Sorted by date Results 1 - 17 of 17
Wrangell’s new city manager sat in on her first meeting of the City and Borough Assembly Tuesday evening. Starting work last week, Lisa Von Bargen gave her first report to council members on the state of city departments. Offered the job back in April, the former Valdez economic director reported she has been getting to know the departments under her since her arrival. She has been getting together with staff at City Hall, the Harbor Department and Public Works this past week to visit sites. She further plans to meet with Parks and R...
Intermittent rains and wind on Saturday prompted Muskeg Meadows Golf Course to cancel one of its two days scheduled for the First Bank Golf Tournament. Twenty-six golfers from Wrangell and Petersburg still hit the links on a sunny Sunday morning for the best-ball, team play competition. Players vied for a number of prizes and for First Bank-related raffle items during the lunch to follow. Golfing with a handicap of 16, Eric Koding, Faye and Keene Kohrt, and Tyler Eagle took first place overall w...
August 2, 1917: At the last meeting of the Civic Improvement Club it was decided to purchase from Mrs. Minnie Rosenthal of Seattle the lot adjoining the school property on the southeast. This lot is to be used as a children’s playground, and will be deeded to the town. The price paid for the lot was $400. It has a frontage of 39 1/3 feet, and extends from Second Street back to Cassiar Street. The mere purchase of a lot for $400 is a small matter when considered solely was a business transaction. But this purchase of a playground for the s...
A new officer has joined Wrangell Police Department, bringing its staffing levels closer to optimal. Recently retired from the United States Coast Guard, Eric Wolf began work in Wrangell as an officer at the end of June. After 12 years of active service, he explained a medical condition he had developed prevented him from continuing as an aviation mechanical technician. Originally from Washington, he was drawn back to the northwest by an interest in law enforcement. Previously Wolf had worked for just over a year and a half as a reserve police...
Wrapping up a visit to Wrangell over the weekend, cruise ship The World was on its way to Petersburg late Monday when a medical emergency took precedence. Wrangell Fire Chief Tim Buness received a call from the local emergency dispatcher at around 8:15 p.m., relaying that the vessel required assistance. He contacted the United States Coast Guard about the situation. At 644 feet, The World is the largest private residential ship on earth. During its several-day stay in Wrangell it remained...
On July 15, 2017 Alaska Wildlife Troopers, Wrangell Post, cited Randy Scherer, age 64 of Arkansas, for making a false statement on a sport fishing license. Investigation revealed Scherer claimed to be an AK resident on his 2017 sport fishing license at time he did not meet Alaska residency requirements. Scherer was issued a $310 citation in the District Court at Wrangell....
Monday, July 17 Suspicious circumstance. Tuesday, July 18 Agency Assist: Harbor Department. Report of disturbance. Welfare check, all is ok. Wednesday, July 19 Citizen Assist: Unlock vehicle. Report of disturbance. Citizen Assist: Unlock vehicle. Thursday, July 20 Assault reported. Civil issue. Friday, July 21 Found item: Life jacket Citizen Assist: Unlock vehicle. Suspicious person reported. MVA: Both drivers exchanged information. Parking Complaint. Report of stolen property. Bear sighting reported near golf course. Agency Assist: Petersburg...
As the fisheries industry continues to expand and Wrangell’s Marine Service Center’s services demand increases, I believe Wrangell’s economy has nowhere to go but up. However, to accommodate this growth, the state must maintain their services in Wrangell. I am particularly concerned about the conservation of state jobs in Wrangell. Several years ago, Wrangell lost its social worker and its fisheries biologist. Now, the loss of the Wrangell trooper and the potential of reduced funding to the city jail weigh heavily, as Wrangell’s state jobs sl...
KODIAK, Alaska (AP) – The U.S. will conduct as soon as next weekend another test of a missile defense system meant to counter threats from North Korea. The launch from Alaska’s Kodiak Island is scheduled to occur at the Pacific Spaceport Complex-Alaska, according to a U.S. Coast Guard notice. Mariners are advised to remain clear of swaths of ocean between Kodiak Island and Hawaii through the weekend. U.S. Army soldiers are stationed temporarily at the launch complex for U.S. Missile Defense Agency testing of the Terminal High Altitude Area Def...
In a joint news release on Monday, House Speaker Bryce Edgmon (D-Dillingham) and Senate President Pete Kelly (R-Fairbanks) announced that the Alaska Legislature will call itself into another session in Juneau today at 11 a.m. The special session – the 30th Legislature’s third called for 2017 – follows extensive wrangling over the state’s fiscal deficit. A compromise operating budget was approved late last month and signed by Gov. Bill Walker on June 30. The $4.9 billion budget for the new fiscal year, which started July 1, came with a $2.5 bill...
A Wrangell student is currently in Anchorage getting a full month’s worth of science, math and engineering lessons. On July 8 future sophomore Tasha Massin left for Alaska Native Science & Engineering Program’s (ANSEP) five-week acceleration academy, one of two such sessions it holds each summer. She joins 138 students from 30 different communities around the state, to be immersed in a university setting while exploring opportunities in scientific, technological, engineering and mathematical (STEM) fields. “The goal of Acceleration Acade...
With activities for Alaska Bearfest 2017 already underway, running enthusiasts are gearing up for its finale on Sunday. This year’s Bearfest Marathon-1/2-5K will be featuring three separate but concurrently run events, with participants taking on either the five-kilometer (3.1 miles), 13.1-mile or 26.2-mile runs. The start time is at 8 a.m., outside the Nolan Center, but day-of registration opens up at 7 a.m. Becca Rice has been organizing this year’s event, which has been a component of Wrangell’s bear-related celebration for its past eight...
PETERSBURG – The ballot in October has five initiatives for Petersburg residents to vote on so far, including an amendment to the Charter, a tax break for business owners, off-road vehicles on public roads, a ban of fluoride and the development of the Scow Bay fishing yard. The change to the Petersburg Charter would allow the City of Kupreanof its own dock within the Petersburg Borough. All the docks on the island are owned by the state of Alaska, currently. But Kupreanof has passed ordinances that would allow it to maintain a dock. Now the Cha...
A state seafood industry think tank is seeking value-added products for competitive entry. Alaska Fisheries Development Foundation will be holding its call for product for the 2018 Alaska Symphony of Seafood on October 6. The annual competition searches for new products for Alaskan seafood, hoping to encourage innovation in the multibillion-dollar industry. AFDF executive director Julie Decker explained that when the competition first started a quarter century ago it focused exclusively on salmon, in three different categories. In the years...
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) – The U.S. Coast Guard racked up $311,000 in expenses searching for an Alaska man who faked his own death to avoid going to prison in a sexual assault case, according to federal prosecutors. An indictment released Thursday charges Ryan Meganack, a commercial fisherman and boat captain from Port Graham, with conspiracy and “false distress” for planting evidence that he had been lost at sea while he hid out at a camp in the woods near the fishing village. Meganack’s girlfriend, Ivy Rose Rodriguez, 25, faces the same ch...
PETERSBURG – Qualified voters in Petersburg will be asked to weigh-in on development of the Scow Bay fishing yard, and decide whether to authorize the Borough to put $500,000 down on the project, a fraction of the total cost but a concise statement that would turn the discussed expansion into a reality. Four members voted in favor and one against a decision to pass the spending question to voters, which asks if the city should use $500,000 of the Economic Fund --- a job-creation and economic development account --- to help build a small vessel...
As state lawmakers mull ways to update permitting laws to protect salmon habitat, a dual sweepstakes is using text messaging and social media as the means to keep more fishermen informed. “One of the things we’ve learned over the past two years is that most fishermen are getting almost all of their information on their phones,” said Lindsey Bloom, program manager for United Fishermen of Alaska’s Salmon Habitat Information Program (SHIP). “Since the start of this program we have heard from thousands of Alaska fishermen who say they care deep...