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Though 87 absentee and early votes and questioned ballots will not be tallied until Thursday, the leaders after Tuesday’s municipal election appear likely to win on the final count. Borough assembly candidate David Powell led Don McConachie Sr. by 47 votes after Tuesday’s election. School board candidates Brittani Robbins and Angela Allen were ahead of their challengers by about 100 votes for two open seats. And Jessica Whitaker led Julia Ostrander by 44 votes — 215 to 171 — for a one-year school board term. Races for two other assembl...
Wrangell will share a tire cutter with other Southeast communities, intending to cut down on the thousands of tires stacked at the dump by making it easier to ship out the smaller pieces. The borough assembly last Tuesday approved a resolution to share the equipment with the Southeast Alaska Solid Waste Authority. The mobile unit can separate tires from rims and then, using a powerful cutting arm, chop up the rubber into smaller, more easily transportable chunks. The tires stacked at the...
The first rule of Tech Club is talk about Tech Club. Science teacher Heather Howe wants the students who attend Wrangell High's newly formed program to share what they're learning and doing to interest more kids in attending. The T3 Alliance -often referred to as Tech Club - is a program designed to supplement the U.S. Department of Education's Upward Bound program, which helps students increase their ability to complete a secondary education, whether college or a technical school. Not all membe...
Wrangell Medical Center this week welcomed eight temporary out-of-state health care workers assigned to the hospital under a state-financed program to bring as many as 473 professionals to help relieve staffing pressures across Alaska. The state is spending $87 million in federal money to bring in the workers, allocating them to 14 hospitals and care centers around the state, as many of the facilities are at or near capacity amid a surge in COVID-19 patients the past month. Some school districts also are included in the program for nurses. The...
Oct. 6, 1921 The Town Council on Aug. 4 passed an order removing the extra charge of 2.5 cents per kilowatt hour, which the council has permitted Mr. Palmer to charge since May 1, 1920. A few days ago, Mr. Palmer and the Town Council had a conference at which they went into the matter at length. The result of the conference was that the council decided to rescind its action of Aug. 4 and permit Mr. Palmer to continue charging the extra 2.5 cents per kilowatt hour. This means that until further notice the rates will prevail that charge 17.5...
Wrangell has begun its search for a new borough manager. On Friday, the assembly accepted the resignation of Lisa Von Bargen from the post, effective Oct. 29. “It is with sadness I submit my letter of resignation as borough manager for this amazing community. The strain of the past year and a half has helped me realize I need to take a pause and focus on the needs of my family and myself,” Von Bargen wrote in her resignation letter, dated Sept. 28. She has been on the job since July 2017, moving to Wrangell from Valdez, where she was com...
The state has activated emergency crisis protocols that allow 20 hospitals to ration care if needed as Alaska reports among the nation’s worst COVID-19 infection rates of recent weeks, straining the state’s limited health care system. The declaration last Saturday covers three facilities that had already announced emergency protocols, including the largest hospital, Providence Alaska Medical Center in Anchorage, and facilities across the state, including hospitals in Wrangell and Petersburg. Though Wrangell Medical Center is covered under the o...
There are no changes to moving first-class mail in and out of Wrangell — that will continue by air, according to a U.S. Postal Service official. But service out of state could be slower, depending on how far the mail is coming or going. And it will cost more to mail packages now through Christmas as the Postal Service tries to improve its finances. Through Dec. 25, customers will pay an additional 25 cents to $5 to ship a parcel through the Postal Service, depending on the level of delivery service they select and the distance the package w...
A story in the Sept. 23 issue of the Sentinel incorrectly reported that Ivy Patch Produce sells its goods to the Stikine Inn. Owner Katherine Ivy said she only sells to Zak’s Cafe and individual consumers. A story in the Sept. 30 Sentinel reported that an oyster farm operation was established at Blashke Islands in 1990. It was established in 1983....
Once again, Alaska legislators have gaveled back into special session because Gov. Mike Dunleavy wants to show his constituents that he believes in one thing above all else: The largest Permanent Fund dividend in state history. He’s like a wide-eyed kid in the candy shop, only he’s got a record-setting Permanent Fund balance jingling in his pockets and wants to spend some of it to buy chocolates for everyone in the state. Talk about a dangerous sweet tooth that can only decay the future growth potential of the state’s only savings accou...
Maybe someday COVID-19 will be like the flu, which kills an average of 36,000 Americans a year, rather than the coronavirus which has killed more than 700,000 people in the country over past 18 months. Maybe vaccines will become even more effective, health officials will approve the shots for children of all ages, researchers will develop new medicines to heal the sick and new treatments to ease the suffering. Although science can do a lot to block the virus and lessen its death sentence, no pill or shot or wishful thinking can make it go away...
The Lower 48 TikTok craziness continues. September’s challenge was to vandalize school bathrooms. Wrangell schools got off lightly — a few messes in the bathrooms and small items like soap dispensers and toilet paper were stolen. Overall, nothing too serious. In fact, I was feeling fairly confident that we had gotten ahead of this trend, and that we could focus on better and more important things. Unfortunately, there is now a “devious licks” challenge for each month of the school year. October’s challenge is “Smack a Teacher;” December’s ch...
I served in the U.S. Army from mid-1966 to mid-1968 and I have written Alaska Sen. Dan Sullivan to let him know that I find the Marine Corps. putting Lt. Col. Stuart Scheller in the brig for his two Facebook comments about the way the U.S. handled its withdrawal from Afghanistan to be unacceptable and sanctimonious. I would hope that Sen. Sullivan, as a member of the military and representing a state with a large active and veteran military population, would feel the same way. I understand the conflict of disobeying a direct order, especially i...
Recently, in a social media post, the mayor of Wrangell called persons who have not received the COVID-19 vaccine “idiots.” I would like to appeal to the mayor's less arrogant self to remind him that unvaxxed people are unvaxxed for many different reasons, many less idiotic than he may be able to perceive from the heights of his ego. Some have legitimate medical issues such as allergies or genetic anomalies that have made them concerned for their health if they get this never-used-previously medical technology. While I understand that bei...
As a former governor of Alaska (2002-2006) and a U.S. senator (1980-2002), I am appalled at the secretary of the Department of the Interior’s cavalier action challenging the legitimacy of recent sales of leases in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. I must remind the secretary that the sale was advertised and consummated with payment made by the state-owned Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority and accepted by the U.S. government. Any attempt to void the sale will be seen as a taking, and litigation will result in substantial d...
Tracy Churchill believes in "Keeping it Authentic." That's the tagline the graphic designer uses to celebrate the uniqueness of Wrangell, the community that inspired her Compass Line brand and led to the opening of a gift shop by the same name. "We wanted to initially do some designs to sell in the other shops, and then decided at that time we might as well try to just carry some things nobody else has in town," Churchill said. The space at 321 Front St. became available in 2017, and the...
Most of the six proposed legislative redistricting maps under consideration would keep Wrangell and Ketchikan in the same district, but one proposal would separate Wrangell from its longstanding share with Ketchikan and move it into a state House district with Sitka. A couple of the options would put Petersburg in the same district as Wrangell and Ketchikan, but half would assign Petersburg to a stretched-out House district from Prince of Wales Island to Yakutat. The Alaska Redistricting Board is traveling to communities statewide to show the...
The new coordinator of the Nolan Center and Wrangell Museum wasn't a fan of the big city. So, Tyler Eagle left Spokane, Washington, right after graduating in 2018 from Gonzaga University and came back to Wrangell. Eagle did a few odd jobs in town: fishing, working as a paraprofessional at the schools, until a job came up that was the perfect application for his degree in history. "A notification went out on the 'Friends of the Museum' mailing list," Eagle said. "They were looking for a...
The Wrangell and Petersburg region took the top spot for Southeast commercial crab catches this past summer season, according to the Department of Fish and Game. Even better, it was a record year for prices. From June 15 to Aug. 15, 680,000 pounds of Dungeness crab was harvested in District 8, which includes the waters north and west of Wrangell up past Petersburg. Sixty-nine permits were issued for the district. For all of Southeast, 3.09 million pounds of crab were harvested with 205 permit holders reporting. The catch equates to $13 million...
Monday, Sept. 27 Gun shots: Unable to locate. Reckless driving. Agency assist: Probation. Subpoena service. Vandalism. Tuesday, Sept. 28 Noise complaint. Dead deer. Found property. Wednesday, Sept. 29 Suspicious circumstance. Agency assist: Ambulance. Thursday, Sept. 30 Agency assist: Elks. Subpoena service. Agency assist: Ambulance. Traffic stop. Agency assist: Fire department. Friday, Oct. 1 Agency assist: U.S. Forest Service. Vacation check request. Agency assist: Public works. Saturday, Oct. 2 Agency assist: Ambulance request. Scam....
The U.S. Forest Service got to most of its Wrangell-area work projects this past summer, with one big job pushed into next spring. The Anan Wildlife Observatory- which has reached the end of "its structural lifetime and needs replacement," the agency's website says - was supposed to be torn down in October, Corree Delabrue, U.S. Forest Service information assistant at the Wrangell Ranger District, said. Tory Houser, the recreation, lands, minerals and heritage staff officer for the Wrangell and...
"Low, guys! Heads up, elbows in! Tap that floor a couple times," said Jack Carney, assistant coach of the high school wrestling team. His direction is met with a resounding THUMP! as the squad of 14 student-athletes hits the mat. They continue to run drills and warm up without any further instruction from their coach. Wrestling season started on Wednesday and athletes are already poised to pin the competition at the first meet on Oct. 22. "They're looking tough," said head coach Jeff Rooney in...
Kayla Rooney hated running when she started. Now she can't imagine her life without it. The four-time state placer returned to Wrangell specifically to coach the high school cross country team, continuing a family legacy of coaching. "My mom (Trisa Rooney) made me start running. I told her I didn't want to do it. She told me I could try it out, and if I didn't like it, I could quit," Rooney said. "So, a few weeks in, I didn't like it and I wanted to quit, and my mom told me, 'Well, you've...
Even though high winds canceled last Friday's flight to Ketchikan, Wrangell runners were able to travel there and clock their times on Sunday, the day after the Southeast regional championship meet was held. Two did well enough to qualify for state. Senior Liana Carney and freshman Daniel Harrison both qualified for state after placing second and seventh, respectively. Both the boys and girls cross country teams placed fourth overall. "My team did amazing given the situation we were given and...
The borough is taking a closer look at the cost of shipping goods by barge to Wrangell. The assembly last Tuesday approved a $7,300 study by Rain Coast Data, prompted, in part, after Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski raised “the very serious issue of shipping rates as a concern” when she was in town earlier in September. “The senator asked if the borough had documentation of the increases. The answer is no,” borough officials reported to the assembly for its consideration of the rate-history contract. Mayor Steve Prysunka had requested a shippin...
