Sorted by date Results 1 - 21 of 21
Candidacy declarations for Wrangell's Oct. 6 election closed at 4 p.m. Monday, Aug. 31. A variety of positions in city leadership were open for candidates this year. However, unless there are write-in candidates, not enough candidates announced their interest to potentially fill all of the open seats in this upcoming election. Mayor Steve Prysunka will be seeking re-election to his position this year. He was elected Mayor in 2018. He is running unopposed, pending any write-in candidates...
Wrangell High School has provided the Wrangell Sentinel a very tentative schedule for sporting events this season. The COVID-19 pandemic cut the basketball season short last year, and as the pandemic is still ongoing there is much uncertainty about what sports will look like this year. Trisa Rooney, activities director for Wrangell High School, emphasized in an email to the Sentinel that the dates and locations provided were all subject to change. Nothing has been set in stone yet, she said. Cro...
Two weeks ago the Wrangell Cooperative Association provided $86,000 to the Wrangell Volunteer Fire Department which, according to Tribal Administrator Esther Reese, is to help purchase new ambulance equipment. Some of the equipment includes a PowerCot, a PowerLoad system, and a cardiac monitor. "We're really happy to be able to contribute in a tangible way to something that is meaningful in our community, and helping keep our community members and our tribal members safe," she said. The donation...
Two members of the Wrangell Police Department made a four-day trip to Ketchikan last week for some training, according to city officials. The trip raised some questions, as the city has an ongoing moratorium for employees traveling outside of Wrangell during the COVID-19 pandemic. The trip was made with the full awareness of the borough assembly, it is reported, and an exception for the travel ban exists for public safety training. Chief Tom Radke said that Officers Connor Philips and Nick Pears...
The third annual Family Resilience Fair will take place later this month, according to Kay Larson. The fair, set up by local nonprofit BRAVE, is designed to bring together different organizations across Wrangell and beyond to help families discover resources that may be available to them. This year's fair will take place on Sept. 26, from 1 to 4 p.m., at the Nolan Center. There are some limitations with the fair this year, Larson said. With the COVID-19 pandemic ongoing, those participating in...
The Wrangell School Board held a special meeting Monday evening, Aug. 31, to review updated SMART Start plans for the upcoming school year. With the first day of school scheduled for Sept. 8, and the district planning for in-person classes, the SMART start plans are meant to act as a guide for how schools will respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. Under the "medium risk" level the schools will open with, staff and students will be required to wear face masks, non-instructional gathering of more...
The community of Wrangell currently has three active cases of COVID-19, as of Tuesday, Sept. 1. The three most recent cases were discovered through routine employee testing programs, according to press releases from the City and Borough of Wrangell. All three cases have been reported to be asymptomatic, as well. This brings the total number of cases of the virus in Wrangell up to 18. The first of the currently active cases was discovered last Friday, Aug. 21. The second case came on Friday,...
The official results for the Aug. 18 primary election have been released on the Alaska Division of Elections website. The primary election gives voters the opportunity to narrow down which candidates they would like to consider in the upcoming general election, later this year. Out of Wrangell’s 1,973 registered voters, 299 votes were cast in the primary. This is a turnout of 15.15 percent, according to the state website. Statewide, turnout for the primary election was 22.7 percent. Across the state, Dan Sullivan and Al Gross received the m...
Prior to their meeting Tuesday, Aug. 25, the Wrangell Borough Assembly held a workshop to go over several Capital Improvement Projects planned for FY 2021. The city has multiple projects lined up for the near future, across several departments. Last week’s workshop was to review these projects, and their estimated costs. “You approved a handful of items that were already in play, or had critical timelines in the operating budget, and those were attached in the agenda packet,” said Borough Manager Lisa Von Bargen. “What is before you tonight...
September 2, 1920 The Willson & Sylvester Mill of Wrangell has this week been cutting lumber for the construction of the first paper mill in Alaska. On Saturday a scow load of lumber will leave the mill dock for Speel river where the paper mill of the Alaska Pulp & Paper Company will be built. The contract for the first pulp wood to be cut in Alaska was let by the Alaska Pulp and Paper Company to Sawyer and Reynolds, loggers operating near Killisnoo. The company’s boats are now preparing to tow the booms to Speel river for delivery to the P...
August 24 Traffic Complaint. Traffic Stop: Jason Burk, 38, citation for speeding. Traffic Stop: Elizabeth Golding, 53, citation for speeding. Theft. Child Abuse. Welfare Check. August 25 Subpoena Service. Parking Complaint. August 26 Agency Assist: Office of Child Services. Dog Complaints. Subpoena Service. August 27 Disturbance: Domestic Violence, Civil Issue. Agency Assist: Harbor Dept. Agency Assist: Petersburg Police Dept. Disturbance: Domestic Violence. August 28 Suspicious Circumstance. Agency Assist: Hoonah P.D. Vehicle Unlock....
June 16: Corey Henderson was arraigned on charges of driving under the influence. He was released on his own recognizance. His request for a court-appointed lawyer was granted. A calendar call was scheduled for Sept. 15. Gary Hamley was arraigned on charges of violating conditions of release. He was released on a $250 cash performance bond. His request for a court-appointed lawyer was granted. A calendar call was scheduled for Sept. 15. June 30: Summons were issued for Anthony Guggenbickler to appear on July 14, on charges of assault. July 1: M...
Beginning on June 1st, small businesses were able to apply for AK CARES Act relief funding, which is Federal funds intended to help support local businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic. Since then, the Department of Commerce, Community, and Economic Development (DCCED) and AIDEA have had difficulties getting the money to applicants; of the $290 million in relief funds allocated by the Legislature in May, only a small percentage of those funds have been distributed to local businesses. In...
Over the past eighteen months, Alaska’s ferry system faced unprecedented challenges: a reduced budget, a strike, unanticipated mechanical and structural issues with five aging ships, and a global pandemic. This spring, as the pandemic hit, AMHS had four of those ships scheduled to enter service, a workable budget in place, and expected sufficient revenue to provide reliable ferry service throughout the year. Due to the dramatic decline in revenue as commerce all but stopped, the financial impacts on AMHS have been severe. Because ticket s...
Fred P. Thruston Sr., died of a heart attack at Wrangell Medical Center on May 26, 2020. An obituary will follow and a memorial service also at some point....
Colleen L. Hought, 64, died on August 16, 2020 in Eugene, Oregon. She was born on May 2, 1956 in Minneapolis, Minnesota to Lurine and Mac McGee. She grew up in Wrangell, Alaska. Dave Hought can be reached at 2374 E. Irwin, Eugene, OR 97402 The family plans to scatter her ashes in Alaska at a later date....
Alaska seafood processors are paying tens of millions of dollars extra to cover costs from the Covid pandemic, and most of it is coming out of pocket. Intrafish Media provides a first, in-depth look at how costs for providing protective gear like masks and gloves, testing thermometers, extra staff to handle sanitizing demands between work shifts, and modifying worker lines for social distancing are playing out in the nation’s seafood processing sector. At Bristol Bay, for example, where around 13,000 workers from outside Alaska come to work o...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) – Residents of a remote Alaska village scrambled just before midnight to help save the life of a child, jumping into their vehicles to light up a pitch-black runway as a medical transport plane circled overhead. People were running around in pajamas to help out, said Ida Nelson, who lives near the runway in the Southwest Alaska village of Igiugig. She had just gotten out of a steam bath herself when she heard the sound of the plane, and noticed that the runway lights weren’t on. She took her ATV to the runway a few hun...
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) – Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s administration has been ordered to change the language of the ballot summary for a proposed act that seeks to raise taxes on the oil industry. The Alaska Supreme Court upheld a ruling by Superior Court Judge William Morse, who found in June that Lt. Gov. Kevin Meyer did not provide an impartial summary of the measure as required by law, the Anchorage Daily News reported. The Fair Share Act is designed to make the tax filings of the state’s major oil producers “a matter of public record....