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Don’t think of it as selling the borough-owned former hospital building and it’s almost two acres of land for a steep discount to its appraised value. Think of it as potentially getting an immense amount of future value from an unused liability that is costing the borough about $100,000 a year to heat and insure. When you look at the math that way, a developer’s offer to pay the borough $200,000 for the hospital property looks pretty reasonable. Borough code allows the municipality to sell property at less than its appraised value if the sale w...
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...
A state Senate committee has advanced a measure that would block an executive order giving the governor total appointment authority over the entire Alaska Marine Highway Operations Board. State statute currently provides that House and Senate leaders appoint four members of the nine-member advisory panel. The executive order removing legislative power to appoint members to the board is one of a dozen issued by Gov. Mike Dunleavy in mid-January. The orders, dealing with various state boards, will take effect unless the House and Senate meet in...
Assembly members, the mayor and borough staff are right: It’s time to pay elected officials a reasonable amount for all the hours they put into the job. Yes, it’s a public service, but it’s still a job. The assembly meetings, the homework, reading reports and financials and meeting with borough staff, state officials and the public — all of which are necessary for making well-informed decisions — take a lot of time. Public service is a good thing, but taking time off from work, paying for child care, missing out on time with family is a lot...
It’s a good time to take a break from distressing international conflicts and too many deaths, depressing national politics of too much dishonesty and too little compromise, and the difficult state politics of short-funded schools and public services. The bad news will still be there next week. Meanwhile, for Wrangell, there is some good news to acknowledge. The borough has organized a public information fair of lenders, financial advisers, builders, zoning and utility officials to help people who are interested in buying one of the 20 s...
Alaskans often like to complain — a lot, and loudly — about national groups sticking their noses and opinions into the workings of the 49th state. So, it’s only fair to extend a “thank you” when a national group puts up its money and time into doing something Alaskans like. The National Forest Foundation, chartered by Congress in 1992 as the official nonprofit partner of the U.S. Forest Service, is partnering with the federal agency to rebuild the popular public-use cabin at Anan Bay and, in an even bigger undertaking, building new cabins th...
It seems the governor’s office must like country music. Can’t argue with that choice. The lyrics speak of American dreams and heartbreaks. What makes the songs so popular is that they tell stories, believable or not, such as the famous line: “That’s my story, and I’m sticking to it.” Sadly, that same line is essentially all the public is getting from the governor’s office to explain his decisions behind a dozen executive orders that will take effect unless rejected by the Legislature before mid-March. While some of the orders are not controver...
Pick your cliché: Push comes to shove; between a rock and a hard place; money is tight; living within your means; don’t spend more than you can afford. Children need a quality education to succeed in life. Just because the cliches flow easily, don’t expect the answers to be as easy. The school district is in its last year of federal pandemic relief aid, which it has used to cover the salaries and benefits of Wrangell’s two school principals. That means district officials and the school board will have to absorb those expenses into an already ti...
It’s becoming an increasingly common tactic for election losers to blame anyone but themselves. In Alaska, that means several of the recent losers and their supporters blame their defeat on ranked-choice voting, which took effect for the 2022 elections after the public voted in favor of the change in 2020. But rather than learn from their losses and put up candidates who appeal to a broader range of voters, which is the smart way to win elections, the losers want to deny all Alaskans the ability to select from the best of everyone on the b...
It’s certainly welcome news that analysts at the state Department of Labor forecast strong job growth in Alaska this year. They expect to see about 5,400 new jobs, a solid increase of almost 2% over last year. If the numbers come true, it would fully restore the state to its pre-pandemic employment numbers of 2019. Federally funded infrastructure projects, North Slope oil field development and construction will be the big drivers of job growth. But no one really knows where all those new workers will come from. Just like many other states, A...
Wrangell could get off to a good start for 2024 if one of the three interested parties makes a reasonable offer to buy the borough-owned former hospital building, which has sat vacant for almost three years. Most any offer would be reasonable, considering that keeping the building dry and insured is costing the borough tens of thousands of dollars a year. And any offer would be improvement over the no offers that have come in since SEARHC vacated the property for its new medical center in 2021. “The value is getting rid of the property,” Int...
Even though Trident Seafoods reopened its Wrangell plant this summer after a three-year closure, many in town were nervous about the long-term prospects. Salmon prices were miserably low due to an oversupplied market from last year and foreign competition. Worrying is part of human nature. But the half-century-old, family-owned seafood processor had some good news for Wrangell last week: Trident’s plan to operate the plant is “solid” for next year. And even though the company is looking to sell its facilities in Ketchikan and Petersburg as it...
The director of the state agency that manages the food stamp program for tens of thousands of Alaskans says the staff is again overwhelmed with work, delaying benefits for thousands of households by months. That’s months without the food assistance they need and that most are entitled to receive — all because the state has failed at its job for more than a year. That’s months relying on friends, family, food banks, or just going without adequate nutrition. It’s not because they did anything wrong. It’s that the state failed to maintain...
Wrangell has proven its boundless resilience, compassion and generosity the past two weeks. Individuals have donated, volunteered, hauled, organized and pitched in seemingly 24 hours a day since the deadly landslide tested the community’s faith and took over everyone’s emotions. And it wasn’t only individuals helping out. Just about every business on the island donated services, goods or money. Whether food for first responders and volunteers, groceries for families, temporary housing for people displaced by the slide, taxi rides, airpl...
Friendship and community support can comfort. Volunteers can collect food and money, provide housing, transportation and fuel. Relief and counseling organizations like churches, SEARHC, the Red Cross and state and federal agencies can help people cope with immediate and long-term emotional and financial needs. But nothing stops the hurt, the deep loss and the fear that it could happen again. The deadly landslide that roared down the mountainside at 11-Mile on Nov. 20 has forever changed not just the geology of the area but the collective...
Often, the best decisions are a compromise. Which is exactly what borough staff is proposing for the sale of 20 lots next year at the Alder Top Village (Keishangita.’aan) subdivision at the site of the former Wrangell Institute boarding school. Selling the residential lots to the highest bidders would earn the most for the municipal treasury, which would help taxpayers. But it could shut out potential buyers who can’t keep up if the auction drives prices beyond their budget. Selling the parcels at a fixed price by lottery would give eve...
Certainly, people enjoy reminiscing about happy moments, inspiring stories, proud accomplishments and successful endeavors. History can be heartwarming and motivating. It can be exciting and fun. It also can be educational, particularly when the past reminds us of the world’s mistakes, mistreatment and violence over the years. That kind of history teaches how not to treat people, lessons that may prevent some of those same bad things from happening again. Not that mankind learns everything from those examples but, in time, maybe enough to make...
The public often gets frustrated at government planning, the pace of decision making and the meetings, reviews and studies that are part of the process. But making the right decisions takes time, and it sure beats hasty, ill-informed decisions. Wrangell is preparing for a couple of important decisions that will have a significant effect on the community, particularly its future economy: How should the borough sell the 40 residential lots at the Alder Top Village (Keishangita.’aan) subdivision? How can Wrangell best market itself to visitors? B...
Unconscionable. Indefensible. There are many words to describe the disrespect for the public and disregard for honest government by the actions of the governor’s office to block publication of a factual report on teacher salaries in Alaska. Even for the administration of Gov. Mike Dunleavy, this is a low point in putting politics ahead of good government. And that’s saying a lot for an administration that has been criticized by the court for firing state employees who refused to pledge political loyalty to the governor. State government should...
Hunters harvested a total of 141 moose in the Wrangell-Petersburg area this year, according to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. This year’s take is much higher than the harvest of 118 in 2022 and exceeds the five-year average of about 120 moose, according to the department’s statistics. “The previous high was 132, and it was in 2021,” said Frank Robbins, a state game wildlife biologist in the Petersburg office. The season opened Sept. 15 and ran through Oct. 15. The count covers moose hunts on Wrangell, Mitkof, Kupreanof, Kuiu, Zarembo,...
While it seems holiday advertising starts earlier and earlier (and earlier) every year — even further in advance than election campaign advertising, which is annoying enough — it’s not too early for the community to think about sharing this holiday season. Thanksgiving is just a month away; Christmas and New Year’s another month after that. Planning events, rounding up volunteers, collecting names and donations, buying food and gifts all takes time, as does checking the calendar twice to avoid scheduling conflicts. Wrangell has long excelled at...
It looks like it’s going to cost a little more than $23 million to improve and ensure Wrangell’s drinking water quality for years to come. The work will include construction of a new water treatment building, new filtration and disinfection systems, and expanded production capacity to meet future demand growth. The money will cover the construction contract awarded by the borough assembly on Oct. 10, plus design costs and also inspection fees to make sure the job is done right. Yes, it’s a lot of money, but it’s an absolutely necessary expense...
Wrangell’s sales tax revenues from online commerce continue to climb as more residents shop for more things online, and as more sellers follow the law and collect sales tax and send the money to the borough. As much as that’s good news for the municipal treasury, it’s not particularly good news for local business owners and their employees, and it’s not a good indicator for the long-term economic future of the community. No doubt there are a lot of things that people want and need to buy which are not available in town. And no doubt much of...
There isn’t any proof that fentanyl has made its way to Wrangell, but Police Chief Tom Radke has no doubt that the drug is present in the community. “I’m sure it’s here,” he says. “It would be foolish to say it’s not.” It also would be foolish for people who use illegal drugs to assume fentanyl is not in whatever they are about to use. “It’s in a lot of things people don’t think it’s in,” Radke says. And because the synthetic opioid could be mixed in with other illegal drugs like heroin and methamphetamines — even black-market marijuana — an...
The expense of sending student athletes to state competition the past couple of years exceeded the amount in the Wrangell school district budget. Auditors this summer discovered that the state travel account was overdrawn by about $36,000. The district needs to balance its books, which means it needs to transfer money from somewhere to cover that hole. One option under consideration by district officials is to take the funds from sports teams’ “class and club” accounts, which is where student activities deposit the money they collect from...