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Former Alaska governor, former vice presidential candidate and former reality TV personality Sarah Palin added her well-publicized name to the list of four dozen candidates seeking to fill Alaska’s only seat in the U.S. House, hoping to take over for Rep. Don Young, who died last month. “Public service is a calling,” Palin said in a statement on social media. Palin, a Republican, quit as governor of Alaska in 2009 after she and presidential running mate Arizona Sen. John McCain lost the 2008 election to Democrat Barack Obama and Joe Biden...
A shortage of pilots amid a labor dispute has forced Alaska Airlines to cancel hundreds of flights since last Friday. Pickets went up Friday at airports in Seattle and elsewhere on the airline’s West Coast route system. Alaska reported it canceled 9% of its service on Friday, about 120 flights, and 7% on Saturday, which affected about 12,000 travelers that day. Flight cancellations were down to 6% on Sunday and about 3% on Monday. “We apologize for the inconvenience and frustration we have caused because so many travel plans have been dis...
Evergreen Elementary students surpassed their fundraising goal to help St. Frances Animal Shelter. Last Friday, fifth grade students presented representatives from the shelter with a check for $1,723, which exceeded their initial goal of $1,000. As part of a leadership program at the school, the students looked for a project that would help the community in some way. When they heard St. Frances has been trying to raise funds to buy or build a new location, they began brainstorming. The kids put fundraising jars around town and held two bake...
The deadline to apply for this year’s Alaska Permanent Fund dividend is Thursday. Applications must be submitted online by 11:59 p.m. Thursday, or mailed and postmarked that day. As of Tuesday afternoon, more than 570,000 Alaskans had applied for the annual payment from earnings of the state’s 45-year-old oil-wealth savings account — which means a lot more applications are expected in the final week. About 670,000 people have submitted applications in recent years, with about 640,000 determined eligible and approved for payment. Last year...
The Wrangell nonprofit BRAVE (Building Respect and Valuing Everyone) will be busy in April, taking part in the statewide effort to promote National Child Abuse Prevention Month. A couple of high school students are recording public service announcements that will be read on KSTK throughout the month, and the community group will provide information packets for families of Evergreen Elementary School students, said Kay Larson, of BRAVE. “Each year, thousands of cases of child abuse and neglect are substantiated in Alaska. Our Alaska c...
Sundae + Mr. Goessl, a husband-and-wife duo from Wisconsin that plays vintage pop, cowboy jazz and Americana will perform in Wrangell next week, sponsored by Bearfest. The concert is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 6, at the Nolan Center. Tickets are $10. The duo “has a style all their own and incorporate humor, vintage style, interesting instrumentation, nostalgia and serious musicianship in their act,” according to write-ups from reviewers and others. “Some label their style as vintage pop and others deem it cowboy jazz.” Their s...
Juneau-based Channel Construction will resume accepting scrap metal at no charge — including vehicles — starting Friday at the former sawmill property at 6.3-Mile Zimovia Highway. The company, which brings its barge to communities throughout Southeast to collect scrap metal for hauling to recyclers out of state, will operate its collection site in Wrangell “for the foreseeable future,” the borough announced last week. The site will be open for people to drop off scrap metal and vehicles drained of oil and gasoline and stripped of their tires f...
The Wrangell Cooperative Association has announced the candidates for its March 8 tribal council election. There are 11 candidates for four seats on the eight-member council: Heidi Armstrong, Lavina Brock, Robyn Byrd, Samuel Campus, Frank Churchill Jr., Caroline Demmert, Timothy Gillen Sr., Olivia Main, Edward Rilatos Jr., Amber Lynn Wade and Asia White are on the ballot, according to a list provided by tribal administrator Esther Reese last Friday. Rilatos, Churchill and Brock currently serve on the council. Voters are instructed to vote for n...
This year’s king salmon catch limits in the Wrangell-Petersburg area are tighter for Alaska residents and nonresidents than the numbers that were in effect at the start of last year’s sportfishing effort. However, they are essentially the same limits as mid-season catch restrictions imposed last June to manage the runs. The sportfishing regulations announced last month close off most of the waters around Wrangell and Petersburg to retention of king salmon starting April 1 and continuing to either June 14 or July 14, depending on the area. It...
Feb. 23, 1922 The Firemen’s Annual Benefit Ball on the evening of Washington’s Birthday was well attended and a huge success socially. Apparatus from the fire hall was used most effectively in the decorative scheme. Carl Carlson acted as floor manager. The net proceeds amounted to $49.15. This increases the accident fund to $435. The Parent-Teacher Association served lunch upstairs during the dance. The proceeds from the lunch, which amounted to about $25, will be used by the PTA to help defray the school’s expenses of participating in the i...
Residents have until Saturday afternoon to get rid of scrap metal, free of charge, including vehicles. Juneau-based Channel Construction will have its barge at the former sawmill site at 6.3-Mile Zimovia Highway and is accepting any type of scrap metal, as long as any oil, gasoline or other fuels and fluids have been drained, the borough announced last week. The company collects scrap metal throughout Southeast, hauling it south for proper disposal or recycling. In late 2018, Channel Construction picked up an estimated 50 tons of scrap on one...
Stikine Middle School wrestlers traveled to Ketchikan last weekend to compete in the Schoenbar Regional Championships. The squad came away with 19 top placements. There were nine first place wins, six second place wins and four third place wins by Wrangell wrestlers. The team placed first with the most pins in the least time. Overall, the team placed second behind Juneau’s Floyd Dryden Middle School in points. The wrestlers who took first place in their weight classes were Katelyn Gillen, Christina Johnson, Kourtney Barnes, Hailey Cook, A...
Five people attended a meeting for the Wrangell community garden last Wednesday, three in person and two via phone, along with project leaders Valerie Massie and Kim Wickman. The meeting was held to begin selecting committee members and discuss an action plan. According to Massie, the Wrangell Cooperative Association IGAP coordinator, Grace Wintermyer volunteered to be the primary treasurer and Sage Smiley volunteered for the secretary position. “We also reviewed a draft garden bed subscription template,” Massie said. Changes to the subscriptio...
The families are on a streak. Evi Fennimore hasn’t missed a game all season, and the Nevada high school basketball team where two of her grandchildren play hasn’t lost a game so far all season. Jake Penney, a senior, and Nate Penney, a junior, are on the starting five at Spanish Springs High School in Sparks, Nevada, where they live with their parents Kyle Penney and Katie Fennimore Penney. Their mom is the daughter of Evi and the late Ron Fennimore, of Wrangell. Kyle Penney is the team coach. The Spanish Springs high school squad is the No....
Julia Ostrander was voted in to fill a short-term vacancy on the school board on Monday. The vacancy was created when Laura Ballou resigned from the board in early November. The board received two applications to fill the position — from Ostrander and Alexandra Angerman, both of whom ran for seats on the board in the October municipal election but lost. At Monday’s meeting, board president Don Wilson announced that Angerman had withdrawn her submission, citing other responsibilities. Ostrander, a parent and small business owner, was asked to...
The annual Elks Hoop Shoot is back on schedule this year. The event is set for Saturday morning at the community gym, with staggered times for different age groups. Last winter’s shoot was postponed to January, to stay away from holiday events amid concerns over COVID-19’s impact on the community. Each participant Saturday will receive a free basketball to use in the Hoop Shoot — and will get to keep the ball. A hamburger lunch at the Elks Club for all participants will follow the competition. Boys and girls ages 8 and 9 will shoot at 9 a.m.,...
The Wrangell Senior Center is in need of food donations, especially subsistence foods. In particular, the center is seeking turkeys and hams, plus fish, deer meat, moose meat and liver. Moose or deer is preferred, but cow liver is fine too, because one of the center’s menu items is liver and onions. Donations will be collected through Jan. 31. Site Manager Solvay Gillen said all the donations benefit the seniors, and people in town also can donate other food items, such as produce and seafood, if they’d like. Donations can be dropped off at...
Nov. 24, 1921 Mayor Grant this week circulated a petition to the governor setting forth that on account of the great destruction of deer by wolves in Southeast Alaska, more drastic methods of wolf extermination should be employed at once. The petition was eagerly signed by local citizens, and will be forwarded to the governor on the next northbound steamer. An offer was made by the U.S. Bureau of Biological Survey for the free use of the gas boat Regal and services of two trained men to work for wolf extermination, giving two months service for...
The Wrangell High School volleyball team will head to the state competition in Anchorage after placing second at regionals last weekend in Haines. Coach Alyssa Allen said the Lady Wolves beat Haines once and Craig twice, and lost to Klawock twice, placing second out of seven teams. "Overall, the kids played really well," Allen said. "They played hard after a short week of practice due to COVID protocols." Emma Martinsen ran an excellent offense for the team, the coach said, while Kiara Harrison,...
Hospice of Wrangell is doing its usual double duty this holiday season, with its annual Dove Tree ceremony to remember lost friends and family members and the Christmas Tree Lane fundraiser. Both events are at the Nolan Center. The Dove Tree ceremony is scheduled for 2 p.m. Sunday and will include readings, a homily by the Rev. Suellen Bahleda of Island of Faith Lutheran Church, and music by Cindy Martin, Sarah Scambler, Bonnie Demerjian and Alice Rooney. The tree, with paper doves in memory of people who have died, “has a place of honor” amo...
Unlike Fairbanks and the Kenai Peninsula which struggled to complete their traditional holiday food box menus — partially due to nationwide supply chain shortcomings — Wrangell’s organizers report 50 Thanksgiving boxes went out fully stuffed. The Salvation Army, which coordinates the holiday campaign for the Wrangell Ministerial Association, placed its Thanksgiving order in October with City Market and IGA to ensure everything would arrive on time. They turned in their Christmas food order on Nov. 1, and are still taking inventory of what...
The borough reported two new COVID-19 cases in Wrangell on Wednesday, adding to the four on Tuesday and pushing the November total to 60 -- by far the highest monthly count of the almost two-year-long pandemic. All but one of the 60 cases are Wrangell residents and most were close contacts of recent positive cases, including the two infections reported Wednesday. The previous record was 48 cases in August. Of the recent cases in town, the borough reported 15 were still active as of late Wednesday afternoon, down from last week as individuals...
Nov. 17, 1921 According to the Alaska Directory published in the General Federation News, the official organ of the club women of the country, Mrs. I.C. Bjorge, of Wrangell, has been appointed chair of the Alaska Federation. Other chair are: Art and Music, Mrs. Frank LeNoir, Douglas; Civics, Mrs. Russel Herman, Chickaloon; Legislation, Mrs. Vara E. Kaser, Juneau; Library Extension, Mrs. F. Rader, Matanuska; Home Economics, Sanitation and Health, Mrs. G. Borgen, Seward: History (appointment to be made later). Nov. 15, 1946 Stream surveys of...
The borough assembly last Friday approved submitting an application for $1.8 million in pandemic relief aid to replace lost sales tax, port and harbors and other revenues in 2020. The funds, if granted, would come from the state’s share of the American Rescue Plan Act, a $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief fund Congress approved in March. Cities and boroughs received a direct federal allocation under the act — Wrangell’s share was $485,000 — while the state is going to share some of its money with municipalities that got hurt above and beyond...
The Wrangell High School wrestling and volleyball teams stayed in town last weekend instead of traveling for matches, due to ongoing COVID-19 concerns. A wrestler tested positive for COVID-19 last week after returning from a match in Anchorage with eight other athletes from the squad. The team was scheduled to compete in Ketchikan last weekend but ended up canceling due to the close-contact exposure. The tournament in Ketchikan was still held. The volleyball team was scheduled to compete in Petersburg for a second weekend in a row, and for a se...