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“There’s nothing off the list,” Superintendent Bill Burr said about potential cuts to the school district’s 2025-2026 budget. From exploring what life would be like as a satellite site of the Petersburg school district to eliminating teacher positions, Burr said the district is exploring everything and anything. The draft budget presented to the school board last month showed a $1 million shortfall between projected revenue ($5.05 million) and proposed expenses ($6.1 million). Covering that gap — without a significant boost in state funding ...
Confronted with an engineering report that cited “concern for potential failure of the ramp,” the borough on Thursday evening, March 13, notified freight haulers that the municipally owned barge ramp downtown was closed, immediately. The borough made arrangements for the weekly freight barge to use the old sawmill dock at the Marine Service Center as a temporary unloading and loading site, Borough Manager Mason Villarma said Friday, March 14. “This should have happened some time ago,” he said of shutting down the 47-year-old steel ramp which s...
The annual assessment of property values in town resulted in an overall increase of about 12% for taxable property, though an owner’s tax bill will depend on the tax rate set by the borough assembly in late May. State law requires municipalities to assess property —all land and buildings— at “full and true market value.” The borough’s contract assessor’s March 3 letter to the assembly said, “Our evaluations indicate that the overall market (value) … continues to grow despite the high cost of living and rising interest rates.” The annual assessm...
Citing concerns over heavy foot traffic and Front Street congestion, the borough assembly denied Brian Schwartz’s request to rent space facing Front Street for a food truck-style seafood trailer. Schwartz hoped to rent a small area in front of the public restrooms on the northern end of Front Street. Despite the planning and zoning commission recommending that the borough accept his request, the assembly voted 5-1 against the proposal on March 11. Phillip Mach, the newest assembly member, was the only yes vote. “That area gets very con...
The Alaska House passed a bill on March 12 intended to boost annual state funding for public schools by $275 million, starting with the 2025-2026 school year. If approved by the Alaska Senate and the governor, the legislation would increase state funding for the Wrangell school district next year by about $600,000, according to Kristy Andrew, the district’s business manager. The sizable increase in the state’s per-pupil funding formula approved by the House will face challenges winning approval from the Senate and the governor, however, as the...
March 19, 1925 The most important PTA meeting of the year was held at the grade school last Thursday evening and was attended by a large number of school patrons. The effect of the new standard of accreditation of high schools on the local school was discussed fully. People said the changes could lead to the disadvantage of graduation from a school not accredited; the cost of sending pupils out of town to school; and a loss of civic pride. People also discussed the need for a new school building; the cost of repairing the old buildings each...
PORTABLE SOUTHEAST, a traveling art exhibit from the Juneau Arts & Humanities Council, is on display at the Nolan Center through March 28. “Portable Southeast provides a new and exciting mode for artists to showcase their works beyond local reach,” the arts council says. BAHAI NEW YEAR’S CELEBRATION, Naw-Ruz, 5:30 p.m. Saturday, March 22, at the multi-purpose room near the old gym. Campfire-themed dinner provided; everyone is welcome for a joyful celebration of renewal and community. Call 907-209-9117. FISHING VESSEL SAFETY DRILL CONDU...
Jeff and Kay Jabusch were named citizens of the year. The Wrangell Cooperative Association was named organization of the year. Alice Rooney took home volunteer of the year. Jack Carney won the award for educator of the year while his son, Jackson Carney, was awarded young leader of the year. And this year’s theme for the Fourth of July celebration? Small Town, Big Heart. The chamber of commerce’s annual dinner took place on Saturday, March 15, at the Nolan Center and was catered by Wrangell’s newest eatery: The Wolf Shack. For those famil...
A federal judge in California has ordered the Trump administration to immediately reinstate thousands of probationary federal workers fired as part of billionaire Elon Musk’s campaign to slash the government workforce. A federal judge in Maryland issued a similar ruling the same day, March 13. Two days before the judges’ orders, the Department of Agriculture on March 11 issued a temporary stay on the firings, which applies to U.S. Forest Service workers. The department’s job-reinstatement decision follows an order issued March 5 by the U.S....
The federal and state stars are not lining up well for Wrangell’s budget future, at least not for the next few years. And that will mean some hard choices for the community, particularly when it comes to deciding the future of its schools and how to pay for that future. The borough has been using money from a federal program that dates back to 2000 to cover much of its annual contribution to the school district operating budget. But Congress failed to appropriate the money last year — the Republican-controlled U.S. House declined to take up...
I am having a problem as I age. Well, sure, lots of problems, like my legs moving about as smoothly as an engine with cold motor oil on a winter day. Or a memory that drains faster than a smartphone left on video streaming overnight. Or an arthritic neck that moves about as easily as a frozen, rusted bolt. But I can handle those. They are physical reminders of aging. I know they are inevitable and cyclical, like the tides. So I just wait for the tide to change and go about life, though I did add a second handrail to the staircase at home. But...
I know I’ve made it home when I step off the plane and a rush of cedar bark invades my senses. As I step onto the airport tarmac, I see the Stikine River and the tiniest airport terminal I have ever laid eyes on. I’ve returned for my annual summer vacation in Wrangell. Once a small yet vibrant logging and fishing community which has long since diminished, leaving a population of roughly 2,000, what could make a town double in size for two weeks out of the year? That’s simple, the best Fourth of July celebration of my life. The Fourth is the t...
Though a $5 million federal grant to help pay for expanding the generating capacity at the Tyee Lake hydroelectric station is “clearly frozen,” the head of the Southeast Alaska Power Agency hopes the funds will be released soon and the project can stay on schedule. The agency’s lobbyist in Washington, D.C., and others “feel fairly confident … that freeze will be thawed,” Robert Siedman, chief executive officer of the Southeast Alaska Power Agency, or SEAPA, said earlier this month. The Tyee money is caught up in the nationwide spending fr...
Coffman Cove commercial fisherman Dugan Paul Daniels, 55, was sentenced on March 10 to six months in prison for illegally “taking” an endangered sperm whale and falsifying fishing records while catching sablefish in 2020. The term “take” legally means to harass, harm, pursue, hunt, shoot, wound, kill, trap, capture or collect, or to attempt to engage in any such conduct. According to research by the prosecution in preparation for Daniels’ case, this appears to be the first Endangered Species Act charge to result from a sperm whale take in t...
A new service for dogs - and their owners - opened this week. Muddy Paws Pet Grooming owner and operator Destiny Becker is ready to give the town's dogs the glow-up treatment. Becker's story is a familiar one: She and her husband left Minnesota for a six-month stint in Wrangell but decided to stay. She wanted to find a way to get more rooted in the community, and to find her niche. She grew up around dogs and loved taking care of her family and friends' dogs, especially big dogs. She currently...
On paper, the Wrangell High School boys basketball state bid was unexceptional. They dropped their opening game to Seward, bounced back in a win against Fairbanks charter school Effie Kokrine, and eventually settled for sixth after falling by three points to Susitna Valley at the tournament held in Anchorage on March 13-15. But you'll need to keep shaking the Polaroid if you want to develop the full picture of Wrangell's performance. Early Sunday morning, March 9, while the team was at the...
She loves its water, its plants, its people. She loves the community she's cultivated here, and she loves the personal history of which it reminds her. From tight matches on the wrestling mat to even tighter bonds connecting her with loved ones, Churchill is certain: After college, she's coming home to Wrangell. But before she does that, she needs to graduate high school - and to do that, she needs a senior project. For that, Churchill helped coach the middle school wrestling team alongside her...
The Alaska Department of Revenue forecast on March 12 that the state will see a bigger budget deficit in the next fiscal year due to lower oil prices. Oil prices have dropped about $10 a barrel since early January as the market reacts to risks of U.S.-instigated trade wars, a weakened global economy and new oil supplies exceeding demand. Oil taxes and royalties are the second-largest source of general fund revenue for the state budget, behind only Permanent Fund earnings. The Alaska Legislature is facing a combined $650 million shortfall over...
Vigor Alaska, the private operator of the state-owned Ketchikan Shipyard, has been notified that the state will not extend the shipyard operating agreement with the company when the current contract expires in November. Citing less-than-full utilization of the shipyard and increasing unfunded maintenance at the facility under Vigor's management, the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority (AIDEA), which owns the facility, said in a Feb. 28 letter that it would give the company until...
Monday, March 10 Agency assist: Hoonah Police Department. Agency assist: Ambulance. Tuesday, March 11 Domestic disturbance. Parking complaint. Dog at large. Suspicious person. Wednesday, March 12 Nothing to report. Thursday, March 13 Agency assist: Ambulance. Found property. Speed complaint. Friday, March 14 Found property. Traffic stop. Violation of condition of release. Sexual harassment. Traffic stop. Saturday, March 15 Traffic stop: Verbal warning for no headlights. Bar check. Traffic stop: Citation issued for failure to provide proof of...
Frederick "Fred" Clarence Angerman Jr. passed away unexpectedly on March 9, 2025, at the age of 68. Born Nov. 16, 1956, in Wrangell, Fred was the first of four children to Mercedes Angerman Sr. and Fred Angerman Sr. Memorial services will take place on May 24 at the St. Philip's Episcopal Church, followed by a reception at the Nolan Center. Fred was raised on Cassiar Street with siblings Jeff, Kyle and Mercedes Jr. He would continue to build his life on that street with wife Sumi and sons Aaron,...
Increased state investment in marketing would help the battered Alaska seafood industry seize an opportunity to improve sales within the United States, the head of the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute told state lawmakers. Jeremy Woodrow, ASMI’s executive director, attempted to make his organization’s case to the state Senate Finance Committee for $10 million in state funding. The money could be put to work to promote Alaska seafood at a time when there is no competition in the domestic market from Russian seafood, which was banned from the...
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