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An ordinance amending Thomas Bay Power Advisory Committee's role in Wrangell's Municipal Code passed the Wrangell City and Borough Assembly on first reading. A second reading featuring a public hearing will be held on Jan. 27. The principal change would make the committee advisory to the Wrangell and Petersburg assemblies. This follows the transfer of Lake Tyee hydroelectric power management to Southeast Alaska Power Agency last summer. Borough Clerk Kim Lane explained the proposal was first drafted by Petersburg and submitted to Wrangell for r... Full story
After spending seven terms in the Alaska State House, Wrangell's long-serving Rep. Peggy Wilson announced her intention to retire last April, declining to run for reelection in November's general election. "It's really family more than anything else," she explained. One concern is the health of her mother, who lives in Iowa. "I was only getting to see my mom twice a year. That really got me thinking." Wilson described politics as very time-consuming, limiting the time she had to spend with her... Full story
Wrangell Parks and Recreation Board discussed the possibility of setting up wireless internet at the community center gym, after receiving a letter from resident Jim Leslie asking for the upgrade. Board members Bob Lippert, Holly Owens, Michael Brown and Cindy Martin were present to discuss the matter at the Jan. 7 meeting. In his correspondence, Leslie indicated the change would be helpful for exercisers who prefer to stream music through their cellular phones while running. The letter pointed out that reception indoors is limited and data... Full story
In the Sentinel 100, 75, 50 and 25 years ago. January 21, 1915: Wrangell is taking a step forward along the sporting line when she plays Metlakatla a game of basketball next Saturday night at the Rink. According to a wire received yesterday the Metlakatla boys are leaving today and should arrive here late tonight or early tomorrow morning. The game will be the most exciting one that it has been the good fortune of Wrangellites to witness and there is no doubt that everyone will be in attendance. The Metlakatla boys are a very strong team,...
Monday, January 5 Driving complaint. Traffic stop. Tuesday, January 6 MVA: No injuries. Possible money scam. Citation to Gordon Lively, 60, for Failure to Provide Proof of Insurance. Verbal warning for no taillights. Agency Assist: JV Probation. Wednesday, January 7 Lost keys. Person found keys. Person warned about not shooting in City limits. Thursday, January 8 Citizen Assist: Public Works Possible gun shots: Unfounded Traffic stop: Verbal warning for improper display of registration. Curfew warning. Friday, January 9 Found property:...
PETERSBURG – On Jan. 7, former Petersburg School District Maintenance Director Tye Petersen was sentenced to 12 years in jail, followed by 25 years of supervised release for Distribution, Receipt and Possession of Child Pornography. U.S. District Judge Timothy M. Burgess presided over the sentencing hearing in the U.S. District Court in Anchorage where Petersen has been in custody of the U.S. Marshal Service since his arrest in October 2013. Petersen, 46, was arrested after federal investigators and local police conducted a search warrant of h...
Grace Margaret Sowle, 72, died on December 18, 2014 in Anchorage, just 5 short months after losing her husband of 30 years, Bob Sowle. She was born on May 6, 1942 in Vancouver, Wash., the youngest of 13 children and the only child in her family to be born in a hospital. She graduated from Battle Ground High School in 1958. Grace lived in Washington until she moved to Wrangell in 1980 with her husband Bob Sowle and her threee children. Grace worked for several years in the kitchen at Wrangell... Full story
Todd and Donna Carsen of Everett, Wash. announce the engagement of their daughter Lindsey Carsen of Wrangell, Alaska to DJ McConachie also of Wrangell, son of Donald and Betsy McConachie of Wrangell. The bride-to-be grew up in the Everett area graduating from Lincoln Hill High School in Stanwood, Wash. in 2009. The groom-to-be grew up in Wrangell graduating from Wrangell High School in 2007 and Kenai Peninsula College, Soldotna, Alaska graduating in 2010. The couple plan an August 29, 2015...
Pauline Martin, 22, died on December 12, 2014 after a battle with cancer in Seattle, Wash. Pauline was the daughter of Neal Martin and Frannie Rinehart Martin. Her uncle Bill Johnson helped her father raise she and her brother in Seattle. She is survived by: Grandmother Dolores Carr of Arizona; brother Tyler Martin of Seattle; stepmom Lisa; stepbrother Nicholas; many aunts and uncles, including Karen and Darrell of Wrangell; and many cousins. Services will be held at the Mt. Lake Terrace Senior... Full story
The Bay Company’s requests for the City and Borough of Wrangell to vacate and sell portions of an adjacent alleyway have finally cleared their first hurdle, being approved by the Planning and Zoning Commission after considerable discussion at its Jan. 8 meeting. Bay Company’s manager, David Powell, filed the request on behalf of his employers, to vacate the remainder of an alleyway adjacent to lots A and C of the Bay Company replat. The request would also allow the Bay Company to purchase portions of lots 1 and 2, Block B, of the Sortyard Sub...
Patricia Ann Roppel passed away peacefully after a short battle with a very aggressive cancer on Tuesday, January 6, 2015 in Bellevue, Washington. Patricia was born in Ellensburg, Washington on April 5, 1938 to Richard and Helen Snowden. Patricia attended Oregon State University and graduated with a degree in Home Economics. She was a member of Alpha Omicron Pi sorority. She met Frank at Oregon State and they were married and moved to Ketchikan in 1959. They recently celebrated their 55th... Full story
The United States Forest Service announced last week the retirement of two of its top managers in the Tongass National Forest, America's largest national forest. Supervisor Forrest Cole will retire from his position in April, having served nearly 40 years in the USFS and on the Tongass since 2003. Deputy Supervisor Tricia O'Connor will also be leaving, in February, to take a job heading Bridger-Teton National Forest in Jackson, Wyo. In a press release, Sen. Lisa Murkowski said Cole “made a monumental effort as forest supervisor to support t...
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) – The Coast Guard says a lifejacket likely saved the life of a woman who fell into the frigid waters of Tongass Narrows in Ketchikan. KTUU-TV reports the 26-year-old Metlakatla woman was canoeing Sunday along south Pennock Island and heading for Annette Bay when she fell out of the canoe and had to swim to shore. Coast Guard spokeswoman Diana Honings says the woman was able to call the Ketchikan Police Department, which relayed the information to the Coast Guard The call came in at 3 p.m. and Coast Guard rescuers in a 2...
SITKA, Alaska (AP) – The board of the troubled Sitka Community Hospital has selected a local businessman as the facility’s interim CEO following the abrupt departure of his predecessor. Rob Allen was selected at a special meeting of the hospital board Wednesday, the Daily Sitka Sentinel reported. For now, Allen replaces Jeff Comer, who resigned suddenly amid the hospital’s financial problems. Comer planned to leave Sitka over the weekend, saying he was assaulted on a trail after he was recognized as the hospital CEO. Comer took over in Septe...
There were plenty of good plays, a few falls and even some last-second shots sunk during Wrangell High School's homecoming weekend basketball tournament, but no victories as it hosted both the boys and girls teams from Petersburg High School. "There were a couple of really close games," said Wrangell Public Schools activities director Jack Carney. "Some of the kids really stood out." Friday's boys junior varsity game went into overtime, with both teams locked at 30 points. Petersburg edged ahead...
PETERSBURG – A new phytoplankton monitoring program being done by Petersburg Indian Association (PIA) will help alert recreational and subsistence shellfishers to harmful algal blooms in the area more quickly. “There are types of phytoplankton that, in the spring or summertime or when the water starts to warm up, they start to come out of hibernation. And in some cases so much so that they form a bloom,” said PIA Tribal Resource Director Marco Banda who heads the monitoring program and administers the organization’s IGAP grant that funds it. “W...
Alaska seafood marketers are facing some strong headwinds heading into 2015, notably, for sockeye salmon and crab. Snow crab is Alaska’s largest crab fishery, underway now in the Bering Sea. The fleet has a slightly increased 61 million pound catch quota; boats also are tapping on a hefty bairdi Tanner crab catch, the larger cousin of snow crab. A 25% increase in snow crab, the unexpected 15 million pound Tanner fishery, a weak Japanese yen, plus several million pounds of Russian snow crab from a new fishery in the Barents Sea, (not to mention...
FAIRBANKS, Alaska (AP) – The National Weather Service is confirming what a lot of Alaskans concluded about temperatures last year 2014 was warm. The agency says 2014 surpassed 1926 as Alaska’s warmest year on record. The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner reports the United States National Weather Service Alaska made the announcement on its Facebook page based on information from the National Climatic Data Center. Weather data for Alaska goes back to 1918. To determine the warmest year, the climatic data center pulls temperature data from rep...
Despite a couple of high-profile cases, it's been a slow year for local scanner-listeners, with criminal cases dropping by more than a third in Wrangell over the previous year. In 2014, 74 criminal cases and 36 minor offenses were processed by Wrangell's District Court. These latter included state and contested local issues, including bail scheduling, hunting and fishing citations, and traffic violations. This is down from 112 cases processed the previous year, though the 36 minor offenses remained unchanged. “It's been a topic of d...
KETCHIKAN, Alaska (AP) – The rules are simple. Get a boat without an engine. And be the first to reach Alaska. Those are the rules for the Race to Alaska, a 750-mile marine sprint from Washington’s north coast to southern Southeast Alaska. The race isn’t designed as a luxury cruise. Instead, it’s a bare-knuckle, wild event characterized by some who have signed up already: a chin-up champion, a Canadian kilt manufacturer and a stand-up paddle boarder. So far, there aren’t any women or Alaska residents who signed up. The website for the race desc...
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) – Work on a proposed Alaska pipeline that could be part of a system to export liquefied natural gas to Asia is moving forward despite collapsing oil prices, according to officials connected to the project. The lower price of oil is delaying at least two other North American LNG export projects but has not stopped the Alaska venture because of its size, projected timelines and a partnership involving some of the world’s largest companies, the Alaska Dispatch News reported. “Our mission hasn’t changed, and to my knowled...
