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The state has long allowed early voting, making it easy on Alaskans to never miss marking a ballot in an election year. And now the borough is doing the same thing. Good for borough officials and the assembly to approve the change in voting procedures, good for residents and a good move for representative government, which is more representative of the public when more people vote. Rather than require voters to make time only on election day or go through a cumbersome absentee voting process to cast their ballot in advance, the assembly has...
It’s nothing personal, just business. But it still hurts. Wrangell has lost three cruise ship stops this summer to Klawock, where a partnership of Native corporations is developing a visitor destination complete with a deepwater dock, retail shops, shore excursions, walking trails and more. Two of the corporations, Huna Totem and Fairbanks-based Doyon, are already active in the tourism industry. The third, Klawock Heenya, wants to get into the business to provide jobs and income for its tribal shareholders in the Prince of Wales Island c...
No question about it, Wrangell loves its Fourth of July celebration. Residents, families and visitors all gather downtown to watch and participate in the games and races, enjoy the food and, hopefully, some summer sunshine, though that is the least predictable of the festivities. Putting on the days of the Fourth is not cheap for the chamber of commerce. The celebration totals somewhere around $115,000 for fireworks, event expenses, insurance, prize money, running the royalty fundraising raffle and everything else that everyone enjoys every...
Einar Haaseth served in Vietnam from September 1964 to December 1965, and never received his entitlement of up to 160 acres of land under the 1906 Alaska Native Allotment Act. The program has reopened, but for Haaseth, and other Native veterans living in Southeast, there’s a problem: Nearly no Southeast Alaska land is available under the program. Last fall, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management announced an order and made available more than 27 million acres of public land to Alaska Native veterans who were unable to apply for their acres while s...
The 2020 presidential election is over. Multiple judges in multiple federal and state courts have ruled multiple times against frivolous claims of voter fraud, conspiracy, computer hacking and criminal intent. Courts, prosecutors, most members of Congress, even former President Donald Trump’s attorney general all agreed there is no evidence that the election was stolen. No matter how much some want to believe otherwise, Joe Biden was legitimately elected president of the United States. Certainly, he could lose the job in 2024, but in an e...
One of Alaska’s largest private COVID-19 testing providers plans to close its public testing sites in the state by the end of June. The decision by the private company will not affect SEARHC’s continuation of testing services in Wrangell. The decision by Capstone Clinic is mainly driven by financial considerations, said Matt Jones, Capstone’s director of non-clinical operations. Jones said it began with an abrupt move by the federal government earlier this year to no longer cover the costs of COVID-19 tests or treatments for those without healt...
From log rolling to similarly shaped but much smaller and lighter wiener tossing — and everything in between, whether moving or not — the events over the long July 4th weekend are going to be plentiful. However, the chamber of commerce needs help. At least 15 volunteers are needed to help pull apart raffle tickets for the annual prize drawing, set up and take down booths, direct people and generally help out wherever needed over the several days of community festivities. Brittani Robbins, the chamber’s executive director, said there are about...
Just hours after a federal court judge voided the federal face mask mandate for air travel and other public transportation, Alaska Airlines, United Airlines and American Airlines on Monday afternoon said masks would be optional on their flights. Other airlines are expected to follow suit. Alaska Airlines said in a statement that because of the judicial decision, passengers and employees effective immediately would have the option to wear a mask while traveling in the U.S. “While we are glad this means many of us get to see your smiling f...
The Alaska House went back to work on Monday after canceling floor sessions last week when several members refused to wear face masks amid an outbreak of COVID-19 among lawmakers and staff. At its worst last week, almost 10% of the 60 legislators and more than 300 staffers in the Capitol had tested positive for the coronavirus. House Speaker Louise Stutes said she canceled floor sessions due to an unwillingness by several Republican lawmakers to comply with temporary masking rules she had imposed. The speaker announced March 28 that masks...
Wrangell schools are not short of dedicated staff, engaged students or supportive parents. But what the district is short of — and getting shorter — are students and funding. That is a bad combination, putting stress on the schools as management puts together a budget for the 2022-2023 school year, and creating a serious long-term problem that needs the full attention of the school board, borough assembly and, most importantly, the community. The Wrangell School District has been losing students for the past 25 years, dropping from more tha...
Posted 2:30 p.m. Friday, April 1 The state health department website reported Friday that there have been 54 COVID-19 cases in Wrangell in the past 14 days, with 28 of those in the past seven days and nine in the past two days. The case counts include only those test results reported to the state; at-home test results are not included. Wrangell's case count, while significantly higher than the average over the two years of the pandemic, is down substantially from the post-holidays record-high surge in January and February. Statewide counts are...
High oil prices driven by the war in Ukraine, tight global oil supplies and OPEC’s decision not to pump more crude are adding tens of millions of dollars per month to the Alaska state treasury. The rush of oil revenues is boosting the governor’s push for a larger Permanent Fund dividend for individual Alaskans this fall, while also fueling legislative interest to increase funding for education and deferred maintenance — or just save some of the money for the next time oil prices fall. The Alaska Department of Revenue last week issued its annua...
There really isn’t a strong reason for the state to keep the proposals confidential until it closes a deal to sell — or give away — the state ferry Malaspina. The Department of Transportation promised exactly that when it advertised for offers on the ship, promising in writing that any responses would be held confidential until the state seals the sale. Talk about running open government aground. The department, in its letter soliciting interest in the unused, elderly 450-passenger vessel, asked a lot of potential new owners. The state said...
Grant writing skills can be almost as useful to learn in school these days as reading and writing, and certainly are invaluable for the arithmetic of classroom and community programs. Funding is available from multiple foundations, government agencies and private businesses for those who can write an effective grant application. They need to tell their story, tell how the grant will make life better in their community, and tell it with conviction. The competition for grants can be intense, which is why it’s impressive to see Wrangell high schoo...
The fire department and SEARHC are helping residents to stay healthy — or at least know when they are not healthy and should stay home for the protection of others in the community. Both are handing out free at-home COVID-19 test kits, as long as supplies last. Not only are the tests free, but they are easy to use and can do a lot to keep the Omicron variant of the coronavirus where it should be: Behind us, not looming large ahead of us. After Wrangell — along with the rest of the state and the country — took ill in record numbers in Janua...
The Alaska Marine Highway System has activated the dormant state ferry Tazlina for more than 30 sailings from Juneau to northern Southeast communities in February and March, filling in service gaps to Haines, Skagway, Hoonah, Angoon and Gustavus. Given the shortage of regular ferry service across Southeast, there had been strong public pressure on the state to activate the Tazlina, a $60 million ship built in 2019 but largely unused to save money. Bringing the 300-passenger Tazlina into service required putting together a crew for the...
Updated Friday evening, Feb. 11, 2022 Wrangell reported eight new COVID-19 infections Friday, raising the total to 21 cases since Jan. 31 -- a slower pace than the record-setting wave of 185 COVID-19 cases Dec. 30 to Jan. 30. The 206 cases reported by the borough since Dec. 30 represent about one of every 11 residents. After record numbers statewide in January, Alaska's count is in decline. The state health department on Friday reported 1,870 new infections over the past two days. At its peak in late January and early February, Alaska’s rate o...
Feb. 2, 1922 Cliff Wood, of the Veterans’ Bureau, will be arriving on Saturday. Many perplexing questions have arisen about ex-servicemen concerning their status or rights. Are you one of the Legion boys who is in doubt at some point relating to your own special case? Mr. Wood is the man who can tell you just what you want to know, and will do so most cheerfully, because he likes the work and is here for no other purpose than to be of service to the boys who wore the colors. There are some ex-servicemen who seem to have the impression that the...
Those who don’t like Alaska’s new voting system have a couple of choices. They can go about their divisive path, appealing only to the far sides of issues, and hope that someday they can convince most voters that their way is the only way to life without taxes, liberty without responsibilities and, of course, larger Permanent Fund dividends. Or they can see the reality that most voters want a better way — consensus, compromise and solutions. Regardless of what choice they make, ranked-choice voting is coming to the Alaska ballot starting with...
Jan. 26, 1922 The high school English I class had a first introduction to debating last Friday. The question was, “Resolved, that the Petersburg basketball team has a chance of winning over the Wrangell High School team next Saturday.” The issues were given but the proving of the issues was not attempted. It was useless. One of the debaters said the Petersburg team could not beat us because it was composed of bald-headed men. Jan. 24, 1947 Walter Stuart, of Ketchikan, a well-known authority on public utilities, arrived in Wrangell on Wed...
The primary election for governor is less than seven months away, on Aug. 16, with the general election in November. And though it’s only the end of January, there is no need to delay this endorsement call: Wasilla Rep. Christopher Kurka is not who a healthy Alaska needs as governor. With an emphasis on healthy. Candidates often have a hard time getting anyone to notice their announcements early in the campaign — especially during a miserable winter like this year, when there are roofs and boats and pipes to worry about. So they sometimes will...
The state ferry system reports that the Kennicott’s return to service in late April will not be delayed after it collided with the Hubbard while docking in Ketchikan a couple of weeks ago. “We’re still in the investigation phase, so I’m unable to share additional details about the incident at this time,” state transportation department spokesman Sam Dapcevich said last week. The 23-year-old Kennicott bumped into the 2-year-old Hubbard while docking on Jan. 14, as the Kennicott was pulling into Ketchikan for the start of its three-mon...
Alaska Airlines said last week it would trim its flight schedule by about 10% for the rest of January as it deals with “unprecedented” numbers of employees calling in sick during the COVID-19 surge. Service to Wrangell — Flight 65 northbound in the morning and Flight 64 southbound in the afternoon — are not on the list for service reductions, Tim Thompson, company spokesman in Anchorage, said Jan. 6. “Intra-Alaska service is not part of the current schedule reduction,” Thompson said. Though continued staff shortages could affect future scheduli...
Ed Rasmuson, a banker and philanthropist who led Alaska's largest philanthropic organization, died Jan. 4 at age 81. He managed the Wrangell branch of the National Bank of Alaska in the late 1960s. Rasmuson was diagnosed with brain cancer about a year ago and entered hospice care three days before Christmas. His oldest daughter, state Sen. Natasha von Imhof, said he died in the company of family in Anchorage. The family said a memorial service will be held sometime in the spring. Rasmuson...
Four students have sued to force the state to maintain a designated fund that provides university scholarships, challenging a decision by the administration of Gov. Mike Dunleavy that emptied Alaska’s $410 million higher education trust fund last year. The change in policy from previous governors eliminated a source of reliable funding for college financial aid, forcing the scholarships to rely on legislative appropriations from the state general fund, same as any other state expense. The Alaska Higher Education Investment Fund provided f...