Sorted by date Results 1 - 25 of 29
It was always going to be tough for City Hall to follow up a fiscal year that brought in over $50 million in federal and state funding, but 2025 hasn't exactly gotten off to a rip-roaring financial start. Congress' failure to reauthorize funding for the Secure Rural Schools program means that the borough is beginning to build next year's budget in a $800,000 hole after losing the federal aid; the pending launch of Sitka's new haul-out boatyard could take business away from Wrangell's economy; an...
Alaskans have until 11:59 p.m. Monday, March 31, to file for this year’s Permanent Fund dividend, whether they file online or mail a paper application to the PFD office. But if they mail the application, it absolutely positively must be postmarked by March 31. Anything dropped in the mail after that date will be rejected. Last year’s dividend was $1,702, though this year’s amount — which will be set by legislators during the budget-writing process this spring — likely will be at least several hundred dollars less. The state is facing a combine...
Starting next week, SEARHC patients will be able to schedule appointments, message their medical team, renew prescriptions, check lab results and more, all through a new online portal. The online service is optional, and there is no charge. “We’re really excited about the MySEARHC portal,” said Dr. Cate Buley, SEARHC’s chief medical officer. “It’s really a step up.” It will be available to patients in every Southeast community served by SEARHC. Outreach to publicize the new service will start Saturday, March 29, Buley said. Everyone who has a c...
Petersburg is going through the same problem that Wrangell confronted last September: Its sewage outfall line is broken. Petersburg officials discovered that the diffuser section at the end of the outfall pipe, which disperses treated effluent from the wastewater treatment plant into Frederick Sound, had become detached from the line. The outfall pipe extends about 800 feet offshore, reaching a depth of 60 feet, to disburse the sewage into the larger waterbody with strong currents. It’s not known when the line was damaged. “At some point in the...
March 26, 1925 The Civic Club held an interesting special meeting last Saturday. An informal discussion on proposed legislative measures of interest to the women of the territory was followed by a survey of possible candidates for the coming city election. Considerable interest is manifested by the thinking women of the community in the result of the election, owing to the fact that the school question is involved and because of the fact that women have been urged to take a more active part in civic affairs. While several suggestions were made...
FISHING VESSEL SAFETY DRILL CONDUCTOR CLASS 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday, March 30, and 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Tuesday, April 1, at the high school. The class is free for commercial fishermen and $300 for non-commercial fishermen. The class meets the U.S. Coast Guard training requirements for drill conductors on commercial fishing vessels. Register online at www.amsea.org or call 907-747-3287. HOMESCHOOL HANGOUT 10 a.m. to noon Tuesday, April 1, at the Irene Ingle Public Library. Bring school work, play games and be with friends. Snacks provided....
“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 ...
Alaskans won’t turn into a pumpkin at midnight the evening of Monday, March 31, but they could lose out on a chance to be richer. The deadline to file for this year’s Permanent Fund dividend is 11:59 p.m. March 31. Complete the online application by then and, come the first week of October, the state will deposit the PFD into your bank account. If online is not your thing, head to the Legislative Information Office upstairs at the Kadin Building on Front Street, above the Tongass Federal Credit Union office, pick up a paper application, get...
Alaska’s two U.S. senators both believe that President Donald Trump’s pro-development administration will be good for the state’s natural resource economy, creating jobs, boosting tax revenues and building long-term prosperity. Both support the president’s initiatives to unlock resources that had been placed off-limits by the administration of Joe Biden and others before him. And both want the federal government to operate efficiently and reduce spending. Beyond those shared beliefs, however, the two came across as worlds apart in their a...
It’s a two-sided coin, this. An opportunity to say goodbye to an entire community but also something that can only be written in broad strokes, absent the hugs and the clasping of hands that I usually prefer for my goodbyes. The reason is that today was my last day at the Wrangell Sentinel. I start my new job as a food and culture writer with the USA Today network in Boston in just five days. So, to all those who’ve been kind to me at any point in the past nine months — even if it was just a tiny little moment — I’m clasping my hands together,...
The Salvation Army has cut back from opening its food pantry every week to every other week until it can restock the shelves with enough donated food to meet demand. “I feel that in the past couple of months, we’ve been receiving less donations,” said Capt. Belle Green. The Tuesday pantry serves an average of 25 to 30 households a week, she said. The two grocery stores in town, City Market and IGA, are the biggest donors to the food pantry shelves and “have been unbelievably supportive” in donating, she said. Individuals, food drives at the sc...
It may not seem like it, but it’s springtime, and for the third year in a row Parks and Recreation is organizing an adopt-a-garden program to maintain and beautify Wrangell’s downtown botanical offerings. “Spring has sprung!” recreation coordinator Devyn Johnson said. “Beds are going to need to be cleaned up and taken care of.” Parks and Rec is actively seeking volunteers for the program and the department hopes to begin working as soon as possible, weather permitting. Last year there were 10 groups and individuals who volunteered to keep up Wr...
The borough assembly on March 11 approved moving ahead with Mason Villarma’s request to buy two borough-owned industrial lots at the corner of Etolin and Pine streets. The vote to sell the land to the borough manager was 6-1. Villarma plans to clear both lots and eventually build a 40-by-60-foot building on each of the lots — “one for personal storage and one for a fabrication business venture,” he wrote in his request to the borough. “It might be boat storage or container storage until I can save up enough to build a shop,” Villarma sa...
Juneau has done it the past three years. The city of Ketchikan and the Ketchikan Gateway Borough will start doing it this year. And Wrangell may do it too. “We’re considering it,” Borough Manager Mason Villarma said of amending Wrangell municipal code to require cruise ships and tour boats to collect sales tax on goods and services they sell while in port. Juneau changed its code in 2021 to apply to onboard sales when the ship is tied up at the dock or in Gastineau Channel in front of town. Both the city and the borough of Ketchikan chang...
The chamber of commerce is surveying its more than 100 members to ask where they think the town’s barge ramp and freight yard should be located. The borough earlier this month closed down the facility on the downtown waterfront after an engineering report cited structural issues with the 47-year-old, 140-foot-long steel ramp. Even before the shutdown decision, the borough has been looking at moving the freight loading and unloading facility and staging area to the former 6-Mile mill property, which the borough purchased for $2.5 million in 2...
In most instances, the tenor saxophone lies under the surface. It's the wind blowing over the ocean - the invisible force that brings life to the world's waves. It acts as a railway, offering a platform for a jazz ensemble to thrive. In a way, the tenor sax - one of Ander Edens' artistic mediums of choice - is the perfect instrument for the graduating senior. He's someone who enjoys working outside the limelight, in roles that frequently go underappreciated, despite their necessity for a...
Crews were able to clear enough rock and debris over the weekend from a landslide that covered North Tongass Highway in Ketchikan to open a single-lane bypass with limited hours as of Monday morning. The road was open for two hours Monday morning and three hours in the evening. The limited hours are necessary so that crews can continue working the rest of the time to fully clear the highway. Flaggers will control traffic during the openings, allowing vehicles to move in only one direction at a time on the single lane. Ketchikan schools...
The Alaska House of Representatives is asking Congress to appropriate funding for a program that pays money to rural school districts affected by the decline of the timber industry — including Wrangell. The state House voted 35-4 on March 17 to pass a resolution urging Congress to reinstate the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act of 2000. The U.S. Senate approved extending the program and providing funds last year, but the U.S. House never took up the legislation before it adjourned in December, leaving a big hole in c...
U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski said the Trump administration needs to realize federal employees are operating programs that "truly are saving lives," and there needs to be support for agencies "that Americans are relying on for livelihoods and for safety." "Weather forecasters save lives in our state," Murkowski said during her annual speech to a joint session of the Alaska Legislature on March 18. "Public servants are not our enemies." Murkowski is one of the few congressional Republicans openly...
Sitka-based Silver Bay Seafoods has reached a deal to acquire a 50% stake in OBI Seafoods, expanding the company’s processing capacity in Alaska. The company announced March 19 that it will take over management of all OBI facilities and operations including plants in Southeast, Southcentral and western Alaska, and Washington state. Silver Bay is buying Icicle Seafoods’ 50% stake in OBI, partnering with the Bristol Bay Economic Development Corp. (BBEDC) which holds the other 50%. OBI was created in 2020 by a merger between Ocean Beauty Sea...
In remarks to the Alaska Legislature on March 20, U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan praised the work of President Donald Trump, saying the new president's pro-mining and pro-drilling views are "great for those of us in Alaska." Sullivan, who walked through a crowd of anti-Trump and pro-democracy protesters en route to the speech in the state House chambers, downplayed the chaos caused in Alaska by the Trump-empowered Department of Government Efficiency, which has orchestrated the firing of hundreds of...
In what it says is an effort to limit fraudulent claims, the Social Security Administration will impose tighter identity-proofing measures — which will require millions of recipients and applicants to visit agency field offices rather than interact with the agency over the phone. The only field offices in Alaska are in Juneau, Anchorage and Fairbanks. More than 100,000 Alaskans receive Social Security benefits. Beginning March 31, people will no longer be able to verify their identity to the Social Security Administration over the phone to c...
A 2023 presidential executive order expanding sovereignty rights for the nation’s 574 federally recognized tribes was revoked March 14 by President Donald Trump, putting major tribal projects and policies in Alaska and elsewhere in question. Executive Order 14112, signed by President Joe Biden during the White House Tribal Nations Summit in early December 2023, sought to give Native Americans more access to federal funding and spending autonomy. The order was cited by the Federal Emergency Management Agency in recognizing expanded tribal i...
Monday, March 17 Agency assist: Ambulance. Agency assist: Domestic violence. Tuesday, March 18 Dog at large. Wednesday, March 19 Suspicious circumstance. Drug investigation. Suspicious circumstance. Found property. Welfare cehck. Traffic stop. Thursday, March 20 Traffic stop. Traffic stop: Citation issued for failure to provide proof of insurance. Fraud/scam. Friday, March 21 Letter served for removing a person from a licensed establishment. Saturday, March 22 Agency assist: Hoonah Police Department. Agency assist: Petersburg Police...