Sorted by date Results 1 - 25 of 27
The latest Wrangell School District draft budget for the next school year includes an estimated $700,000 in additional federal relief aid, but board members expressed concern that the money, while welcome, may only stave off spending cuts to a later date. Several board members express skepticism at Monday evening's budget workshop that student enrollment would not pick up much as the pandemic subsides. State funding, the largest portion of school district revenues, is based almost entirely on...
City officials reported a new COVID-19 case Tuesday afternoon, bringing to 17 the number of positive cases since April 8. The case "is due to community spread," the city's 5:30 p.m. announcement said. "This is the only information about the case at this time," the city reported. Of the 17 cases over the past 12 days, eight people have recovered and nine cases were still active as of Tuesday. Wrangell is under a face mask requirement for indoor public spaces. The borough assembly approved the ordinance at an emergency meeting Saturday amid the...
To ensure the city qualifies for federal and state disaster relief funding, the borough assembly has voted to extend Wrangell's emergency declaration for the COVID-19 pandemic. In the same meeting Tuesday night, the assembly voted to update Wrangell's COVID-19 testing measures for interstate and intrastate travelers on the advice of the local emergency operations center. The city first issued an emergency declaration on March 17, 2020. That ordinance, which has been periodically extended...
Kendra Meissner, a junior on the Wrangell High School girls basketball team, prepares to release a 3-point shot in this year's virtual 2A Region V shooting competition. Brett Abrahamson, a graduating senior, also competed in the 3-point shooting contest. The Wrangell players took their shots and free throws on home court Monday, sending in their results for the virtual competition. The contest usually is held at the Southeast basketball tournament, but this year the schools took the shots at...
After no season last year, Wrangell started 2021 with hopes of as many as 20,000 tourists coming to town this summer aboard cruise ships of varying sizes, with capacity of between 40 and 700 passengers. With the loss of larger vessels, and some smaller ones, however, the maximum ship capacity into town has fallen to under 2,000 this summer. "The actual number of cruise visitors to Wrangell will likely be much smaller than capacity due to protocols and restrictions for COVID-19 safety...
April 14, 1921 Richard Suratt, Wrangell’s movie photographer, sent recently to the company he represents an interesting group of pictures which were taken on his recent trip to see construction of the Alaska Railroad. The one that will no doubt excite the most interest wherever shown was taken at the end of steel along the construction of the railroad, and shows passengers, alighting from a modern railroad coach, being transferred to dog sleds. The coach is standing at the extreme end of the finished portion of the railroad, the ends of the rai...
After a long and strange pandemic year, Wrangell's graduating seniors are preparing for the end of their high school education in May. Plans for a different, but in-person, graduation ceremony are underway, while seniors are planning for their next moves in life. While last year's graduation ceremony was held virtually because of the pandemic, high school secretary Megan Powell said they are working on plans for an in-person ceremony for the class of 2021 on May 21. "The kids, they actually...
Wrangell tallied nine COVID-19 cases between last Thursday and late Tuesday afternoon, as the community is dealing with a spike in infections. "Health officials have found evidence of community transmission of COVID-19 in Wrangell,"the city reported Tuesday. The latest case "is a household member/close contact"to another case reported earlier in the day, the city reported Tuesday afternoon. "The individual is a local resident and is in isolation." Three cases were reported by the city last...
Though the Legislature is not looking to adopt a state sales tax or income tax this year, most lawmakers know it is inevitable. And most Alaskans should know it too, considering how we have dipped into savings more than half of the past 30 years to pay for services and the revenue gap is only getting worse. But which tax? Which is fairest to the largest number of people? Which is best (least worst) for the economy? And how do taxes compare with further cuts in public services and the prospect...
The $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan became law on March 11. Much of the federal money is directed to help states, cities, businesses and individuals recover from the economic damage of the pandemic. Aid for the beleaguered tourism, travel and hospitality industries - which suffered more that most with the near-total shutdown of events and vacations - was a major part of the congressional work. And yet, here it is a month later, and the governor's office has only now announced it will propose...
I know better than to romanticize beach glass. I know most began as beer bottles, with a random bottle of SKYY vodka contributing a little blue among the white and green and brown. But I also know that how things begin isn't always how they end, and I wonder where and how that one piece of purple started. As I wander among the rocks and the wet sand, picking and collecting bits of color, I can feel how the waters and the grit blunt sharp edges. What started out as pointed and cutting has become...
Repair work to the city's barge ramp will be necessary in the near future, according to Harbormaster Steve Miller, though a timeline and budget for renovations are still being drawn up. Miller reported to the borough assembly and port commission that a March 4 inspection of the barge ramp found several areas needing repair. The last assessment by an engineering firm was done in 2011. An area in most immediate need of work is the floats that allow the ramp to move up and down with the tide to mat...
Gov. Mike Dunleavy said he wants to use federal pandemic relief dollars for a national advertising campaign to support Alaska's tourism industry, though he provided no details or budget for the marketing campaign in the April 9 announcement. The governor's office also said tourism businesses will soon receive relief grants from the state, with details to come this week. Legislative approval is required to appropriate state funds. Dunleavy said he has put Lt. Gov. Kevin Meyer in charge of...
The Wrangell Wolves high school wrestling team took second place at the Tom Sims Invitational, their first home meet of the season, last Friday and Saturday. After two days of wrestling, the Wolves scored a total of 87.5 points. Ketchikan High School took first place at 128.5 points. Since the early 2000s, the Wrangell tournament has been named for Tom Sims, a Wrangell wrestling star and later a coach in the 1980s and 1990s, and as well as a well-respected high school wrestling official in...
The borough assembly adopted changes Tuesday night to the harbor's liveaboard fee policy to make it easier for collection. The assembly earlier had backed away from a plan to increase the liveaboard fee, from $85 a month to about $117 a month. Instead, the assembly decided to rework the fee schedule and definitions of who needs to pay the fee. Under the ordinance, which passed unanimously, a liveaboard vessel is defined as "any vessel utilizing the harbor as a primary residence for one or more p...
Legislators are trying again this year to tax "electronic smoking products"- e-cigarettes and vaping devices - the same as tobacco products. Bills to extend the state's tobacco tax to electronic smoking products died last March as lawmakers rushed to close down the session amid the start of the pandemic. Kodiak Sen. Gary Stevens and Juneau Rep. Sara Hannan are trying again this year. Their bills have each cleared their first committee and are both waiting for a hearing in their respective Financ...
Leatha Merculieff, who has served both as SEARHC vice president and as Wrangell hospital administrator since SEARHC took over the facility in 2019, has been promoted to the consortium's senior vice president and chief of operations. In her place, Wrangell resident Carly Allen will take over as hospital administrator. Allen is a third-generation Wrangell resident, according to the Southeast Alaska Regional Health Consortium news release on Monday. She has been with SEARHC since 2017, after a...
With somewhere close to 100 kids signed up, Wrangell Little League is gearing up for a new baseball season this summer. League President Briana Schilling said she is excited to see so many people signing up to play this season, especially after a year off due to the COVID-19 pandemic. "This year is comparative with 2019,"she said. "It's really wonderful. I'm so glad we didn't lose interest, our kids are eager to get out on the field." Wrangell Little League will host opening ceremonies and its...
Albert Daniel Nore, 79, of Wrangell, Alaska, peacefully passed away on April 4, 2021, at his home, surrounded by loved ones. Dan was born on Sept. 6, 1941, to Bert and Zona Nore at Bishop Rowe Hospital in Wrangell. During his early years the family spent summers grazing cattle for the family business, Nore's Dairy, on Nore Island (Sergief Island) on the Stikine River delta. In the fall they would load up the cattle and head back to town for the winter. Dan's lifelong love of commercial fishing...
Alaska fishermen displaced by the COVID-19 pandemic are being recruited for seafaring jobs aboard U.S. cargo barges, tankers, towboats, military support vessels, research and cruise ships and more. The Seafarers International Union (SIU) is searching nationally for 300 apprentice workers on the vessels they are contracted to crew. Recruiters tout Alaskans as being at the top of their list. “The reason for that is people from Alaska come with a work ethic already. They’ve been working since they could stand up. And that’s why they’re so good,”sa...
Monday, April 5 Agency assist: Hoonah Police Department Agency assist: Hospital Warrant check. Suspicious person. Tuesday, April 6 Agency assist: Search and rescue. Dog at large. Agency assist: Fire Department. Agency assist: Hoonah Police Department. Agency assist: Hospital. Wednesday, April 7 Animal complaint: Pet goose causing traffic issues. Welfare check. Dog at large. Subpoena service. Agency assist: Hoonah Police Department. Traffic stop: Citation for failure to provide proof of insurance. Thursday, April 8 Traffic stop: Verbal warning...
JUNEAU (AP) - The state health department said Tuesday upcoming appointments for the single-dose Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine in Alaska are being canceled or delayed after federal agencies recommended a “pause”to review reports of rare but potentially dangerous blood clots. State health officials said the federal recommendation shows that safety checks are working and they hope it will bolster rather than hinder public confidence in the vaccine rollout. Dr. Joe McLaughlin, the state epidemiologist, said people with appointments for the...
MIAMI (AP) - The state of Florida has filed a lawsuit against the federal government, demanding that cruise ships be allowed to start sailing immediately. Gov. Ron DeSantis said April 8 the federal no-sail order is outdated and hurts the state as the industry generates billions for the economy and employs tens of thousands of Floridians. “We don’t believe the federal government has the right to mothball a major industry for over a year based on very little evidence and very little data,”said the Republican governor, a frequent critic of the P...
ANCHORAGE (AP) - Anchorage will lift all limits on outdoor gatherings in a new coronavirus emergency order that will take effect on Friday night. Outdoor gatherings will no longer have capacity restrictions, though mask and social distancing mandates will remain. The new emergency order will remain in effect until June 11, unless it is either revoked or the city’s health department certifies that 70% of eligible Anchorage residents are fully vaccinated. The order, issued Monday, said about 36% of Anchorage residents 16 or older are fully v...
ANCHORAGE (AP) - Health officials have reported a case of a coronavirus variant in Southcentral Alaska first detected in South Africa. The Alaska case was reported as first identified in March in the region that includes Anchorage and the Matanuska-Susitna Borough, according to a report from a consortium of state and university health officials dated April 6. The report did not provide case details such as how the person got the virus or whether others may have been exposed. Five new cases of a variant first identified in the United Kingdom...
