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Wrangell would get pretty much the same service it has in recent years under the draft fall/winter state ferry schedule released last week — one stop in each direction per week, October through April. Fortunately, unlike the past two years, when the community endured almost a two-month span each fall without any ferry service, the draft schedule shows no interruptions in service. That assumes ships return to service from winter overhaul on schedule, which has been inconsistent, particularly as supply-chain issues delay the delivery of needed p...
Faced with a $474,000 reduction in state funding from last year, the Wrangell School District found several ways to cut the budget for the 2022-2023 school year. State funding is based on enrollment, and Wrangell’s count is down about 50 students — more than 15% — from before the pandemic. The district lost students to homeschooling and enrollment in correspondence schools in 2020. The district this year did not fill a vacant teaching position at the middle school, in addition to adopting a budget that assumes less spending on substitute teache...
Perhaps no school staff member has as much contact with parents and the public as do secretaries. And the public and parents have three new secretaries to get to know as the school year starts Thursday. As of last week, all three secretary positions at the elementary, middle and high school were filled after resignations at the end of last school year left the crucial roles open. Kendra McDougall, Jennifer Stewart and Marsha McCay have been hired as the secretaries of Evergreen Elementary, Stiki...
At noon on Sept. 30, business-minded residents will gather in the Nolan Center classroom to discuss the economic future of Wrangell. The chamber of commerce will host the economic forum, where speakers will present research on the challenges facing the Wrangell economy and discuss possible solutions. The chamber aims to create a space for engaged citizens and key players in the business community to exchange ideas. For Jeff Good, borough manager, the forum will be an opportunity to listen to the community and better understand its needs....
Aug. 24, 1922 One of the largest single shipments of lumber ever by the Willson & Sylvester Mill Co. was made Wednesday afternoon when Barge No. 29 of the Foss Launch & Tug Co. was towed away from the mill dock with almost half a million feet of lumber aboard. The cargo will be unloaded at Seattle and from there will be reshipped to the East Coast of the United States. The barge is 100 feet in length, 36 feet in width, and 10 feet in depth. Richard Suratt, the famous cinematographer of the North, was on hand with his machine and was busy turnin...
Every year, the Wrangell Cooperative Association reminds the community about the recycling and waste disposal options available in town. The initiative, said Kim Wickman, who coordinates the effort, is about "giving people the information they need to make better choices." Wickman believes that most people want to lessen their environmental impact, but don't always know how. "Making (recycling) simpler for people makes them a lot likelier to do it," explained Wickman. The WCA's 2022 disposal gui...
While the twinkling lights, bright colors and resounding explosions of the Fourth of July fireworks put the community in a celebratory mood last month, they have also put a dent in the pockets of the chamber of commerce. Though chamber Executive Director Brittani Robbins declined to release the exact amount of money she will need to raise before the chamber can afford next year’s fireworks, she called the sum “significant.” A variety of factors contributed to the chamber’s financial straits, including a lean year for royalty fundrai...
The Ketchikan City Council on Aug. 18 voted to adopt a seasonal sales tax rate structure. The current 4% rate within the city limits will increase to 5.5% from April 1 through Sept. 30, and will drop to 3% from Oct. 1 through March 31 each year. The change will take effect April 1, 2023. The city sales tax rate currently is 4% year-round, and is added to the Ketchikan Gateway Borough tax rate of 2.5% on each sale. According to a memo written by City Finance Director Michelle Johansen, the annual increase in revenue expected with the changes is...
ANCHORAGE (AP) — Two oil and gas companies have announced plans to invest $2.6 billion into developing a major oil field on Alaska’s North Slope. Australia-based Santos and Spain-based Repsol made the announcement, which was lauded by Alaska political leaders as positive news for state revenues and jobs. Santos, which has a 51% stake in the Pikka project, said Aug. 16 that its investment will be $1.3 billion. Santos last year acquired Oil Search of Papua New Guinea, which had been working for several years to advance the project. Santos, in...
The 2020 presidential election is over. Multiple judges in multiple federal and state courts have ruled multiple times against frivolous claims of voter fraud, conspiracy, computer hacking and criminal intent. Courts, prosecutors, most members of Congress, even former President Donald Trump’s attorney general all agreed there is no evidence that the election was stolen. No matter how much some want to believe otherwise, Joe Biden was legitimately elected president of the United States. Certainly, he could lose the job in 2024, but in an e...
People vote their pocketbook, or so the old adage says. And certainly more so in this year of high inflation, painful gas prices at the pump and fears of a global recession. It’s understandable that Wrangell voters will think about their household finances when they select which candidates they support. In Alaska, particularly in the past few years, that support has gone to the candidates that promote loudly, promise passionately and pledge sincerely that they will deliver the largest Permanent Fund dividend to voters. OK, I get it. This y...
It is ironic and absurd to the point of tears. We are told by the 2016 Tongass National Forest Plan, the Biden administration through Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and, of course, by local and national environmental groups that there can be no timber harvest on 9.4 million acres of inventoried roadless areas in the Tongass. Why? To “protect” fish and wildlife, and to save tourists from seeing clearcuts. As it turns out, we need to petition the Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Forest Service to act decisively to pro...
When there's trouble in Wrangell, it doesn't take long for the community to show up and pitch in. Such was the case when vandalism was discovered at the Head Start school on Aug. 12. Staff was shocked at first to find broken equipment, toys and supplies scattered around and graffiti sprayed on support pillars. As soon as the community found out, people began to pitch in. "We don't need the kids growing up and thinking everybody is bad and ruining their things," said Katherine George-Byrd, co-own...
Shannon Lindley, left, gets registration assistance from Evergreen Elementary secretary Kendra McDougall, while high school secretary Marsha McCay and IT Director Bob Russell assist Eleanor Knecht during in-person registrations Aug. 17 at the high school commons. Lindley has a child in elementary school, one in middle school and one in high school this year. McCay estimated about 50 parents showed up for help with registration....
A line of parents and students stretched across the Wrangell Cooperative Association parking lot last Friday, waiting for the doors to open at 10 a.m. Some families arrived a half hour in advance to ensure that they would be among the first to enter the building. But it wasn't a rock concert or a new iPhone that drew this substantial queue downtown. They came for the free backpacks, filled with school supplies, that were being distributed by WCA. Before the beginning of each new school year,...
John Paul Feller Jr. passed into the "happy hunting grounds" on Aug. 10 in Wrangell after a hard battle with cancer, his family wrote. "He will be greatly missed." A celebration of life will be held at a later time. John was born on Dec. 29, 1948, to John Paul Feller Sr. and Carol Alice (James) Feller Brady in Wrangell. The oldest of five children, John was someone who everyone looked up to and was a friend to all, his family wrote. John started fishing with his dad at a young age and his love...
Ron Winters, 81, of Wrangell, passed away peacefully on Aug. 14 from complications of diabetes and heart disease. He was born in Astoria, Oregon, in 1940 and went to high school in Forest Grove. He served in the U.S. Air Force. He had been in Alaska for more than 50 years, living in Anchorage, Homer, Cordova and Wrangell. He worked on the North Slope as a welder for several years and owned his own machine and welding shop in Homer, where he met his wife. They spent 20 years owning, operating...
Aly Howell has patiently waited like a student watching the clock for recess. After eight years working on Prince of Wales Island, she has returned to Wrangell to teach. On Thursday, second graders at Evergreen Elementary will be greeted by their new teacher, who is settling in to help shape young minds and raise her family. Her journey to get here was nothing short of adventurous. Howell graduated from college in 2011 with a degree in Christian studies. Her intent was to become a youth pastor....
A change to the school district’s COVID-19 mitigation plan calls for a reduction in testing and an increased focus on students and staff staying “symptom-free.” During the school board meeting Aug. 15, Schools Superintendent Bill Burr detailed what language was removed, what was added and what was kept in the ever-evolving mitigation plan. The district and board review the plan on a regular basis to make necessary changes. The district adopted the test-to-stay protocol last school year, which required students and staff to be tested for COVID...
Election day went smoothly in Wrangell on Aug. 16 despite the transition to ranked-choice ballots. Voters interviewed left the polling place with a largely positive impression of the new system. This was the first election in Alaska with the new voting system, which allows voters to rank candidates in order of preference. The system, adopted by voters in a 2020 ballot initiative, is intended to reduce political polarization and negative campaigning, though critics argue that it could complicate the voting process unnecessarily. Alaska is one...
Patty Gilbert, who serves on the borough assembly and previously served on the school board, has filed her candidacy papers to run for mayor in the Oct. 4 municipal election. Steve Prysunka, in his sixth year as Wrangell mayor, has decided not to seek another term. Gilbert currently serves as vice-mayor on the assembly. Her term ends in October. She served on the school board 2019-2021, and served on the borough assembly 2016-2019. The deadline to file for municipal office is 4 p.m. Aug. 31 at City Hall. In addition to the mayor’s job, two b...
As election day results came in late night Aug. 16 and into early the next morning, Alaska’s senior U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski’s slight lead over Trump-backed Republican challenger Kelly Tshibaka widened. By the afternoon of Aug. 17, with 395 of 402 precincts reporting, the trend continued and Murkowski was ahead 68,800 to 61,994. Democratic Party-endorsed candidate Patricia Chesbro held the third spot with just over 6% of the votes, at 9,620, and self-proclaimed “hard right” Republican Buzz Kelley rounded out the final four with 2.22%, or 3,45...
Democrat Mary Peltola is leading Alaska's special election for U.S. House, but the state's new ranked-choice voting system may leave Republican candidate and former governor Sarah Palin the ultimate winner. As of Aug. 17, with 395 of 402 precincts reporting, Peltola had earned 58,689 (38%) first-choice votes in a race that will determine who fills Alaska's lone U.S. House seat until January, completing the term left unfinished by the death of Congressman Don Young earlier this year. Palin...
Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy received nearly twice as many votes as his nearest rival in last week’s primary election for governor. The incumbent received 64,676 votes as of Aug, 17 to 34,248 for former Gov. Bill Walker, running as an independent, and 33,974 for former Anchorage Rep. Les Gara, running as a Democrat. Dunleavy won by an even larger margin in Wrangell, where his 256 votes in the Aug. 16 primary far exceeded the combined total of Walker, 126, and Gara, 63. It was the opposite 30 miles away in Petersburg, where Walker outpolled D...
Wrangell’s two state legislators both received more votes than their challengers in last week’s primary election. With only two candidates in each race, the Aug. 16 primary was a preview of the Nov. 8 general election, when voters again will choose between the same two candidates for the House and Senate seats. Under Alaska’s new elections system, the top vote-getters in the primary, regardless of political party, advance to the general election. Republican Sen. Bert Stedman, of Sitka, in his 19th year in the Legislature, outpolled his Repub...
