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Wrangell's Rowen Wiederspohn (right) competes against Thunder Mountain's Sage Richards at the Brandon Pilot Invitational held Saturday at Thunder Mountain High School in Juneau. Click here for more photos and results of the wrestling meet....
State department operating budgets before the House Finance Committee this week for the fiscal year that starts July 1 include funding to restore the commercial fisheries position in Wrangell and also the Office of Children's Services caseworker job. The Legislature tried last year to fund both positions, but the money was vetoed by Gov. Mike Dunleavy. Wrangell lost its children's services worker several years ago to budget cuts. The Department of Fish and Game position was eliminated a year...
The steep drop in visitors to Alaska last year because of pandemic travel restrictions showed up in air, sea and land numbers - and resulting job losses - across the state. Overall, the state lost more than 22,000 jobs between February 2020 and February 2021, according to the Alaska Department of Labor. "Based on my forecast here, I do not anticipate a return to pre-pandemic employment levels until after 2022,"Mouhcine Guettabi, an associate professor of economics at the University of Alaska...
While Alaska legislators await federal rules for how the state can spend the almost $1.2 billion in federal pandemic relief funds headed this way, communities are waiting to see their allocations from a separate pot of federal aid - and ready to push the state to share some of its money. In addition to the general relief funding going to the state, Alaska communities will receive a share of a separate $231 million municipal allocation under the American Rescue Plan signed into law last month....
April 7, 1921 The skating party given at the rink last Thursday night for the benefit of the tennis court was a great success and added a considerable amount to the fund which is being raised for its improvement. Sixteen dollars were netted from the sale of the tickets and the girls who sold lemonade cleared over four dollars. The skaters had a very enjoyable evening and a large number of spectators were present. April 5, 1946 Wrangell has again followed an old established custom of giving more than was asked, according to G. J. Fabricius,...
The tugboat Edith Olson pulls a barge past the heavy-lift vessel Red Zed I in the Tongass Narrows near Ketchikan during a heavy snowfall last Friday. The 712-foot-long heavy-lift vessel was expected to spend the week in Ketchikan, taking aboard the Alaska Marine Highway System's two mothballed fast ferries that the state has sold to a Mediterranean-based tour operator. The semi-submersible Red Zed 1 will give the 235-foot-long Chenega and Fairweather a piggyback ride to Spain. The state paid...
While they have not been able to meet in person due to the pandemic, the Head Start preschool program is still working to make sure Wrangell's kids get the help they need. Besides hosting their program virtually, Head Start has been putting together food boxes since November. "The parents are pretty happy with it,"said Sandy Churchill, with Head Start. "Plus, it's a good way to stay in contact with our parents." Head Start pus together food boxes for 15 kids each week, Churchill said. They...
The Canadian border has been closed for more than a year and, judging from last week's news, it's not likely to reopen in the late-spring future or even the early-summer future. British Columbia recorded its highest number of daily cases last week. For the first time in the pandemic, British Columbia reported more than 1,000 new COVID-19 cases on two consecutive days. Last Friday's case count was a record high, surpassed the next day by an even higher count. The previous record was set just...
No, a state sales tax would not be good for Wrangell, Ketchikan, Sitka or the 100 other cities and boroughs in Alaska that rely on their local sales tax to fund schools, roads, police and other municipal services. Those communities have relied on sales taxes for decades, tailoring the rate, exemptions and rules to local needs, without worrying about the state coming in and taking a cut or taking control. But that may not matter when Alaska's elected leaders finally deal with the inevitable: The...
House working to add Wrangell fisheries and children's services jobs The Alaska Legislature is more than halfway through session, and I am happy to report a few successes in the legislative budget process that will benefit Wrangell residents. Last year, Wrangell officials came to me with an idea to create a social worker position that would be funded partially through the state and partially through local means. We were able to add a part-time Office of Children's Services caseworker for...
Adam Sprehe (left) and Nick Allen concentrate on their targets 25 yards away in the community center gym, while Quinton Davies watches intently from behind, waiting for his turn to shoot in the Wrangell Parks and Recreation archery class March 11....
The borough assembly will consider the purchase of a trash baler so that it can stop shipping the community's garbage out of town in open-top containers. The purchase, estimated at $600,000, will be on the agenda for the April 13 assembly meeting, Borough Manager Lisa Von Bargen said Tuesday. A baler would cut and mash and compress the trash into dense blocks, about 50 cubic feet in size, based on the model the city is considering. The baler project has been ongoing for some time, but the need...
Back when the North Slope was pumping 2 million barrels of crude a day at its peak in 1988, and even for years after, oil provided upward of 90% of state general fund revenues in good years. But that was then, and now oil generates maybe 25% of the state's unrestricted dollars. The king of the budget hill is the Alaska Permanent Fund. The annual draw on the fund to help pay for public services and the dividend will provide about two-thirds of the state's unrestricted general revenues this year....
The Wrangell Wolves High School wrestling team took second place in their first match of the season. The team traveled to Juneau to compete Friday and Saturday in the Brandon Pilot Invitational at Thunder Mountain High School, where they wrestled against five other Southeast teams. At the end of the tournament, the Wolves had tallied 74 points, behind only Juneau's Thunder Mountain at 84 points. "We whooped everybody except for Thunder Mountain,"Assistant Coach Jack Carney said Monday....
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has issued new operating guidance for cruise lines, with at least one company just three days later submitting its plan to possibly resume sailings in July. An industry group, however, strongly criticized the instructions. The new federal guidance does not change the reality for Alaska that Canada has not lifted or amended its ban on cruise ships. Without a change in Canada, or a temporary waiver from U.S. law requiring a stop in a Canadian port for...
Members of the Ritchie family enjoy their drive-through lunch at Irene Ingle Public Library (left to right): Bonnie, Chad and Bo. The library hosted a hot dog lunch for the public Tuesday afternoon, in celebration of National Library Week. Red velvet cupcakes were the dessert....
The Wrangell Police Department is warning the public about phone calls from scammers pretending to be with the Social Security Administration. The callers tell people the government has a warrant for their arrest. Police departments statewide reported a rash of such calls last week, including departments in Juneau, Anchorage, Homer and Unalaska. While some scammers claimed to represent the Social Security Administration, others said they were with the U.S. Marshals Service. Wrangell police said...
The Chugach Ranger, the last wooden boat in the U.S. Forest Service fleet, was relocated to its new home beside the Nolan Center on March 31. The city museum and visitor center has been advocating the past several years to move the boat into a permanent historical display outside the center. However, the protective tarp covering the boat could stay there awhile, Cyni Crary, Nolan Center director, said Monday. Relocating the boat is just the first phase of turning it into a museum exhibit, she sa...
Beginning April 24, Alaskans should start getting used to dialing the 907 area code when calling in state. For the next six months, callers can dial the old way - with just seven digits - or the new way - with 10 digits - but only the 10-digit dialing will work starting Oct. 24. Using the 907 area code on all calls in Alaska as of April 24 will be good practice for when the federally mandated switch to 10-digit dialing takes effect in the fall, even for local calls, said phone service providers...
The Wrangell community group BRAVE, Building Respect and Valuing Everyone, is handing out materials at the elementary school and around town this week to increase awareness that April is Child Abuse Prevention Month. With support from the Alaska Children's Trust, a statewide organization that focuses on the well-being of children and families, BRAVE is distributing coloring books, growth charts, stickers, coffee sleeves, pinwheels and parental guides. BRAVE was founded in 2017 with the mission s...
Alaska’s two U.S. senators are trying to get the face mask requirement aboard fishing vessels removed. A Coast Guard Marine Safety Information Bulletin issued March 22 recites its authority to restrict vessel access to ports and at-sea operations if the boat operator and crew fail to follow the rules of the Centers for Disease Control. “Vessels that have not implemented the mask requirement may be issued a Captain of the Port order directing the vessel’s movement and operations; repeated failure to impose the mask mandate could result in civil...
Jillian Privett prepares to fill a bowl to go at KSTK's chili feed last Saturday afternoon. The fundraising event featured winning dishes from previous chili cooking contests the radio station has hosted, along with an art auction. People could choose between moose and venison, vegetarian and other chili offerings on a chilly day in the high 30s. The station reports it sold 70 bowls of the different varieties at the event....
Monday, March 29 Unsecured premise. Traffic stop. Parking complaint. Citizen assist. Burglary. Tuesday, March 30 Runaway. Summons service. DUI: Unfounded. Traffic stop. Wednesday, March 31 Abandoned vehicle. Citizen assist: Child custody. Thursday, April 1 Parking complaint. Agency assist. Agency assist: Hoonah Police Department. Dog complaint. Friday, April 2 Citizen assist. Agency Assist: State Transportation Department. Saturday, April 3 Noise complaint. Citizen assist. Paper service. Traffic stop. Sunday, April 4 Agency assist: Alarm...
Mason Rushmore shows off an Easter egg he found along the Volunteer Park nature trail on Saturday. Eggs were hidden along the trail the first few days of April by Marilyn Mork, with the American Legion Auxiliary, to encourage parents and kids to go enjoy the outdoors and hunt for the treats....
ANCHORAGE (AP) - The island community of St. Paul, in the middle of the Bering Sea, has issued an emergency stay-at-home ordinance after its first case of the coronavirus. An essential worker tested positive on the island, the Anchorage Daily News reported April 1. It is the first reported coronavirus case in St. Paul since the pandemic began. The city’s hunker-down order will last from April 1 until April 15 and was approved by the St. Paul City Council on March 31. All of St. Paul’s residents besides those in essential government, bus...