Articles from the September 14, 2017 edition


Sorted by date  Results 1 - 18 of 18

  • Legion remembers 9/11 victims with service project

    Dan Rudy|Sep 14, 2017

    The local American Legion unit held a day of service and remembrance over the weekend, dedicated to the September 11 attacks. The American Legion Auxiliary of Alaska Unit #6 was awarded a $1,000 grant this summer from the national organization, one of 50 such awards provided by the Corporation for National and Community Service. The funds would go toward projects across the country, held between September 8 and 13 in memory of those involved in the attacks of September 11, 2001. Nineteen men...

  • Borough assembly discusses grant usage, faith-based proclamations

    Dan Rudy|Sep 14, 2017

    At its regularly scheduled meeting Tuesday night, members of the City and Borough Assembly pondered different options for participating in the Community Development Block Grant program. In discussion notes, city economic development director Carol Rushmore explained grants are distributed statewide through a highly competitive application basis, based on an applying community’s income level. Wrangell has since 2015 been considered ineligible due to its population falling beneath the l...

  • The Way We Were

    Sep 14, 2017

    September 20, 1917: The “Rag Doll Party” given at the Rink last evening under the direction of Mrs. C.G. Burnet for the benefit of the Red Cross was largely attended, and was a success financially. The 22 little people taking part furnished an evening’s entertainment which for real amusement discounted anything their parents and the rest of us might have attempted before the footlights. It required no little effort to train the little ones to do their parts so well. At the close of the “doll party” Mrs. Burnet gave a reading. She received...

  • Local bar to celebrate decade of libation

    Dan Rudy|Sep 14, 2017

    One of Wrangell's watering holes will be celebrating its 10-year anniversary this weekend. Rayme's Bar owner Reme Privett had purchased the establishment – then the Brig Bar – back in 2007, reopening its doors on September 14. The Brig's longtime owner, Lawrence Bahovec, had been running the bar since 1962. Though he had just turned 90, Privett recounted Bahovec still worked in the bar six days a week. He was looking to get out of the business as Privett was hoping to get into it, and he app...

  • Police Report

    Sep 14, 2017

    Monday, September 4 Citizen assist : Alarm. Agency Assist. Subpoena Service. Intoxicated Person. Citizen assist: Vehicle unlocked. Tuesday, September 5 Agency Assist: Parks & Rec. Citizen Assist: Vehicle unlocked. Parking Complaint. Theft. Traffic Hazard. Suspicious Circumstance. Wednesday, September 6 Report of theft. Suspicious Activity. Gun shots: UTL Thursday, September 7 Paper Service. Friday, September 8 Suspicious Person. Agency Assist: TSA Agency Assist: DOC Driving Complaint: Speeding and reckless driving. Noise Complaint. Report of...

  • Meet the Candidates - Caitlin Cardinell

    Sep 14, 2017

    Caitlin Cardinell One of three candidates running for an unexpired two-year term on the Wrangell Public School Board. (Incumbent member Robert Rang and candidate David Wilson will be featured in next week's Sentinel.) Age: 27 About the candidate: "I'm originally from Minnesota, I've been living in Wrangell five years now, and I've held a variety of jobs throughout the community. I originally was working with Alaska Crossings, spent some time working up on the Stikine River, and now I'm currently...

  • Meet the Candidates - Jessica Rooney

    Sep 14, 2017

    Jessica Rooney Running unopposed for a three-year term on the Wrangell Public School Board Age: 36 About the candidate: "I moved here in 2002 from Florida, I married Jason Rooney and we have four children together, ages 14, 11, 8 and 5. I am currently a member of Wrangell Early Prevention Coalition and the Secondary Advisory Committee for the school. I have previously worked for the school district as an aide in the middle school office." Why do you want to serve on the school board? "I am...

  • 10-day diesel run to wrap up this Saturday afternoon

    Dan Rudy|Sep 14, 2017

    A diesel run powering Wrangell is expected to wrap up on Saturday, according to its electrical superintendent. Clay Hammer of Wrangell Municipal Light and Power explained the 11-day shutdown of the Tyee Lake hydroelectric facility was planned, in order to conduct annual maintenance on the lines. The main goal has been the replacement of 105 marker balls which make transmission lines visible to passing aircraft. That work, being undertaken by Southeast Alaska Power Agency, began on September 7....

  • Reflections

    Sep 14, 2017

    It is September 2017 and school has once again started. From my window in the Wrangell Senior Apartments I see the youngsters coming up the street to the elementary school; a rain coated brother looking less eager than his sister; here come two boys racing each other on their bikes and jumping off to greet one another. The big yellow school bus pulls up unloading its load. A little girl hurries to meet a friend, and a boy is sharing some toy from his backpack with a friend. Here comes the proud parent holding tight to a tiny hand while also...

  • Lease extension moves forward for new concrete at boatyard

    Dan Rudy|Sep 14, 2017

    At a rescheduled meeting of the Port Commission last Friday, members approved a request for an extension by a lease holder at the boatyard. Contractor Don Sorric requested the addition of three years to his current lease, which at the moment is due to expire July 31, 2019. He requires the extension for a bank loan, which would finance the addition of new concrete pads at his Superior Marine Services. "The bank has asked for more time on his loan than he has on his lease," commission chair Clay...

  • Lance Mearig named ADOT&PF Southcoast Region Director

    Sep 14, 2017

    (JUNEAU, Alaska) – Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities (ADOT&PF) Commissioner Marc Luiken has named Lance Mearig as the Southcoast Region Director. "Lance is precisely the leader we need in Southcoast Region," said Commissioner Luiken. "His professional passion is Alaska's coastal transportation infrastructure and he has long standing relationships in the communities he will be serving." Mearig has over 35 years of experience in transportation. He has most recently s...

  • Judge approves sale of Alaska's largest newspaper

    Sep 14, 2017

    ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — A federal bankruptcy judge on Monday approved the sale of Alaska’s largest newspaper for $1 million, saving the paper from folding, Judge Gary Spraker made his decision after hearing hours of testimony over the financial liabilities of the Alaska Dispatch News. In approving the sale, Spraker said it was the best option available — better than liquidation — despite his concerns over the fast pace of the process. The new owner of the Anchorage newspaper is the Binkley Co., a family owned firm in Fairbanks. Ryan Binkley...

  • Cross-country run in Wrangell muddy, but otherwise dry

    Dan Rudy|Sep 14, 2017

    Ten high school teams made it to Wrangell over the weekend, with over 200 students taking part in an invitational cross-country meet. Hosted by Wrangell High School, participating runners gathered at the 40 mph sign on Ishiyama Road early Saturday, the starting point for the five-kilometer course. Intermittent rain paused for the two races, which were split between men and women. Wrangell's route cycles twice along the paths of Muskeg Meadows Golf Course, a hilly, muddy trail which posed a chall...

  • Petersburg approves resolution to remove scrap metal waste

    Ben Muir|Sep 14, 2017

    PETERSBURG — The Borough Assembly on Tuesday unanimously approved a resolution supporting the Southeast Alaska Solid Waste Authority recommendation to participate in a regional scrap metal recycling system. The approval fast tracks a financial plan that will organize a barge to come to Petersburg and pick up any scrap metal waste the community wants to dispose of, said Karl Hagerman, the Public Works director. A five-year “master plan” agreement with Waste Management and SEASWA has formed in surrounding regions and Petersburg committed to it th...

  • Fish Factor: ​The catch of 213 million salmon has surpassed the forecast by nine million fish

    Laine Welch|Sep 14, 2017

    Alaska’s salmon season is nearly a wrap but fall remains as one of the fishing industry’s busiest times of the year. For salmon, the catch of 213 million has surpassed the forecast by nine million fish. Highpoints for this season are a statewide sockeye catch topping 50 million for the tenth time in history (37 million from Bristol Bay), and one of the best chum harvests ever at more than 22 million fish. The total 2017 salmon catches and values by Alaska region will be released by state fishery managers in November. Hundreds of boats are now f...

  • State of Alaska weighing options for conducting elections

    Sep 14, 2017

    JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — The state of Alaska is exploring options for conducting elections after 2018, as it is faced with an aging voting system and financial pressures amid an ongoing state budget deficit. A bipartisan working group established by Lt. Gov. Byron Mallott is examining the issue. Josie Bahnke, director of the state Division of Elections, said one option that has gotten attention is a hybrid system would include allowing for early, in-person voting and voting by mail. But she said discussions are preliminary and more research m...

  • Fishing guide forfeits boat after repeat violations

    Sep 14, 2017

    ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — The owner of a southeast Alaska fishing charter service has been ordered to stay out of boats in Alaska waters for one year after pleading guilty to repeat fishing violations. Alaska State Troopers say 75-year-old Stuart Merchant of Klawock pleaded guilty this week to three counts of violating halibut regulations and one count of falsifying sport fish charter logbooks. He was fined $13,000, with $8,000 suspended, plus $2,000 dollars for violating probation from a similar 2015 case. He will forfeit a 26-foot (8-meter) g...

  • Byford soil removal postponed until April

    Dan Rudy|Sep 14, 2017

    The state environmental regulator last week announced it would be postponing a planned monofill project on Wrangell Island until next year. In a press release issued September 7, the Department of Environmental Conservation announced it will hold off on construction of a monofill site on the island. The department is currently engaged in the cleanup for the former Byford site, a property south of Wrangell that had for several decades been used as a junkyard. The first phase of this project had...