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Unique bedrock formations, a thick layer of loose sediment, and a concentrated water drainage system flowing down from the ridgetop were three of the main ingredients that led to the Nov. 20, 2023, landslide that killed six people at 11.2-Mile. These three causes, all benign on their own, became disastrous when heavy rains down poured on Wrangell Island. Though the airport weather station reported rainfall conducive to a "large but not especially large" storm, members of the public who live...
The borough owns about 12,000 acres on Wrangell Island and wants to work with two different state agencies that hold several thousand acres more to see if they can coordinate small-scale timber sales on the island. “By pooling our resources … we put ourselves in a better position,” Borough Manager Mason Villarma said. The borough assembly last month approved a memorandum of understanding to work with the Alaska Mental Health Trust Authority, which owns a little over 4,000 acres across the island. The agreement calls for working together towar...
There's a New Mexican spot in town. Nope, not a new Mexican spot, a New Mexican spot. The Wolf Shack, formerly J&W's, officially opened its doors on Jan. 2, ushering in a new era bolstered by the culinary talents of Alisha Mora and Chris Miera. The couple will keep the classic J&W's staples on the menu (Carol Churchill has agreed to keep making her tartar sauce while menu items like "Baby Randy" and "Randy" will maintain their names), but Chris and Alisha are excited to add some New Mexican...
If you need to throw away an old printer, maybe hang on to it just a little longer. On March 8, WCA Tl'átḵ | Earth Branch will host an electronic waste collection event. Time and location are yet to be determined, but the event will allow people to dispose of their old electronics in a sustainable and safe manner. Potential items to discard include computers, laptops, printers, scanners, TVs, monitors, cell phones and tablets. Earth Branch’s Kim Wickman said it’s best to fully wipe the memory from electronics like computers and phones before...
Jan. 22, 1925 According to reports reaching here today, A.O Sahlinger is now in the states negotiating with airplane manufacturers and making arrangements with the customs service for the operation of two fast planes into the Dease Lake district of British Columbia early this spring. Mr. Sahlinger has not stated the type of planes to be used, other than they would be capable of accommodating 12 passengers. It is his intention to operate the planes out of Wrangell, clearing at the customs house at the boundary of the Stikine River, and making...
PRE-K ART ACTIVITIES 11 a.m. to noon every Monday for ages 0-5 at The Salvation Army. Experience the arts each week with a special activity prepared by Capt. Belle. Call for more information 907-874-3753. “THE AFRICAN QUEEN” 6 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 21, at the Nolan Center. The 1951 adventure, drama, romance movie is free; presented by Island of Faith Lutheran Church as part of its retro-movie program. Concession stand will be open. COMMUNITY MEETING to talk about how the Sentinel can do its job and reach more people in the community 10 a.m. to...
Wrangell lost 147 working-age residents — defined as between the ages of 20 and 64 — from 2020 to 2024, according to the state’s latest numbers. Meanwhile, the community’s senior citizen population — 65 and older — grew by 91 during the same period. The loss of working-age residents likely is a big reason for the chronic labor shortage in town, particularly among Front Street businesses. The town is getting older, with the median age increasing from 48 years old in 2020 to 49.1 years old in 2024, according to data released by the Alaska Depa...
The chamber of commerce has five annual awards to hand out in March — now it just needs some nominations. The chamber is soliciting nominations through Jan. 31 for business of the year, citizen of the year, volunteer of the year, educator of the year and young leader of the year. The awards have been around a long time, “I don’t know how many years,” said Tracey Martin, the chamber’s executive director. Anyone can nominate anyone in town, and there is no form to fill out. All it takes is a letter to the chamber, describing why the person or...
The Wrangell School District — its students, staff and parents — will need to practice deep-breathing exercises to relieve the stress as they wait to see if the state Legislature and governor can agree on adequate funding for public education while at the same time waiting on Congress to reauthorize a quarter-century-old federal aid program for rural schools. These are significant and serious stress issues, particularly for Wrangell. State funding, based on a per-pupil formula, and the federal Secure Rural Schools money that comes through the...
The country is looking at tariffs the wrong way. This isn’t a new problem — we’ve been making the same mistake since the first U.S. tariffs on imported goods in 1790. But the self-inflicted case of mistaken identity has gone on far too long and it’s time to fix it. The problem is that the U.S. imposes tariffs on what we buy, which is why the added cost often ends up hurting no one but ourselves. And now the country is talking about even more and larger tariffs on what we buy for our homes, business and factories — the very items that many cons...
Nominations are open for four seats on the eight-member Wrangell Cooperative Association tribal council. Nominations will close at 4 p.m. Feb. 12. Voting will be held from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Feb. 27 at the WCA Cultural Center. The terms of council members Jason Clark, Tom Gillen Sr., Luella Knapp and Sandy Churchill will expire this year. All are eligible to run for election to another term, said Esther Aaltséen Reese, tribal administrator. Candidates for the council must be a member of WCA and on the tribe’s official voter list. The minimum ag...
Due to a staffing shortage, the Senior Center has temporarily suspended in-person lunches, switching to delivered meals for homebound seniors and porch pickups at the building for everyone else. The center also needs to temporarily cut back on its ride service while it looks to hire someone to fill the driver/assistant cook position. Rides will be available for health clinic appointments only on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Seniors can get rides to medical appointments, grocery stores, the library, post office or most anywhere else Wednesdays and...
The Sentinel is inviting the public — newspaper readers and particularly non-readers — to a community meeting to share ideas and talk about challenges for the Sentinel in the years ahead. The open house is scheduled for 10 a.m. to noon Saturday, Jan. 25, at the Stikine Inn. The event is free, as will be the coffee and cookies. Sentinel staff will talk about the paper — how it operates, how it makes decisions and its financial challenges — and then listen to the public and answer questions about the newspaper. “The intent is to hear from people...
Editor’s note: The Alaska School Activities Association later decided -- after the Sentinel went to press this week -- that the overtime period for the Thursday, Jan. 16, boys high school basketball game should never have been played. ASAA has apologized to both teams. The official score for the game will no longer include the additional points from Saturday’s overtime period. Thursday’s final score was Wrangell 55-54. ---------------------- The boys high school basketball team won three times...
The girls basketball team split their home series against Haines on Jan. 16-17. Though the Wolves won on Thursday 49-46, their offensive struggles reemerged Friday in a 27-37 defeat. The Wolves, who entered the series with a conference record of 1-3, are now 2-4 on the season. Despite the Friday loss, the packed crowd left the gym with much to be optimistic about. The Thursday matchup between the Wolves and the Glacier Bears was thrilling from the tipoff. After scoring from Hailey Cook, Sophia...
Alaska education advocates are gearing up for another attempt to substantially increase state funding for public schools, but they say it’s unclear how a looming legislative stalemate will be broken. Last year, the Legislature and Gov. Mike Dunleavy failed to approve an expansive education package after protracted negotiations. Legislators fell one vote short of overriding Dunleavy’s veto of a historic school funding increase. The Legislature later approved a major $176 million one-year funding boost for schools as a compromise. School adm...
An ongoing failure by the state to process food stamps and other public assistance applications in a timely manner will now be subject to federal court scrutiny: The state will have to file monthly reports as a result of two lawsuits stemming from the backlog. A preliminary injunction issued Dec. 31 by a federal judge in a food assistance lawsuit filed by 10 Alaskans was followed by a settlement agreement in a class-action lawsuit on Jan. 6 imposing nearly identical reporting requirements for cash assistance to elderly and disabled residents....
Helena Pagano’s great-grandfather was the last Alaska Native chief of a remote island in the Bering Sea, closer to Russia than North America. He died starving as a prisoner of war after Japanese troops invaded during World War II, removing the few dozen residents from their village, never to return. Pagano has long believed Japan should pay more restitution for what its soldiers did to her great-grandfather and the other residents of Attu Island. But her demand was sparked anew last summer by her first visit to the island. She went alongside J...
PIANO TUNING Piano tuner from Corvine Piano Carew plans a March visit if there are enough pianos to be serviced. Contact Alice Rooney at 907-305-0007 to be put on the work list. HOME FOR SALE Spacious 2-bedroom, 1½-bathroom, fully furnished 1,695-square-foot home near the airport, with 1-car garage, RV parking, gated backyard, handicap-accessible ramp. Lot size is 7,485 square feet. $450K Call 907-874-3783. JOB ANNOUCEMENT Superior Marine Services, a shipyard in Wrangell, is looking for a full-time experienced Bookkeeper/Office Manager....
On an island of windswept tundra in the Bering Sea, hundreds of miles from mainland Alaska, a resident sitting outside their home saw — well, did they see it? They were pretty sure they saw it. A rat. The purported sighting would not have gotten attention in many places around the world, but it caused a stir on St. Paul Island, part of the Pribilof Islands, a birding haven sometimes called the “Galapagos of the North” for its diversity of life. That’s because rats that stow away on vessels can quickly populate and overrun remote islands...
