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Wrangell schools could receive at least a couple hundred thousand dollars less in state funding for the next school year, due to declining enrollment. The community has seen a sharp decline in enrollment this year, likely due to homeschooling and correspondence schooling because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Currently, about 200 students are enrolled in the district, according to a presentation at a school district town hall budget meeting Jan. 19. Historically, the district has counted about 300 st...
Snow-covered trees framed the view of Chief Shakes Tribal House last Sunday....
Wrangell would see one northbound and one southbound state ferry each week this summer, under the proposed schedule released Monday. That's one-third the level of service from 2017 to 2019, before the pandemic significantly cut into ferry runs last year. Under the draft schedule for May 1 through Sept. 30, the Matanuska would stop in Wrangell northbound on Sunday mornings and southbound on Friday afternoons on its weekly run to Southeast Alaska from Bellingham, Washington. The Alaska Marine...
The borough assembly on Tuesday evening appointed Bob Dalrymple to fill the unexpired term of member Julie Decker, who resigned Jan. 11. Dalrymple and Jim DeBord both expressed interest in filling the seat to the end of the term in October. DeBord has previous experience with the assembly. He served as a member from October 2018 to 2019, choosing not to seek reelection that year. Dalrymple also has experience on the assembly. He was appointed to sit on the assembly after Assembly Member Mya...
Jan. 27, 1921 Samuel Cunningham will erect a new home for his moving picture business as soon as the weather is sufficiently settled to permit building operations. The new building will occupy the Lemieux property between Sorset’s meat market and the building formerly occupied by the Shurick drug store. It will be two stories high to provide a balcony. Jan. 25, 1946 A number of interesting figures have been made available this week by Postmaster E. R. Sharubroich in his annual report for the year 1945. A total of 26.22 percent more money was c...
The state of Alaska and the municipality of Anchorage will share in $200 million in new federal funds to help renters who have lost jobs or suffered economic hardship due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The Alaska Housing Finance Corp., which operated a similar, but much smaller, federally funded program last summer, is expected to manage the new assistance program outside Anchorage, with more information expected this week and application details possibly later in February. The housing...
It's good that President Joe Biden and members of Congress, Gov. Mike Dunleavy and members of the Alaska Legislature are all talking about doing more to help people hurt financially by the COVID-19 pandemic and its resulting damage to the economy. The harm to people's lives and livelihoods has been terrible and, in many cases, long term. But not everyone needs help, and we should not use the state and federal treasuries for one-size-fits-all solutions. Workers who have been able to stay on the j...
Wrangell Mayor Steve Prysunka was unopposed when he won a second term last October. More than 85% of voters cast their ballot for Prysunka; about 15% wrote in someone else. In 2018, he won election with almost 80% of the vote against the other candidate on the ballot. Sure seems like a strong case of majority rule and overwhelming community support. But a contingent of Wrangell residents don't like it. They want to force a special election to recall the mayor. Why? Mostly because they didn't...
Ortiz asks constituents to take budget survey To the editor: This week, the Legislature convenes for session. One of the main obligations of the Legislature is to pass a budget for the upcoming fiscal year. It is also one of our greatest challenges. In order to create a budget that works for District 36, I need to hear from you. This time of year, I typically send out a survey asking for your opinion. This year, in lieu of a survey from my office, I am asking you to take Commonwealth North's bud...
The borough assembly on Tuesday postponed an increase to the residential user fee for liveaboard vessels in Wrangell harbors. The ordinance would have raised the fee for water, sewage and garbage services by about $35 a month. The change in municipal code also would have broadened the definition of liveaboard, while boosting the monthly rate to almost $117, the harbor department's Keeleigh Solverson told the assembly. The assembly decided the ordinance still needs some work, directing that it...
"I actually have always loved baking," said Devyn Johnson, of Moody Folks Bakery. "I baked with my mom growing up, and I baked for people all the time. ... It's my happy place." Moody Folks Bakery is one of Wrangell's newer businesses. Johnson was running a child care out of her home before COVID-19 struck. When the pandemic reached Alaska, however, she closed it down out of safety. She found herself with more time, and started filling that time with more and more baking. She was starting to...
Online sales tax revenues brought in more than $90,000 in nine months last year, with receipts continuing to rise, according to Wrangell Borough officials. While the municipality is struggling with rising costs and decreasing revenues, one bright spot has been the collection of sales taxes from online, out-of-town merchants. The borough is budgeted this fiscal year to collect $1.25 million in sales taxes, projected to be down substantially from last year due to the pandemic-inflicted economic...
Ryder Ritchie's practice paid off at the annual Elks Hoop Shoot last Saturday, as he won first place among 8- and 9-year-old boys. "I really like it," Ryder said. "I really, really practiced on my basketball hoop at the house. I got good at it and I want to do it some more." Participants were split pretty evenly at the community center gym Jan. 23, with 18 girls and 15 boys. Though in "normal" years, local winners can advance and try for nationals, there will be no national Hoop Shoot this...
Monday, Jan. 18 Welfare check. Agency assist: Search and rescue. Tuesday, Jan. 19 Papers served. Traffic. Wednesday, Jan. 20 Traffic stop. Papers served. Fireworks. Thursday, Jan. 21 Agency assist: Ambulance. Welfare check. Parking complaint. Friday, Jan. 22 Motor vehicle accident: Damage only. Found property. Saturday, Jan. 23 Mail theft. Papers served: Removal from licensed premises. Sunday, Jan 24 Traffic stop citation issued for driving revoked. Warrant arrest for failure to appear. During this reporting period there were seven agency...
The new Wrangell Medical Center is nearing the end of construction and will start a staggered opening on Saturday, with the long-term care unit first on the list and the rehabilitation unit scheduled for a Feb. 3 opening. "Departments are currently undergoing a phased relocation as finished punch lists are allowing for staggered staff move-ins," according to a press release Monday from SEARHC. "Patients scheduled for rehabilitation, imaging, laboratory or outpatient services will be contacted...
A Wrangell resident arriving at the airport tested positive for COVID-19 and went into isolation in town, the city reported Jan. 21. The city press release did not specify the date the individual was tested. The last COVID-19 positive case was reported by the city on Dec. 17. The case brought to 28 the total number of Wrangell-related COVID-19 positives since the start of the pandemic. Of those, 18 have been in Wrangell residents; eight were identified as non-locals, and two were Wrangell...
Wrangell's high school basketball season will open this weekend with the boys team playing host to the Petersburg Vikings at 6 p.m. Friday and again at 10 a.m. Saturday. Wrangell's homecoming court will be introduced at halftime Saturday, said High School Activities Director Trisa Rooney. Safety precautions will be in place for those attending the game. Rooney said only two people per player's household will be allowed into the gym. Face masks are also part of the school district's COVID-19...
George Woodbury; Feb. 24, 1937, to Jan. 11, 2021. If there is one word to describe my dad, it is production. Dad was always busy doing something. He worked until his very last days. Up until the end he had plans to get better. He had so much more he wanted to do. He played just as hard as he worked, always looking for something to do. He continued to learn and was always interested. When he found something he liked, he would study it and search for the best way to do it. Always improving how...
Jeffry "Jeff" McAuliffe, 49, born in Klamath Falls, Oregon, died unexpectedly on Jan. 16. Jeff was a bold, charismatic individual who had the uncanny ability to see the good in a person no matter how bad they seemed to others. Jeff always had a positive attitude and instilled that in others in any situation. The more difficult the situation, the more his optimism shined through. Jeff was a natural leader and had an extraordinary talent for getting people to follow him without question. He...
It looked like winter last weekend in Wrangell. The muskeg along the Volunteer Park trail was frozen and covered in white after snow fell last Saturday and Sunday morning....
NEW YORK (AP) - Illustrator Michaela Goade became the first Native American to win the prestigious Randolph Caldecott Medal for best children’s picture story, honored for “We Are Water Protectors.” Goade is a member of the Tlingit and Haida Indian tribes in Southeast Alaska. “We Are Water Protectors,” written by Carole Lindstrom, is a celebration of nature and a call for environmental protection that was conceived in response to the planned construction of the Dakota Access oil pipeline through Standing Rock Sioux territory. “I am really hono...
JUNEAU (AP) - State wildlife officials have reported that 68 wolves were taken by trappers in 2020 on or near Prince of Wales Island. Conservationists had unsuccessfully attempted to block the 21-day wolf trapping season from November to December. Alaska Department of Fish and Game officials had ruled that trapping would not pose a danger to the overall wolf population. Conservationists had argued that state and federal officials were allowing unsustainable killings. “If you can catch 68 wolves in three weeks,” Schumacher told CoastAlaska pub...
JUNEAU (AP) - Alaska held the enviable position of having the highest rate of coronavirus vaccinations per capita in the nation as of this week, the state said. As of Monday, more than 80,000 Alaskans had received their first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, and nearly 18,000 had received both doses, according to a report in the Anchorage Daily News. That does not include shots administered through the departments of Defense or Veterans Affairs but does include vaccinations handled through Indian Health Service partners. That’s a gain in four d...
The city announced a new case of COVID-19 in Wrangell this morning, reportedly not related to any travel. This latest case, the 29th total for the community, was reported as a local resident infected with the virus. According to the press release, the resident had not traveled recently. The person has been notified and is in isolation, the city reported. This is the only currently active case of COVID-19 in Wrangell. The previous 28 are all reported as recovered....