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The Wrangell School District plans to start classes Aug. 30 with face masks required when staff and students are indoors — same as last year. The district is working under its COVID-19 mitigation plan, released in June, and will adapt it as needed, said Bill Burr, who took over as schools superintendent July 1. Burr said he has met with borough officials and the community’s health care provider, the SouthEast Alaska Regional Health Consortium, “to try to get a cohesive plan all together.” Advance planning for how to respond as COVID case co...
Registration for the new school year will open online Wednesday. In-person registration will be offered 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Aug. 17 at the high school gym. Classes start Aug. 30. Teachers start back at work Aug. 25. Families registering their kids for school should not expect any big changes from last year, said Megan Powell, high school secretary. “It’s the same as last year, other than last year we didn’t do an in-person (registration) due to COVID,” she said. “It should be really easy for parents. I did it last year for my daughter and it wa...
Marina Fitzgerald gives Smokey a hug as the furry bruin made a special appearance at the public library Friday morning for the Bearfest festival's Read With a Ranger event. Kids and grown-ups were invited to the library's pavilion to meet Smokey and read stories about bears....
Face masks are going back on in several communities across Alaska as health officials continue urging people to get vaccinated against COVID-19. The state reported more than 1,000 new cases of the coronavirus Friday through Tuesday, and almost 4,000 since mid-July, as the numbers have climbed to high-alert levels not seen since last January. Meanwhile, vaccination rates have not changed much, reaching 58% of all eligible Alaskans age 12 and older with at least one dose as of Tuesday, up from 57% a week ago. Alaska’s senior U.S. senator, Lisa M...
The Wrangell Borough has returned to requiring COVID-19 testing of unvaccinated travelers — locals and visitors — who arrive from out of state. The requirement had expired in June. The assembly approved the immediate reinstatement of testing at its July 27 meeting. The requirement will remain in place through Sept. 30. “Identifying positive cases through testing upon arrival from outside the state is still one of the most effective ways to keep the community safe from the virus being brought into town,” Borough Manager Lisa Von Bargen wrote i...
Aug. 4, 1921 The Eagle boat, Bothwell, arrived from Craig on Thursday evening with Chief Deputy Collector of Customs Charles D. Garfield aboard. Mr. Garfield is making a tour of inspection of Southeast Alaska sub-ports and remained here until Saturday morning. On Friday afternoon, a baseball game between the sailors on the Bothwell and a local team was staged, in which the sailors won by a score of 14 to 12. The officers and men attended the dance given by the ladies of St. Philip’s Guild Friday evening at the hotel and two of the sailors a...
Heading out from the start in front of the Nolan Center, Patrick Howell (center, dark T-shirt, dark shorts, gray cap) took first place in the Bearfest marathon on Sunday with a time of 3:38:08. It was Howell's first marathon, according to information on the Bearfest Facebook page. The marathon, half-marathon and 5K drew 37 runners this year on a day the temperature reached 76 degrees. There was a tie for first place in the half-marathon: Chris Stuart and Dale McMurren both ran the course in a...
Candidacy filing is open for the municipal election, with nine seats on the ballot for borough assembly, port commission and school board — three seats each. The filing deadline is Aug. 31. The declaration of candidacy form is available weekdays at the borough clerk’s office at city hall. Candidates also need to submit a petition signed by at least 10 qualified voters in Wrangell. The assembly seats held by Terry Courson, David Powell and Bob Dalrymple will be on the Oct. 5 ballot, as will the port commission seats of Frank Roppel, Brian Mer...
Wrangell’s new schools superintendent wants to provide students as many choices as possible for learning, though he acknowledges it’s hard for the small district to provide in-person teaching for every subject students may want. Over time, that may mean more online classes, led by instructors outside Wrangell, said Bill Burr, who took over as schools superintendent on July 1, moving to Wrangell from the Delta/Greely School District in the Interior. Burr sees the potential for additional class subjects as a positive. “We want to give our student...
As if national campaigns haven't turned nasty enough in recent years, the billions of dollars at stake in political fundraising is making it worse. Yes, billions. Estimates are that spending nationwide on last year's presidential and congressional races totaled $14 billion - about double from four years earlier. That same $14 billion could have bought close to 100 school lunches for every student in America last year, kindergarten through high school senior. And that would have been a whole lot...
The filing period opened this week for nine seats on the borough assembly, school board and port commission. Which means it's time for people to think about what they want for the community's future and how they could help make it happen. The best candidates are those who are for something, not against. Those who have ideas, not grudges and gripes. There is probably no shortage of people against COVID-19 health rules, taxes, zoning restrictions, cell phone towers, school policies, dog control la...
Summer camp focused on learning about virtues The six-day Virtues Summer Camp held at the Community Center has come to a close, with 14 children participating locally. New ideas were explored in one-hour Zoom meetings as the group in Wrangell interacted with children in Palmer, Willow, Nenana, Valdez, Anchorage and Juneau. The dedicated efforts of more than 20 adults statewide helped make this a success. The afternoon in-person sessions included an outdoor break, light lunch, music, games and ar...
"I was trying to think of what to do while finishing up college virtually, here in Wrangell," Alex Angerman said. "My family and I were brainstorming, and it was actually my dad who thought of the idea to start making and selling dog treats." Angerman has been running her dog-treat bakery, Jessie's Pantry, out of her home since October 2020. She graduated with honors this past spring from Eastern Washington University, with a degree in urban and regional planning and a minor in geography. She...
As the COVID-19 pandemic winds through its second year, many aspects of normal life are returning, including the annual Rally for Cancer Care golf tournament this weekend in Wrangell. The rally is a big fundraising event put on by the WMC Foundation, established in 2006 to support the Wrangell Medical Center. Although the borough hospital has changed hands and SEARHC has its own charitable organizations, WMC Foundation President Patty Gilbert said the group continues to serve Wrangell and other small Southeast communities. The golf tournament...
Using federal pandemic relief funds, the state has paid more than $162,000 toward past-due and future rent and utility bills in Wrangell, part of $85.2 million paid out on behalf of tenants across Alaska since early April. Of the 99 Wrangell households that applied for the aid program, which closed to applications in March, payments have gone out for 49, with 41 still in processing and seven ineligible or withdrawn, Stacy Barnes, public affairs director at the Alaska Housing Finance Corp., said last week. Priority was given to catching up on de...
Progress on transitioning from moving Wrangell’s trash in open-top containers aboard barges to bales of shredded and compressed waste in closed containers is moving slower than expected due to equipment delivery delays, said Capital Facilities Director Amber Al-Haddad. “We can anticipate all the baler equipment to arrive by next week,” she said, adding that there are several other pieces that will take longer to arrive. Due to staffing and material shortages due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Al-Haddad said, manufacturers worldwide have exper...
The marine work is done and all that remains are the final shoreside connections and testing, and a new undersea power cable between Woronkofski and Vank islands will be ready to carry electricity. The cable repair barge that pulled up the broken line and laid down 3.5 miles of new cable has left, with the onshore work expected to take until about mid-August, Trey Acteson, chief executive officer of the Southeast Alaska Power Agency, said July 29. At its deepest, the crossing is about 700 feet,...
The Alaska Supreme Court has upheld the $20,000 fine imposed on a Metlakatla commercial fisherman who took coho salmon in 2014 in a closed area, without a state fisheries permit. In a 4-0 ruling, the justices rejected the appeal filed by the fisherman and the Metlakatla Indian Community, which had argued the state lacked jurisdiction in the waters around Alaska’s only Indian reserve. John Scudero Jr. was cited for three commercial fishing violations and fined $20,000 after a one-day trial in 2015. The U.S. Coast Guard in 2014 reported the v...
In an effort to stay within the sportfishing catch allocation, the state has ordered that nonresidents may not take king salmon anywhere in Southeast Alaska this month. The catch limit for residents will remain at generally one king in possession. Last week’s order took effect Sunday. The restriction on nonresident sportfishing probably will not mean too much to most visitors, said John Yeager, of Alaska Charters and Adventures. “I don’t think it’s a big surprise for anybody,” he said. The king run “is pretty well over.” From now into Septembe...
Clayton died suddenly in his home of 45+ years in Coffman Cove, Alaska. He was born in Santa Barbara, CA, and shortly after birth moved to Alaska when his mother, Marcella Smalley "Opheim," returned home. While not born in Alaska he was the essence of an Alaskan man, hardy, handy, possessing the inner strength and will to conquer whatever came his way. He was raised in a fishing family, spending summers at the family fish camp on Prince of Wales Island with his siblings and grandparents, Roy and...
Robert Johnson has made a living as a professional photographer for about 20 years, and found time again this year to share tips at a workshop as part of Wrangell's annual Bearfest. He advised people not to worry too much about the equipment they are using and to just find what they are comfortable with and what complements their creative process. Modern cellphones take amazing pictures, he said. It isn't necessary to have an expensive setup to get a good photo. Another piece of advice was to...
The borough received just one bid for the unused National Guard armory on Second Avenue. It had set an asking price of $110,000 for the 1,200-square-foot structure, and that was the amount offered by the only bidder: Tim Gardner, of Oregon. Bids closed last Friday. “It would have been nice for it to go up, but that’s OK,” Borough Clerk Kim Lane said of the minimum bid. The borough is waiting to receive Gardner’s final payment before signing the deed and officially transferring the property to him, Lane said.. The armory, built in 1982, sits on...
Monday, July 26 Dog complaint. Criminal mischief. Agency assist: Hoonah Police Department. Theft. Counterfeit money. Deer complaint. Tuesday, July 27 Suspicious circumstance. Noise complaint. Gunshots. Wednesday, July 28 Agency assist: Line crew/power outage. Agency assist: Fire Department. Citizen assist: Safekeeping. Agency assist: Hoonah Police Department. Found property: Returned to owner. Assault/criminal mischief: Charges pending. Thursday, July 29 Welfare check. Agency assist: Harbor Department. Traffic stop. Vehicle theft: Unfounded....
The Wrangell Sentinel in its July 29 issue misspelled the name of Brittani Robbins, the new executive director of the Wrangell Chamber of Commerce....
JUNEAU (AP) - Gov. Mike Dunleavy has delayed until Aug. 16 the start of the next special session of the Legislature, following a request by legislative leaders for more time to find a compromise on the state’s fiscal future. The special session had been set to begin Monday. Special sessions can last up to 30 days. The letter requesting that the governor postpone the session was signed by Senate President Peter Micciche, House Speaker Louise Stutes, Senate Minority Leader Tom Begich and House Minority Leader Cathy Tilton. The Republican and D...