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Members of Wrangell’s Port Commission have set a timetable for themselves for reworking how lot leases at the boatyard are arranged. At their meeting Monday, commission chair Clay Hammer and harbormaster Greg Meissner said they are putting together an ordinance proposal to consider after the summer season winds down. In its drafting stages, it would reflect discussions held last year and feedback from various yard contractors. The conversation has been an ongoing one for a year and a half, and the commission had previously intended to settle t...
June 21, 1917: Homer Worden was pleasantly surprised by a party of his friends last Monday evening, the event being his eleventh birthday. The guests assembled during Homer’s absence and they presented him with many appropriate gifts on his arrival. At nine o’clock lunch, consisting of sandwiches, cookies, cake and chocolate, supplemented by ice cream, was appreciated. The smallest children departed at 9:30, while the others enjoyed games until a late hour. Those present were: Misses Dorothy and Marjorie Johnson, Catharine and Glen Matheson, Ma...
Wrangell continues to brace itself for summertime demand on its treated water, after bottlenecks in production last year led to a critical shortage. Public Works director Amber Al-Haddad has been keeping the Borough Assembly up to date on conditions at the treatment plant and its reservoirs, and so far reports have been on the positive side. Water in the two reservoirs is close to full, with the upper reservoir down by about two feet. The biggest worry is that the plant’s primary filtration system – consisting of four large bays of special san...
Monday, May 29 Found Property. Tuesday, May 30 Agency Assist. Citizen Assist: Officer requested at residence. Courtesy Transport. Wednesday, May 31 Report of Theft. MVA minor damage. Dog bite owner brought in certificate of vaccination. Citizen Assist: Person locked out of house. Thursday, June 1 Report of harassment. Report of lost phone: Phone found. Identity theft: Person brought in info stating they had their ID stolen. Traffic Stop: Verbal warning for driving habits. Friday, June 2 Citizen Assist: Vehicle unlock. Civil standby. Saturday,...
Wrangell’s extracurricular youth programs will be getting a boost beginning this summer with the help of local stores. Bobs’ IGA and City Market both will allow shoppers to conveniently donate spare change toward the public schools’ Booster Club activities. “It’s set up with both stores, where people come in and round up their purchase to the nearest dollar,” explained Wrangell secondary schools principal Bill Schwan. “The stores have both agreed that that money would go toward our booster activity accounts.” It is a hands-off approach to a f...
A big batch of old gillnets is being shipped south for reprocessing. The Indian Environmental General Assistance Program (IGAP) offices in Wrangell and Petersburg planned to send several container loads this week to a Seattle-area processor for reuse. In all, the work of preparing the nets for transport took about two weeks. Wrangell's IGAP hired on temporary laborers this spring to help move, clip and sort through the collected nets. Weed, cork and lead lines were removed from them, with some...
Wrangell Cooperative Association administrator Aaron Angerman announced his resignation from the position, finishing last week. Handling front office, project management and grant administration duties for the Tribe, Angerman served in the position since its creation in the spring of 2015. In leaving, he explained he and his family will remain in Wrangell, but will be taking time to focus on other projects. WCA Board president Richard Oliver said council members will need to address the future of the position, what its continued parameters...
The Alaska Marine Safety Education Association (AMSEA) is conducting a six-day Marine Safety Instructor Training (MSIT) at the Public Safety Training Academy in Sitka, September 19 to September 24. This is an intensive train-the-trainer course that prepares individuals to effectively teach cold-water survival procedures, use of marine safety equipment, and vessel safety drills. Topics covered during the course include preparation for emergencies, cold-water near drowning, hypothermia, cold-water survival, survival equipment, procedures and...
At last week's meeting of the Borough Assembly, members were asked to reconsider city ordinances banning the use and sale of a variety of explosive projectiles on and around the island. Resident Marilyn Mork came forward during the meeting's "persons to be heard" segment, and expressed an interest in allowing at least a temporary lightening of Chapter 9.12 in the Code, which deals with fireworks. Because of the Chamber of Commerce's announcement last month that the July 4 fireworks display is...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) – Research by a Juneau scientist has helped uncover a new species of flying squirrel. Allison Bidlack and her six-person team released their findings about what they dubbed the Humboldt’s flying squirrel in the May 30 issue of the Journal of Mammalogy, according to a news release from the Alaska Coastal Rainforest Center. The group determined the existence of the third species using satellite data and DNA samples that Bidlack took 20 years ago while working on her master’s degree at University of Alaska Fairbanks. Bidla...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) – A Douglas Island homeowner shot a brown bear after feeling threatened by the animal, Alaska wildlife officials said. The 725-pound brown bear was shot on May 25, said Ryan Scott, Alaska Department of Fish & Game wildlife regional supervisor. It is the first documented, or legal, killing of a brown bear in Douglas Island reported to the department since 1974, the Juneau Empire reported. “It’s a rare event to have them on Douglas or really in Juneau,’’ Scott said. “Over the years we’ve had reports of bear swimming adjacent t...
KETCHIKAN, Alaska (AP) – A Ketchikan hospital has announced it will not have a general surgeon on staff for a week. The PeaceHealth Ketchikan Medical Center’s only general surgeon will be out from 8 a.m. Monday through 8 a.m. June 12, the Ketchikan Daily News reported. The hospital is alerting other health care providers, cruise lines and outside facilities that typically recommend people to the hospital of the situation. Patients in need of a general surgical procedure such as appendectomy or perforated colon during that time period will be...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) – Ride-hailing services Uber and Lyft will soon be available for Juneau International Airport travelers. The governor is expected to sign a bill that would allow rideshare companies to operate in Alaska, and Juneau airport officials are getting ready, KTOO-FM reported. Under the legislation, companies such as Uber and Lyft could begin working in Alaska this month. The airport’s board approved a draft fee schedule this week. Under the draft, the rideshare companies would pay $100 a year to operate on airport property. The...
Ben Muir, 22, joins the Petersburg Pilot and the Wrangell Sentinel staff this week and assumes the position of news reporter. Muir graduated from Michigan State University in May with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism and a minor in Anthropology. He was the Sex and Health Editor for The Big Green, an online student publication that covers news and culture stories at Michigan State University. He completed an internship at The Olympian, a daily newspaper in Olympia, Washington in the...
Home grown shellfish and kelp are gaining momentum in Alaska, spurred on by growing markets and the steadfast push by Governor Walker’s visionary mariculture task force. Applications for more than 1,000 acres of oyster and kelp farms were filed with the Department of Natural Resources by the April 30 deadline, far more than usual. Fifteen are for new farms in the Southeast, Southcentral and Westward regions of which seven plan to grow kelp exclusively. Two farms at Klawok also are adding kelp to their current oyster growing operations. ...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) – With the budget and a plan to address Alaska’s deficit unresolved, Gov. Bill Walker on Friday said he planned to propose a compromise package aimed at ending a legislative stalemate and averting a potential government shutdown. Walker announced his plans one day after notices were mailed to thousands of state employees warning of potential layoffs if a budget is not finalized by July 1, the start of the new fiscal year. In a statement, Walker said it had become clear to him following meetings with legislative leaders that...
School may be out for the summer, but the local library is still trying to keep books in students’ hands with its seasonal reading program. Beginning June 1, the Irene Ingle Public Library’s summertime program encourages kids from ninth grade on down to continue to read for fun and study by assigning point values to individual volumes. During the months of June and July, participants have a chance to take computerized tests on what they’ve read, with passing grades earning points toward a seasonal total, which in turn translates into ticke...
Candidates for Wrangell's annual Fourth of July Royalty Competition kicked off proceedings in an evening event at the Elks last week. Members of the Chamber of Commerce put together the May 31 presentation, catered by the lodge and which saw remarks from organizers and the competitors themselves, recent graduate Hailie Davis and incoming high school senior Charley Seddon. The contest is a big fundraiser held to support July 4 festivities and to benefit the youth who are involved. "It started as...
The Wrangell Police Department is investigating the reported thefts and damage of three vehicles over the course of three or four days. Two pickup trucks and a sedan are believed to be involved in the case, with one truck damaged, another ditched, and the car burnt to cinders. Chief Doug McCloskey explained the department has a suspect, but formal charges are yet to be filed. This person, left unidentified until charges are eventually brought, has not been taken into custody as of Wednesday...
After several days of serial car thefts around Wrangell a suspect is in custody at the police department. After Wrangell Police Department discovered three missing vehicles on Tuesday, more vehicles were taken Wednesday. “We had three or four more stolen last night,” Chief Doug McCloskey reported. Details on the chain of events are still forthcoming, but officers pursued their suspect through town. The individual at several points changed vehicles, damaging at least one in the process. Cur...
