Articles from the January 9, 2014 edition


Sorted by date  Results 1 - 18 of 18

  • Rain, tide greet Polar Bear swimmers

    Brian O Connor|Jan 9, 2014

    If water temperatures typically in the low to mid 40's won't deter you, what's a little rain or a high tide? About 50 enthusiastic swimmers waded into the sea near Shoemaker Park to celebrate New Year's Day and participate in the annual Polar Bear Swim. For some, the annual ritual is simply something to do on a day when many Wrangell businesses are traditionally closed. For others, the swim marks the start of something wonderful together. Erica and Adam Tlachac took their first swim together...

  • School Board to hire interim Evergreen principal

    Brian O Connor|Jan 9, 2014

    The School board voted 5-0 Monday to hire an interim principal for Evergreen Elementary School for the rest of the year. The board also voted 5-0 to separate the positions of elementary school principal and superintendent, held by Rich Rhodes since the beginning of this school year, and to retain the services of the Association of Alaska School Boards to aid the search for a replacement superintendent. The board voted down 4-1, with Krissy Smith the lone dissenter, a motion that would have hired a lead teacher at Evergreen to provide...

  • The Way We Were

    Jan 9, 2014

    In the Sentinel 100, 75, 50 and 25 years ago. January 8, 1914: Today at two o'clock the case of the United States vs. Chief Shakes in a complaint being made by A. Lemieux against Chief Shakes for criminal trespass on property supposed to be owned by Lemieux but claimed by Shakes was up for trial in the Commissioner's Court. Chas Ingersoll represented Chief Shakes and Richard Bushell the prosecution, upon motion from the attorney for the defendant the case was dismissed. According to the ruling made, no person can hold the title to Indian land...

  • Alumni blowout Lady Wolves roundballers

    Brian O Connor|Jan 9, 2014

    Alumni from as far away as Denver descended on the Wrangell High School gym floor to take on the Lady Wolves in the annual alumni game Jan. 3. The event featured a half-court contest, a baked goods silent auction, and the game itself, in which a motley crew of alumni and quasi-alumni (head coach Edna Abella-Nore contributed critical passing and outside shooting at points, though she attended Kodiak High School) thrashed the varsity squad 60-16. Despite the fact that the game had nothing but...

  • Local natives urged to renew memberships

    Brian O Connor|Jan 9, 2014

    Representatives from the WCA’s membership community are hoping for a big turnout this weekend. A membership rally scheduled for 11 a.m. Saturday could provide a needed boost to local tribal enrollment. The Wrangell tribe is moving toward photo identifications for its members, which will assist local members in applying for their exemption to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, known colloquially as Obamacare, said Apryl Hutchinson, the membership committee chair. A representative from AICS may be on hand to answer questions about t...

  • Police reports

    Jan 9, 2014

    Monday, December 30 Citizen Assist – Request to unlock vehicle. Suspicious Circumstance – Notified Officer. Agency Assist – Caller stated flames were coming from a sauce pan left on the stove. FD notified and responded. Citizen Assist – Request to unlock vehicle. Tuesday, December 31 Citizen Assist – Caller reported person ran out of gas then locked their keys in their car. Traffic Stop – Verbal warning for driving habits. Civil Issue – Caller stated she wanted to talk with an Officer – Notified Officer. Warrant Arrest – Daniel Wayne Malo...

  • Obituary: Donald Philip Griswold, 68

    Jan 9, 2014

    Donald Philip Griswold, 68, of Coeur d'Alene, Idaho passed away January 3, 2014 at his home in Coeur d'Alene. Donald was born September 14, 1945 in Red Buff, Calif. to Frank and Ocie (Tate) Griswold. Donald grew up in California, and as a young man he traveled throughout that state and the Pacific Northwest, finally fulfilling his lifelong dream of moving to Alaska in 1984, where he lived for the next 20 years. He moved back to Coeur d'Alene, where he had lived previously, in 2006. Donald first...

  • State announces non-pelagic rockfish sport fishing rules

    Brian O Connor|Jan 9, 2014

    The State Department of Fish and Game has set the regulations for non-pelagic rockfish for Southeast waters. The regulations remained unchanged from last year’s season, which pertains only to non-pelagic, or deepwater rockfish, said Petersburg-Wrangell Area Management Biologist Doug Fleming. “It appears to be for all purposes pretty much the same as last year,” he said. The regulations for all Southeast waters are as follows: All non-pelagic rockfish caught must be retained until the bag limit is reached. Persons sport fishing from a chart...

  • Two flu deaths reported in Alaska

    Jan 9, 2014

    ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) - Two adult Alaskans died from the flu in the past week, according to state health officials. The deaths are the first to be reported during Alaska’s 2013-14 influenza season and the first since new rules requiring health care facilities to report adult flu deaths to the state took effect in late December. Before, Alaska only tracked deaths among children. The state has not been notified of any child deaths so far this flu season. “People think, ‘Oh it’s just the flu,’” said Dr. Brian Yablon, a state epidemiolog...

  • 'Winterizers' arrive in Wrangell

    Brian O Connor|Jan 9, 2014

    A Sitka-based contractor working with the Alaska Community Development Corporation will conduct hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of winter preparations on local homes. A six-man crew from Alaska SafeTech industries will work in, outside, and on top of local houses to prepare them for the winter. Between 30 and 35 local residents have already elected to have their houses weatherized and have registered ahead of time, according to SafeTech president Ron Waldron. The crew arrived and began...

  • Registration for comingled recycling program has begun

    Kyle Clayton|Jan 9, 2014

    PETERSBURG ­– The Petersburg Borough Sanitation Department has set Feb. 4 to be the start date of the new comingled voluntary recycling program. Residents who want to participate must call Public Works at 772-4430 to sign up. Once that’s done, sanitation staff will drop off blue bags, free of charge, at residences and businesses during the week of Jan. 20. Current residents who already practice curbside recycling will be automatically transferred into the new program. After the initial rollout of the recycling program, free bags will be availab...

  • Future of Ice program at University of Washington

    Jan 9, 2014

    SEATTLE (AP) — With the planet’s polar regions changing faster than ever before in human history, the University of Washington is launching a new initiative to boost research in the Arctic and prepare students for a world where melting ice is opening new opportunities - and posing new threats. Under the Future of Ice program, the university will hire eight scientists and faculty members and offer the country’s first Arctic studies minor outside of Alaska. The inaugural course, which starts this month, filled up in less than two weeks. “The...

  • Economic development council promotes crowd funding

    Kyle Clayton|Jan 9, 2014

    PETERSBURG – Matt Lichtenstein, recent KFSK news director and now full-time troller fisherman, just earned $5000 in crowd funding after the Petersburg Economic Development Council (PEDC) implemented a new program earlier this month. PEDC partnered with the international non-profit Kiva Zip to offer a micro-financing option for local entrepreneurs and small businesses. “In our case, PEDC acts as a trustee for Kiva Zip so we’re kind of their on the ground person and we endorse a borrower,” said Liz Cabrera, PEDC director. Lichtenstein announced h...

  • Local fisherman celebrates 97th birthday

    Brian O Connor|Jan 9, 2014

    Lawrence Bahovec spent a significant portion of his birthday watching football in his bathrobe and waiting for his granddaughters to call. The occasion was subdued for a 97-year-old fisherman who spent decades wresting his living from local waters. Bahovec was born in 1917 in Chicago, near the end of World War I. His father was a fisherman and carried the family name from Yugoslavia. After fishing in Western Washington for a few years, the family relocated to Wrangell. While his father was out...

  • Port Commission moves on memorial, leasing, Tidelands

    Brian O Connor|Jan 9, 2014

    The Wrangell Ports & Harbors commission voted 4-0 three times Tuesday night. Commissioners unanimously approved a no-bid professional services contract with Juneau’s Corvus Design. The vote means, pending approval by the borough assembly, port officials would repurpose approximately $11,372 of state money for the construction of floats and upland improvements for Heritage Harbor. About $24,000 would remain from those funds, any unused portion of which will be lost by June 30, if the assembly approved the contract, commissioners said. The c...

  • Federal agency plans to survey fishing businesses

    Jan 9, 2014

    KODIAK, Alaska (AP) — A federal agency is planning to measure the economic impact of fishing businesses. Notices posted in the Federal Register show the National Marine Fisheries Service plans to survey U.S. seafood processors and bait-and-tackle shops during 2014. Survey data will be incorporated into impact statements produced by the federal government before an action is taken. Tackle business owners will be asked to characterize and quantify their operational costs and sales revenue and describe their clientele. Seafood processors will b...

  • Fish Factor

    Laine Welch|Jan 9, 2014

    Salmon will always be the heart of Alaska’s fisheries. That’s why many people think of summer as “the fishing season.” But that’s not the case. The deep of winter is when Alaska’s largest fisheries get underway each year. On January first, hundreds of boats with hook and line gear or big pots will begin plying the waters of the Bering Sea and Gulf of Alaska for Pacific cod, rockfish and other groundfish. Then on January 20th trawlers take to the seas to target Alaska pollock, the world’s largest food fishery with harvests near three billion...

  • For the Birds

    Jan 9, 2014