Articles from the March 22, 2012 edition


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  • Port commission discusses mariners’ memorial

    Kaitlyn McAvoy|Mar 22, 2012

    At a workshop March 13, the Wrangell Port Commission discussed plans for the mariners’ memorial planned for Heritage Harbor. The Port Commission has yet to finalize a specific design for the project, which will pay homage to those lost at sea. However, last week, Port Commission members talked about their hopes for what the memorial will become. Commission member Clay Hammer said ideally, the memorial would be crafted using local products and people. “This is a Wrangell thing, and I think it would be really cool if it was a Wrangell thing mad...

  • Assembly to discuss ordinance changes regarding WMC

    Kaitlyn McAvoy|Mar 22, 2012

    Borough Assembly member Dave Jack has proposed changes to several ordinances that would create additional responsibilities for the Wrangell Medical Center (WMC) and its board of directors. Another amendment would change the necessary qualifications needed to be a member of the WMC board. Jack introduced his amendments at an Assembly meeting last month, at which time Assembly members decided to discuss the proposal at a later date. The topic is on the agenda for the March 27 Assembly meeting. One of Jack’s proposed ordinance changes relates t...

  • The Way We Were

    Mar 22, 2012

    March 21, 1912: Things began to look up regarding the Alaska Sanitary Packing Company when the Curacao brought us Mr. H.J. Palmer, bookkeeper for the new firm and considerable freight consisting of tools and materials for the construction of the buildings. Mr. Palmer busied himself immediately with securing the site. George H. Barnes, a principle of the firm, did not arrive until Wednesday, having been delayed in Seattle. He brought men from Seattle and Ketchikan to work on the buildings now which, owing to the short time, will be pushed along...

  • “Choose respect” march scheduled for next week

    Kaitlyn McAvoy|Mar 22, 2012

    Wrangellites will have the opportunity March 29 to participate in a statewide event aimed to raise awareness of domestic violence and sexual assault in Alaska. A march from the elementary school, down to the ferry terminal and back, will be held at 4 p.m. next week in Wrangell. Public Health and the Healthy Wrangell Coalition are sponsoring the event, which is part of the governor’s “Choose Respect” campaign. Gov. Sean Parnell created the annual event began in 2010. Each year, thousands of Alaskans from over 100 communities participate in an...

  • Police report

    Mar 22, 2012

    Monday, March 12 -Arrested Michael Lee Johnson, 26, on charges of failure to appear on order to show cause. -Arrested Jessie I. Miller, 20, on charges of failure to appear on order to show cause. -Citizen reported an audible car alarm going off. -Officer responded to report of underage persons drinking. -Officers responded to report of possible DUI. Tuesday, March 13 -Verbal warning for faulty equipment. Wednesday, March 14 -Courtesy transport. -Caller reported cat in tree for 24 hours. -Unlawful contact. Thursday, March 15 -Officer responded...

  • Court report

    Mar 22, 2012

    March 9, 2012 Nathan Gall appeared before Magistrate Chris Ellis and was found to have good cause for his failure to complete and return the 2012 jury questionnaire and is ordered to complete and turn in his questionnaire now. Dawn Davidson, appeared before Magistrate Chris Ellis and was found in contempt and ordered to complete and return the 2012 questionnaire now, defendant will be assigned to the appropriate jury panel and is sanctioned with a $25 contempt fee. Laurie Ludwigsen appeared before Magistrate Chris Ellis and was found in...

  • Letters to the Editor

    Mar 22, 2012

    To the Editor: Thank you Dr. Salard for saving my life, and the very professional and quick response to my recent heart attack. You stayed countless hours at WMC to make sure that I was stable and on my way to Seattle. I appreciate your honest and forth right opinion on my options and not beating around the bush. Thank you Sue Nelson, Diana Nore, Shelly and all the other nurses and staff that babysat me for those hours. I read in the Sentinel that the board and administrator said Dr. Salard was a disruptive physician. Not what I have seen....

  • Skip (Charles) McKibben, 74

    Mar 22, 2012

    Charles (Skip) McKibben, 74, passed away peacefully after a long and courageous battle with cancer on March 12 at the Wrangell Medical Center. He was surrounded by family and friends. Skip was born in Wrangell on May 19, 1937. He was an original river rat, having been conceived on the Stikine River. The middle child of Lena (Ellis) McKibben, he was raised on the river where he acquired his life long love for nature and the great outdoors. He was known for constantly building and testing water...

  • Wedding announcement

    Mar 22, 2012

    KD Roope and Wess Strasburger were married in Juneau, Alaska on Dec. 31, 2011. KD is the daughter of Dan and Pam Roope and Wess is the son of Stephen and Natalie Strasburger both from Wrangell. The two were married on New Year’s Eve at the Baranof Hotel in the Gastineau Suite overlooking the Gastineau Channel. The bride’s attendants were Alexandra Job, Kevin Roope, Jesse Riesenberger, Brian McCloskey and Ryia Waldern. The groom’s attendants were Stuart Ashton, Dan Rohr, Ian Thrower, Kyle Krado...

  • Consultant calls relationship between city, WMC a “crisis”

    Mar 22, 2012

    The lack of a trusting relationship between the Wrangell Medical Center (WMC) leadership and that of City and Borough of Wrangell is a “crisis” in the community, according to a report written by a private consultant hired by WMC. To not improve this relationship is to “fundamentally risk the health and welfare of the community,” states the report, which was recently released to the public and written by consultant Marv Erisman, Ph.D. Erisman conducted interviews with WMC staff and Wrangell’s mayor and assembly members last fall. The report Er...

  • School Board approves orchard at elementary school

    Kaitlyn McAvoy|Mar 22, 2012

    The Wrangell School Board voted three-to-one Monday in favor of having a fruit tree orchard planted on property at the elementary school. The orchard is being provided by the Fruit Tree Planning Foundation’s (FTPF) “Communities Take Root” program. In January, FTPF arborist Rico Montenegro visited Wrangell to scout possible locations for an orchard. Kris Reed of the volunteer Tree Care Committee told the school board last month the space in front of the elementary school on Bennett Street would be an ideal location to plant 30 to 40 trees...

  • WMC files opposition to Salard’s expedited court request

    Kaitlyn McAvoy|Mar 22, 2012

    Wrangell Medical Center (WMC) has filed an opposition to local physician Greg Salard’s request asking the court to expedite his appeal process. The WMC Board of Directors, acting as a separate WMC committee, met March 2 and decided not to allow Salard to continue working at the hospital. A week later, Salard filed a civil appeal in Wrangell court to the WMC board’s decision. Salard and his attorney Lee Holen also filed a motion for “stay pending appeal,” which would allow the doctor to continue practicing at WMC pending his appeal. A motion...

  • Fish Factor

    Laine Welch|Mar 22, 2012

    The Pacific halibut fishery gets underway on March 17 and if the dynamic of supply and demand holds true, there will be an upward push on prices. The coast wide halibut catch was reduced by more than 18% this year to 33.5 million pounds, following a 19% cut to the catch last year. Alaska’s share of the harvest is 25.5 million pounds. That will be shared by roughly 2,200 Alaska longliners who hold quota shares of the halibut catch. Fresh halibut of the season will undoubtedly fetch over $6/lb at major ports. The average price for halibut d...

  • Healing Heart workshop explores healing roles

    Mar 22, 2012

    A weeklong workshop, put on by The Healing Heart Council of Wrangell, in collaboration with the Ashlar Center for the Narrative Arts, will be held at the SNO Building, Tues., March 27-Fri., March 30 from 7-9 p.m. in an effort to create a community self-care program for Wrangell. Ashlar’s programs are designed and grounded in the belief that intelligent “ordinary” people can function as educators in healing roles in their own communities. Attendees will learn the neuroscience on how trauma affec...

  • Spring has arrived

    Photo by Alaska Pix|Mar 22, 2012

    Crocus start to show their colors at Kathleen Harding’s house on Sunday at 2.5 mile Zimovia Highway....

  • Wrangellite heads to Boston for marathon

    Kaitlyn McAvoy|Mar 22, 2012

    Wrangell resident Dale McMurren will travel over 3,700 miles to Boston next month to run 26.2 miles in the world’s oldest annual marathon. This will be the 52-year-old’s sixth marathon in four years. McMurren ran his first in 2008, and has traveled to Phoenix, Juneau, Anchorage, Birmingham and Honolulu to participate in marathons. McMurren said he enjoys running the lengthy races, and finds the first 18 miles of a marathon “easy.” “That’s when the race begins. It’s mental after that,” he said. McMurren started running years ago to get into shap...

  • Heritage Harbor view

    Kaitlyn McAvoy|Mar 22, 2012

    Boats sit in Heritage Harbor on a sunny afternoon. Tuesday marked the first day of Spring, and Wrangell was welcomed with warm temperatures and bright blue skies...

  • Restaurant pays penalty for buying subsistence halibut

    Mar 22, 2012

    JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) – The owners of a Juneau restaurant have agreed to pay a penalty for buying subsistence-harvested halibut. The Juneau Empire says the owners of the Zen Restaurant will pay a civil penalty of $18,000 over the next 12 months for purchasing halibut they knew was subsistence-caught. Residents living in rural areas are only eligible for subsistence hunting rights on federal land. The Northern Pacific Halibut Act prohibits the sale, offer for sale, trade or barter of subsistence-harvested halibut. It was not immediately known i...

  • Local logo designs sought for bird fest

    Kaitlyn McAvoy|Mar 22, 2012

    This year marks the 15th anniversary of the Stikine River Bird Festival, which is scheduled for the last full week of April. The Wrangell Convention and Visitor Bureau is seeking local artwork for a festival logo. The bird fest does not have a logo of its own, said Joel Delabrue who works with the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) in Wrangell, and is involved with the planning for the bird fest. The logo contest will hopefully get more people interested in the bird festival, Delabrue said. The logo could also be used in the making of t-shirts, pins...

  • Open meetings

    Kaitlyn McAvoy|Mar 22, 2012

    Attorneys Michael Gatti and Krista S. Stearns lead a class Friday on Alaska’s laws regarding open meetings. The class continued Saturday. The City and Borough of Wrangell hosted the two days of free classes at the Nolan Center, which attracted members of the Borough Assembly and other local volunteer boards. Gatti is an attorney working for a private firm in Anchorage, and Stearns works as the city attorney for Kenai....

  • Halibut season has begun

    Mar 22, 2012

    A fishing boat heads into Heritage Harbor in Wrangell Monday afternoon. Alaska’s commercial halibut fishing season opened Saturday, March 17. Southeast Alaska is the only area in the state that had its catch limit increase this year by the International Pacific Halibut Commission. The increased catch limit of 2,624,000 pounds of halibut — up approximately 300,000 pounds from the 2011 season — was approved by the Commission in January....