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Two weeks after the end of a public workers’ strike, a settlement may potentially be reached between the city and its employees. Unionized staff of the City and Borough of Wrangell on Monday voted to approve a package that would amend their current contract, potentially bringing to a close negotiations that have gone on for more than three years. Interim borough manager Carol Rushmore confirmed management at the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 1547 had forwarded the wage and benefits proposal, which would amend the contrac...
While Wrangell was preparing for its July 4 festivities last week, 17 miles away a fishing vessel had run aground in Stikine Strait. On the evening of July 3 the grounding of Deceptive C on some rocks was reported to the United States Coast Guard command center in Juneau. Cutter Bailey Barco was dispatched to the scene, confirming the vessel had run aground but reporting no injuries. Minimal sheening from three gallons of oily bilge water was present at the time, and the USCG worked with the...
It’s been a fairly good start to the summer for king salmon fishermen. The first opening of that troll season started on July 1, abruptly ending by emergency order just before midnight on July 4. The order was based on preliminary catch rate and effort data. “It looks like we did take the target harvest,” reported Grant Hagerman, ADFG’s region troll management biologist in Sitka. That target is 63,000 non-Alaska hatchery fish, as laid out by the Pacific Salmon Treaty signed with Canada. A total of approximately 26,000 Chinook and 550 landings h...
July 12, 1917: S.L. Hogue of the firm Hogue and Tyeten, Petersburg, was in Wrangell last week. Mr. Hogue stated that an enormous quantity of ice is now floating in the Wrangell Narrows and plenty of huge bergs were seen in Frederick Sound. The entrance to La Conte Bay is likewise blocked with floes. Possibly the whole face of the glacier is falling into the sea. It is thought that such a large amount of ice is due to the cold backward spring, but the peculiar action attributed to La Conte may be caused by something more than atmospheric...
An arrangement made between the city and a Juneau contractor has freed up a considerable amount of waste storage space. Working between June 27 and July 2, Channel Construction loaded one of its barges high with scrap metal – everything from automobiles and industrial waste to white goods and spent equipment. Due to a combination of transportation costs and low commodities prices, the borough has been accumulating such materials for some time without a means to remove them. It has since been w...
Monday, July 3 Traffic: Car in ditch. Traffic Stop: Verbal warning for driving habits. Found Property. Arrested Gary Hamley, 35, on charges of DUI resisting arrest and driving while license revoked. Citizen assist. Fireworks complaint. Tuesday, July 4 Traffic stop citation issued to David Randall Oliver for driving with expired registration. Found license plate. David Churchill age 20 charged with Minor ConsumingAlcohol. Criminal trespass. Criminal trespass. Agency assist: Fire department, strong diesel smell. Wednesday, July 5 Traffic stop:...
The Alaska Airlines Tournament was held last Saturday at Muskeg Meadows. There were 29 who participated. First place went to the team of Aaron Powell, Aaron Angerman, James Brean with a net score of 37 and a team handicap of 15. Second place went to the team of Doug Nelson, Ed Rilatos, Randy Littleton with a net score of 37 and a team handicap of 15. Third place went to the team of Eric Koding, Faye Kohrt, Keen Kohrt, Grover Mathis with a net score of 39 and a team handicap of 15. The straightest drive winner of an Alaska Airline Ticket was...
Just averting a state government shutdown, Gov. Bill Walker signed into law an operating budget for the new fiscal year, which began July 1. The budget follows extensive negotiations between the largely Democratic coalition-led House and Republican Senate, whose majorities each offered differing plans on how to address Alaska's multibillion-dollar spending deficit. "The operating budget was an example of compromise, and an example of both sides not giving in and not exactly getting what they...
In last week’s article on July 4 food, two food booths were mistakenly conflated. Operating at the dockside pavilion near the Stikine Inn over the extended weekend, “Tan’s Thai Food” was run by Tan McManus, friend Pond Ofsthus, and other helpers. The booth has been a feature of local festivities now for four years....
Towering over town as it does, Mount Dewey is just about impossible to miss while in Wrangell. The feature draws visitors about 400 feet up to its summit throughout the year, with a viewing platform there offering a unique view both of the town and of the surrounding islands. The quarter-mile boardwalk trail winding its way up to the platform also offers glimpses of the Back Channel, scattered muskegs and the industrial park. It makes for a short but active climb, and so has proven popular with...
A regional conservation group recently called attention to the prospective sale of a disused Canadian mine, and suggests the exchange could bode poorly for efforts to maintain water quality in transboundary rivers. The Tulsequah Chief zinc mine is across the Canadian border in British Columbia located along the Tulsequah River, a tributary of the Taku River. It has been out of use since 1957, and its critics contend it has since been a source of headache both for its past owners and for subsistence users along the Taku watershed it neighbors....
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) – Alaska’s marijuana industry has brought in more than $1 million in tax revenue since commercial sales began in October. Revenue passed the mark on June 30, which was the due date for Alaska cannabis growers to pay taxes collected in May, The Juneau Empire reported. The state’s May money pushed overall revenue to $1.2 million and was $272,600 – the highest of any single month since October. The Department of Revenue predicted earlier this year that the state would collect $2 million in the fiscal year that ended July 1....