Sorted by date Results 301 - 325 of 345
The COVID-19 pandemic has made it an unusual last year for Wrangell High School seniors, and that will culminate with a unique graduation ceremony stretched out on the city dock May 21. That assumes decent weather. The backup plan is back to the community gym, said Megan Powell, adviser to the class of 2021. The students wanted something different this year, Powell said, and that is the dock. The school submitted its COVID-19 mitigation plans to the borough manager and port director, and seating will be limited to four guests for each of the...
Plans are set for the Fourth of July royalty kickoff event May 31, while planning is underway for the four-day holiday celebration a month later - but volunteers are still needed. "The big one we really need is for someone to step up for the parade," said Kimberly Cooper, of the chamber of commerce, which leads Wrangell's annual Fourth of July activities. Volunteers also are needed for game and food booths, she said. While planning continues for July 1-4 events, Wrangell's celebration will begin...
Legislation to bring back a state tax on individual Alaskans to help pay for schools — which was abolished in 1980 as the state got rich with oil — looks destined for more homework and returning to class in committee next year. The bill moved out of the House Ways and Means Committee on May 6, moving next to the Finance Committee. But getting a tax bill through the full House and Senate before the Legislature’s May 19 adjournment deadline would be a tough assignment in any political school. The measure, as amended by the committee last week,...
The SouthEast Alaska Regional Health Consortium is encouraging everyone over the age of 12 to register for their vaccination shots. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Monday approved the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine for children 12 to 15 years old. Dr. Elliot Bruhl, SEARHC chief medical officer, said COVID-19 patients are trending younger and people under 50 years old now make up the largest group of new hospitalizations in the country. “We urge parents and guardians to be proactive in protecting themselves and their community against C...
Hungry Beaver Pizza, Wrangell’s longest-running pizza restaurant and part of the Marine Bar, is operating at reduced hours until the owner, Patty Kautz, 78, can hire some help. Kautz said she can’t maintain her usual pace of work. For the foreseeable future, pizza will be available only during high-demand days: Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday, from 5 to 8 p.m. “I’m 78, I can’t keep doing it,” Kautz said. The pizza spot was closed for a week before it reopened last Friday. “You talked us into it,” she said on Facebook. Kautz has owned...
Advocates of restricting cruise ship traffic to Juneau have started gathering petition signatures to put three questions on the municipal election ballot Oct. 5. The initiatives would make the ballot if supporters can gather signatures of nearly 3,000 registered voters in the town of about 30,000 residents. They started collecting signatures May 3, and face a June 2 deadline to turn in their petition books at city hall. One of the amendments to the city charter would ban cruise ships in town between 7 p.m. and 7 a.m., though it would apply...
The loss of most cruise ship traffic to town will hurt Muskeg Meadows again this summer, but the golf course is open and it’s already on its third tournament of the season this weekend. Back in 2019, before the pandemic shut down cruise ship travel, a local tour operator would book golfers in advance, meet the ship and drive the visitors to Muskeg Meadows, sometimes as many as 20 a day, said Bill Messmer, who works at the course. The package would include clubs and golf cart rentals. “That was a huge day for us,” he said. The course still...
The Wrangell Chamber of Commerce is making plans for the community’s 66th king salmon derby to open June 15. It’s not exactly the 66th annual, since the derby was canceled 2018-2020 due to weak runs, but after that three-year wait the 66th derby could finally happen. The chamber is planning for a shorter derby this year, ending June 30, to make way for the community’s Fourth of July celebration and to ease into the event, which in the past ran an entire month, said Kimberly Cooper, of the chamber. “More details are on the way,” she said last Fr...
City officials reported a new COVID-19 case Thursday afternoon, the 21st infection reported in the community since April 8. "The Wrangell Emergency Operations Center was notified today of one new positive COVID case. This individual is a Wrangell resident who recently traveled outside of the state and tested upon returning to Wrangell," the city said in a statement issued at 4:45 p.m. Thursday. "The individual is asymptomatic and is isolating. No additional information is known at this time." It is one three active COVID-19 cases in the...
Nearly $77 million in federal pandemic relief funds would be used to cover the state contribution to the Alaska Marine Highway System operating budget through Dec. 31, 2022, bringing more certainty to scheduling the vessels, under a deal worked out between the governor and legislators. The money would come from the transportation section of a $900 billion relief bill passed by Congress in December. The governor announced the funding plan while in Ketchikan last Thursday. The federal money, when...
Legislators will focus the next few weeks on how to spend $1.02 billion in federal pandemic relief destined for the state treasury, with last week's opening acts of the fiscal play showing somewhat different budgetary scripts from the House majority coalition and the governor. Both proposals would direct money to construction projects, the tourism industry and repairing Alaska's damaged economy, though at differing funding levels. The House plan also would direct funds to communities worst hit by the pandemic. And while House leadership has...
About 70 people came out for Saturday's Wrangell Community Cleanup, about 10 more than usual, said organizer Valerie Massie. There was no cleanup in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but the annual event was brought back this spring, sending volunteers around the city to pick up trash. Massie said participants filled 146 bags with trash in a half-day of work, enough for 10 full dumpsters and four truckloads of large items like metal and mattresses. Organizer Kim Wickman said there was not one...
Wrangell, Petersburg and Juneau residents are competing to see who can walk, hike or run the farthest - without ever leaving town. "Bragging rights will go to the community that walks/hikes/runs the most miles (average miles per person)," the Wrangell Parks and Recreation website says. Juneau Parks and Recreation, which started Walk Southeast last year to keep people active during the pandemic, invited Wrangell and Petersburg to join up this year, giving the event a friendly competitive alure...
With warmer weather, the Wrangell Police Department is expecting roadkill to increase. With that, they are hoping to update their charity list for recovering and sharing the deer meat. Chief Tom Radke said the department's list currently has less than 10 names, and anybody interested in being added to the list just has to give them a call. When there is a report of roadkill with salvageable meat, he said the department will start calling names on the list to see if anybody wants it. The list helps keep the roads clean, while making sure good...
The Alaska House of Representatives has passed a bill intended to prevent teacher layoffs the next two years with early appropriation of state funding to local school operating budgets. Though helpful in its intent to provide funding certainty to school districts, it does not solve the budget problems of districts, such as Wrangell, that have seen steep enrollment drops during the pandemic. State funding for local schools is based on their annual student count. In previous years, late budget action by the Legislature has forced some school...
Alaska Airlines has banned an anti-mask state senator for refusing to follow federal law and airline policy requiring face masks. "We have notified Senator Lora Reinbold that she is not permitted to fly with us for her continued refusal to comply with employee instruction regarding the current mask policy," spokesman Tim Thompson said in a prepared statement Saturday, adding that the suspension was effective immediately. Reinbold, an Eagle River Republican in her ninth year as a state...
City officials reported a new COVID-19 case Monday afternoon, bringing to 18 the number of positive cases since April 8. Of those, 16 are reported as having recovered, the city's 4:30 p.m. announcement said. "No additional information is known at this time," the city said of the latest case. Most of the previous 17 cases this month were reported as community spread. "Wrangell currently has a face-covering requirement in place through April 30 for certain indoor public and communal spaces," the city's statement said. "Please mask up to help stop...
The Wrangell Community Cleanup, a longtime tradition, is set for Saturday. Volunteers are invited to meet at the covered basketball court by Evergreen Elementary at 8:30 a.m. to help clean up Wrangell. The cleanup occurs every spring, except last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with the public spending half the day picking up as much trash around the city as possible. The Wrangell Cooperative Association has been assisting with the cleanup organization for about four years, said Kim Wickman,...
City officials reported a new COVID-19 case Tuesday afternoon, bringing to 17 the number of positive cases since April 8. The case "is due to community spread," the city's 5:30 p.m. announcement said. "This is the only information about the case at this time," the city reported. Of the 17 cases over the past 12 days, eight people have recovered and nine cases were still active as of Tuesday. Wrangell is under a face mask requirement for indoor public spaces. The borough assembly approved the ordinance at an emergency meeting Saturday amid the...
Leatha Merculieff, who has served both as SEARHC vice president and as Wrangell hospital administrator since SEARHC took over the facility in 2019, has been promoted to the consortium's senior vice president and chief of operations. In her place, Wrangell resident Carly Allen will take over as hospital administrator. Allen is a third-generation Wrangell resident, according to the Southeast Alaska Regional Health Consortium news release on Monday. She has been with SEARHC since 2017, after a...
While they have not been able to meet in person due to the pandemic, the Head Start preschool program is still working to make sure Wrangell's kids get the help they need. Besides hosting their program virtually, Head Start has been putting together food boxes since November. "The parents are pretty happy with it,"said Sandy Churchill, with Head Start. "Plus, it's a good way to stay in contact with our parents." Head Start pus together food boxes for 15 kids each week, Churchill said. They...
The Wrangell Police Department is warning the public about phone calls from scammers pretending to be with the Social Security Administration. The callers tell people the government has a warrant for their arrest. Police departments statewide reported a rash of such calls last week, including departments in Juneau, Anchorage, Homer and Unalaska. While some scammers claimed to represent the Social Security Administration, others said they were with the U.S. Marshals Service. Wrangell police said...
Beginning April 24, Alaskans should start getting used to dialing the 907 area code when calling in state. For the next six months, callers can dial the old way - with just seven digits - or the new way - with 10 digits - but only the 10-digit dialing will work starting Oct. 24. Using the 907 area code on all calls in Alaska as of April 24 will be good practice for when the federally mandated switch to 10-digit dialing takes effect in the fall, even for local calls, said phone service providers...
A new COVID-19 case was announced in Wrangell on Thursday. According to the city, the newest case is a Wrangell resident, showing symptoms of the virus. The person is in isolation, according to the city’s prepared statement. In a Facebook post on Friday, the Wrangell Public School District announced that the case was found in Wrangell High School. Given that the schools closed for spring break on Thursday, the district reports that there will be no building closures. Another case was announced by city officials Friday afternoon. The patient, a...
GCI, the largest telecommunications provider in the state, is planning to move all of its call-center operations out of Alaska and will contract with a third-party vendor to provide the service from the Philippines. The move will start this summer, according to a report in the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner on Saturday. The company, which provides cable television, internet, cell and wired telephone services in Alaska, has had a hard time filling its call-center jobs, said Heather Handyside, vice...
