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A federal appeals panel issued a last-second ruling June 21 that will allow this summer’s Southeast Alaska troll chinook salmon fishery to open as scheduled Saturday — reversing a lower court ruling that would have kept the $85 million industry off the water. “It’s a major victory,” Alaska Fish and Game Commissioner Doug Vincent-Lang said in a phone interview. “We can go fishing.” The panel, in a five-page ruling, said that the entities defending the fishery — the Alaska Trollers Association, the state of Alaska and the National Marine...
Snap on your goggles and squirm into your spandex because the community pool is preparing to reopen after its seven-month closure. The exact opening date is still to be determined, but Parks and Recreation staff are aiming to welcome swimmers back to the facility in the first half of July. After the pool closed for maintenance Nov. 28, department staff discovered a leak near its center. The monthslong process of hiring a contractor and performing repairs extended the closure. Last week,...
Though the governor vetoed half of the legislatively approved increase in state funding for public schools, it will still be enough to erase the deficit in the budget adopted by the Wrangell school board last week. The budget for the 2023-2024 school year shows a $121,717 deficit, which is covered by drawing on savings, but the district will revise its spending plan in the fall to include the additional state aid and after it has enrollment numbers. The district expects to receive a one-time increase of about $212,500 in state funding for next...
Commercial fishermen were a little surprised on Father's Day, June 18, when the Tongass eased alongside them, offering pizzas for sale. Nic Martin, owner of Nic's Pizza, and Brian Schwartz, pilot of the Tongass, took an idea Schwartz had for delivering pizzas to fishing vessels and sailed off with it. The two baked six pizzas, sold five and "ate one for quality control," Schwartz said. They covered 30 miles on 18 gallons of fuel, going out as far as Anita Bay. Schwartz originally had the idea...
June 28, 1923 Wrangell now has an express office, having been duly established here this week with the mercantile firm of Walker & Russell as agents. For some time there has been an urgent need for an express office to take care of the town’s growing business, especially in the shipment of furs. Recently, the Wrangell Commercial Club took up the matter. A cablegram was sent to the American Railway Express company pointing out the urgent need for an express office here, and recommending the appointment of Walker & Russell as local agents. Two d...
From towering Christmas trees to black light Halloween parties, Wrangell goes hard for the holidays. With the community's most spectacular celebration - the Fourth of July - just around the corner, event organizers are putting the finishing touches on the event schedule. Here are some of the highlights that attendees can look forward to: The festivities kick off with a picnic and pie-eating contest at 1 p.m. Saturday outside the Irene Ingle Public Library. On Sunday, kids will fish at City Dock...
Kem Haggard, pastor at Harbor Light Church, will lead the parade as grand marshal at this year's Fourth of July celebration. He received this honor for his extensive volunteer and fundraising work, along with his ability to connect with and inspire Wrangell's youth during his 23 years at Harbor Light. After two brief summer visits to the island starting in 1999, Haggard told his wife, Susan, that he felt drawn to accept a pastor position in Wrangell. Moving across the country from Texas to an...
More than two months ago, Gov. Mike Dunleavy told legislators he would introduce a state sales tax as part of a long-term, budget-balancing fiscal plan. Something is needed to end the annual budget battles that have dominated Alaska politics for the past three decades. A sales tax is not the best option, but at least the governor appeared ready to participate. However, he never introduced the bill, nor did he ever say why he failed to do what he said he would do. Later that same month, the governor said he would likely call lawmakers into...
Actually, more than just knowing the news, you need to know more of the news than your neighbors. And if you do, you can win. But this isn’t about gossip. It’s about the news that affects your community, news that tells you what your elected officials are doing and what’s happening around town and the state. News based on facts, not rumors, which you can use to make decisions. News about the good work of your neighbors. It’s what the Sentinel provides every week. The staff works hard to gain and keep your trust, looking forward to hundred...
In past years, organizers of Fourth of July street games and other competitions handed out cash prizes to winners. After some temporary confusion about whether such prizes would be allowed this year or replaced with ribbons, trophies or other non-cash alternatives, the chamber of commerce has decided to stick with tradition — cash prizes will be permitted during the Fourth celebration. At its June 19 meeting, the chamber board heard public comment on the issue, then voted unanimously in favor of allowing cash prizes. The short-lived ban on c...
The Alaska Marine Highway System, which five months ago embarked on improving its hiring process to address chronic crew shortages, is unable to say how many new employees it has hired since then. The push started after a consultant’s report in January determined the state had hired just four out of 250 job applicants over the prior 12 months. The crew shortage forced the state to pull the Kennicott, the second-largest operable ship in the fleet, off this summer’s schedule and keep it tied up at the dock in Ketchikan. Asked how many new emp...
The road along Pats Lake was lined with parked vehicles on Saturday, June 24, as parents, grandparents and kids of various ages turned out for Family Fishing Day. Staff from the U.S. Forest Service, Alaska Department of Fish and Game and Wrangell Cooperative Association Earth Branch (Tl'átḵ) ran lure-making stations, painting booths, a scavenger hunt and other fun activities for the young and young-at-heart. And there was fishing. Shirley Wimberley, the scoutmaster for Boy Scout Troop 40, he...
Each of local artist Scott Glaze's wooden creations - geometric cutting boards, engraved wall hangings, children's toys, holiday décor - is a labor of love. The owner of Papa's Cabins and Gifts spends countless hours handcrafting one-of-a-kind pieces for customers. After he was laid off from his job at the Wrangell Medical Center at the beginning of the pandemic, Glaze spent his newfound free time making a miniature log cabin out of cedar for his grandchildren. The cabin featured over 200...
A total of just 15 salmon were caught and entered the past two weekends for Wrangell’s 68th King Salmon Derby. The top three adult entries won cash prizes, as did the top three kids ages 12 and under. In the adult category, John Fernen caught the biggest king at Point Ward on June 25, weighing in at 42.5 pounds. Second place went to Mark Soeteber with his 30-pound king, caught at Burg Bay on June 17. Neal Soeteber landed in third place with a 27-pound king caught at Kindergarten Bay on June 25. The prizes were $800, $400 and $200, r...
Delayed a day last week for COVID testing after leaving Juneau, the Polynesian Voyaging Society vessel Hōkūle’a was scheduled to arrive in Wrangell for a traditional Tlingit welcome and community reception on Tuesday, June 27. Wrangell Cooperative Association and clan leaders planned to take the visitors on Wednesday aboard charter boats to see Old Town, WCA Tribal Administrator Esther Aaltséen Reese said Monday. The original Tlingit village is about 13 miles south of downtown. The 65-foot, twin-hulled sailing craft left Juneau on June 18,...
Southeast legislators said they were disappointed that Gov. Mike Dunleavy vetoed half of the one-time increase in state money for K-12 public schools, but will try again next year to address education funding needs. “We heard from school districts around the state that needed the money,” Ketchikan Rep. Dan Ortiz said June 21. The $175 million increase that legislators appropriated for the 2023-2024 school year was a compromise between House and Senate members, Democrats, Republicans and independents, he explained. The money, which Dunleavy cut...
The Central Council of the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska is set to become the new owner of Juneau-based Alaska Seafood Co., the tribe’s president said. “We’re finalizing the deal right now and we will probably take ownership by the first of the month,” Richard Chalyee Éesh Peterson said Thursday, June 22, in a phone interview. The Alaska Seafood Co., established in 1987, is a seafood processor that sells Alaska salmon, black cod, halibut and salmon caviar including fresh, frozen, canned and smoked products. Its seafood can be found...
The cruise ship with about 1,000 passengers anchored off Nome, too big to squeeze into the city’s tiny port. Its well-heeled tourists had to shimmy into small boats for another ride to shore. It was 2016, and at the time, the cruise ship Serenity was the largest vessel ever to sail through the Northwest Passage. But as the Arctic sea ice relents under the pressures of global warming and opens shipping lanes across the top of the world, more tourists are venturing to Nome — a northwest Alaska destination known better for the Iditarod Trail Sle...
James Randolph Rinehart, 64, passed away April 23 after a prolonged illness in Yakima, Washington. James' remains will be returned to his immediate family in Alaska and a memorial is planned for a future date. "His family appreciates all the kind words and memories shared about Jim. He will be missed by his family, friends and everyone who knew him. Many fond memories of Jim will remain with us," his family wrote. James was born on Jan. 19, 1959, to Pauline and Harry Lloyd Rinehart. He worked...
Yvonne Matney-Case passed away on June 3, 2023, in Wrangell. There will be a small service at a later date. Yvonne was born in Sacramento, California, on April 10, 1931, to Mary and Curt Curtis. She lived many years in Reno Nevada, before moving to Wrangell, where she met and married Bud Matney and together they owned and operated the NAPA auto and marine parts store. After Bud's passing, she married Theodore Case. "She loved her weekly outings with the lunch ladies and spending time with Carol...
Daisy Mae Lewis Callbreath passed away in Wrangell on May 29, 2023. No service is planned. The family will honor her passing privately. "Daisy spent her final days surrounded by family ones and passed away peacefully," her family wrote. Daisy was born July 4, 1933, and was the eldest child to Delphia and Fredrick Lewis. She was preceded in death by her stepbrother, Donald Lewis Sr.; sibling Fredrick Lewis; and daughter Elizabeth Callbreath. She is survived by her siblings Carol Ferguson...
A Ketchikan man agreed to plead guilty earlier this month to federal charges in conjunction with a long-running scheme to sell fake Alaska Native souvenirs manufactured in the Philippines. Travis Lee Macaset's plea deal follows several other guilty pleas this summer that stem from a scheme to sell mislabeled products out of two businesses in Ketchikan. "It occurs more often than we would like," said Jack Schmidt, the assistant U.S. Attorney who prosecuted the cases. With tourism rebounding from...
The state ferry Columbia, after a week in the shop to repair leaky pipes and its bow thrusters, was expected back at work starting Wednesday, June 28, with its regularly scheduled run from Ketchikan to Bellingham, Washington. The vessel was pulled from service on June 20, missing two southbound stops and one northbound stop in Wrangell. The 50-year-old Columbia left Haines that day — without any passengers — and headed straight for the Vigor shipyard in Ketchikan for repairs, canceling all stops along the way. “There’s a manifold down in the...
A federal grant of nearly $3 million over five years will enable Alaska Pacific University in Anchorage to vastly expand its nursing-education programs, the university announced. The grant, from the U.S. Department of Labor, was one of 25 given to public-private partnerships across the nation to expand nursing training, APU said. While the entire nation is struggling with nursing shortages, Alaska’s situation is particularly dire. A 2022 report by the Alaska Hospital and Healthcare Association found that Alaska has the nation’s lowest pre...
Angoon students led a procession of regalia-clad residents down the village's Front Street on June 19. Elders and family members looked on as they sang and drummed Tlingit songs in the afternoon sun, then joined in dances - the killer whale song, the dog salmon song and the Haida "tired paddler" song. Children spun on playground equipment above the sparkling water of Chatham Strait, and visitors recorded videos on their phones. It was a celebration of enduring culture - the students were...