Sorted by date Results 1 - 25 of 27
Wrangell’s half-dozen new COVID-19 cases July 15-27 are a small piece of a wave of infections spreading across Alaska, with more than 2,200 cases reported statewide during that same period. Most of the new cases are people who have not been vaccinated, state officials said. The hardest-hit communities have been Sitka, the Kenai Peninsula, Cordova, Anchorage, Fairbanks, the Matanuska-Susitna Borough and Juneau, though almost all of Alaska is at high alert this week based on rising case counts. There were 95 COVID patients in Alaska hospitals a...
The borough’s plans to subdivide the former Wrangell Institute Native boarding school property will wait until a thorough inspection of the site is conducted for cultural artifacts and remains. “We are working with both the Army Corps of Engineers and the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and working with the tribe (Wrangell Cooperative Association),” to ensure the property is searched “before any activity takes place,” Mayor Steve Prysunka said last week. “It is incredibly sensitive that we do it really well,” Prysunka said. “What I care the most a...
"Mostly what I do, when I'm not busy, is I mostly sit inside and ... just think about what I'm going to do," Jonah Hurst said. Jonah, 8 years old, is the young entrepreneur behind Jonah's Lobtail Lemonade, a lemonade stand he set up along the driveway at Panhandle Trailer Court. Jonah said the name came from the whales that swim around Wrangell Island, sometimes beating the top of the water with their tails. With his lemonade stand, he is making money and learning more about running a business....
The "Raven Story" stamp, designed by Juneau-based Rico Lanáat' Worl, a Tlingit and Athabascan artist, will have its official release Friday at the Sealaska Heritage Institute in Juneau....
The borough assembly Tuesday evening approved a lease amendment for a new cell tower at the Shoemaker Harbor, which the developer said will bring improved cell service to the island. Action on a second agreement to lease borough land for a new tower next to the landfill at the north end of the island was postponed to the assembly’s Aug. 10 meeting, waiting for a property appraisal. The Shoemaker tower will replace a shorter pole installed in 2007 near the parking lot. The new 125-foot-tall tower will be capable of providing improved cell s...
July 28, 1921 An offer of several hundred books for Wrangell was received from the Juneau library this week. The books are from the Gastineau mine, which closed. The Juneau library is too crowded for them and many are duplicates of books already on hand. They will be sorted at Juneau and those which are in bad condition will be discarded. The offer of the books was made to Wrangell because of the response here to the American Library Association’s call last year for help in the “Better Books” movement. Several of the local organizations and a...
Some of the key players in legislative efforts to reach a compromise on a long-term fiscal plan for the state — in addition to settling on an amount for this fall’s Permanent Fund dividend — say growing regional, political and economic differences, plus a large number of first-term legislators, make the effort harder. “To find a common ground means people have to give up something,” said Anchorage Sen. Natasha von Imhof. That compromise of spending versus revenues versus dividends has to add up to a solution that balances the checkbook...
The Sentinel on July 22 incorrectly reported that Baked for Breakfast plans to add something similar to “Diamond C hash browns” to its menu. The news story should have reported the dish would be similar to “Diamond C hash.” The Sentinel apologizes for not hashing out the difference before publication....
Salmon harvests are coming in slowly in the Wrangell-Petersburg area, according to Sea Level Seafoods and the state fisheries biologist out of Petersburg. Though it’s too early for a lot of specific numbers, both report catches have been lower than in previous seasons. “It’s going pretty slow,” said Nik Morozov, manager at Wrangell’s Sea Level plant. “We’re close to half of what we normally do.” Morozov said he has three tenders out right now, and had been assuming they would fill up and bring back loads of fish quickly, but that is not hap...
The list of escalating Alaska political divides is growing faster than skunk cabbage in a rainforest. And it smells just as bad. The line-up for the political fight scorecard seems endless: Democrats versus Republicans, liberals versus conservatives, rural versus urban, sportfishing versus commercial versus charter fishing, full-dividend advocates versus fiscal restraint, tax advocates versus budget cutters. There are those who believe religion belongs in government and others who believe God...
Just look at the numbers. More than 2,200 new cases of COVID-19 in Alaska over July 15-25. More than 200 active cases in Sitka alone last week, winning the top spot for the worst outbreak in the state. Almost 60 active cases in Cordova, a town of 2,800, resulting in the closure of a seafood processing plant. Juneau reported 44 new cases over the weekend, and more than 150 in the past two weeks. The city brought back restrictions to contain the spread of the more infectious Delta variant of the...
The Alaska Legislature already has been in session for almost six months this year and is scheduled for another special session on Aug. 2. Instead of arguing political ideology, let's concentrate on what is right and what is wrong, and focus on what is right for Alaska. The special session debates are focused on three issues: First, a long-term solution to our budget shortfall; second, an affordable level for the Permanent Fund dividend; and third, the governor's effort to pass a constitutional...
Sigrid Vanek, driftwood sculptor, "raises wildlife" on her Wrangell beachfront property. This summer, a curious bear made an appearance for Bearfest, the annual event now underway in town. For years, the life-size, captivating animals have delighted family members and neighbors, startled tour ship passengers, and amused visitors from around the world who ask permission to photograph the wooden zoo. Born and raised in Palmer, Vanek was introduced to Wrangell by Ken Lewis. Their annual Wrangell...
The U.S. Postal Service will officially release the "Raven Story" stamp at 11 a.m. Friday at the Sealaska Heritage Institute in Juneau. The stamp, designed by Juneau-based Rico Lanáat' Worl, a Tlingit and Athabascan artist, depicts Raven freeing the sun, stars and moon. The ceremony will be streamed live through the heritage institute's YouTube channel. The Postal Service said Antonio Alcalá, who served as art director on the project, reached out to Worl about creating the stamp after seeing h...
There's some new leadership at the Wrangell Chamber of Commerce, but the organization's mission is still the same: To promote and support local businesses. To do so, said the new executive director Britani Robbins, there are big but currently secret plans for the future. "I have lots of new ideas, but they're secret," she said. "I plan on having a fair amount more events following COVID. Everything's opening back up. When I was a kid Wrangell was all about events and community gatherings, and I...
The Della G, a Wrangell fishing vessel owned and operated by the Churchill family, was lost to a fire in Juneau on July 13. Nobody was on board the 32-foot boat at the time of the fire, according to news reports in Juneau. The Wrangell community has started to come together to help the Churchills. According to news reports, the Della G was in Gastineau Channel near the Juneau airport. Reports of the fire came in before midnight, but the response was delayed. “Initially unable to get through the wetlands to the fire from the airport side, Juneau...
The SouthEast Alaska Regional Health Consortium has joined the list of health care providers encouraging Alaskans to participate in the potentially money-saving special enrollment period for insurance offered under the Affordable Care Act (ACA). The latest round of federal aid for people hurt by the pandemic’s hit to the economy, the American Rescue Plan Act, includes “additional insurance subsidies and (ACA) plan options for individuals and families,” SEARHC explained in a prepared statement July 22. “During this one-time special enrollm...
Although the directional signs for each hole have not yet arrived, eager disc golf players are tossing their way through the 18-basket course at Muskeg Meadows. "People are playing, it's just not well marked yet," said Kristi Woodbury, board president for Muskeg Meadows Golf Course. After a couple of years of work, the baskets went in last fall, she said. The baskets were delayed by COVID-19. The manufacturing plant closed down at the start of the pandemic last March, pushing off delivery until...
Bella Ritchie, 12, and Ryder Ritchie, 10, operate a booth near City Dock, catering to visitors who want to take back a piece of Wrangell history. The Ritchie family creates custom jewelry using garnets dug up from the ledge on the mainland near the mouth of the Stikine River. The ledge has been mined since the 1800s to create jewelry and such, though it's been set aside for children to use the past 60 years. Tricia and Ray Corkran visited Wrangell on Monday aboard the Admiralty Dream, and...
Practice starts next week for the Wrangell High School swim team, which had its season cut short last year by pandemic restrictions. After a month of five-day-a-week practice, the team’s first swim meet is tentatively planned for the first weekend of September, in Ketchikan. And although the team has put 13 or 14 swimmers into the pool in past years, “this year I might have only eight swimmers,” said coach Jamie Roberts. Fewer students this coming school year is part of the reason, Roberts said. In addition, some swimmers also compete in cross...
Monday, July 19 Suspicious circumstance. Speeding complaint. Citizen assist. Fireworks complaint. Fireworks complaint. Tuesday, July 20 Agency assist: Ambulance. Motor vehicle accident. Dog complaint. Wednesday, July 21 Criminal mischief. Domestic disturbance. Thursday, July 22 Agency assist: Ambulance. Traffic stop: Citation issued for failure to stop at stop sign. Summons service. Agency assist: Ex-parte hold. Arrest: Violation conditions of release. Burglary: Unfounded. Friday, July 23 Fireworks: Disorderly conduct. Agency assist: Ex-parte....
Most people are unaware that the yarns and fabrics that make up our carpets, clothing, car seats, mattresses, even mop heads, are coated with chemicals and metals such as copper, silver and aluminum that act as fire retardants, odor preventors, antifungals and anti-microbials. Now, crab shells from Alaska are providing the same safeguards in a bio-friendly way. The metals and chemicals are being replaced by all-natural Tidal-Tex liquid treatments derived from chitosan molecules found in the exoskeletons of crab shells. The bio-shift stems from...
Alaska Airlines said it was not aware that a passenger who boarded Flight 73 in Sitka the morning of July 20 had tested positive for COVID-19 a day earlier “We would never allow someone to travel that is COVID-positive, knowing they were COVID-positive,” Alaska Airlines spokesman Tim Thompson said July 21. “Our priorities are for the safety of staff and employees.” State public health Denise Ewing said a visitor from outside Alaska who was in Sitka on vacation tested positive for COVID-19 on July 19 and was provided test results, includi...
It’s funny how life works out sometimes — how people often are in the right spot, at the right moment. Danielle Wakefield, the assistant coach for the Nunaka Valley Little League softball team from Anchorage, was in Ketchikan for the Junior Division state softball tournament last week. And it was shortly after her plane landed on July 15 at the Ketchikan airport that she realized the diamond from her ring was missing. The diamond has special meaning, as it’s the only thing Wakefield has from her late father. “I had nothing else from him,” she s...
JUNEAU (AP) - The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced plans Monday to review whether the Southeast Alaska wolf population merits Endangered Species Act protections. In 2016, the Fish and Wildlife Service determined the wolf did not warrant such protections. The agency said Monday that a petition from conservation groups to protect the Alexander Archipelago wolf included information indicating protections may be warranted due to potential threats associated with logging, illegal and legal trapping and hunting, climate change impacts and...