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Members of the Wrangell Volunteer Fire Department are rising to a national challenge to combat cancer, putting together a team for next year's Scott Firefighter Stairclimb in Seattle. Fire departments from around the world raise money for the annual event, sponsored by the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Founded in 1949, the society is the world's largest voluntary health organization dedicated to researching and treating various blood cancers. Taking place on March 6, 2016, six Wrangell firefighte...
The hospital’s financial reserves continue to improve, the Wrangell Medical Center Board learned during its monthly meeting Nov. 18. Financial officer Doran Hammett reported the medical center’s coffers topped $1,001,000 by the end of October, equivalent to 36 days’ operating expenses. This was up from under $600,000 at the month’s start, though after payments made to Medicare, Hammett said the reserves were back to $729,000 by the time of the meeting. “It is certainly trending in the right direction,” he said. Deposits collected by WMC for...
In the Sentinel 100, 75, 50 and 25 years ago. November 18, 1915: As announced last week, the Wrangell Orchestra is forging ahead fast with their plans for that big dance on Thanksgiving. The original plans have been changed somewhat and the dance will be a good old fashioned Hard Time Dance, which is just the right kind for everyone to have a jolly good time. So prepare for the time of your life and get your oldest, raggiest and worst clothes laid out for the occasion. Good music is promised and everyone will have a good time. The admission...
Monday, November 16 Possible Gun Shot – Officer responded, UTL. Tuesday, November 17 Citation issued to Clarissa Young, 32, for Dog at Large and License required. Traffic Stop – Verbal warning for failure to yield at crosswalk. Wednesday, November 18 Traffic Stop/Possible DUI. Citizen Assist: Vehicle unlocked. Citation issued to Robert Blake, 38, for Time Limit Parking. Citizen Assist: Vehicle unlocked. Parking Complaint/School Bus Loading Zone. Thursday, November 19 Driving Complaint: Verbal warning given to driver. Hazardous Play: Two you...
Former Wrangell physician Greg Salard has applied for a new trial, ahead of his sentencing set for Dec. 3. In July a Juneau jury had found him guilty of two of three child pornography charges brought against him by federal prosecutors. In documents filed Nov. 16, attorney Steven Wells contended there were legitimate grounds for a new trial to be held, citing mismanagement by Salard’s court-appointed defender, Cara McNamara. Salard had been arrested on October 15, 2014, when a search warrant was executed at his Zimovia Highway home following a...
A four-day search for missing fisherman Kenneth Trammel ended Nov. 18, after his body was recovered offshore near Earl West Cove. Trammel, 53, had left Wrangell on Nov. 5 in his white 38-foot Bayliner, “Thalasa,” with hand trolling gear, and was scheduled to return five days later. He was reported missing to Alaska State Troopers on Nov. 15. Relatives were unsure where he had intended to go, and Trammel had not been seen or heard from after departing. Shortly after he was reported missing, Wrangell’s Alaska Wildlife Trooper Fred Burke start...
George Patton Mann, 74, died November 16, 2015, in Opelika, Ala. He was born in Birmingham, Ala., on December 27, 1940. George graduated from Baylor High School in Chattanooga, Tenn., in 1960 where he was a star athlete. George continued his education at Auburn University and received his bachelor's degree in business in 1964. After graduation, he went on to work for Opelika Welding, Inc., a family owned company. He retired in 1999 as the owner and president. George is internationally known for...
The United States Forest Service has released an amended proposal for its Wrangell Island timber sale. Published to the Federal Register on Oct. 27, the proposed action was modified to more accurately reflect timber volume data collected since the sale was first put out in 2013. A corrected notice of intent and additional materials were released earlier this month. Under the action proposal a number of different timber stands would be harvested across the island, from the Mill Basin area in the...
Wrangell Cooperative Association is looking for project ideas from community members ahead of a special stakeholders meeting planned for Dec. 2 and 3. WCA has developed the 2015 Community Needs Survey to assist in the endeavor, allowing Tribal members and other residents the opportunity to identify needs, projects or programs that would be of local benefit. The process is being spearheaded by Tlingit-Haida Regional Housing Authority, which has arranged for planners to be brought down for the meeting and has made funds available to prepare a...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) –The board tasked with writing rules for Alaska’s recreational marijuana industry voted Friday to allow for people to use pot at certain stores that will sell it, a first among the four states that have legalized the drug. The 3-2 vote by the Marijuana Control Board also changed the definition of the term “in public’’ to allow for consumption at some pot shops, none of which are open yet. Colorado, Washington and Oregon have legalized recreational marijuana but ban its public use, including in pot stores. “This would put, I...
Wrangell High School’s wrestlers racked up the victories during the Final Four in Craig Nov. 13 and 14. Five Wolves finished first for their weight class: Ian Jenson,126-pound; Sam Armstrong, 138; Darren Shilts, 170; Chet Armstrong, 182; and Caleb Groshong, 220. Orion Heller took second place for the 120-pound bracket, while teammate Roger Miller placed third for the 145. J.D. Barratt placed fourth for the 106 weight class. “We had a really good tournament,” said coach Jeff Rooney. Due to weather the team was unable to make it to Kake last...
The volleyball season has come to an end for the Lady Wolves, after taking fourth at Region V in Skagway last weekend. "It went alright," said team coach Jessica Whittaker afterward. The girls started off with a win, beating Klawock in four matches Friday. The team beat the host team the next day, but then lost to Craig. Klawock was the team to beat in a rematch for third, but the Lady Wolves couldn't quite pull off a repeat win. "We were not able to come away with a win," said Whitaker. Craig...
Alaskans are being asked to weigh in on two tough issues: budgets and halibut bycatch. First off, the state Boards of Fish and Game are asking for ideas on cutting costs within their annual meeting cycles, as well as for the state agencies involved with providing all of the backup information to the boards. Both boards include seven members which are appointed by the governor and approved by the Alaska legislature for three year terms. The Fish Board’s role is to conserve and develop the fishery resources for the state’s subsistence, com...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) – U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski says she’s “livid’’ at the federal Food and Drug Administration’s approval of genetically modified salmon for human consumption. Murkowski and the other members of Alaska’s congressional delegation criticized the decision in a joint news release Thursday. Murkowski said it’s imperative that proposals she’s offered to mandate the labeling of so-called “Frankenfish’’ become law. U.S. Rep. Don Young said the FDA was embarking on a science experiment with what he calls its “harebrained’’ decision...
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) – Farmers across Alaska are fighting to keep a state-run slaughterhouse open after lawmakers announced plans to shut down the facility next June due to budget concerns. Officials with the Alaska Farm Bureau say Mt. McKinley Meats and Sausage, which is one of the state’s three meat processing facilities, is hurting the state economically because the facility isn’t allowed to compete in the private sector. State legislators announced last month that the plant could be shuttered for good by the end of the current budge...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) – The unemployment rate in Alaska is holding steady. The state Department of Labor on Friday says the state’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 6.4 percent in October, and that’s unchanged from September. The department says a release that the comparable national unemployment rate was 5.0 percent. State labor officials say the unadjusted rate increased from 5.7 percent in September to 6.1 percent last month, a normal uptick as seasonal jobs like those in the tourism industry see a slow down in the winter month...
KETCHIKAN, Alaska (AP) – The U.S. Forest Service has withdrawn findings that the proposed timber sale on Mitkof Island near Petersburg has no significant environmental impact. The federal agency pulled its decision notice earlier this month. The sale was projected to provide roughly 28.5 million board feet on roughly 4,117 acres on Tongass National Forest land, The Ketchikan Daily News reported. “After considering the local industry’s concerns with the proposed sale and reviewing certain aspects of the project’s implementation, I believe...
The upcoming pink salmon run is expected to be about the same size as that in 2015, according to this month's Alaska Department of Fish and Game forecast. ADF&G predicts the 2016 harvest will be strong, with a point estimate of 34 million pink salmon. The forecast was produced by projecting the trend in harvest averages for the period spanning between 1960 and 2010, adjusted using 2015 juvenile pink salmon abundance data. Adjustments were made using peak June-July juvenile pink salmon...
Island residents were invited to an open house at City Hall on Nov. 19, where Wrangell officials and the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities presented final designs for the long-awaited Evergreen Road improvement project. The project would rehabilitate the road from the Alaska Marine Highway terminal to 500 feet short of the airport along Stikine and Evergreen Streets. “It was a decent turnout,” said Chris Schelb, environmental analyst for DOT’s Southcoast Region. He was among the design team flown in to meet with resid...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) – While some governors around the country have raised concerns about accepting Syrian refugees following last week’s attacks in Paris, Gov. Bill Walker is focused on Alaska’s budget woes. Walker spokeswoman Katie Marquette says Walker has been focused on solving the state’s fiscal challenges and has not given consideration to trying to stop Syrian refugees from settling in Alaska. Governors in many states are responding to heightened concerns that terrorists might use the refugees as cover to sneak across borders. U.S. Se...
