Sorted by date Results 1 - 17 of 17
At its regularly-scheduled meeting Tuesday evening, the City and Borough Assembly revisited the water crisis that potentially looms over the coming summer. Public Works director Amber Al-Haddad reported efforts to “plunge” two of the plant’s four slow-sand filtration bays in order to clean them since last week showed promise. However, she was careful to point out that the method was still in its infancy, and only time and repetition would reveal how effective it actually is. Her plan is to plunge each of the filters in turn, repeating as neces...
Wrapping up the spring Chautauqua season at the Nolan Center this year, a Wrangell school senior presented the findings by her classmates and herself mapping the movements of Shakes Glacier. Located about 30 miles northeast of Wrangell up the Stikine River, the glacier is an oft-visited site by residents and visitors touring the river system. Its meltoff feeding into Shakes Lake, the glacier is part of the wider Stikine Ice Field, of which LeConte Glacier is included. Reyn Hutten this year was...
May 3, 1917: Civic Improvement Club believes that a creditable display of flowers and vegetables could be shown in early fall. It has been suggested that a small fair be held in Wrangell at the close of the contest which the Civic Club announced last week, or later. Two public spirited citizens with cameras offered to take a few of the pictures required, in the Yard contest announced in the Sentinel last week, free of charge. Contestants will do well to give their names to the committee, Miss Woods and Mrs. Johnson, as early as possible in...
Wrangell Public Schools has adopted a final draft budget for the coming year. Meeting Monday evening at Evergreen Elementary School, the board voted to approve the third draft, which projects expenditures totaling $5,860,894. Attendance for the year is anticipated at 273 students. Costs since the first draft was put forward in February have come down by about $134,000 in expected benefits, due to lower insurance rates. “It's fairly straightforward, which is not always the case for the budget,” school superintendent Patrick Mayer explained. Som...
Monday, April 17 Control burn: Caller stated they will be burning. Tuesday, April 18 Road Complaint Agency Assist: Report about a creek running brown. PW notified. Report of harassing phone calls. Found property. Wednesday, April 19 Driving Complaint: Hit and Run. Citizen Assist: Vehicle unlock. Suspicious circumstance. Citizen Assist. Thursday, April 20 Suspicious noise. Report of Fraud. Report of hit and run. Traffic Stop: Verbal warning for driving habits. Driving complaint. Agency Assist: Line crew. Friday, April 21 Agency Assist. Agency...
With the arrival of the Wilderness Adventurer on Tuesday, a sunnier outlook for the local economy breaks the clouds of Wrangell's off-season. The 160-foot vessel is operated by UnCruise Adventures in Seattle, and can carry up to 60 passengers. Early in the season, on Tuesday it was carrying 28 en route to Juneau. According to the latest cruise ship schedule, Adventurer will only be making the one stop into Wrangell this season, but its larger sister vessels Wilderness Explorer and Wilderness...
Clifford Orlando White, 91, passed away on Christmas Day, 2016 in Des Moines, Washington. Clifford was a longtime resident in Wrangell, Alaska, and considered it his home. Clifford was born on September 30, 1925 in McCook, Nebraska, but lived on a farm near Oberlin, Kansas. A combination of the depression and dust bowl in the 1930's, caused the family to lose the farm and migrate to Pueblo, Colorado at the age of 9. At an early age, he started a career in house building and remodeling. This was...
A number of Wrangell residents stepped out Friday for a bit of culture, partaking in a wine tasting fundraiser. Held at Rayme's Bar, proceeds from the 14-varietal sampling went to the local search and rescue (SAR) dogs program for Wrangell Volunteer Fire Department. The program currently enlists the services of three retrievers, named Katilli, Sage and Aspen. Katilli has been in service the longest, picking up trainings and certifications over the past three years. The dog has supported various...
Last week Wrangell’s Indian Environmental General Assistance Program office issued an alert regarding potentially dangerous shellfish. Readings for butter clam samples taken from the south side of Zarembo Island earlier this month came back surprisingly high for saxitoxin, the root cause of paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP) in humans. The Food and Drug Administration sets a safety threshold for consuming saxitoxin at 80 micrograms (μg) per 100 grams of shellfish. The butter clams sampled at Zarembo came back at 884 μg. As a contrast, the IGA...
In its monthly meeting the Wrangell Medical Center Board learned progress continues to be made in drawing up plans for a new hospital. Hospital chief executive officer Robert Rang informed the board that architects with Juneau firm Jensen Yorba Lott are still hammering out designs, following a site visit in mid-March. At the moment the contractors are trying to reconcile staff’s “wish list” for a future facility with applicable standards, minimizing the building’s footprint where possible. On the financial end, the accountant at BDO in Anchora...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) – With Alaska legislative leaders at odds over how to best address the state’s multibillion-dollar deficit, Gov. Bill Walker on Tuesday offered his help in hopes of nudging talks forward. Walker said he has invited House and Senate leadership to the governor’s mansion Wednesday to begin looking for areas of common ground. The Legislature has extended beyond a voter-approved 90-day session limit, with a budget and fiscal plan unresolved. The constitution allows for regular sessions of up to 121 days, which would extend into m...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) – Alaska’s lone U.S. House member has made it official: He wants a 24th term. Rep. Don Young filed his declaration of candidacy on Wednesday, just five months since his most recent win. The primary he signed up to compete in won’t be held until August 2018. Young is the longest-serving Republican in the House, having held his seat since 1973. He is 83 years old. In a video statement accompanying his announcement, Young, who has a reputation of being prickly, says he filed early so that anyone who might think about runni...
Numerous studies over the past decade have highlighted Alaska’s “graying of the fleet” (the average age of permit holders is 50), and the lack of opportunities for younger people to launch a career in commercial fishing. State data show that between 1975 and 2014, more than 2,300 limited entry permits (nearly 28 percent) migrated away from Alaska’s rural fishing communities to non-residents. A new measure gaining steam in the Alaska legislature aims to reverse that trend by creating fisheries trusts in which communities could buy permits...
KETCHIKAN, Alaska (AP) – Officials in Ketchikan have approved an ordinance that more than doubles water rates for the southeast Alaska city’s seafood processors over the next three years. The City Council approved the ordinance in a 5-2 vote on Thursday. Water rates will increase by 35 percent each year over the next three years for Ketchikan’s three fish processors E.C. Phillips and Son, Trident Seafoods and Alaska General Seafoods, The Ketchikan Daily News reported. The new water rates come in response to a consulting firm’s study that fo...
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) – Emergency responders have placed containment and absorbent booms near a tugboat that sank in southeast Alaska. The Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation says the Powhatan, owned by Samson Tug and Barge, sank Wednesday night while docked at Staffigavan Bay, about 7 miles north of Sitka. The tug after it sank shifted downslope 1,083 feet, moving from a depth of 49 feet to 197 feet. Divers confirmed the location. Samson estimates the tug carried 325 gallons of lube oil, 12 gallons of diesel and possibly s...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) – Alaska’s unemployment rate held at 6.4 percent last month, the same as February. The preliminary, seasonally adjusted number for March is down compared to a year ago, when it stood at 6.6 percent. The state labor department says preliminary estimates indicate there were 7,100 fewer jobs in March when compared to March 2016. The department, in a release, cited continued losses in several sectors, including the oil and construction industries and state government. It also noted that job losses don’t necessarily lead to hi...
