Articles from the May 8, 2024 edition


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  • Paddlers prepare for weeklong journey to Celebration

    Becca Clark, Wrangell Sentinel|May 8, 2024

    On May 29, a 39-foot canoe of Wrangell paddlers will start the week-long, 150-nautical-mile journey to Juneau for Celebration, the biennial Native culture festival. This year marks the first time Wrangell will have its own canoe making the journey since 2014, signifying a return of enthusiasm for canoe culture in town. Canoes from other communities will make the journey alongside Wrangell, including Juneau, Kasaan, Metlakatla and a veterans' canoe - all beginning here. Up to seven other canoes...

  • More state money possible for school budget and building repairs

    Larry Persily, Wrangell Sentinel|May 8, 2024

    Gov. Mike Dunleavy has indicated he is willing to accept a one-year increase in state money for schools as legislators work toward a $175 million addition to the funding formula before their scheduled adjournment deadline May 15. The increase would cover almost two-thirds of the projected revenue gap in the Wrangell School District operating budget for the 2024-2025 school year. Districts statewide face significant budget deficits after more than seven years without an increase in the state’s per-student funding formula. Though both the H...

  • Forest Service asks public comment on fees for new cabins

    Larry Persily, Wrangell Sentinel|May 8, 2024

    The U.S. Forest Service plans to build six new cabins and a new campground in Southeast Alaska and wants to hear from the public on proposed fees for the facilities. One of the new cabins will be constructed at Little Lakes, on a former logging road about 25 miles from downtown Wrangell and near the Long Lake Trailhead. The proposed fee for the Little Lakes cabin is $75 a night, which is at the high end of the range of fees charged for use of existing cabins in the Tongass National Forest. Cabins in the Wrangell district range from $30 to $75....

  • Advisory council report warns Native languages at risk

    Claire Stremple, Alaska Beacon|May 8, 2024

    Before an advanced Tlingít language class, Raven Svenson and her classmate discussed how to conjugate the verb "boil" in the context of cooking. The University of Alaska Southeast class in Juneau was headed into finals last week and students were preparing for dialogues that will test their conversational skills. Professor X̱'unei Lance Twitchell walked in and suggested the specific verb for cooking meat by boiling. He answered a few questions in English, then switched to Tlingít as he st...

  • Community calendar

    May 8, 2024

    STATE PUBLIC HEALTH NURSE will be in Wrangell on Thursday, May 9. Immunizations, birth control and STD screening, well-child exams for kids up to age 6, TB screening and medication, Narcan kits and medication disposal bags will be offered. The Public Health Center is in the Kadin Building, 215 Front St. Call 907-723-4611 to make an appointment in advance so the nurse knows what immunizations to bring. SUMMER READING PROGRAM FOR KIDS at the Irene Ingle Public Library now open for registration. Open to children entering kindergarten through ninth...

  • The Way We Were

    Amber Armstrong-Hillberry, WrangellSentinel|May 8, 2024

    May 8, 1924 It is with considerable pleasure that the Sentinel is able to report that the ice making department of the Wrangell Ice and Storage Co.’s new plant will soon be in operation, and Oliver D. Leet, the manager, says the fish freezing department will be complete within another week. This new plant, from a standpoint of efficiency and economy of operation, cannot be surpassed by any plant of equal capacity. The power is furnished by Fairbanks-Morse diesel engines of the latest type, and a 256-kilovolt generator furnishes the e...

  • Workshop this weekend will teach sea otter pelt sewing

    Becca Clark, Wrangell Sentinel|May 8, 2024

    "Wear sea otter, save a crab!" says Jeremiah James. James will teach a sea otter skin sewing class in Wrangell Thursday through Sunday, May 9-12, at the Wrangell Cooperative Association cultural center. The workshop, put on by Sealaska Heritage Institute, will teach about 15 students to hand sew a pattern of their choosing, including garments like hats, scarves, headbands and pillows. James, who lives in Yakutat and Juneau, got into sea otter sewing in 2011 after taking a beginner sewing class...

  • Class will teach sustainable cedar bark harvesting

    Becca Clark, Wrangell Sentinel|May 8, 2024

    As the art of cedar weaving continues to grow in popularity, so does the need for a supply of cedar bark. Deborah Head of Craig will teach a class in Wrangell to harvest cedar bark sustainably, without harming the trees. The sessions will run Thursday through Saturday, May 9-11. The all-day class, put on by the Alaska Native Sisterhood, is free to the public and students can attend for one or all three days. Head is an experienced teacher and great storyteller, said Tis Peterman, and often leads groups on Prince of Wales Island to gather bark....

  • Zimovia Highway rockfall mitigation work to begin this month

    Becca Clark, Wrangell Sentinel|May 8, 2024

    The Alaska Department of Transportation has contracted Hiex Construction of Haines to conduct rockfall mitigation and slope stabilization work between 5.5 and 8.5 Mile Zimovia Highway. The work will likely begin just before Memorial Day, Hiex Construction said last week. One lane will be closed during the work and flaggers will direct traffic. Both lanes will be open during the holiday weekend, the company said. The rockfall mitigation work is not related to the deadly Nov. 20 landslide, but rather is part of an ongoing project to address that...

  • Use your head and get a free bike helmet

    Wrangell Sentinel|May 8, 2024

    Wrangell kids will have a heads-up opportunity next month: Not only can they get free helmets to wear when riding bicycles and four-wheelers, but the offer also includes free paint, brushes and other supplies to decorate their new headgear. It’s a thoughtful giveaway to protect the center of kids’ thought process. Southeast Alaska Independent Living (SAIL), which provides help and support services for people with disabilities, particularly brain injuries, will provide the helmets. Wrangell’s Parks and Recreation Department will put on the e...

  • Alaska might as well embrace the past

    Larry Persily Publisher|May 8, 2024

    One proposal to solve the impending energy shortage for Alaska’s population centers is to go back in time. To the 1970s, when coal was king in the U.S. The governor, legislators, municipal officials and business leaders are worried that the Railbelt — the population corridor stretching south from Fairbanks, through the Matanuska Valley and Anchorage to the Kenai Peninsula — will run short of natural gas before the end of the decade. The region has lived off the nearby underground warehouse of natural gas from the Kenai Peninsula and Cook Inlet...

  • Hospice hopes it can recruit volunteers to resume support services

    May 8, 2024

    I read with great interest the guest opinion by Laurie Overbay-Barker in the April 24 Wrangell Sentinel. She brought up important issues related to the challenging and invaluable work of paid caregiving. My thoughts are running in a related direction. Our town’s aging population has a growing number of folks who could benefit from support to maintain an enjoyable and safe quality of life. We currently have a patchwork system of family, community and paid supports that doesn’t cover everyone. Current caregivers, paid and unpaid, often feel ove...

  • Student film festival May 14 features life in Wrangell

    Mark C. Robinson, Wrangell Sentinel|May 8, 2024

    A film festival featuring student-created documentaries about different facets of Wrangell life will be held at the Nolan Center at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, May 14. Admission is free. Middle school science teacher Laura Davies said the documentaries were created during the school year after two weeks of intense training with mentors from the nonprofit program See Stories. "(We're) aiming for about 10 (documentaries), but it depends on how many finish their films in time," she said. Based in Juneau,...

  • Free disposal offered again for old vehicles, scrap metal

    Larry Persily, Wrangell Sentinel|May 8, 2024

    Channel Construction, which runs the scrap metal recycling operation at the former 6-Mile mill site, has resumed accepting unusable vehicles and large appliances from the public — and it’s free. The company collects scrap metal from throughout Southeast Alaska and ships it by barge for recycling out of state. It has operated at the mill site for more than a year, and recently signed a five-year lease to use the borough-owned property. The drop-off site reopened to the public on May 3 and will be open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Fridays and Sat...

  • Judge delays correspondence school order until June 30

    Sean Maguire and Iris Samuels, Anchorage Daily News|May 8, 2024

    State laws allowing correspondence students to use public funds at private and religious schools will remain in place through the end of June, but not after, an Anchorage Superior Court judge ordered May 2. Judge Adolf Zeman last month struck down two statutes governing Alaska’s correspondence programs, finding that they violated a state constitutional prohibition on spending public funds at private institutions. The decision affect hundreds or thousands of correspondence students across the state, depending on how the Legislature and Gov. Mike...

  • SEARHC offers mobile kitchen class, plans other healthy cooking events

    Mark C. Robinson, Wrangell Sentinel|May 8, 2024

    The SEARHC community wellness team is using a mobile kitchen to hold classes on healthy cooking in Wrangell and around Southeast. A session is available to the public at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, May 14, at the Wrangell Medical Center. Seating is limited. "It was bought to just be another resource to talk about health and wellness," department case manager Kathryn Nuckols said of the mobile kitchen. "A fun way to participate in some education (on healthy eating)." Over the past week, she has hosted...

  • Parks and Rec hosts bike mechanic from Petersburg

    Mark C. Robinson, Wrangell Sentinel|May 8, 2024

    With some coordinating help from Parks and Recreation, bike mechanic Pat Blair with Wheelhouse Bikes in Petersburg will be in Wrangell Monday through Wednesday, June 3-5. Anyone with a bicycle in need of repair needs to call Blair at 907-772-2453 in advance to schedule an appointment. Bikes should be dropped off before the scheduled time at the community center multipurpose room by entering via the ramp on the north side of the building; using the same entrance for pickup after the work is...

  • Sitka Tlingit clan houses listed among endangered historic places

    Sitka Sentinel|May 8, 2024

    A neighborhood of historic Sitka houses on Katlian and Kaagwaantaan streets, the Sitka Tlingit Clan Houses, has been selected by the National Trust for Historic Preservation for inclusion in the 2024 list of America’s 11 Most Endangered Historic Places. The neighborhood was established by the Tlingit in the 1820s to trade with Russians living inside the adjacent stockaded New Archangel settlement. Russian administrators recognized their settlement was dependent on trade with the Tlingit village for survival. Scores of clan houses lined the w...

  • Senior Jack Roberts competes in final swim meet

    Mark C. Robinson, Wrangell Sentinel|May 8, 2024

    The only member of the Wrangell Swim Club to qualify, senior Jack Roberts competed and set several personal bests at the Alaska Swimming State Championship, a four-day meet held at the Bartlett High School pool in Anchorage on April 25-28. Twenty-two teams from around the state competed in this end-of-season swim club tournament. Roberts swam preliminaries and advanced to the finals in all of his events. In the 50-yard freestyle, he placed fifth with a time of 22.17 seconds. In the 100-yard...

  • U.S. increases focus on cases of missing or dead Native Americans

    Susan Montoya Bryan, Associated Press|May 8, 2024

    ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — It was a frigid winter morning when authorities found a Native American man dead on a remote gravel road in western New Mexico. He was lying on his side, with only one sock on, his clothes were gone and his shoes tossed in the snow. There were trails of blood on both sides of his body and it appeared he had been struck in the head. Investigators retraced the man’s steps, gathering security camera footage that showed him walking near a convenience store miles away in Gallup, an economic hub in an otherwise rural area bor...

  • Tlingit Haida plans education, cultural campuses in Juneau

    Mark Sabbatini, Juneau Empire|May 8, 2024

    Plans to build a 12-acre tribal education campus and a 457-acre cultural immersion park in Juneau were unveiled at the 89th annual tribal assembly of the Central Council of the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska. The projects combine efforts to reclaim tribal land, expand traditional cultural and educational activities and provide support to students in a state education system that "is failing our students," said Tlingit and Haida President Richard Chalyee Éesh Peterson in his speech to...

  • Tlingit Haida assembly accepts Portland as new tribal community

    Mark Sabbatini, Juneau Empire|May 8, 2024

    Declaring the crisis with fentanyl and other deadly drugs its highest priority and accepting Portland as a new tribal community were among the highlights at the Central Council of the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska’s 89th annual tribal assembly in Juneau. Resolutions approved at the assembly that concluded on April 19 also included calls for a permanent increase in the state’s base funding formula for public schools and supporting non-discrimination in student sports. Among the resolutions singled out for discussion was one ref...

  • Police

    May 8, 2024

    Monday, April 29 Nothing to report. Tuesday, April 30 Dog at large. Traffic stop: Citation issued for failure to register vehicle. Wednesday, May 1 Abandoned car. Fraud. Thursday, May 2 Theft. Civil paper service. Agency assist: Fire Department. Friday, May 3 Dance permit. Animal complaint. Traffic stop: Citation issued for failure to provide proof of insurance. Domestic disturbance. Saturday, May 4 Citizen assist. Dog at large. Drug paraphernalia. Fireworks Sunday, May 5 Agency assist: Transportation Security Administration. Agency assist:...

  • Former resident Arnold R. Sandness dies at 89

    May 8, 2024

    Arnold "Arnie" R. Sandness, 89, passed away on March 23, 2024. His celebration of life was held April 25 in Sun City West Christian Church, Sun City West, Arizona. Arnie was born on Aug. 28, 1934, in Bellingham, Washington, to John and Randi Sandness. He graduated from Bellingham High School in 1952, while serving in the Army reserves before attending Western Washington State College of Education. He served in the Naval Reserve Combat Battalion in Bremerton from 1953-1957. He was a mechanical...

  • Classified ads

    May 8, 2024

    HELP WANTED Part-time work as an interviewer for a seafood consumption survey to be conducted in Wrangell. Paid training. Contact Guy Archibald at (907) 209-2720. HOUSING WANTED Moving to Wrangell on May 18 and looking to rent a small 1- or 2-bedroom home or apartment that will allow three poodles. Call 907-758-2122. FREE Recycled newspapers. Stop by the Sentinel to pick some up. FREE ADS Do you have something to sell? Having a garage sale? Looking to buy something? Classified ads for individuals and community groups are free in the Sentinel....