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Three Wrangell High School graduates will be heading off to college a little more financially secure, thanks to the awarding of some scholarships this past week. Laura Helgeson, Kaylyn Easterly, and Jing O'Brien were chosen to receive the Alaska Pulp Corporation scholarship this year. On top of that, Helgeson has also received a scholarship from the Friends of the Wrangell Museum. Frank Roppel, part of the selection committee for the Alaska Pulp scholarship, explained that every year three...
Construction of Wrangell's new hospital is continuing, despite some impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic. According to an update supplied by Sondra Forrester, with SEARHC, the project has suffered from some small delays due to state and local travel mandates. Dawson Construction and SEARHC have worked with the city government to implement a "Coronavirus Site Response Plan" to help address community concerns. The plan was approved on April 3, and work crews began traveling back to Wrangell on April...
May 13, 1920 Two reels of marvelous pictures of the La Conte glacier and the Dease Lake country filmed by Richard Suratt were shown at the Rex Theatre last night, so that the crowd of visitors in town might have a better understanding of the scenic grandeur awaiting them. May 11, 1945 Wrangell High actors and actresses are busy practicing for the play “Spring Fever” to be given tonight. The play is full of the spirit of youth with its adolescent growing pains. Marion Nielsen as the mother of three, Patty Devenny as the maiden aunt, Shirley McC...
It was a relatively light meeting of the Wrangell Port Commission last Thursday evening, May 7. There was only one agenda item for the commission to consider, a request by GCI to relocate the landing for a submarine cable. The telecommunication company currently has a submarine cable come onto the beach next to the community garden area, near City Park. From there, according to the meeting's agenda packet, the cable hits aerial lines and goes to its hub building, and also leaves the beach area a...
Wrangell's Unified Command participated in their weekly conference call on Wednesday, May 6, to provide organizational updates on COVID-19 developments and changes in respective protocols. The City and Borough of Wrangell (CBW) mayor and manager were joined by Wrangell Medical Center (WMC) and Emergency Medical Services (EMS) leadership, as well as Tribal and Public Health representatives, to discuss Borough Assembly allocations, testing initiatives, and available community resources. Borough...
May 4 Traffic Accident. Summons Service. Bike Complaint. May 5 Parking Complaint/Disorderly Conduct. Agency Assist: Hoonah P.D. Two Subpoena Services. Traffic Stop/Verbal warning for expired plates. May 6 Two Agency Assists: Airport. May 7 Welfare Check. Traffic Stop/Verbal warning for speed. Suspicious Person. Intoxicated Person/Petition to Revoke Probation. Agency Assist: Ambulance. May 8 Disturbance. Extra Patrol. May 9 Two Agency Assists: Airport. May 10 86’d Letter served. Animal Complaint. Harassment. Two Suspicious Activity Reports. D...
The SouthEast Alaska Regional Health Consortium (SEARHC) recently administered COVID-19 tests on all staff at Mt. Edgecumbe Medical Center (MEMC) and Wrangell Medical Center (WMC). Both hospitals utilized Metropolitan Medical Response System (MMRS) tents outside the respective facilities to safely conduct staff tests off-site. SEARHC recently received additional COVID-19 testing supply kits from the Alaska Native Medical Center in Anchorage. Along with the recent addition of rapid test kits...
Wrangell is a city where boats are an essential part of life. Even if you don’t personally own one, your life is impacted by a boat. The barge, a ferry, cruise ships, they all have a way of impacting lives here in Wrangell. One of the most important pieces of equipment on a boat is the anchor. It holds you tight through the storm. When you need to go ashore but the water is too shallow, the anchor holds your boat in place, so it doesn’t drift. In The Salvation Army Song Book (hymnal) we have a song that says, “Will your anchor hold in the s...
The Reopen Wrangell Task Force met last Monday afternoon to discuss ways the group can help local businesses make it through the COVID-19 pandemic. This was the first "in person" meeting of the task force, held out in the lawn by City Hall. Participants stayed socially distanced and wore face masks, while other members of the group participated via web conference. During the meeting, Jamie Roberts led a discussion about current state guidelines for reopening Alaska. The state announced "Phase...
Sales of Alaska’s most popular seafoods are being hit hard by markets upended by the coronavirus, but perhaps none is getting battered worse than halibut. Along with the big losses in the lucrative restaurant trade, Pacific halibut also is facing headwinds from increasing foreign imports. Starting three years ago, sales of fresh Pacific halibut to established markets on the east coast were toppled by a flood of less expensive fish flowing in primarily from eastern Canada. Trade data show that for 2019 through February 2020, total Canadian h...
Wrangell's Economic Development Committee met last Wednesday, May 6, to hold a brainstorming session on how to best meet the needs of the community through the COVID-19 pandemic. There are several groups trying to help the community and share information, Economic Development Director Carol Rushmore said, such as the Convention and Visitor Bureau, the Reopen Wrangell Task Force, and the Emergency Operations Command. In Rushmore's mind, she said, the biggest problem facing Wrangell is the lack...
The Wrangell Borough Assembly met Tuesday evening, May 12, to adopt some amendments to the FY 2020 budget. The city recently received both its Secure Rural Schools funding, as well as a grant for COVID-19 mitigation efforts. The SRS money came in on April 28, according to the meeting's agenda packet, in the amount of $883,646.51. The SRS is a federal program that assists municipalities that have federal lands that cannot be taxed, allowing them to recoup some of the funding that is "lost" by hav...
PALMER, Alaska (AP) – An Alaska school board postponed a vote over rescinding a ban on selected English course books after taking public testimony on the issue that attracted national attention when a Grammy-winning rock group pledged to purchase the banned books for students. The Matanuska-Susitna Borough School District board heard three hours of testimony Wednesday on a proposal to rescind last month’s vote to remove five American literature classics from high school English elective courses. The board is scheduled to vote on the pro...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) – Alaska will receive $50 million in federal coronavirus aid for fisheries, the U.S. Department of Commerce has announced, about half what state officials had expected. Alaska is home to large stocks of pollock, an inexpensive fish used in fast-food sandwiches and fish sticks, and landed 58% of the nation’s seafood by volume in 2018, officials said. Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy and his administration expected the state to receive about $100 million, or one-third of the $300 million allocated to fisheries in the Cor...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) – Alaska’s state-run ferry system is not requiring that passengers and crew wear face coverings in response to COVID-19 concerns, with a spokesperson saying rider numbers are low and social distancing on board is ‘’easily attainable.’’ CoastAlaska reported the Alaska Marine Highway System said it puts the health and safety of employees and passengers first. Cloth masks are available for crew members but not mandated, the system said. State transportation department spokesperson Meadow Bailey said rider numbers are ‘’very...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) – Firefighters were able to contain an Alaska wildfire that was initially fought by campers who first spotted the blaze, the U.S. Forest Service said. Several groups were camping at Boy Scout Beach in Juneau when some of them saw the fire Saturday morning, KTOO-FM reported. “We just noticed some smoke, and it was kind of high up in the grass,’’ said Blaine Scharen, who was camping with his wife and extended family. The fire appeared to be growing out of control when Scharen and his brother-in-law went to the next campsit...
