Sorted by date Results 1 - 25 of 26
Wrangell's mask mandate was rescinded at Tuesday's borough assembly meeting, while testing rules for travelers were reaffirmed with some minor changes. Both the mask mandate and traveler rules were adopted by the assembly at the beginning of March, in response to a significant spike of COVID-19 cases in Petersburg as well as several cases in town. However, Wrangell's Emergency Operations Center recommended the city repeal the mask mandate as cases have declined, lessening the risk of an outbreak...
Legislators started the session in January amid a shortage of revenues and debate whether the state could even afford a dividend this fall unless it exceeded its annual limited draw from the Permanent Fund. Significantly higher oil prices and more than $1 billion from this month's federal pandemic aid package may fix both problems, though only temporarily. The Alaska Department of Revenue told legislators last week that higher oil prices could produce an additional $790 million in revenues this...
Though the Wrangell School District now projects 259 students to enroll for the fall semester based on the belief that more families will send their children back to the classroom, enrollment would still be down 13% from pre-pandemic numbers and the latest draft budget shows a loss of five teaching positions from this year. School board members reviewed the latest draft budget at their March 18 meeting, with more work to come before adopting a spending plan for next school year. State funding...
March 24, 1921 The pupils of the public school were given a delightful surprise last Friday afternoon, when before being dismissed for the day they were told to go to the gymnasium. Arriving there, they were served with ice-cream and cake by ladies of the Parent-Teachers Association. In order to facilitate the work for those in charge of the party, the pupils, accompanied by their teachers, left the school in relays. Members of the school board also were invited to be present at the time. The party given Friday takes the place of the one given...
Students at Stikine Middle School and Wrangell High School will attend class remotely at least through Friday after a staff member at the secondary schools tested positive for COVID-19 on Monday. Remote learning started the next day, as both schools closed. The shutdown has not affected classes at Evergreen Elementary School, the school district reported Monday. "This individual ... is asymptomatic and is now in isolation," the city announced Monday afternoon. It was Wrangell's second reported...
Though moving to Alaska in 1997 was an unexpected turn in Bill Burr's life when he began his career in education, it has grown on him, he said, and he is thrilled to continue his career in the state. Burr will move to Wrangell July 1 to serve as schools superintendent. He was born in Iowa, but has worked as a teacher and administrator across Alaska. He studied at the University of Northern Iowa, where he said his minor claim to fame was living in the same dorm as future NFL Hall of Fame...
GCI, the largest telecommunications provider in the state, is planning to move all of its call-center operations out of Alaska and will contract with a third-party vendor to provide the service from the Philippines. The move will start this summer, according to a report in the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner on Saturday. The company, which provides cable television, internet, cell and wired telephone services in Alaska, has had a hard time filling its call-center jobs, said Heather Handyside, vice...
Separate decisions affecting an effort to recall Wrangell's mayor and the Juneau-Douglas High School boys basketball team are similar, in that they disappointed some people, but they are not equal. The organizers of a recall effort against Mayor Stephen Prysunka made the wise decision not to fight over the legality of their recall petition, and instead to focus on the assembly seats at stake in the next municipal election. Rather than burn up time and money in litigation over the city's...
The governor will go to great lengths to avoid supporting a tax - any tax - but taxes are how people pay for public services. Instead of thinking about the public, his administration's latest ill-conceived plan is to close Division of Motor Vehicle offices in six small communities so that he can claim budget savings of $500,000 a year. Of course, what the state may save, the public would have to pay - and more. The administration has proposed contracting with private operators to provide...
Group wants to include homeschooled graduates The Wrangell High School class of 2021 will soon be graduating, with traditional festivities reduced again by the coronavirus pandemic. Wrangell has a long history of celebrating female graduates and the women who have mothered them. Beta Sigma Phi inherited the tradition from the Wrangell Civic Club years ago and plans to continue it this spring. We are planning a COVID-safe mother-daughter recognition for April to celebrate our high school...
Efforts to recall Mayor Steve Prysunka have ended, according to a statement from recall spokesperson Don McConachie. Instead, he and others in the group will focus on October's municipal election when three borough assembly seats will be on the ballot. Recall efforts against the mayor began around the beginning of the year. According to the advocates, Prysunka lead the assembly to violate local and state laws with the passage of a community mask mandate during a quickly called Nov. 12 meeting....
As of last week, Wrangell was hoping for 48 cruise ship stops from May 28 to Sept. 20, about half the number expected last year before the pandemic shut down all cruise ships from coming to Alaska. The 48 port calls on the draft calendar "is still incomplete as we wait to hear from some of the smaller vessels that stop in Wrangell," according to the chamber of commerce website. While the few larger vessels on the draft calendar will operate only if Canada opens its borders to cruise ship...
Wrangell's Johnson O'Malley Native dance group will participate in a virtual "welcome home" event for Vietnam War veterans Monday, Vietnam Veterans Day. The event starts at 10 a.m., with the Wrangell dance performance set for 1:54 p.m., according to the event organizers' precise schedule. The group will be one of over 20 participating in the welcome home, said Willard Jackson Sr., one of the event organizers. The welcome home is being put together by the Southeast Intertribal Collective. Lu Knap...
The main contractors on the new Wrangell Medical Center have presented a shaman's apprentice mask to display in the facility. "Crafted with red cedar, abalone, operculum shells and horsehair, the mask depicts a profound moment during the practice of a young shaman," the Southeast Alaska Regional Health Consortium said in a prepared statement March 21. "Shamans (Sgáagaa) were known to possess healing powers and bridge the gap between spiritual and natural worlds." The mask, created by Haida...
JUNEAU (AP) - A plan by the governor to close six Division of Motor Vehicles offices and contract with private companies to provide services has been met with resistance from the state Legislature. Under the proposal, the state would save money but the public would have to pay extra fees charged by the private companies for licenses and registrations. The plan by Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s administration to close the offices in Haines, Eagle River, Tok, Homer, Delta Junction and Valdez would save about $500,000 a year in operating costs, according t...
Monday, March 15 Citizen assist: Vehicle unlock. Agency assist: DOT. Motor vehicle accident. Traffic stop. Suspicious circumstance. Traffic stop. Agency assist: Alarm. Tuesday, March 16 Dog complaint. Agency assist: Line crew. Traffic stop. Wednesday, March 17 Domestic disturbance. Harassment. Served order to show cause. Thursday, March 18 Agency assist: TSA. Parking complaint: Vehicles parked in the school bus loading zone. Agency assist: Hoonah Police. Friday, March 19 Dog at large. Driving under influence on watercraft. Citizen assist:...
The Wrangell Lady Wolves played two hard-fought games against the Metlakatla Miss Chiefs last week but were unable to bring home any victories. These were the first games in over a month for the Lady Wolves, due to COVID-19 restrictions or poor weather forcing several cancellations. Coach Christy Good said having the opportunity to play more games would have helped the team, but she was proud of their performance regardless. The first game last Friday opened with the Miss Chiefs taking the lead 14-8, and holding the lead in the second quarter...
Despite playing hard, the Wrangell Wolves lost both games to the Metlakatla Chiefs in last weekend’s basketball games. This was the first set of games the Wolves were able to play in more than a month, as the COVID-19 pandemic or bad weather forced cancellation of several games this season. “We fought hard,” Coach Cody Angerman said. “Metlakatla’s a tough place to play but we stuck with it.” Friday’s game opened with a close quarter. Metlakatla took a lead 11-10. The Chiefs expanded their lead in the second quarter to 24-18, and then 37-28 in t...
ANCHORAGE (AP) – A Wasilla construction worker faces federal charges in the January breach of the U.S. Capitol. Aaron James Mileur, 41, was arrested March 16 by the FBI on charges of knowingly entering a restricted building without lawful authority, violent entry and disorderly conduct on U.S. Capitol grounds. The charges stemming from the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol are misdemeanors. The case had been sealed until his arrest. He made an initial appearance March 16 in U.S. District Court in Anchorage, where federal prosecutors did not ask t...
PALMER — Health officials in Anchorage say they’re worried about a COVID-19 transmission source that could delay efforts to move past the pandemic’s human toll and crippling economic effects. That source is the Matanuska-Susitna Borough, the government-wary neighbor to the north where some residents balk at public health recommendations for mask-wearing and vaccination. “The large number of people who travel between the two communities daily makes high levels of disease transmission ... a concern,” Anchorage health officials warned in a rece...
ANCHORAGE (AP) - A new federal law will require operators of recreational boats less than 26 feet in length to use an engine cut-off switch with a safety link that attaches the operator to the control device to shut off the engine if the operator is knocked from the helm. The new law applies only to boats built beginning in January 2020. Boats with the primary helm inside an enclosed cabin are exempt from the new law. The U.S. Coast Guard said it receives reports every year about recreational vessel operators who fall off of or are suddenly...
ANCHORAGE (AP) - Alaska lawmakers have advanced a bill that would double the state’s motor fuel tax, which has not changed since 1970 and is the lowest in the U.S. The bill passed in the House Transportation Committee on March 16 and moves next to the House Finance Committee for review. If it can pass the full House, it would go to the Senate, which approved a similar bill last year that failed to win passage in the House. The bill would double the state’s gas tax to 16 cents per gallon. Most of the $34 million a year in additional revenue wou...
Halibut prices for Alaska fishermen for 2021 have started out significantly higher than last year, despite sluggish demand and transportation logjams in some regions. The Pacific halibut fishery opened on March 6 and two weeks later only 80 deliveries were made, 46 at Southeast ports and 34 from the Central Gulf, totaling 355,524 pounds. Most landings appeared to be small lots that were purchased on consignment. The first fish typically fetches higher prices and then drops off as the season progresses. No Alaska ports reported paying under $5...
FALLS CHURCH, Va. (AP) - An electoral reform that has taken root in the iconoclastic states of Maine and Alaska could be gaining traction nationwide. Ranked-choice voting, a concept that was relegated to theoretical discussions among policy wonks for decades, is now being promoted by advocates in other states, building on last year's successful initiative campaign in Alaska - though the Alaska victory was tight, with a 3,778-vote victory out of 345,000 ballots cast. A major push is under way in...
