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A month ago, the draft cruise ship schedule for Wrangell showed 50 stops in town, with the two largest vessels able to accommodate 1,100 and 1,300 passengers and crew. But now, there's not much the community can do but wait to see whether or not smaller ships still come to town, said Stephanie Cook, executive director of the Wrangell Chamber of Commerce. A Feb. 4 decision by the government of Canada to keep its waters closed to cruise ship traffic through February 2022 blocks the larger vessels...
Temperatures dropped and snow fell in Wrangell last week, so much so that even the trees were apparently cold. At least this tree along the Volunteer Park trail bundled up in a scarf on Feb. 3....
It helps, but it doesn't solve the problem. The latest round of federal relief aid is equal to about half of this year's school budget deficit. The $900 billion relief bill passed by Congress and signed into law by the president at the end of December included $54 billion to be distributed nationwide to help K-12 schools reopen and assist with additional expenses and lost revenues due to the pandemic. Of that $54 billion, the Alaska Department of Education received almost $144 million that it ha...
As part of ongoing efforts to encourage people to get vaccinated against COVID-19, the chief medical officer of the Southeast Alaska Regional Health Consortium stood in front of a Wrangell audience - live and on Zoom - to take questions. The Wrangell Cooperative Association had invited Dr. Elliot Bruhl to town, where he explained how the vaccine works, how it was developed, and answered questions from the public Feb. 4 at the Nolan Center. As of Feb. 4, 680 people in Wrangell had received their...
Maybe Alaskans just needed more time to get used to the idea of paying taxes, or maybe the risk of losing their Permanent Fund dividend woke them up to the state's dire fiscal situation. Whatever the reason, several legislators say their colleagues and constituents are now more willing to talk about, consider and maybe even accept taxes. "I think that when you're bent over the cliff, hanging by your ankles, it brings reality into sharper focus," said Fairbanks Sen. Click Bishop, co-chair of the...
Feb. 10, 1921 The American Legion will give a dance in honor of Lincoln’s birthday on Saturday evening. It will be an all-evening dance, as there will be no show. Harry Coulter, Loyal Binkley, George Sylvester, Louis Paul and Leonard Campbell have charge of the arrangements, and a delightful time is assured. Feb. 15, 1946 Mr. and Mrs. Phil Williams and Mr. Williams’ brother, Irl Williams, formerly of Seattle, this week took over operation of Wrangell Steam Laundry, which they purchased recently from Mr. and Mrs. James Simmons. The Williams bro...
It is going to be another rough year for Southeast Alaska communities. The closure of Canadian waters to cruise ships on their way to and from Alaska is going to mean a lot fewer visitors to towns up and down the Panhandle. Wrangell is among them. But some visitors will still come to Wrangell this summer, whether by smaller cruise ship, air travel or the state ferries. And the Sentinel wants to do everything it can to make that number as large as possible, promoting the community as a...
It wasn't supposed to happen. This summer was expected to be better for Wrangell, for the rest of Southeast and for the entire state of Alaska. It was supposed to be the summer of recovery, or at least the start of it. Not a full recovery to the 2019 level of visitor traffic, but full of hope and at least busier charter boats, stores, hotels and bed-and-breakfasts. Then Canada decided it wasn't safe enough to open its waters to cruise ships - not with COVID infection rates still so high. That...
By Frank Murkowski The Canadian government recently announced that cruise ship arrivals and departures from Canadian ports will be cancelled until February 2022 - the news is a shock to our entire state. Before the coronavirus, it was estimated that cruise ship visitors to Alaska last year would exceed 1.3 million. Polling indicates that the majority of U.S. cruise ship passengers choose Alaska as their No. 1 preferred destination, but that dream has evaporated this year, devastating Alaska's...
Wrangell Finance Director Joyce Mason will leave the job near the end of the month, according to the city. Mason has served as finance director since August 2019. Borough Manager Lisa Von Bargen said in an email that Mason wants to spend more time with her family in Craig. Mason will work through Feb. 25, Von Bargen said, though she may "assist with some limited duties remotely following that." The city is searching for a new finance director. The position will "appeal to a candidate who...
After their first application was too early, a group of 10 Wrangell residents on Monday refiled an application to recall Mayor Steve Prysunka after waiting the legally required 120 days into his term. The recall is in response to a meeting the borough assembly held Nov. 12, where members imposed a mask mandate and fines for violators. According to the recall application, the meeting and actions taken during it were in violation of state and municipal laws. It was called without a locally...
The Wrangell Wolves claimed two victories against the Craig Panthers in their first regular conference games of the season this year. The high school boys basketball team hosted Craig for a set of home games Feb. 5 and 6. During the first game, the Wolves pulled ahead and established a commanding lead of 24-9. They extended the lead to 24 points in the second quarter, 41-17, then maintained their wide lead to win 61-34. Saturday's game saw Wrangell take the lead again, 12-7. The second-quarter...
The Wrangell Lady Wolves scored two victories in their season openers last Friday and Saturday. The girls basketball team hosted the Craig Lady Panthers for the first conference games of the season. While the Lady Wolves are facing a unique year, Coach Christy Good said playing basketball games, especially winning them, is a good way to provide a sense of normalcy for players and the public during these trying times. "Our chemistry really came together this weekend," Good said. "These two wins...
Monday, Feb. 1 Disturbance. Agency assist: U.S. Forest Service. Emotionally disturbed person: Woman yelling at children. Tuesday, Feb. 2 Disabled vehicle. Traffic stop. Citizen assist. Eviction service. Parking complaint. Agency assist: Hoonah. Dog at large: Citation issued. Wednesday, Feb. 3 Traffic stop citation issued for no proof of insurance. Citation issued for speed in excess of “reasonable and prudent for road conditions.” Misconduct involving a controlled substance. Agency assist: Fire department. Agency assist: Alaska Department of...
Gov. Mike Dunleavy is asking lawmakers to put before voters this summer a $356 million bond issue for projects across the state. The governor wants a special election - rather than waiting until the next statewide vote in 2022 - to get the work out sooner to help the pandemic-tattered economy. "This statewide bond package is essential to stabilizing our economy and putting Alaskans back to work following the economic upheaval caused by the pandemic," Dunleavy said in a statement. "Not only will...
Seafood sales are hot in America’s supermarkets, and one king salmon from Southeast Alaska was worth the same as two barrels of oil: $116.16 for a troll-caught winter king averaging 11 pounds at the docks versus $115.48 for two barrels of oil at $57.74 per barrel on Feb. 3. As more COVID-conscious customers opted in 2020 for seafood’s proven health benefits, salmon powered sales at fresh seafood counters. Frozen and on-the-shelf seafoods also set sales records, while online ordering tripled to top $1 billion. Those are some takeaways from a N...
JUNEAU - A state corporation is seeking almost $4.5 billion in federal funding to help build a $5.9 billion pipeline to move North Slope natural gas to Fairbanks. The project is being promoted as the first phase of the state-sponsored $38 billion project to move North Slope gas more than 800 miles to Nikiski, on the Kenai Peninsula, where the gas would be supercooled into a liquid and loaded aboard 1,000-foot-long tankers to buyers in Asia. The larger project to transport and sell North Slope natural gas overseas has been around for decades,...
KETCHIKAN (AP) - The owners of a Ketchikan supermarket that was severely damaged by a rockslide plan to permanently close the business. Tatsuda’s Supermarket CEO Katherine Tatsuda announced the closure of the store on Feb. 1. “It is with sadness in my heart that I tell you Tatsuda’s IGA will not be returning, but this is not the end of the Tatsuda family serving our community,” she wrote in a social media post reported by the Ketchikan Daily News. Tatsuda said she made the decision with her father and co-owner, Bill Tatsuda Jr. An early m...
ANCHORAGE (AP) - A former attorney at the Native American Rights Fund in Alaska and member of the Chickasaw Nation in Oklahoma will become a top official in the U.S. Department of the Interior, the agency said in a statement Feb. 3. Natalie Landreth will become deputy solicitor for land with the Interior Department after spending 17 years with the Native American Rights Fund, which represents tribes in treaty rights, public lands, aboriginal rights and environmental laws, the federal agency said. Rep. Debra Haaland, a member of the Laguna...
ANCHORAGE (AP) - Alaska Wildlife Troopers have killed a moose after a woman posted a video on social media showing herself feeding and petting the animal. Troopers said the juvenile male moose had become comfortable around people and subsequently posed a public safety risk, Anchorage Daily News reported Feb. 1. The video posted on Facebook by Angel Bunch of Palmer was forwarded to authorities, Alaska State Troopers spokesman Austin McDaniel said. The live video showed Bunch feeding carrots to the moose and petting the animal from the doorway of...
ANCHORAGE (AP) – The state-operated Anchorage Pioneer Home for older Alaskans has reopened its doors to family members and others eager to see residents after a lockdown of 11 months. The building welcomed back visitors beginning Feb. 3. The largest state-run assisted living facility closed to outsiders in March 2020 to protect its vulnerable residents from the coronavirus. The state operates six homes serving nearly 500 Alaska residents ages 60 and older in Anchorage, Fairbanks, Palmer, Juneau, Sitka and Ketchikan. While some of the f...
JUNEAU (AP) – Proposed state legislation would protect the graves of Native Alaskans forcibly displaced from the Aleutian Islands by adding land to a state park on Admiralty Island in Southeast. The bill would increase the land within Funter Bay State Marine Park near Juneau to include a cemetery holding the graves of 30 to 40 Aleut people who died there during World War II. The measure, if approved by the state Legislature, would prevent the land from being sold or developed, public radio station KTOO in Juneau reported Feb. 3. The U.S. g...
Two new cases of COVID-19 were confirmed in Wrangell on Wednesday afternoon. According to the city, these latest cases are Wrangell residents who recently traveled together out of state. They both tested positive in travel-related testing, according to the city statement, and have been in quarantine since arriving in town. Both individuals are asymptomatic, the city said. The two are the only active COVID-19 cases in Wrangell, the city reported. The previous 29 individuals with the virus have recovered, according to the city... Full story
