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The plan is to have surveillance cameras in operation at City Dock and the harbors sometime next year. The borough assembly last week approved a $90,983 design contract with Juneau-based RESPEC to prepare plans for the cameras, wiring and server system to store the images. “We’ll get a good percentage of the system up next year,” Steve Miller, port and harbors director, said last Thursday. The total project is estimated at $983,000, Miller said, with $409,000 already in hand from a pair of federal Department of Homeland Security grants. The b...
An additional 40 COVID-19 cases were recorded in Wrangell July 7-13, more than twice as many as in the previous three weeks, according to the Alaska Department of Health website. That’s almost as many cases as were reported in Ketchikan, 43, during the same seven-day period, though the Ketchikan borough has more than six times the population of Wrangell. Of the 713 infections in Wrangell reported to the state since the pandemic count started in March 2020, 172, almost 25%, have come in the past three months. Federal and state health o...
Independent travelers and residents looking to visit Anan Wildlife Observatory apart from tour groups still have a chance to do so. The Forest Service Wrangell ranger district is making last-minute permits available through its office on a weekly basis until Aug. 25, the end of the bear-viewing permits season. Up to four last-minute permits per day will be made available for those who request them the previous week by filling out a form in the district office. “Collection of weekly requests will end Mondays at 4:30 p.m. and permits will be a...
The BearFest photo contest is wide open like an aperture on a starry night. That is, it’s time to click and submit entries focused on bear photos and videos. From now through 11:59 p.m. on July 29, photographers and videographers can post up to five of their favorite Alaska bear photos and/or videos at facebook.com/BFphotocontest2022 for a chance to win a BearFest T-shirt and $50 gift card. Children 16 and under who enter their work have a chance to win a T-shirt and $25 gift card. According to BearFest organizer Ceona Koch, the contest u...
The chamber of commerce will work to raise money over the next nine months or so as it looks ahead to paying for next year’s Fourth of July fireworks and events. The annual royalty raffle is the chamber’s major fundraiser for the summer celebration, and this year’s proceeds are short of what’s needed to fully stage the 2023 Fourth, said Brittani Robbins, executive director of the chamber. The chamber would like to raise an additional $20,000 to $30,000 before next summer to ensure the fireworks, events and prizes can continue at the same le...
The chainsaws are quiet. The laughter and cheers have subsided. The splashing has passed. The Fourth of July celebration and events may be over, but the memories, victories and bragging rights will live on. From catching fish and chopping wood to volunteering and counting raffle tickets, there were plenty of positive outcomes. "I think everything went well considering this is only the second Fourth of July celebration since COVID," said Brittani Robbins, executive director of the chamber of...
Families with children in first through sixth grade still have time to sign up for The Salvation Army’s summer lunch program. The program, which began in June, runs through July 29. Ten spots are still available and there is no deadline to sign up. “This is the second year we have done this program and both years it has been a great (program) for us to do,” said Lt. Jon Tollerud of The Salvation Army in Wrangell. “We believe that providing meals for working families is helpful so that parents can worry a little less during summer about their k...
No one bid on the former Wrangell hospital building, which the borough had offered to sell at a minimum asking price of $830,000. The bidding period was open for a month and closed last Thursday. The property is now available for an over-the-counter sale. “It means that the first person to come in to sign an intent to purchase with a 20% down payment (payment in full within 60 days of signing) would be the buyer,” Borough Clerk Kim Lane explained last Friday. “If that happens, I would then take a resolution to the assembly to approve the sale....
The borough assembly approved a budget for the fiscal year that started last Friday similar to past years — no increase in property tax or sales tax rates, and with more than half of the total spending going to the self-supporting operations of sewage, water, garbage, electricity, port and harbors services. The budget approved by the assembly June 28 includes more than 20 repair, maintenance and improvement projects across the borough and in several departments, including: Repairs and maintenance at the schools, recreation center and pool, i...
Though he vetoed funding for several projects and public services around Alaska, Gov. Mike Dunleavy did not cross out $4.1 million in state grant funding toward a new $15 million water treatment plant in Wrangell. The borough hopes to finish design work and go out for bids on the project later this year. Federal funds are covering about $11 million of the cost. The governor also left intact a one-time $57 million legislative appropriation to boost state funding by 5% for local school district operating budgets. The increase for the 2022-2023...
The Heritage Harbor boat launch ramp will close for a few weeks in August under a plan to replace the deteriorated asphalt apron with concrete paving. The 2-inch-thick asphalt is more than 10 years old and in bad shape, Amber Al-Haddad, borough capital facilities director, said last week. “We’ve set aside the first two weeks of August with the contractor” to dig out the approach to the ramp and lay down a 6-inch-thick concrete apron, she said. Another week for the concrete to cure and the ramp should be back open to the public, Al-Haddad said....
Raincountry Contracting cleared the way for visitors to enjoy the Anan Wildlife Observatory in time for this week’s opening of the bear viewing season. The Petersburg-based company needed to pump out the 750-gallon-capacity public toilets, which are typically emptied once a year, according to U.S. Forest Service staff. Due to a delay in changing Raincountry’s address in a federal database for contractors, the contracting department at the Forest Service found a way to work around the holdup, Clint Kolarich, district ranger, said Monday. The...
Eric Halstead took the lead in the 67th Wrangell King Salmon derby with a 43.4-pound catch near Blake Island on June 17 and never lost it, bringing him the first-place prize of $3,000 cash. Stanley Johnson took second, with his 41.8-pound king on June 19, near Found Island. He will receive $2,000, plus an additional $500 for the largest catch on Father’s Day. Dave Svendsen caught a 39.9-pound king on the first day of the derby June 15, near Blake Island, good for the third-place prize of $1,000, plus an additional $500 cash for reeling in t...
Friendly competitions, food tosses, tests of endurance and plenty of fun filled the weekend as hundreds flocked to various Fourth of July events throughout Wrangell. Tourists, visitors, family and former residents returning home joined locals in watching and participating in the parade, talent show, basketball and many other events from Friday through Monday in celebration of the Fourth. Despite a change in venue for the fireworks show from Volunteer Park to a barge in Zimovia Strait due to dry...
The borough assembly likes the job Jeff Good is doing as manager, reaffirming a raise that was part of the three-year contract he was given when hired for the job in January. The assembly in executive session at its June 28 meeting conducted its six-month evaluation of Good’s job performance, coming back into public session to verify the raise from $126,000 a year to $132,000. The raise was part of his original contract, said Borough Clerk Kim Lane. In addition to reviewing Good’s performance, the assembly also evaluated Lane’s work durin...
Former Southeast state senator and Juneau KINY radio host Dennis Egan died June 28. He was 75. Egan passed away at an assisted-living home in Salem, Oregon, his family reported. Egan’s daughter, Leslie, and her family, live in Oregon. Egan’s family said his wife, Linda, was with him this week. Born March 3, 1947, he was the son of Alaska’s first governor, William “Bill” Egan. During high school, and after broadcast engineer training, he worked at KINY in the 1960s. In 1967, Egan graduated from radio operation engineering school. He served in th...
Eric Halstead was at the top of the Wrangell King Salmon Derby scoreboard with a 43.4-pound catch as of Sunday evening, five days into the competition. The derby runs through July 3, with $7,900 in cash prizes. As of Sunday evening, 27 salmon had been entered, according to the chamber of commerce, which sponsors the event. Halstead hooked his salmon last Friday, near Blake Island. Stanley Johnson, of Wyoming, was in second place, with a 41.8-pound king that he caught near Found Island on Sunday. He won $500 for catching the largest fish on...
In a May 31 budget work session to consider borough finances for the fiscal year that starts July 1, Finance Director Mason Villarma advised the assembly that the borough is working toward accepting credit card payments for property and sales taxes but will charge a fee to accept the cards. “We are still finalizing our process and we may establish fees at a certain dollar threshold,” Villarma said last Friday. “We will be sure to give folks ample notice,” he added. “This will not apply to utility or moorage credit card payments,” Villarma wr...
All of the nearly 11,000 Alaska households that applied for financial aid under a state-administered, federally funded program — including 40 in Wrangell — will receive some level of assistance toward mortgage payments and utilities bills. The Alaska Housing Finance Corp., which is running the $50 million pandemic-aid program, announced last week it had completed its initial reviews of the applications, determining their income eligibility for assistance, and now will evaluate individual homeowner’s financial needs. Depending on each appli...
About one-third of Alaska’s legislators could be new to their job next year as multiple incumbents have decided to retire or seek higher office. The candidate filing deadline for the Aug. 16 statewide primary election was June 1. In addition to the state Senate president, Soldotna Republican Peter Micciche, and Senate Democratic minority leader Tom Begich, of Anchorage, eight other legislative incumbents have decided it is time to retire or take a break from elected office. In addition to those 10 who decided not to seek reelection, eight m...
Ketchikan saw an upswing in reported COVID-19 cases in May, with 341 infections recorded during the past 30 days as of May 25. In addition, the number of active cases involving the Ketchikan Pioneer Home stood at 21 on May 25. The cases involved 18 residents and three staff members at the facility, according to state Health Department spokesperson Clinton Bennett. The home is at “red-alert” status, indicating that at least one resident has tested positive in a ”neighborhood” or a floor. All of its floors had been affected by COVID, accordi...
An award and scholarship ceremony held May 13 at Wrangell High School lauded the achievement of many students and presented seniors with scholarships to further their educations. Teachers Lisa Brooks, Jack Carney, Winston Davies, Ann Hilburn, Donna Massin and Tasha Morse all presented various students with certificates and plaques to commemorate their accomplishments for the year. Community members presented a bevy of different scholarships to the seniors, such as Virginia Oliver, who presented...
Summer is more than just playing outdoors for children — it can be about reading books and winning prizes, including a pool and pizza party. The Irene Ingle Public Library’s summer reading program is open to children entering kindergarten through the freshman year of high school in the fall. Almost 100 children completed the reading program last year, Margaret Villarma, library director, said last week. Children need to come into the library or call 907-874-3535 to register in advance; the reading program starts June 1 and runs through Jul...
The Salvation Army is working with Wrangell businesses and community donations to provide free weekday lunches for 50 children again this summer. The program starts June 1 and will run through July 29, Lt. Jon Tollerud of The Salvation Army said last week. It’s open to children entering first through fifth grades. “It will be similar to what we did last year,” Tollerud said, with families needing to call to register their kids in advance: 907-874-3753. The program is limited, and he encouraged families to call soon to sign up. Children will...
The 342-foot cruise ship Ocean Victory awaits passengers to return after coming into port at the City Dock last Thursday. It was the first official cruise ship in Wrangell for the tourist season, and the Ocean Victory's first visit to Southeast and first to Wrangell. It entered service just seven months ago. Jackson Carney, 13, uses a lull during state testing at the school -- his grades were high enough to exempt him - the morning of May 12 to sell garnets as the first cruise ship of the year,...
