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The Alaska Legislature heads back to Juneau for a fourth special session on Monday. By proclamation of Gov. Bill Walker on September 22, lawmakers will have two bills to consider during their 30-day extra session. One will be Senate Bill 54, which revises the criminal justice reform package passed back in 2016 based on recommendations by the Alaska Criminal Justice Commission. In particular, the bill would tighten up penalties for class C felonies and repeat thefts, violations of release and sex trafficking offenses. The bill had been passed...
Hunters still have until tomorrow to get their harvest reports in, but the 2017 moose hunt has already broken the RM038 district record. As of Tuesday afternoon some 117 animals had been logged by hunters in the Wrangell and Petersburg area. It surpasses the 111 taken last year, and marks the fourth year in a row where the harvest has exceeded 100 moose. The month-long season started September 15 and wrapped up Sunday. The majority of moose were taken on surrounding islands, with 48 taken on...
A group of residents last weekend took part in a march meant to remind the community that slavery is still a problem in the world today. The United Nations' International Labour Organization estimates that over 40,000,000 people around the world are involved in modern slavery, which involves work or situations performed involuntarily and under threat of violence or penalty. That averages out to 5.4 people for every 1,000, with a quarter of those being children. Just under 25 million enslaved...
October 25, 1917: An enjoyable event in Native circles on Monday night was a dance given by the crews of the gas boats “Albatross” and “Lake Bay” in honor of the local members of the Alaska Native Brotherhood. The dance was held in the band hall, and was hugely enjoyed from the start to finish-the finish being at 2 a.m. During the affair refreshments consisting of cake and ice cream were served. The visitors who gave the dance are Sitka Natives, who during the past summer have been engaged in fishing at Lake Bay in company with a number of Wran...
The Sanitation Department announced it will be waiving fees for disposal of scrap metal for the next few weeks, ahead of a planned arrangement to remove salvageable scrap from the island next month. Beginning last week at the recommendation of the Wrangell Assembly, the free disposal period will be running through November 11. People can bring their household scrap metal to the solid waste transfer station during that time without the usual disposal fee. The decision follows news of a deal with Juneau-based salvaging firm Channel Construction,...
Monday, Oct. 9 Parking Complaint. Report of theft. Tuesday, Oct. 10 Citizen Assist: Vehicle unlocked. Title 47: Detox Wednesday, Oct. 11 Brown bear sighting: Trooper notified. Report of shoplifting. Unlock vehicle. Report of theft. Agency Assist: Juneau PD. Traffic stop citation issued to David McQeen, 20, for tail light out. Thursday, Oct. 12 Disturbance. Unlock vehicle. Traffic stop: Verbal warning for equipment. Friday, Oct. 13 Found Property: Item was picked up. Found Property: Cell phone. Paper service.Citation issued to Darren Shilts,...
The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) announced last week it will be implementing new, stronger carry-on baggage security screening procedures at airports in Southeast Alaska. The new procedures have already taken effect at Juneau International Airport and will be coming to Wrangell, Ketchikan, Sitka, Cordova and Yakutat over the next five weeks. The new procedures require travelers to place all electronics larger than a cell phone in bins for x-ray screening when going through the security checkpoint. Travelers departing affected...
Last Thursday, I hosted a town hall in Ketchikan to discuss the revenue options for the upcoming special session. Our primary topic was Governor Walker’s wage and self-employment tax bill that he submitted for the Legislature’s consideration. I plan to propose an amendment to his bill, part of which I’ve outlined below. His proposal calls for a 1.5 percent flat tax on wages or self-employment income that includes a capped amount of $2,200.00, which would be the amount owed by an individual making $170,000 annually. I plan to introduce a 50% d...
Options for finding an alternative site to a monofill selected by the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation last year are limited, according to an exchange between it and the City and Borough last month. Around 18,350 cubic yards of treated, lead-contaminated soil removed from the former Byford junkyard property last year by contractors for DEC are to be interred indefinitely in a monofill site. Sixty containers of heavier-contaminated soil and debris were barged out for reprocessing, but as the unexpectedly large project had...
A local grocery store bid official farewell to its manager of nearly 50 years. Since March of 1968, Chet Powell made sure the shelves at Wrangell's City Market were properly stocked and its employees kept busy helping customers. Originally from Springdale, Arkansas, Powell first got into the grocery business at the age of 14, coming to work for his uncle, William Norton, at his market in the Seattle area. "He was the one that taught me the grocery business," Powell recalled, getting his start fi...
Wrangell Public School District has been trying something new for lunch this year, enlisting local kitchens to keep students at the middle and high schools fed. Five private food services have staked out days of the week to provide meals: J&W's Fast Foods, the delis at Bobs' IGA and City Market, Notsofamous Pizza, and the Stikine Restaurant. Secondary schools principal Bill Schwan explained the arrangement had developed in response to an in-house menu attempted last year. At the end of the...
The local debate team made its way to Juneau for its first of five meets scheduled for the season. The two-day event was held at Juneau-Douglas High School last Friday and Saturday, and a pared-down group from Wrangell’s debate, drama and forensics team were able to attend. The three students included two first-time participants in the program, Jean Luc Lewis and Morgan Torzand, while this will be the third year for Devin Pill. Other members of the team were unable to make the Juneau competition, though coach Sierra Reil was hopeful for a b...
The open enrollment period for obtaining or changing insurance plans through the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act’s Health Insurance Marketplace has been shortened this year to just six weeks, a regional health provider cautioned residents. Southeast Alaska Regional Health Consortium has offered to help people navigate the application process of applying for health coverage through the Marketplace, hosted at HealthCare.gov. During the open enrollment period from November 1 to December 15, SEARHC Outreach can help applicants prepare th...
Kodiak is at the center of a national push to produce biofuels from seaweeds. Agents from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) recently traveled to the island to meet with a team of academics, scientists, businesses and local growers to plan the first steps of a bi-coastal pilot project to modernize methods to grow sugar kelp as a fuel source. The project is bankrolled by a $500,000 grant to the University of Alaska/Fairbanks through a new DOE program called Macroalgae Research Inspiring Novel E...
The 2017 Tom Sims Invitational last weekend saw six of seven Wrangell wrestlers make the finals, with four of them taking first placements in their weight brackets. "It was a great tournament," said coach Jeff Rooney. "A lot of positive remarks." The hosting team's first tournament of the season followed its big fundraiser dinner the previous weekend, where players served around 180 people. "We appreciate all the support from the community for that," said assistant coach Jack Carney. The funds...
At the second school board meeting of the new year on Monday, staff and returning members welcomed newly elected fellows Dave Wilson and Jessica Rooney. Officers were selected for the reshuffled board, with Georgianna Buhler retaining her position as president, Tammi Groshong being elected to vice-president in a 3-2 vote, and Aleisha Mollen named board secretary. Perhaps the biggest news of the evening though had been an announcement from secondary schools principal Bill Schwan and Secondary...