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Gov. Mike Dunleavy used his veto power to thwart a legislative effort to boost the state ferry system budget. The governor cut almost $8.5 million from an overall appropriation of $190.7 million intended to cover the next 18 months of Alaska Marine Highway System operations. The veto scales back the budget closer to last year’s level on a 12-month basis and frustrates legislative attempts to restore some of the service cuts under the governor’s administration. This is the third budget Dunleavy has signed since he took office in December 201...
It sure seemed that people's spirits were higher for this year's Fourth of July celebration after more than 15 months of pandemic restrictions. That, and the good weather, helped make for an extra special fireworks show Saturday night. See all the photos and event results inside, including the centerspread pages....
Legislators are scheduled to return to Juneau next month and will try again to settle on an amount for this fall's Permanent Fund dividend after the governor vetoed the $525 PFD appropriated by lawmakers. The Legislature's budget writers had negotiated an $1,100 dividend, but the amount was tied to other items in the budget, and proponents of a bigger PFD objected to the amount and to the linking maneuver, denying their votes for sections of the spending bill that would have pulled additional...
After a long year of empty boat stalls and a diminished tourism industry, 2021 is motoring in the direction of normalcy for many Southeast communities, with several towns - Wrangell included - reporting an increase in yacht traffic. Wrangell saw only a dozen yachts in 2020, estimated Harbormaster Steve Miller, but already this year 18 or 19 have called on town as of July 2. Looking ahead, the months of July and August are the busiest for bear viewing at Anan Creek, the community's prime summer attraction. It is also a busy time of year for trip...
As of last week, employees, contractors and volunteers with the SouthEast Alaska Regional Health Consortium, which operates in Wrangell and 18 other communities, must show proof of vaccination against COVID-19 or risk losing their jobs or access to the facilities. Exceptions will be allowed for staff who are pregnant or breastfeeding, have a history of anaphylaxis or allergy to the vaccine, or “persons whose sincere religious observances and practices related to life, purpose or death oppose vaccines,” according to the policy. “Do...
July 7, 1921 In spite of threatening rain clouds and a chill in the air that felt like early spring instead of mid-summer, the Fourth of July celebration was a big success. The street sports took place following at the noon hour and went off without a hitch. The pole vaulting, high jumps and the slim horse contest were of special interest, although the crowd filled each number of the sport program with the closest attention. The rain began a while before the baseball game was called at the ball grounds and interfered somewhat with the...
“Last year, we went Bearfest Lite,” said Sylvia Ettefagh, organizer of Wrangell’s annual summer festival. “It is back to Bearfest Full,” she said of this year’s event, which is less three weeks away. Bearfest 2021 opens July 28 and runs through Aug. 1, with almost two dozen activities already listed on the website last week. “We’ll be adding more,” Ettefagh said. With the loosening of COVID-19 restrictions, organizers hope to return to the 300 or so participants who joined in, signed up, listened, watched, learned, danced, ate and golfed in...
The governor’s office got it wrong when it referred to $400,000 in state funding for the Alaska Legal Services Corp. as a subsidy. Guess they had to come up with a catchy explanation of why Gov. Mike Dunleavy vetoed the long-standing state help for the program which provides legal assistance for low-income Alaskans. Calling it a “subsidy” sounds like an attempt to diminish its value, tossing it into the tainted pork barrel of boondoggles that fiscal conservatives say must end. They are right about that. Subsidies with little or no benef...
Alaskans have taken a collective leap over the embankment of common sense. We didn’t merely leave the Church of Wisdom, we turned to the false political god of the Church of the Permanent Fund Dividend to lead us to the promised land. Think about what Moses would do. Instead of leaving the Israelites on their own for 40 days during his hike up Mount Sinai to retrieve the Ten Commandments, what if he had climbed Denali and returned with a long-term fiscal plan for Alaska, only to see the people praying to the golden letters “PFD.” He’d probably...
Thank you for the welcome I would like to thank the people of Wrangell for such a wonderful Fourth of July weekend. My parents Earl and Mary Benitz, who used to live on Farm Island, had such a fun time. Though they couldn’t remember some of your names, they knew your faces. Your warm embraces and handshakes were so good for them. A big thank you to my cousin Brenda Schwartz-Yeager and her family for getting us there and taking such good care of us. Alan Benitz Republic, Washington...
Breanne Pearson pinned the sergeant bars on her husband, Nicholas Pearson, in a small ceremony at the June 22 borough assembly meeting. Pearson has nine years of experience in law enforcement, and has been with the Wrangell Police Department since 2018....
Legislative efforts to restore an Office of Children’s Services caseworker in Wrangell and fund a commercial fisheries staffer in town survived the governor’s budget vetoes. Wrangell lost its Department of Fish and Game position last year due to the governor’s budget cuts, and has been without a children’s services caseworker for several years. The borough and school district both had spoken in support of restoring the caseworker job in town, with the borough offering to provide free rent and help with the salary to entice state funding. Though...
"How long it's been going? Since I was a 3 year old, I think," said Jamie Stough, 38, one of the volunteers running the Art Clark Scrap Fish Derby. "My parents started it. They did it as a tribute to Art Clark, the old carver in town, and since then we've been doing it. My family was finally going to give it away to somebody else this year and I was like, 'Nope! I'm taking it.'" The derby was held off of the City Dock on July 2. Kids ages 6 to 13 were invited to come out, throw a line off the...
The Fourth of July is a fun time for all ages in Wrangell, even for those still learning how to walk. Sunday's festivities included toddler games on the City Hall lawn. Candy was thrown around the lawn for the kids to race to pick up, seeing who could get the most. The results were: Babies not yet crawling: Saydee Bartlett Babies not yet walking: Tylon Grant Girls not yet 2: 1st place, Ember Rae 2nd place, Emilee Stewart 3rd place, Leah Comstock Honorable mentions: Kinsley Garvey and Aeralynn...
Just like so many other events returned to Wrangell’s Fourth of July this year, the Chuck Oliver Logging Show was back after taking a COVID-19 year off. Oliver started the show in 1975, and he and his family members ran the event off and on for many years, featuring logging skills and tools common in the timber industry, a callback to the days when Wrangell was a logging town. Randy Oliver, Chuck’s son, retired in 2019 after the 45th logging show, and Tom Roland and his crew of volunteers too...
Robert Cross take off for the biking segment of the Tongass ToughMan Triathlon last Saturday, shortly after completing a 1.2-mile swim with a time of 28:23....
Though vandalism of park facilities is all too frequent, it doesn’t mean staff shrugs off the damage. “Part of this is what we expect, although our hope is not to be dealing with vandalism,” said Kate Thomas, director of the borough’s parks and recreation department. “It does get worse in the summer,” consuming staff time and repair efforts. Though 99% of people are respectful, enough are not that it is a frequent challenge for staff, Thomas said last week. Vandalism has included trash cans dumped on the floor at public restrooms; toilet pape...
It’s not like old times of 1.3 million cruise ship visitors to Southeast Alaska, but it’s the start of the best it’s going to be this summer. The first large cruise ship to stop at an Alaska port since 2019 is scheduled to tie up in Ketchikan on Friday, though Royal Caribbean’s Serenade of the Seas will not be anywhere close to its 2,476-passenger capacity. It’s a trial voyage, at a roughly 10% passenger load, intended to test out COVID-19 protocols and show federal health regulators that the company can deal with any infections should th...
Wrangell’s king salmon derby, back after a three-year hiatus, closed June 30, ahead of the Fourth of July celebration. The biggest fish of the derby went to Trevor Acker, who caught a 36.9-pound king salmon near Found Island on June 17, netting a $3,000 first place award. While the number of derby participants was not available Tuesday, Stephanie Cook, one of the organizers, said there was a good turnout this year. “There were definitely more people who were excited about it.” Second place went to Randy Churchill, with a 36-pound catch on Ju...
The borough will be using roughly $46,000 from a federal grant for pink salmon disaster relief to build a new net repair float at Shoemaker Harbor. Harbormaster Steve Miller said that when the city accepted the funding, part of the agreement was that it had to be used in a way that would benefit Wrangell fishermen. A new net repair float has been needed for some time, he said. “The one that’s there is probably over 30 years old, so it’s kind of outlived its life,” Miller said. Bids are due today for furnishing a one-piece steel floatin...
Following up on its spring competition, the Wrangell Convention and Visitor Bureau is holding a summer “Best of Wrangell” photo contest. The contests are part of the bureau’s initiative to showcase “all of the activities and adventure to be found on and around Wrangell Island,” according to its website. The visitor bureau will use some of the contest photos and videos in its work to promote Wrangell. The contest opened July 1 and will run until the end of August, and is open to Wrangell locals and visitors. Participants are limited to 10 ent...
Monday, June 28 Agency assist: Museum. Agency assist: Alaska State Troopers. Traffic stop. Traffic stop. Tuesday, June 29 Attempted theft. Trespass. Paper service. Criminal mischief. Theft. Dog complaint. Bear complaint. Welfare check. Dog complaint. Wednesday, June 30 Motor vehicle accident: Deer hit by vehicle. Found property: Wallet returned to owner. Theft: Report of items taken from a boat. Traffic complaint: Truck ran two stop signs and backed into the street from Stikine Avenue. Agency assist: Debris in roadway; removed by officer....
Emma Martinsen and Cassady Cowan came close to setting a record for Fourth of July fundraising raffle ticket sales this year, totaling $114,564. They were not much behind the 2016 record of $126,408 and far exceeded the pandemic-crimped sales of 2020, while about doubling the number from 2019. "These girls are, along with the community, what makes this Fourth of July celebration possible," Stephanie Cook, with the Wrangell Chamber of Commerce, said at the coronation ceremony at the Nolan Center...
Among the many popular contests in Wrangell's Fourth of July celebration are the canoe races, with this year's winners from Saturday's competition as follows: Cork Capture, ages 11 to 14 Male: Caiden Scott and Sinon Elekdag Female: Johanna Sanford and Selah Purviance Co-ed: Gracie Richard and Dane Richard Short Sprint, ages 15 to 17 Alisha Armstrong and Ashleigh Loomis, tied with Braidyn and Bella Ritchie Long Sprint, ages 18 and up Male: Duane Ricker and Ryhan Groshong Female: Ashley Powers...