Sorted by date Results 251 - 275 of 365
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...
The SouthEast Alaska Regional Health Consortium is seeking volunteers to play victims, friends and family members, even news reporters in a mass casualty exercise Oct. 5. The drill is planned for 3:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the Wrangell Medical Center, providing an opportunity for hospital staff “to test their emergency plans and procedures,” SEARHC said in its promotional flyer for the event. “Some (not all) volunteers will receive extensive make-up (moulage) to enhance realism,” the flyer said. “Volunteers should understand that this exercise...
The Alaska Marine Highway System has been advertising statewide since June in a concerted effort to recruit new crewmembers for the vessels, though help did not arrive in time when the LeConte had to cancel its northbound sailing out of Juneau on Aug. 11 due to a crew shortage. The cancelation “stems from a system-wide crew shortage,” Sam Dapcevich, public information officer for the ferry system, told the Chilkat Valley News in Haines. The one-day cancellation disrupted travel plans for 84 people who were traveling to Haines or Skagway, accord...
The borough has awarded contracts for a new 75-foot-long net repair float at Shoemaker Bay, which will be 99% covered by federal and state funds. The float used by fishermen at the harbor has been in terrible shape for some time, Mayor Steve Prysunka said at the Aug. 11 assembly meeting, where members approved the two contracts. The estimated cost for the float project, and additional electrical work, is roughly $128,000. With a $46,000 federal grant after the 2016 pink salmon disaster declaration, and almost $81,000 from a state grant, Wrangel...
Most of last year's runners are back for the high school cross-country team, with some freshmen joining the squad too, the coach said. Practice is underway and the first meet will be sometime in September. "It's really nice to have some younger kids join the team. I've got most of my kiddos back, so that's great," said coach Mykayla Rooney, in her second year. This year's team consists of 15 runners, but a few need to take their physicals before they can start running, Rooney said. "I only had...
The community group BRAVE (Building Respect and Valuing Everyone) is making plans for its fourth annual Family Resilience Fair, scheduled for noon to 2 p.m. Sept. 11 at the Nolan Center. The intent of the event “is to make people aware of the resources available” for dealing with stress, food insecurity, maintaining healthy relationships and more. “Learn how your community can help your family,” according to BRAVE. The event will include tables staffed by nonprofits, government agencies and service providers, said organizer Kay Larson. Admissio...
As the new school year gets closer, the Wrangell School District is looking for community volunteers to serve on several committees to help inform and guide school leadership. The district is seeking applicants for seven committees: Budget/finance, calendar, curriculum, career and technical education, facilities, policy and technology. “Ideally, we’d have five to seven members at a minimum, on each,” said Kim Powell, district administrative assistant. “It’s open, and anyone who is interested is encouraged to serve.” The committees can include...
After a one-day closure Friday due to staff exposure to an individual with COVID-19, the borough landfill will reopen Saturday for its normal business hours. City hall, which also closed to the public on Friday due to COVID exposure, will reopen Monday, according to a borough statement Friday afternoon. In announcing the closures Friday morning, the borough said they were acting "out of an abundance of caution to staff and the public." Borough officials on Thursday reported two new COVID-19 cases in Wrangell, bringing to seven the number of... Full story
Candidacy filing is open for the municipal election, with nine seats on the ballot for borough assembly, port commission and school board — three seats each. The filing deadline is Aug. 31. The declaration of candidacy form is available weekdays at the borough clerk’s office at city hall. Candidates also need to submit a petition signed by at least 10 qualified voters in Wrangell. The assembly seats held by Terry Courson, David Powell and Bob Dalrymple will be on the Oct. 5 ballot, as will the port commission seats of Frank Roppel, Brian Mer...
The borough received just one bid for the unused National Guard armory on Second Avenue. It had set an asking price of $110,000 for the 1,200-square-foot structure, and that was the amount offered by the only bidder: Tim Gardner, of Oregon. Bids closed last Friday. “It would have been nice for it to go up, but that’s OK,” Borough Clerk Kim Lane said of the minimum bid. The borough is waiting to receive Gardner’s final payment before signing the deed and officially transferring the property to him, Lane said.. The armory, built in 1982, sits on...
The U.S. Postal Service will officially release the "Raven Story" stamp at 11 a.m. Friday at the Sealaska Heritage Institute in Juneau. The stamp, designed by Juneau-based Rico Lanáat' Worl, a Tlingit and Athabascan artist, depicts Raven freeing the sun, stars and moon. The ceremony will be streamed live through the heritage institute's YouTube channel. The Postal Service said Antonio Alcalá, who served as art director on the project, reached out to Worl about creating the stamp after seeing h...
The SouthEast Alaska Regional Health Consortium has joined the list of health care providers encouraging Alaskans to participate in the potentially money-saving special enrollment period for insurance offered under the Affordable Care Act (ACA). The latest round of federal aid for people hurt by the pandemic’s hit to the economy, the American Rescue Plan Act, includes “additional insurance subsidies and (ACA) plan options for individuals and families,” SEARHC explained in a prepared statement July 22. “During this one-time special enrollm...
Wrangell's annual Bearfest opens Wednesday and will feature symposiums by bear experts, art and photo workshops, children's games, pool time and more - even a demonstration by a Seattle sushi chef, adding a seafood entrée to the five-day festival menu. This year's Bearfest will run to Aug. 1, returning in full force after the COVID-19 pandemic forced a scaled-back celebration in 2020. The schedule also includes children's events, live music, the annual Bearfest run, a golf tournament,...
This spring’s federal pandemic aid legislation included a provision that could reduce the cost of health insurance available under the Affordable Care Act, the decade-old program that has provided federally subsidized insurance to millions of Americans. The extended deadline to sign up for the latest savings is Aug. 15. The American Rescue Plan, signed into law in March, included a provision for a special enrollment period and additional savings, in particular to help people who lost jobs, income or insurance coverage due to the economic hit o...