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The board in charge of the Alaska Permanent Fund is amping up its warnings about an impending state financial crisis. Without action by the Legislature, there’s a small but growing chance that within three years, the Permanent Fund — source of more than half of Alaska’s general-purpose state revenue — won’t be able to pay for services and the annual Permanent Fund dividend. “We are facing a potential crisis, and it warrants the consideration of a change, whatever that change may be,” said Deven Mitchell, executive director of the Alaska Perman...
Borough officials are concerned that Wrangell continues to lose population, while those who stay in town grow older and leave the workforce. As a whole, the state has lost more residents than it has gained in new arrivals every year since 2013, with only the birth rate keeping Alaska from showing a population decline. However, unlike the statewide totals, Wrangell recorded more deaths than births between 2017 and 2022, adding to the community’s overall population decline. The state’s latest estimate for Wrangell’s population, as of last summe...
A majority of the borough assembly supports changing municipal law to pay the mayor and assembly a few thousand dollars a year for their work, but it would require a change in the municipal charter to adopt such a compensation plan. “If this would get one or two more younger people (to serve on the assembly) … to start giving us their ideas … I’m all for this,” Assembly Member David Powell said as members discussed the proposal at their Feb. 13 meeting. “I think it would bring in a younger wave of people,” said Assembly Member Anne Morrison...
The borough assembly has voted to proceed with an application for $25 million in federal funding to rebuild the Inner Harbor, Reliance and Standard Oil floats, including a commitment that Wrangell would come up with $5 million needed to fully fund the estimated $30 million project. “This is a little bit of a gamble,” Mayor Patty Gilbert said at the Feb. 13 assembly meeting. Still, it’s a good bet “if you can parlay $5 million into $30 million,” she said. “This is an ambitious project, but it’s very much needed,” Gilbert added. The harbor floa...
Feb. 21, 1924 The new telephone system that was installed the first of the month instead of being considered an innovation and a luxury was straightway accepted as a necessity to the majority of citizens here. New subscribers have been added so rapidly that another directory is being issued. However, Manager J. K. Nevell announces he cannot give the best service possible unless people ring off when they are through talking. The logical one to ring off is the person who called the number, but the benefit is the same if the one who was called...
Jared Becker was new to Wrangell when he and his wife, Destiny, arrived from St. Louis Park, a suburb of Minneapolis, at the end of September. "We're Jehovah's Witnesses, so we like to help out with Bible education work," he said. "So that's what brought us here. We were just trying to find a way to sustain ourselves once we got here." As he talked with residents over the next few months, he saw there was a need in town for auto repair services. "So, I decided to give it a try and see where it...
The Parks and Recreation Department has a healthy list of work projects it wants to complete by June, including maintenance on the Mount Dewey trail, repairs to public restrooms and reinforcing the fire pit at City Park. Replacing more trash bins with new ones better able to withstand curious bears is also on the list as the department looks ahead to people using the parks, trails and green spaces come summer. The alder removal process is ongoing in various parks and trails, cutting back excess vegetation that encroach on fencing and other...
Assembly members agreed that a port commission proposal to require boat owners to carry marine insurance — or pay a monthly fee in addition to their stall rental — needs a lot more work. The port commission has been discussing since 2022 the financial risk to the borough when an uninsured vessel catches fire or sinks in the harbor, requiring cleanup and removal. The commission last month voted unanimously to recommend assembly approval of an ordinance requiring boat owners show proof of insurance or pay an additional monthly fee so that the...
The advice for Las Vegas gamblers is don’t bet more than you can afford to lose. It’s generally the same advice for investors: Don’t take more risk than you can afford, even when the riskier bets look like they could pay off the same as 21 at the blackjack table. The six members of the Alaska Permanent Fund Corp. board of trustees should take this advice to heart. Most every investment is a gamble — company stocks can drop in price, bonds may be worth less if borrowers stop repaying their debts in full, real estate can fall in value, interes...
Assembly members, the mayor and borough staff are right: It’s time to pay elected officials a reasonable amount for all the hours they put into the job. Yes, it’s a public service, but it’s still a job. The assembly meetings, the homework, reading reports and financials and meeting with borough staff, state officials and the public — all of which are necessary for making well-informed decisions — take a lot of time. Public service is a good thing, but taking time off from work, paying for child care, missing out on time with family is a lot...
As your representative in the Alaska Legislature, I have been and will continue to support legislation that advocates for our growing senior citizen population. That’s why I am proud to cosponsor House Bill 242 which, if passed, will extend the Alaska Senior Benefits Payment Program until June 2034. Alaska has a robust history of supporting its senior population, with the first efforts to help our seniors dating back to 1915. The territorial Legislature’s approval of the old-age bonus program marked the beginning of decades of evolution in ass...
The Alaska Senate has taken the first formal steps needed to reject some or all of the 12 executive orders Gov. Mike Dunleavy issued at the start of this year’s legislative session, including the order that would take away the Legislature’s authority to name four members of the state ferry system advisory board. Lawmakers in the Senate introduced 12 resolutions of disapproval on Feb. 12, and hours later the Senate Labor and Commerce Committee approved three of them. Those three resolutions would preserve the boards that govern massage the...
Over the past three decades, 35 killer whales were entangled in fishing gear in Alaska, resulting in 25 deaths, according to a report issued by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The report from NOAA Fisheries covers documented cases from 1991 to 2022. It does not include the unusually high number of 2023 cases, in which an additional 10 killer whales were found ensnared in fishing gear — mostly bottom-trawl gear — with nine of them found dead. That raises the total caught in gear since 1991 to 45 killer whales, with 34 dead....
KSTK is accepting donations of artwork for its annual fundraising auction, set for Friday evening, March 22, at the Nolan Center. “We have artwork from all kinds of different artists from around Alaska,” said KSTK Development Director Kimberly Ottesen, adding that past auctions have showcased a wide variety of artwork. Any medium will be accepted, including photography, paintings, sculptures and crafts. Ottesen said it all began in 2000, when the station invited residents to compete with their favorite chilis. Around 2002, an over-the-air art...
Site prep work is finished and concrete foundation work has started on a new multimillion-dollar treatment plant to improve water quality and quantity for Wrangell. “We’re actually pouring our first footings,” Amber Al-Haddad, the borough’s capital facilities director, said Feb. 14. The metal building that will house the water treatment system is scheduled for mid- to late-March arrival, she said, with the equipment to follow later. Completion is planned for June 2025 under the terms of federal funding for the project. The new plant will re...
The public will have a chance to voice their opinions Feb. 27 on a pair of proposed municipal ordinances that would limit the use of harbor dumpsters to boat owners only and for their household trash only — with a $150 fine for violations. The public hearing will be part of the evening’s borough assembly meeting, which will start at 6 p.m. at City Hall. Assembly members voted Feb. 13 to advance the ordinances to the Feb. 27 hearing. The assembly could take action on the measures after the hearing — either approve, reject or amend. The first...
The head of the state corporation in charge of a long-dreamed Alaska North Slope natural gas pipeline is once again Alaska’s top-paid public executive. Frank Richards, president of the Alaska Gasline Development Corp., received $479,588 in compensation during 2023, according to the state’s annual executive compensation report, released in January. The state took over development of the proposed gas pipeline in 2016 when North Slope producers walked away from the venture, saying it was not economically viable. Richards was hired as pre...
What began about a year and a half ago as a side project for high school student Spencer Petticrew would eventually evolve to become his senior project: the livestreaming video setup at Wrangell High School for events, including all sports games, musical concerts and graduation ceremony. "Basically, if it takes place in the gym, and people want to watch it, I'm the guy that handles the livestreaming of it over platforms like YouTube," he said. Petticrew credits the high school's former IT...
The church, originally known as the Klukwan Presbyterian, has been holding regular Sunday services for nearly a century. But one thing about the church has changed: its owner. More than a year ago, a national denomination of the Presbyterian Church transferred the deed to the Klukwan tribe as part of the denomination's effort to reconcile past abuses by clergy members and teachers against Alaska Native people. The formal ceremony, which had been delayed by COVID-19 concerns, was held in...
The U.S. Census Bureau has rejected Haines’ appeal of the agency’s 2020 count, which showed the Southeast Alaska community’s population dropping by 17%, or 428 residents. “I’m deeply disappointed. I really thought that our response was compelling,” said Borough Clerk Alekka Fullerton, who worked on the appeal. “I was mad. It’s a big deal to our community.” Multiple federal funding programs are based on the census count. The Census Bureau counted 2,080 residents in Haines in 2020, down from 2,508 in 2010. The borough appealed that number in Ju...
The state is offering an additional $2.2 million in small grants this year for individuals and groups around Alaska to increase the quantity and quality of locally grown food. The grants of up to $5,000 for individuals and $10,000 for organizations can go toward greenhouses and small-scale gardening projects, efforts to promote and provide subsistence foods and even livestock. The Alaska Division of Agriculture is distributing the federal money through its Micro-Grants for Food Security Program. Priority for the competitive grants will be...
Monday, Feb. 12 Agency assist: Hoonah Police Department. Vehicle theft: Recovered. Tuesday, Feb. 13 Agency assist: Hoonah Police Department. Wednesday, Feb. 14 Dog complaint. Threats. Thursday, Feb. 15 Theft. Friday, Feb. 16 Letter served for removing person from a licensed establishment. Assault. Letter served for removing person from a licensed establishment. Letter served for removing person from a licensed establishment. Welfare check. Saturday, Feb. 17 Civil issue. Traffic stop: Citation issued for failure to provide proof of insurance...
Alaska Department of Public Safety Commissioner James Cockrell told lawmakers on Feb. 6 that he doesn’t know how the state can justify the relative lack of resources it has provided to rural Alaska. “Since statehood, the state has followed a false pass on how we provide law enforcement services around this state,” he said. “We certainly have disproportionate resources in rural Alaska. And it’s shameful.” As bills to address the crisis of missing and murdered Indigenous people in Alaska move through the legislative process, the state is re...