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It's been too long, more than a decade, since a state Office of Children's Services caseworker has been assigned to Wrangell. Welcome back, we missed you. The borough and school district have been trying for years to get state officials to put back money in the budget for a caseworker in town. The position is so important to help children struggling with the emotional challenges of life that the borough offered two years ago to share the cost of the position with the state. News of the offer was well publicized in town, winning strong support...
Former Wrangell resident Carroll Merritt, 86, died July 21, 2021, in Fort Benton, Montana. He was born in 1935, the first child of Bonnie and Ves Merritt, of Sturgis, South Dakota. During elementary school the family lived a short time in Deadwood, S.D., but most years were in Sturgis, where both sets of grandparents and other family were close. Carroll Merritt lived in Wrangell about 20 years, from the late 1960s to late 1980s, working as a teacher, said his widow, Agnes Merritt. They were married 51 years. He excelled in sports in high school...
Former Wrangell resident Randy Charles Maygard, 68, died March 2. He was born Sept. 14, 1953, to Charles and Nancy Maygard, of Seattle. Randy grew up part of his life in Seattle, where he attended Jane Adams Junior High, then Nathan Hale High School. The family moved to Wrangell, where he completed his schooling. Randy spent his life working in the sawmill and commercial fishing industry. He started out in commercial fishing with his grandfather on the KED, and ended up owning his own boat, the...
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...
Gov. Mike Dunleavy and Alaska state senators said Friday they support legislation to temporarily suspend the state’s 8-cents-a-gallon tax on gasoline and also taxes marine and aviation fuels for one year, in an attempt to reduce the hit of rising fuel prices on Alaskans. No such legislation had been introduced, but Dunleavy, who is running for reelection this year, called for a suspension of the taxes to be added to a bill sitting in the House Finance Committee since last year. That bill would raise the state’s tax on gasoline by 8 cents a gal...
Applications are now being accepted for a federally funded financial assistance program for Alaska homeowners. Applications will be accepted through April 4 by the Alaska Housing Finance Corp., which is administering the $50 million program to help homeowners hurt by income loss the past two years due to the pandemic. As of last Friday, 13 Wrangell homeowners had preregistered for the program, out of almost 5,400 people statewide, according to Stacy Barnes, public affairs director at the agency. The aid can go toward eligible homeowners’ m...
Parks and Recreation Director Kate Thomas stands at the tidelands in front of City Park, where the borough plans to build a rock staircase and add a handrail to provide easier access to the waterfront. Thomas estimates the work may cost $2,000 to add the steps, which will blend in with the boulders that make up the naturally rocky shoreline. The department will look at what's left over in the budget from this fiscal year that ends June 30 or turn the page to the upcoming fiscal year to pay for...
The face mask debate is over for now — hopefully for good, if the community can stay healthy — and annual budget deliberations are starting over how much the borough will contribute to education and how the school district will spend its local, state and federal money. Which means it’s a good week to learn what students and staff are doing at Wrangell’s schools. There are a couple of examples this week that students are learning what’s important in life and how to manage and succeed after graduation. At Evergreen Elementary School, fifth gra...
March 2, 1922 The representative of the Alaska Native Brotherhood, W.L. Paul, favors a bill prohibiting fish traps in any bay or channel less than three miles wide, one mile from creeks and one mile from the entrance to bays. Mr. Paul said the enactment of such a law would remove all the traps around Etolin Island, most of the traps on Prince of Wales Island, and some of the traps around Ketchikan, but would not affect the traps in the larger channels. However, Mr. Paul adds that owing to the wording of the law (should such a law be enacted),...
Sometimes, governments just have to take a chance. They need to ensure the pieces are in place for economic development of their community, even if that means spending money on the potential — not a guarantee — of building jobs in the future. In Wrangell’s case, the almost 40-acre waterfront industrial property at the former 6-Mile sawmill site is one of those pieces. The borough assembly decision to buy the property is smart, long-term thinking. It’s about preserving the site intact for possible future use, rather than see it subdivi...
Parents, community leaders, borough and tribal officials are talking about what can be done to help solve Wrangell’s lack of child care options. Valerie Massie, of the Wrangell Cooperative Association, said she and others at a recent meeting all see the lack of child care and housing as the biggest hurdles to economic and community development in town. Lack of child care keeps people out of the workforce, and it seems there isn’t an employer in town without job openings. Part of the problem in establishing and running a child care center is...
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...
It sure seems the Alaska Marine Highway System is feeling a lot more love these days. Could it be a fundamental shift in the governor’s attitude toward the coastal communities that depend on the admittedly heavily state-subsidized ferries (same as Railbelt communities depend on subsidized highways). Or could it be that 2022 is an election year. Those are not questions as much as they are a combined statement of fact. It’s an election year and every vote counts in Alaska, which is notorious for close elections. When campaigning for ree...
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...
The Alaska Department of Transportation on Jan. 14 announced it had awarded a $15 million contract to Vigor’s Ketchikan shipyard for installation of living quarters aboard the state ferry Hubbard, which will enable the ship to carry a change of crew for longer runs. The 280-foot-long Hubbard and its sister ship Tazlina were built at state specifications at a cost of about $60 million each at the Ketchikan shipyard and launched a few years ago, but have seen limited service due to the ferry system’s tight budget, lack of crew quarters and oth...
The borough assembly made a good choice in erasing the “interim” from Jeff Good’s title as borough manager. He has done a solid job since signing on Nov. 1 until the assembly could decide on a long-term hire. Stability and continuity are helpful and appreciated, especially for Wrangell as it faces multiple costly decisions in the years ahead. But the assembly didn’t go about the hiring decision the right way last week. No malfeasance, nothing so dramatic as that. The members were well intentioned when they met in executive session Jan. 12 and...
Jan. 12, 1922 Mr. Henderson's talk to the high school on Monday afternoon was mostly about the Southeast Alaska school meet to be held at Juneau the latter part of March. Contests will be held in basketball, indoor track, debating, declamatory and spelling. Detailed arrangements have not been made but Mr. Henderson expects to complete the plan as soon as he gets back to Juneau, and then send his plans to the schools. The students in Wrangell are resolving to make great efforts and to bring back honors to our school. Jan. 10, 1947 A committee,...
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...