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A preliminary plat for the first phase of developing the former Wrangell Institute property into residential and commercial lots, known as Shoemaker Bay Subdivision II, was approved by the planning and zoning commission Tuesday afternoon. There is still a lot of work to do, but this is a significant step in the development process, said Wrangell Economic Development Director Carol Rushmore. It may be optimistic, she said, but site work could begin sometime next year. Final plat approval by the commission could be several months away, Rushmore...
"Middle school here I come!" said Silje Morse, one of 15 fifth graders at Evergreen Elementary, during her last day of school. Evergreen marked the end of the school year last Thursday with a celebration on the school playground. Every class, from kindergarten to fifth grade, got a hotdog lunch and cupcakes. They then also got to run, dance, and in some cases cartwheel in a procession across the playground. Afterward, following a brief return to class to wrap up the day, the kids officially...
The number of senior citizens receiving a state-mandated property tax break on their homes continues to climb in Wrangell, totaling 280 homes this year and costing the borough $400,000 in lost tax revenues. Wrangell is not alone in the rising number, as several Alaska communities are seeing consistent growth in their senior citizen population. More than one in five Wrangell residents is age 65 or older, according to state statistics. About 15% of the assessed property value in Wrangell is exempt from borough taxes under the state-required...
The borough assembly has rezoned several lots adjacent to Wrangell’s solid waste transfer site, allowing installation of a cell phone tower on the city-owned land if the developer can obtain a conditional-use permit for such use of the property. A public hearing and further consideration by the Planning and Zoning Commission is required for a conditional-use permit. The assembly, in two unanimous votes May 25, approved rezoning the seven parcels to open space / public zoning, and allowing communication facilities, including cell towers, as a c...
June 9, 1921 The new school and community tennis court on the McCormack property received the attention of a large number of workers Monday evening from 6:30 to 9. A great deal was done. Wrangell autos helped the good work along and hauled sand and gravel from the beach to a spot near the school. Everybody interested, from little Lawrence Crawford and Herbert Bjorge with a tin cup and a small pail, respectively, to the mayor, worked. Boys from the primary grades mingled with those from the upper and high school classes. Before long, Wrangell...
Friends, family and community members came out to City Park and the Wrangell Mariners' Memorial last Saturday evening for a Celebration of Life for Sig and Helen Decker, who died July 27 in a car accident in Petersburg. People were invited to a potluck at the park to enjoy friendship and music, and to share stories about the Deckers. Later in the evening, people moved to the nearby Mariners' Memorial (above), followed by the scattering of Sig and Helen's ashes....
In an effort to reduce waste and provide good soil for gardens, the Wrangell Cooperative Association is encouraging people to bring their compostable waste to the community garden, out by City Park. The WCA took over the composting project about a year ago, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic things got put on hold. “In 2018 Chris Hatton (of WCA) completed a solid waste assessment, and in those findings she discovered that 40% of our waste that is being shipped is compostable,” said Kim Wickman, with the WCA. “We had big plans, then COVID happe...
Wrangell children need an OCS worker stationed here Because it often takes days for the state Office of Children's Services to send an investigator to Wrangell, I was forced to send a frightened kid to a home where she had recently experienced serious domestic violence. I cannot describe my anger and frustration. I cannot describe my anger and frustration at hearing a student say, "Why bother? They never do anything," when I told her I was referring her situation to OCS. I cannot describe the an...
It looks like Wrangell is dialing up for a fight over a cell tower proposed for construction next door to piles of old tires, city electrical equipment and the transfer site for garbage before it is hauled out of town. The tower would be at least a couple hundred feet from the nearest homes. However, homeowners in the vicinity of the city-owned property on the north end of the island are smart to question whether the tower's radio signals pose any safety risks. People have a right to a healthy...
Wrangell has several multimillion-dollar problems: Replacing the water reservoir dams and repairing the piping; rebuilding the water-damaged public safety building; and reusing or demolishing the old hospital building. Even with the highest sales tax rate in the state, even if tourist spending fully recovers next year and the economy grows, there wouldn't be enough sales tax receipts coming in to cover the costs of even one of the projects, let alone all three essential community needs. Sure,...
The borough again this summer will use federal funds to cover the cost of COVID-19 testing for Sea Level Seafoods employees. The borough assembly voted 4-3 at its May 25 meeting to appropriate up to $70,000 in federal funds to pay for testing this year. Testing last year cost the borough about $22,000. “Administration is requesting an amount more than triple last year’s expenditure because it is our understanding Sea Level would like to institute a far more robust testing regime than last year,” Borough Manager Lisa Von Bargen briefed the assem...
For the third year in a row, the borough will provide $1.3 million in funding for Wrangell schools, the largest spending category in the municipal budget. About $700,000 of the local contribution to next year’s school district budget will come from Wrangell’s general fund revenues of sales and property taxes, with about $600,000 in federal financial assistance directed to Wrangell under a U.S. Forest Service nationwide program of payments to rural communities. The borough assembly approved the $1.3 million appropriation without opposition May...
The 2021 Fourth of July royalty contest kicked off Monday evening. Wrangell's two candidates, sophomore Cassady Cowan (left) and senior Emma Martinsen, thanked the public for their support at a gathering under the downtown pavilion. The royalty contest is a longstanding Wrangell tradition, dating back to the 1950s. Candidates raise money through ticket sales to support Fourth of July events, and to set aside money for their own education. Martinsen will run a food booth in the downtown pavilion...
Setting the amount of this year's Permanent Fund dividend - and deciding on how to pay the cost - continues to hold up agreement on a state spending plan for the fiscal year that starts July 1. The Legislature has been in special session since May 20. The joint House-Senate conference committee that was appointed to settle budget differences has met only a few times, briefly reviewing non-controversial items, with a meeting expected sometime Wednesday. Most legislators have left Juneau to...
Ending a long hiatus of cruise ship visitors due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Wrangell received its first cruise ship of the season last Friday. The Kruzof Explorer, operated by Sitka-based Alaskan Dream Cruises, delivered about a dozen tourists to town for a day-long visit - the first ship to call on Wrangell since 2019. "We're having a great time with Alaskan Dream Cruises," said Susan Igdaloff, of Newhall, California, one of the visitors. "We're very fortunate we were able to stop in Wrangell."...
The state has paid a cash settlement to a second former employee who alleged her firing early in the administration of Gov. Mike Dunleavy was political, not based on merit or job performance. A former assistant public advocate for the state will receive $75,000 as part of a settlement in a case she brought against Dunleavy, a former chief of staff and the state that alleged wrongful firing. Kelly Parker agreed to drop her lawsuit as part of the agreement, signed last month, the Anchorage Daily News reported last Thursday. The agreement says...
Monday, May 24 Suspicious noises. Subpoena service. Agency assist: Alaska State Troopers. Illegal parking: Parking blocking roadway. Summons service. Driving complaint. Traffic stop: Verbal warning for expired plates. Tuesday, May 25 Criminal mischief. Wednesday, May 26 Noise complaint. Hazardous play. Agency assist: Alaska State Troopers. Stalking. Traffic stop: Citation for driving without a valid license. Suspicious circumstance. Trespassing. Thursday, May 27 Agency assist. Faulty equipment. Driving under the influence: Unfounded. Dog...
Petersburg defeated Wrangell in this year’s Ray Pederson Memorial Ryder Cup golf tournament between the neighboring communities. The Ryder Cup play used a best-ball and best-score format the first day, May 22, and a best-ball and individual-score format the second day, May 23, of the weekend tournament. The first day drew 20 golfers, with Petersburg winning 6-4. The visitors won the second day 13½ to 8½, with 16 golfers on the course. The annual tournament, sponsored by the Petersburg Golf Club, is a fundraiser for Wrangell’s Muskeg Meado...
Wrangell’s marijuana shop can now stay open to 10 p.m., a change from 6 p.m. The borough assembly amended the closing-time law at its May 25 meeting, effective the next day. The change in municipal code passed unanimously, and there was no public testimony against the ordinance. Kelsey Martinsen, owner of Happy Cannabis, said he may move to an 8 p.m. closing in June, then later extend to 10 p.m., though staying open later will depend on finding an employee to help at the shop. The 6 p.m. closing was imposed by the assembly in 2017, soon a...
More than five tons of genetically engineered Atlantic salmon are on their way to U.S. restaurants and food service outlets where customers will not be told what they’re eating. Federal labeling law “directs” companies to disclose genetically modified ingredients through use of a QR code, on-package wording or a symbol. Mandatory compliance takes effect in January 2022, but the rules don’t apply to restaurants or providers of meals away from home. The Associated Press reports thus far, the only customer to announce it is selling the salmon...
The 102-passenger National Geographic Orion, a Lindblad Expeditions vessel, arrived in Ketchikan on May 24 - without any passengers. The ship carried 110 crew members to receive their COVID-19 vaccinations. The Orion left Ketchikan on Monday. Acting Ketchikan Port and Harbors Director Mark Hilson said the idea to bring cruise ship crew to Ketchikan to receive their vaccine shots came up a couple of months ago in talks with the company's local agent. "They have a mitigation plan that keeps them...
A couple of geese make their way through City Park, past the stone pile, early last Saturday evening....
A former co-chair of the Alaska Federation of Natives, former board president of the Sealaska Corp. and a retired Democratic state legislator died last Friday at his home in Angoon. Albert Kookesh was 72. Kookesh was fighting prostate cancer. Alaska public radio reported that after being treated at a hospital, he made the decision to return to his home village on the coast of Admiralty Island. In remembrances posted online and shared on social media, he was praised for his work with Southeast Alaska’s regional Native corporation, his efforts t...
The Southeast Alaska Power Agency plans to begin an eight-day process July 1 of removing a damaged submarine electrical cable and replacing it with a new line between Woronkofski and Vank islands, SEAPA CEO Trey Acteson told the Petersburg borough assembly May 17. Crews will lay about 3.5 miles of new cable. The manufacturing and installation of the cable is estimated to cost about $13.4 million, Acteson said SEAPA board member Bob Lynn told the assembly at an earlier meeting that the regional power agency would likely need to raise its rates t...
TORONTO - Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Monday it's not an isolated incident that more than 200 children were found buried at a former residential school in British Columbia. Trudeau's comments come as Indigenous leaders are calling for an examination of every former residential school site - institutions that held children taken from families across the nation. Chief Rosanne Casimir of the Tk'emlups te Secwepemc First Nation in British Columbia said the remains of 215 children, some as...