Marine Highway System allowed only one week for public comment on its proposed ferry schedule for the upcoming fall and winter, but the draft is pretty much a non-issue for Wrangell: The level of service would be the same as it’s been the past couple of years. The schedule for October through April shows one ferry a week northbound and one a week southbound, the same as this summer, last winter and the summer before that. The stops would be southbound on Mondays and northbound on Fridays. The state released the draft schedule on J...
With less than a week left until the 69th Wrangell king salmon derby closes on Sunday, June 30, more than 135 people had bought entry tickets and 18 kings had been weighed in as of Monday. The leader as of Monday was Charlie Webb. The Anchorage resident caught his 43.5-pound king near Point Warde while fishing with Alan Cummings of All In Charters on June 15, the first day of the derby. Webb’s king is the largest caught in the derby since Gary Smart, of Seqium, Washington, won the contest in 2017 with a 64.1 pounder. Smart’s fish was the lar...
