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Alaska school administrators are welcoming the $175 million in additional one-time funding in this year’s state budget, but warn that they’ll again face large deficits next year. Permanently increasing the base student allocation — the state’s per-student funding formula — was a top priority for many legislators this year. School districts across the state reported being in crisis after six years of essentially flat funding, high inflation and the end of federal COVID-19 relief aid. “The legislature has offered a spring bonus rather than...
The chamber of commerce is getting a bailout from the borough as it prepares to put on the community’s elaborate Fourth of July festivities. However, these funds may be the last that the chamber gets for the next few years, as the borough encourages the organization to become self-sustaining. At its May 23 meeting, the borough assembly approved the chamber’s request of up to $25,000 to help fund Fourth of July festivities. All assembly members except David Powell voted in favor of the additional contribution. Assembly Member Brittani Rob...
A federal judge has denied the state of Alaska’s request for a stay of an order that could close down the Southeast king salmon troll fishery this summer and winter. The last option to open the fishery this season is another appeal. After the judge’s ruling last Friday, the state immediately filed a request with the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for a stay that would — if granted — allow trollers to work while the National Marine Fisheries Service attempts to better justify the fishery, as required by the judge’s May 2 order. “The stat...
With a quiet demeanor and a head for mathematics and physics, one teacher has helped Wrangell's students understand all those calculations for a quarter of a century. After 25 years, teacher Donna Massin has decided X plus Y equals retirement. Last Thursday, she dismissed class for the last time at Wrangell High School and began a new chapter in life. Born in Mount Edgecumbe, she has lived in Anchorage, Ketchikan, Seward and Gulf Port, Mississippi. "I kind of bounced around," she said. Massin's...
May 31, 1923 During the past few days, several trappers have come down the Stikine with good catches of fur which they sold to local buyers. Seven huge bales of furs were included in the cargo of the Hazel B No. 4 which arrived last week from Telegraph Creek, British Columbia. The fur was placed in the bonded warehouse and reshipped on the Princess Mary on Monday, being consigned to the Hudson’s Bay Co. in Victoria. Yesterday afternoon the Hazel B No. 4 arrived from her second trip to Telegraph Creek. This time her cargo included two large bale...
Creative thinking has led to a new home for the Wrangell Art Gallery. This Saturday, during the community market, the gallery and its members will hold a grand opening at its new location inside the Nolan Center next to the administrative office. Earlier this year, the gallery lost its lease in a building on Front Street, where it had resided for many years as a gallery and social workspace. The members closed the storefront, put items in storage and continued to meet at founding member Olga...
The borough has cut the salary of the Irene Ingle Public Library’s head librarian as it seeks to replace outgoing Library Director Margaret Villarma. At its May 23 meeting, the assembly voted to reduce the position’s salary by roughly $10,000 a year, depending on where the employee falls on the pay scale. The change will make the library director Wrangell’s lowest paid department head. The job’s duties, responsibilities and qualifications have not changed — only the compensation. Villarma plans to retire this summer and though the pay cut will...
Every homeowner, car and boat owner knows that maintenance is expensive. It’s also necessary. Particularly so in Alaska, where the weather is unkind to most everything except solid rock, and even that can erode away given enough time. Maintenance is a smart investment. It preserves the value of the property, whether stationary or motorized, and keeping up with repairs is the best way to avoid even more expensive rebuilds, restoration and replacement later. It’s especially true for borough property, which is why it’s heartening to see borou...
Remember what your parents, teachers and truant officer said: You are judged by the company you keep. Too bad Gov. Mike Dunleavy and his attorneys general didn’t think more about that before signing on to multiple lawsuits against the federal government, led by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. Yes, that guy, the one who was impeached by the Texas House of Representatives on a lopsided 121-23 vote last week for 20 counts of bribery, abuse of public trust and other charges going back several years. Donald Trump blamed “radical left Democrats” f...
For 41 years, Alaskans have benefitted from Permanent Fund dividends. More recently, the fund also has been the biggest source of money to pay for state public services. Permanent Fund managers have long known it could one day have less available to spend than is needed. They now say that day could be coming uncomfortably soon, in perhaps just three years. Since last July, it’s been a bad year for fund income as it’s defined by state law. And that’s raising the possibility that the amount the state can spend from the fund could hit zero witho...
The annual Wrangell King Salmon Derby is tentatively set for June 15 through July 2. Though the chamber of commerce, which is still organizing the event, hasn’t officially set the dates or prizes, the derby typically runs for about two weeks, with prizes for the largest fish and other categories. Entry fees also have not yet been determined. In past years, there has been a kids 12-and-under category, and the adult category encompasses ages 13 and up. Entrants need to have a state sportfishing license and a state king salmon stamp. Alaska r...
Bring a fishing pole and plenty of enthusiasm to Pats Lake for an annual event sure to lure in the whole family. Family Fishing Day on June 24 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., will have something for everyone, from lure making to casting practice and even a free lunch. The U.S. Forest Service Wrangell District is hosting the event along with the Wrangell Cooperative Association’s Indian General Assistance Program and the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. Special youth fishing regulations will be in place the third and fourth Saturday and Sunday at P...
Though Wrangell’s grid runs on hydroelectric power, the borough has five diesel generators on standby to provide the community with supplemental electricity in case of a blackout. Four of these five generators are housed in a deteriorating building that was constructed prior to 1948. At its May 23 meeting, the borough assembly approved over half-a-million dollars for engineers to put together plans to demolish and replace a concrete-built warehouse attached to the power plant, and replace the roof structure and a wall of the steel building t...
Volunteer firefighters and paramedics may be eligible for a small property tax break next year. Though the volunteers won’t save much on their taxes, borough officials see the change as a expression of appreciation for the essential work firefighters and paramedics perform. At its May 23 meeting, the borough assembly unanimously approved the first reading of an ordinance that would offer a $10,000 property tax exemption to qualified firefighters and emergency medical services personnel. Before the change becomes official, the borough must h...
The siding on the exterior of the pool building is deteriorating and local contractor Johnson Construction and Supply has been awarded a contract to take on the repairs. The $474,497 contract is funded through a combination of borough funds and state grant money from the Lost Revenue Relief Grant. The state distributed the federal money to Alaska municipalities as a form of pandemic relief, to help compensate for reduced sales tax and other revenues. It can be used for maintenance of old infrastructure and new builds. The siding project will...
The borough’s contract with waste disposal company Republic is up for renewal and the company has proposed a 25% price increase for its services to Wrangell. Other Southeast communities have contracts with Republic that are set to expire next year, so Wrangell hopes to join with them and bargain collectively for a more affordable contract. “We talked about partnering with them to get a bigger contract and have a little more negotiating power,” said Borough Manager Jeff Good. However, that approach won’t be possible for Wrangell in the short t...
A new ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court likely exempts large areas of wetlands in Alaska from federal regulation under the Clean Water Act, a decision that has alarmed environmentalists and could speed road construction, mining and other development projects here. The decision, in a case known as Sackett v. EPA, means that the Environmental Protection Agency can only regulate navigable bodies of water and only those wetlands that have a “continuous surface connection” to navigable lakes, rivers, streams and ponds. Before the ruling, the EPA int...
Alysa Horn, center, instructs students Boomchain Loucks, left, and Jackson Pearson last Friday during drills at a three-day basketball camp at the high school gym over the weekend. Horn is the owner of Anchorage-based Make Yourself, a strength conditioning and performance coaching business, which holds about 10 basketball camps throughout the state each year. "I feel like there aren't as many opportunities for Alaskan kids up here as there are in the Lower 48, so I'm making sure I'm doing my...
Denny Leak slowly carves a killer whale totem out of a tree trunk last Thursday behind the Wrangell Cooperative Association cultural center. The totem will be one of two that will replace the old carvings that were mounted on posts around the Chief Shakes gravesite on Case Avenue. Brodie Gardner, who graduated high school on May 19, cleaned up the site by power washing and painting the surrounding fence and cleaning the stairs leading up to the site as part of her senior project. The previous...
Gig Decker, a member of the Wrangell Mariners' Memorial committee, reads from a list of names of people who made their living from the ocean and have died. Decker and his fellow committee members, along with a large crowd despite the rainy weather, gathered around the memorial at Heritage Harbor while vessels lined up offshore during the blessing of the fleet last Sunday. Pastors Jon and Rosie Tollerud and Sue Bahleda gave a prayer and recited a litany before the reading of the names. Girl...
The Inter-Island Ferry Authority on May 24 welcomed its one millionth passenger since the service began operating between Ketchikan and Prince of Wales Island in 2002. As passengers arrived for the Prince of Wales ferry’s 3:30 p.m. run from Ketchikan to Hollis, Inter-Island Ferry manager Ron Curtis stood at the loading ramp, keeping track of passengers to figure out when the all-time passenger count hit a million. At 999,999 he announced: “It will be the next person to get on the ferry.” Chance Headley approached the purser's station with...
Alaska’s nurse shortage is widely acknowledged but there’s less consensus on how to manage solutions. A bill that aims to get nurses licensed and working faster by Alaska joining a 40-state nurse licensure coalition is mired in pushback. Hospitals and the state’s nursing board support the legislation, but nursing labor unions oppose it. Bill sponsor North Pole Rep. Mike Prax said long wait times for nursing licenses exacerbate Alaska’s shortage because it deters qualified job candidates. “If someone is a licensed nurse from some other sta...
Alaska’s monthslong delay in disbursing federally funded food stamps to thousands of families still isn’t over — compelling many Alaskans to continue depending on food banks and pantries for emergency food assistance while they wait. While the state reported that on average, new applications for food stamps and other public assistance benefits filed this month were being processed within 30 days, many Alaskans who applied for benefits as early as last fall were still waiting for their applications to be approved. “We are definitely seeing...
The Alaska Supreme Court has affirmed that the state will not be allowed to go ahead with a plan intended to make it more difficult for state employees to participate in a union. In a ruling released Friday, the court upheld and confirmed a lower-court decision that found the state acted illegally when it unilaterally attempted in 2019 to change the rules pertaining to employees’ dues deductions. The five justices, ruling unanimously, said the state violated the Alaska Public Employment Relations Act and the Administrative Procedures Act, as w...
JOB ANNOUNCEMENT Wrangell Senior Center, Southeast Senior Services, a division of Catholic Community Service, is currently recruiting for a cook at $18/hour, 20 hours a week, and a driver/assistant cook at $17/hour, 25 hours a week. Apply online at www.ccsak.org/jobs. For more information contact Solvay Gillen at 907-874-2066. 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. Contact Amber at 907-874-2301 or email...