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Dialing a number within the 907 area code will soon require all 10 digits of a phone number — that’s the number along with the area code. Starting on Oct. 24, under a new federal requirement, it will be mandatory to dial all 10 numbers for calls within the same area code in more than six dozen area codes around the country. Although people can already dial all 10 digits to complete a call, the requirement won’t be hard-coded until the mandatory date. After Oct. 24, callers may not be able to complete a call by dialing only seven digits and c...
The Island of Faith Lutheran Church was unable to conduct its traditional Alaska Day event last year and didn’t want to miss it a second year in a row. But COVID-19 is still a concern. So instead of inviting senior citizens to lunch at the church, volunteers will deliver halibut to the senior center, which will prepare the meals and deliver them to seniors. “We didn’t want to lose the tradition,” said Pastor Sue Bahleda. Before COVID-19, “we would host a soup luncheon here at the church,” she said. Elementary school students would sing the “A...
There are no changes to moving first-class mail in and out of Wrangell — that will continue by air, according to a U.S. Postal Service official. But service out of state could be slower, depending on how far the mail is coming or going. And it will cost more to mail packages now through Christmas as the Postal Service tries to improve its finances. Through Dec. 25, customers will pay an additional 25 cents to $5 to ship a parcel through the Postal Service, depending on the level of delivery service they select and the distance the package w...
The borough is continuing its voluntary requirement that unvaccinated individuals arriving from out of state whether by plane or boat must have proof of a negative COVID-19 test taken within 72 hours of their departure for Wrangell or take a test on their arrival in town. The requirement does not apply to Alaska residents. The rules match the state of Alaska's travel requirements. The borough assembly approved an extension of the travel requirements at a special meeting last Friday, the day afte...
Tracking software that was going to be used this year for the school bus has been nixed. Zach Taylor, of Taylor Transportation, said the app, which would allow parents to track the school bus location in real-time, didn’t live up to the company’s expectations. The school bus operator reported in August that it would install the software, allowing parents to track the bus’s whereabouts, particularly in snowy conditions. “We are currently abandoning the system,” Taylor said of the School Bus Hub software. “It just isn’t what we thought it wa...
Bob Dalrymple currently serves on the borough assembly, the second time he has been appointed to temporarily fill a vacant seat. He is running for a three-year term in Tuesday's municipal election. Dalrymple and Jim DeBord are running for the two open three-year terms. Both will win unless a write-in candidate declares by Monday and gathers more votes than either of the two names on the ballot. "My entire adult life I've been in public service," Dalrymple said. He serves on the borough's...
John Martin's first watercraft "would have been the canoe I got when I was 13." Now 72 years old, he has had "a number of boats" and a number of years on boards and councils in the community. Martin is seeking his third term on the port commission in Tuesday's municipal election. He also has served on the WCA tribal council, the hospital board, and "I did a tour on the museum board." Martin is unopposed for a three-year term on the port commission. He and Chris Buness are the only two declared...
Frank Roppel has served the past year on the port commission, but this is the first time he is running for elected office. He was appointed last year to fill a vacant seat, and has decided to seek a one-term term in Tuesday's municipal election. He is unopposed for the seat. Roppel, 84, has a lot of experience in marine transportation and docks, working more than 40 years in the Southeast timber industry, including about 20 years as an executive with Alaska Pulp Corp. until his retirement in...
Chris Buness describes herself as a "self-propelled boater" - a kayaker and canoer - but that does not diminish her interest in providing services for motorized boaters and working to attract more of them to visit Wrangell. Buness is running for a three-year term on the port commission in Tuesday's municipal election. She and incumbent John Martin are the only candidates on the ballot for the two three-year terms. "I'd love to see more folks from other communities" moor their boats in Wrangell o...
Borough Manager Lisa Von Bargen has resigned, effective Oct. 29. No reason was given in the City Hall announcement, issued shortly before 2 p.m. Wednesday. Von Bargen started as borough manager in July 2017. "The strain of the past year and a half has helped me realize I need to take a pause and focus on the needs of my family and myself. It has been a privilege to serve this community and the assembly," Von Bargen wrote in her resignation letter. “We're saddened that she's decided to leave,” Mayor Steve Prysunka said in an interview an hou...
The National Weather Service has issued a high wind warning for the Southeast due to a storm moving through this weekend. The storm will be bringing winds from 24 to 45 miles per hour, with gusts up to 75 mph from 3 p.m. Friday until 6 a.m. on Saturday, the NWS reported. “Damaging winds will blow down trees and power lines. Widespread power outages are expected. Travel will be difficult, especially for high-profile vehicles. Aviation and marine transportation will be impacted,” the report read. Though the report said the main wind gusts will be...
The state has opened up another round of federally funded pandemic aid for businesses, though this latest program is different from past assistance efforts: The money will be awarded based solely on financial need, not on the date of application. The state has set aside $90 million for the program, which is being administered by the Juneau Economic Development Council under contract to Alaska Department of Commerce. The application deadline is 8 a.m. Oct. 17. The money is from the American Rescue Plan Act, which Congress approved and the...
The borough Saturday afternoon reported a new COVID-19 case in the community, followed by a second case reported Saturday evening, raising to nine the number of known infections in the past three days. The afternoon case is a Wrangell resident and "close contact to a previously identified positive case," the borough said in a statement released at 4:30 p.m. Saturday. "This individual is symptomatic and is isolating." Then, at 7:30 p.m., the borough reported another resident had tested positive for COVID and was isolating. Saturday's second...
The Wrangell Parks and Recreation Department wants to help more kids whose families who may not be able to afford the fees for activities. “The department believes that everyone should have the opportunity to participate in the scheduled activities, programs and classes.” The fee assistance also applies to punch cards for use of recreational facilities. The program is designed to provide financial assistance to youth 3 to 18 years old “who may not otherwise be able to participate,” with a limit of $150 per person for the fiscal year that st...
The state is opening a second round of federally funded pandemic financial assistance for renters who are not currently receiving help from the program that started this spring. The Alaska Housing Finance Corp., which is managing the aid program, opened the second round to pre-registration last weekend. The online portal will open to applications on Sept. 13 and will remain open through Oct. 1. To pre-register or apply, or for more information, go to www.AlaskaHousingRelief.org. The housing agency has about $125 million available in the second...
Alaska Airlines, and its subsidiary Horizon Air, have joined the list of U.S. airlines taking steps to boost the COVID-19 vaccination rate among employees. Alaska announced last week that all new employees must be vaccinated against COVID-19 before being hired. The new rule took effect immediately. Unvaccinated employees already on the payroll will need to participate in a “vaccine education program,” the airline said. And unvaccinated employees will no longer be eligible for special COVID-19 pay if they test positive or need to take time off...
It didn’t cost much, but adding text-to-911 service could be a big help in certain situations, said Wrangell Police Chief Tom Radke. The new text service could be particularly useful for boaters in trouble who may not have a strong enough cell signal for voice but just enough to send a text, he said. Same thing for people in remote areas onshore in an emergency. The software and equipment cost Wrangell about $4,000, Radke said last Friday. The service started up Sept. 1, after two or three weeks of testing. Wrangell and Petersburg are the f...
Small business owners of the Central Council of the Tlingit & Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska who have been economically hurt by the COVID-19 pandemic are eligible to apply for grants of up to $5,000 each. The grant program is funded under the tribal allocation of the American Rescue Plan, which Congress approved and the president signed into law this past spring. “All impacted (Tlingit & Haida) tribal citizens who are U.S. citizens, own a small business and reside in the United States are eligible to apply, including those who previously r...
Marc Lutz started work this week as editor at the Wrangell Sentinel, and the Central California transplant will be doing more than writing stories about the community. "Marc is an accomplished photographer and skilled in page layout software, which means sometime this fall the Sentinel will bring back all its production in-house rather than contracting with the Petersburg newspaper for the design work," said Sentinel owner and publisher Larry Persily. "A major objective when I bought the Sentine...
Amid the recent surge in COVID-19 cases in town, Wrangell schools opened for classes on Monday with several measures in place to help protect students, staff and the community from further spread of the virus. Those measures include face masks, sanitation cleaning, improved ventilation, distancing between students whenever possible, and policies for students and staff who travel out of town. “It had been our hope that we would have been able to start the year with less restrictions, but the current COVID-19 variants (Delta especially, which i...
There will be contested races for one seat on the borough assembly, three seats on the school board and one seat on the port commission in Wrangell’s Oct. 5 municipal election. Candidates for two other borough assembly seats and a port commission seat are unchallenged. Jim DeBord and Bob Dalrymple are running for the two three-year open terms on the assembly. Dalrymple is an incumbent; he was appointed in January to fill out the year for Julie Decker, who left the assembly. DeBord also expressed interest in the seat at that time, though the a...
The borough assembly has approved the sale of three residential lots. The lots are all next to each other on Etolin Street, zoned for single-family residences, and each is a little less than half an acre in size. The minimum bids for the lots range from $28,350 to $31,500. The borough will use the Public Surplus website — a nationwide commercial operation that specializes in selling government property — to auction the lots, just as it recently did for the unused armory on Second Avenue, which reverted back to the borough after the Army Nat...
Wrangell has a long history and a modern museum that displays the rich heritage of the community and its people. But the volunteer group that supports the museum is short of new members. The Friends of the Museum raises money to support projects at the keeper of the town’s history. “That is our sole purpose,” said Michael Bania, who has served as president the past few years. That includes not only supporting activities at the museum, but also acquisitions for the collection, with fundraising, advocacy and volunteering some time to help with...
Wrangell’s Muskeg Meadows Golf Course will be busy the first two weekends of September with four different tournaments. The Breakaway Adventures nine-hole, best-ball tourney is planned for Sept. 4. The Club Championship will tee off on Sept. 5, with individual scores. The three-club tournament in honor of Randy Littleton will be a nine-hole, best-ball competition on Labor Day, Sept. 6. The American Legion Auxiliary benefit tournament is planned for Sept. 11-12, also a nine-hole, best-ball event. All of the tournaments are scheduled to start a...
Candidacy filings for Wrangell’s Oct. 5 municipal election will close at 4 p.m. Tuesday. Residents who want their name on the ballot for a seat on the borough assembly, school board or port commission must file their paperwork at City Hall by the deadline. As of Monday, with a week still to go before the deadline, nine candidates had filed for the positions. Jim DeBord was the only candidate as of Monday for the two three-year seats on the borough assembly. Don McConachie Sr. filed for the one-year unexpired term open on the assembly. Angela A...
