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Eligible Alaskans will receive a $3,284 check, which includes the annual Permanent Fund dividend and a one-time energy relief payment, starting Sept. 20. Gov. Mike Dunleavy announced the exact amount of the payments during a live stream last Thursday at a grocery store in Palmer, highlighting, he said, why the check is needed to help Alaskans cope with high grocery bills and energy prices. This year’s check breaks down into a dividend amount of $2,622 per person and an energy relief payment of $662, the Dunleavy administration confirmed. A...
The Wrangell Medical Clinic expects to receive doses of the new COVID booster this week or next, according to Randi Yancey, medical office coordinator at the clinic. Both the Pfizer and Moderna boosters will be available once the shipment arrives. The bivalent booster provides an immune response that is “broadly protective” against COVID-19, the Delta variant, and the BA.4 and BA.5 lineages of the Omicron variant, according to a recent U.S. Food and Drug Administration press release. As the original coronavirus has mutated over time, the ori...
Issues with lingering supply chain disruptions that started with the COVID-19 pandemic have put hunters and gun enthusiasts in a bind. Though there are signs that ammunition shortages are on the decline, stores in Southeast - and nationwide - are still having trouble getting stocked up, leading shooters to go on the hunt for ammo or to create their own. Last month, Mike White, manager of Sentry Hardware, was still waiting on a $75,000 ammo order he had placed in January. He said incoming stock...
Young Alaskans seeking to break into commercial fishing face a lot of the same barriers that confront young farmers in the Lower 48 states, but they have far fewer resources to help overcome those barriers, according to newly published research. A study by Alaska experts with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration argues that the fishing industry and the communities that depend on fishing should have support similar to that offered to young farmers. "The sheer scale, depth, and...
Sept. 14, 1922 At the Wrangell Commercial Club weekly luncheon at the Wrangell Hotel last Monday, officers of the Civic Improvement Club were present as guests. A number of worthy projects were discussed, but the one which was taken most seriously was the proposal to utilize the unused patches of soil on Front Street for little flower gardens. It was proposed that the Commercial Club attend to the fencing of these small parcels of ground, and that the ladies of the Civic Improvement Club...
Now that in-person school is available, the Wrangell homeschool community has shrunk to roughly pre-pandemic levels, though community awareness of alternative education options has increased. Homeschool education, which has been growing steadily nationwide since the 1970s, experienced a massive popularity boost in 2020, as families who were dissatisfied with their children’s Zoom classes explored other possibilities. While the percentage of homeschooled children nationwide was holding steady at around 3% before the pandemic, that number rose t...
A dream that started eight years ago smoothly sailed into reality in August. Last month, Muddy Water Adventures introduced the newest addition to its fleet: A 38-foot-long catamaran dubbed Island Cat. The new boat is the realization of owner Zach Taylor's nearly decade-long dream. "About eight years ago, I got passed by two of these boats that are smaller than (my new one) in front of town," Taylor said. "I was slogging along in five-foot waves in a jet boat, and they passed me, and the (pilot)...
Alaskans this week will start receiving their $3,284 payout from the state treasury, a combination of a large Permanent Fund dividend ($2,622) and a one-time bonus ($662) to help people pay higher energy costs. The payment is almost triple the size of last year’s dividend. Two reasons for the generosity: This is an election year, and oil prices for the state fiscal year that ended June 30 were almost 70% higher than the previous year, generating more than $2 billion in additional dollars for the state general fund. That fund pays for schools, r...
Starting this week, I will be working as a policy adviser to Mary Peltola, Alaska’s newly elected congresswoman. I hadn’t planned on it, but she asked and I accepted. Fortunately, I saved my suits from when I worked in Washington, D.C., for the state and federal governments a decade ago. I’ll be advising Peltola on oil and gas and other energy issues, natural resources, tax, fiscal, transportation, federal agency issues and whatever else is on the work list for Alaska as she fills out the rest of the late Rep. Don Young’s House term until J...
As a conservative, I subscribe to the principle to leave alone things in government that are working well. We have enough important things that need to change, like high inflation, the Biden administration’s efforts to close down ANWR and reimpose the roadless rule on the Tongass. Alaska's original constitution is one of the things in government that is working well and should be left alone. Article XIII, Section 4 gives voters the opportunity every 10 years to vote on whether Alaska should hold a constitutional convention. Alaska voters h...
The first time I saw one of those red MAGA hats. a friend of mine was wearing it. I was surprised that a fellow honorably discharged vet would see America as no longer great. I chalked it up to his deep-seated hatred of Obama. We have watched the MAGA version of Republicanism, Americanism and patriotism for years, and finally we saw the MAGA version of democracy on Jan. 6, 2021, when they tried to overturn a free and fair election and install a fascist dictator. They failed but they came far too close for comfort. John Morse...
The blood-type diets and elaborate self-care routines of the wellness industry offer an individualized view of health, where sicknesses and cures begin and end within a single person’s body. However, for Meda DeWitt, Tlingit traditional healer, wellness is intrinsically linked to community. DeWitt began her presentation at the Sharing Our Knowledge conference in Wrangell last Friday with a discussion of intergenerational health. “Prolonged exposure to stress changes the physical, mental and spiritual aspects of a person,” she explained, and t...
When Steve Brown, researcher and master carver, looks at totem poles, he sees details: the quality of the formline design, the subtle curves around a jaw, lip or eyelid, the amount and placement of any weathering or decay, the tiny, intricate figures hiding behind a bear’s ear or sitting on its shoulder, and the composition’s place within the continuum of Tlingit, Haida and Tsimshian art history. Last Thursday, Brown visited Wrangell to present his research on the island’s totem poles as part of the Sharing Our Knowledge conference. His lectu...
Last Saturday at the Sharing Our Knowledge Conference, a “Break the Silence” panel discussion highlighted a wide range of perspectives on and experiences with Alaska Native boarding schools. Some panelists identified with the term “boarding school survivor;” others did not. Some lost their language while attending a church- or government-run institution; others did not. Even the act of recounting boarding school experiences, while healing for some, was exhausting for others. “We have different experiences. We’re different people,” sa...
Three years after adopting a pricing plan that adds a surcharge for passenger, vehicle and stateroom fares on popular sailings, the Alaska Marine Highway System has decided to suspend the program for its fall/winter schedule. The ferry system’s “dynamic pricing” added 5% to 50% to ticket prices, depending on the percentage of a ship’s capacity already booked — similar to airlines raising prices as flights fill up. The Alaska Department of Transportation announced the decision last Friday to suspend the surcharges. “Dynamic pricing works when...
It only took one week in mid-August to demolish five vessels that were impounded by the harbormaster over the course of 10 years. Typically, the number of impounded vessels to be destroyed and shipped out isn’t so high, but the demolition funds weren’t in the budget and the vessels had to wait, said Harbormaster Steve Miller. Since taking the helm two years ago, Miller has “been adding more and more money into our derelict vessel fund because also that money isn’t used for crushing boats and shipping them out,” he said. “It’s also in case...
Dylan Wyatt Kirschner, 26, passed away on Aug. 26 "after a brief but courageous battle with cancer," his family wrote. Dylan was born on Feb. 16, 1996, in Wrangell and moved to the Yakima, Washington, area with his parents and younger brother Dawson in 2001. Dylan was an avid video gamer and music lover who played the guitar and ukulele. He played as much as his free time allowed. "We will all miss hearing him play," his family wrote. "Though Dylan moved from Alaska when he was very young, he re...
Karen Martin-Webster "Bubbles," 69, passed away on Aug. 26. Karen was born March 11, 1953. She moved to Wrangell in the late 1970s and lived there through the 1980s, when she decided to move to Petersburg to work at Petersburg Fisheries. She and husband, Darrell Webster, moved south for a few years to be near her mom and then moved back to Wrangell in 2015. They lived in Wrangell until January 2022. Karen worked as a bartender, dogcatcher, dispatcher, worked pulling lumber on the green chain in...
Wrangell High School's basketball season is still a couple months away but coaches and players are already sharpening their skills. Last Thursday through Saturday, a coaching representative with Point Guard College worked with players to hone their skills and focus on areas that girls and boys team coaches want to strengthen. Coaches work together to come up with a plan on what those areas might be, and then PCG creates a curriculum to guide the players over the course of three days. The girls...
With 14 players on the roster, this season's high school girls volleyball team is one of the largest that Alyssa Allen has led in the four years she's been head coach. A few key players were lost with this year's graduating class, but she has six returning players to get the squad geared up for the coming months of competition. Allen has a lot of younger players coming from middle school and a few older players who have either never played or haven't played since middle school. Among the...
The Wrangell High School cross country team attended two different competitions last Saturday by sending five runners to Palmer and five to Petersburg. Five boys attended the George Plumley Cross Country Invitational in Palmer, while three boys and two girls went to Petersburg to compete in the Jack Eddy Invitational against runners from Sitka, Ketchikan, Haines, Klawock, Juneau, Craig, Angoon and Petersburg. In Palmer, the Wrangell boys varsity team was Daniel Harrison, Devlyn Campbell, Ethan...
Twenty-six places in Alaska received a new name Sept. 8 as part of the Interior Department’s initiative to remove a derogatory word for Indigenous women — a change that affects more than 650 sites and geographic features across the country. Of those, 26 sites are in Alaska. The official name change process has been almost a year in the making. In November 2021, Interior Secretary Deb Haaland unveiled an order to remove the word squaw, a slur for Native women, from federal lands. Many Indigenous organizations, including the Alaska Fed...
Gov. Mike Dunleavy last Friday vetoed a bill that would have raised the minimum age to purchase and legally possess tobacco products from 19 to 21 years old. The bill also included a tax on electronic smoking products that contain nicotine, which is what Dunleavy took issue with. Currently, Alaska has a cigarette tax of $2 per pack. Other tobacco products, like cigars, are taxed at 75% of the wholesale price. Electronic smoking products like vape pens that contain nicotine are not subject to tax at the statewide level, though some...
Monday, Sept. 5 Abandoned vehicle. Agency assist: Ambulance. Tuesday, Sept. 6 Agency assist: Fire Department. Medevac plane had mechanical issues. Summons service. Summons service. Wednesday, Sept. 7 Agency assist: Municipal Light and Power. Dog at large. Letter served for removing a person from licensed establishment. Traffic stop. Traffic stop. Thursday, Sept. 8 Agency assist: Municipal Light and Power. Agency assist: U.S. Forest Service. Welfare check. Welfare check. Friday, Sept. 9 Assault. Intoxicated person: Arrest for assault and...
It’s been more than 60 years since “The Sound of Music” debuted on Broadway and more than 20 years since Wrangell staged a community play, and organizers hope that the years have not diminished the appeal of either. Auditions for a community production of the famous musical will be held at 5:30 p.m. Sept. 20 and 21 at the Nolan Center. The performance is planned for the first weekend of December, said Cyni Crary, Nolan Center director. She and Tom Jenkins are the organizers of the theatrical production. “We’ve had a huge interest,” Crary said...