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During a special borough assembly meeting last Thursday, community members shared their thoughts on a potential mask mandate the city was considering. The mandate would require all individuals, with some exceptions, to wear a mask or face covering in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. This mandate, and Wrangell's response to it in general, has been a controversial topic in the community. Over 20 people called into the meeting, and the city also received several letters. The majority of the...
The Wrangell Borough Assembly met last Thursday evening, Nov. 5. This was only a discussion meeting, to take in public opinion and decide whether or not a mask mandate would be worth considering in a formal meeting. This mandate was being considered at the behest of the local Emergency Operations Center, who requested the city look at the possibility. The potential mandate, outlined in the meeting's agenda packet, would require all individuals to wear a mask or face veering while "indoors in...
The Alaska Division of Elections, in a Nov. 9 press release, announced a schedule for conducting absentee ballot counts. Moving forward, they announced that the public could expect updated counts to be released twice daily, at 5 p.m. and again at the close of business. "It is the mission of my office and the Division of Elections to ensure public confidence in the electoral process by administering elections with the highest level of professional standards, integrity, security, accuracy, and...
The Wrangell School Board met Monday night for a special work session and meeting regarding the district's FY 2020 financial audit. According to the audit, the school district has approximately $3.57 million in total assets across different funds: $2.07 million in assets in its general fund, $1.07 million in its capital improvement projects fund, and $437,786 in other governmental funds. Meanwhile, there are approximately $1.65 million in total liabilities. An income statement of the district's...
November 2 Agency Assist: Department of Public Works. False Alarm. Agency Assist: Petersburg P.D. Agency Assist: Alarm. November 3 Traffic Stop: Tykan Daly, 28, Citation issued for Failure to provide proof of insurance. Paper Service/civil standby. Traffic Stop: Olivia Stead, 33, Citation issued for speeding in a school zone. Traffic Stop: James VandeBunte, 58, Citation issued for Failure to use turn signal. November 4 Agency Assist/Paper Service: Domestic Violence Order paper service. Traffic Stop: Tykan Daly, 28, Citation issued for Speeding...
Arlington, VA – Fifty-two museum publications have gained accolades in the 29th annual Museum Publications Design Competition, presented by the American Alliance of Museums (AAM). This competition recognizes and encourages superior execution and ingenuity in the graphic design of museum publications and is the only national, juried competition of its kind. Tin Can Country: Southeast Alaska's Historic Salmon Canneries was given an Honorable Mention in the Book Design category. Published with t...
To the Editor: A big thank you to the people in Wrangell who operate our elections. Sarah Whittlesey-Merritt and Kim Lane and their teams do a great job. Our election process goes smoothly here, pandemic or not. Sarah and Kim are part of a national army of election workers and volunteers who are dedicated to ensuring fair voting in every election. I’m disturbed to see people shouting ‘Fraud’ against conscientious people who do their jobs like Sarah and Kim, accusations of hiding ballots or counting votes twice. There are always reasons why a...
Wayne Jabusch, 74 died November 4, 2020 due to medical complications at St. Francis Hospital in Federal Way, Washington surrounded by family. Wayne was born November 16, 1945 to James and Vivian Jabusch. He moved with his family to Edna Bay, Alaska in 1956 and then moved to Wrangell in 1958. After attending high school, he joined the Marine Corps. Following his service he came back to Wrangell and worked as a longshoreman, fisherman and logger. In the late 1960s, Wayne moved to Seattle to work...
The Alaska Department of Fish and Game has released preliminary data on state salmon harvests for 2020. Information for Southeast Alaska shows that only half as many fish were hauled in this year compared to last year. 2020 data shows that 14,301,964 salmon were harvested this year, totaling a little over 74 million pounds. The estimated ex vessel value for this harvest is about $50 million. This is a major decrease from 2019 numbers, reported at about 32 million fish, 163 million pounds, and...
The number of boots on deck in Alaska has declined and most fisheries have lost jobs over the past five years. Overall, Alaska’s harvesting sector ticked downward by 848 jobs from 2015 through 2019. A snapshot of fish harvesting jobs is featured in the November edition of Alaska Economic Trends by the state Dept. of Labor. The findings show that after hitting a peak of 8,501 harvesters in 2015, fishing jobs then fell to around 8,000 for the next two years before dropping again in 2018 to about 7,600. In 2019, average monthly fishing e...
The Wrangell High School swim team competed in their fourth meet of the season last weekend. This was a virtual meet, according to a Facebook post by Coach Jamie Roberts, hosted by Sitka High School. The swim team managed to achieve multiple new personal bests, she said. Friday results Jacob Allen, Jimmy Baggen, Jack Roberts, and Nikolai Siekawitch swam a 200-yard medley relay for a combined time of 1:56.48. Tyson Messmer swam a 200-yard individual medley for 2:45.47, and a 100-yard freestyle fo...
The Wrangell Borough Assembly met Tuesday, Nov. 10. During this meeting, among other items, they held a discussion about the borough's CARES Act funding. They reviewed expenses so far, as well as possible future projects. Wrangell received a $3.85 million grant from the CARES Act, to help the city respond to the COVID-19 update, according to a memo from Borough Manager Lisa Von Bargen. Between March and October of this year, $2.3 million has been spent on a variety of programs and payroll for...
The Alaska Native Sisterhood recently honored one of their members, according to a press release from Anne Fuller, ANS Camp 70 secretary. Ethel Lund was recently elected to Grand President Emeritus. Her Tlingit name, according to the press release, is Aanwoogeex', meaning "The Raven as he walked about when creating the earth." Grand President Emeritus is an advisory role, Fuller explained to the Sentinel, and there is only one Grand President Emeritus at a time. These people have years of...
November 11, 1920 One of the matters which claimed the attention of the Town Council at its meeting Thursday night was the matter of the use of tobacco by children. The town marshal was directed to notify every tobacco dealer in Wrangell not to sell tobacco in any form to any child under 17 years of age. The marshal was further directed to advise the tobacco dealers that they are not to sell children tobacco for use by their parents or other adults, except on a written order stipulating the date and quantity of tobacco to be delivered to the...
Late this morning Governor Dunleavy issued a statewide Emergency Alert imploring Alaskans to take a number of different actions related to COVID-19 mitigation to help stop the surge in cases and reduce stress on healthcare capacity. Those actions include: · Working remotely if possible · Pre-order supplies, goods and food for pick-up or carry-out · Stay six (6) feet apart at all times from non-household members · Wear a mask at all times in public if six feet of separation is not possible · Consider celebrating Thanksgiving and other holi...
