Articles from the December 14, 2022 edition


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  • It's beginning to look a lot like ...

    Dec 14, 2022

    Ofelia Santiago-Ballou, 4, can barely contain her excitement last Saturday night as she tells Santa Claus (Andrew Zeutzius) what she wants for Christmas. Ofelia was one of a couple hundred children who stood in line at the Nolan Center to share their holiday wishes. St. Nick visited with kids from 4 until 8 p.m. - except for about 30 minutes to roast marshmallows and count down the Christmas tree lighting ceremony....

  • Lower 48 tribes join up with Alaska Natives to protect transboundary rivers

    Yereth Rosen, Alaska Beacon|Dec 14, 2022

    Alaska Native tribes seeking better protection from the environmental impacts of Canadian mines have enlisted allies in their flight: Lower 48 tribal governments with concerns of their own about transboundary mining impacts. A delegation of tribal representatives from Alaska, Washington state, Montana and Idaho traveled to Washington, D.C., last week for meetings that pushed for action to regulate downstream effects of mines in British Columbia. The meetings Dec. 6 and 7 were with Biden administration officials and officials at the Canadian...

  • Inflation affects purchasing power during holiday shopping season

    Caroleine James, Wrangell Sentinel|Dec 14, 2022

    Between the holiday wreaths adorning Front Street shops and the tall tree next to Elks Lodge, it’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas. But for some, the season may look a little leaner this year as residents and local businesses feel the costly effects of inflation during the holiday shopping season. The current price hikes are the worst that City Market assistant store director Matthew Strickland has seen in his 10 years of retail experience. Large 20-pound bags of rice that cost roughly $25 a year ago are now sitting around $42. Many p...

  • Bardin-Siekawitch receives full college scholarship through national program

    Caroleine James, Wrangell Sentinel|Dec 14, 2022

    Every year on Dec. 1, the internet is flooded with variations on the same video - a high school senior sits at their laptop surrounded by a crowd of onlookers who are anxious to discover whether the student has received a full ride to an elite college through the Questbridge program. The student opens their status letter and the crowd goes wild. The student is smothered in hugs. Tears are shed. When Wrangell High School's Nikolai Bardin-Siekawitch received his Questbridge email, his response...

  • The Way We Were

    Amber Armstrong-Hillberry, Wrangell Sentinel|Dec 14, 2022

    Dec. 14, 1922 Last Sunday evening, a service of more than common interest was held in the Presbyterian Church. Though erected 43 years ago and occupied continuously as a place of worship, the building had never been formally set apart as a house of worship. In the years immediately following the building’s construction, there was no audience family with the functions to officiate a church dedication. During the past summer, while the old church was in the course of a thorough renovation, it was decided that the Rev. S. Hall Young, who had b...

  • Ornamental arts and crafts

    Dec 14, 2022

    Maria Smith, above, works intently on painting a salt dough ornament at the WCA cultural center last Friday. Children and their families were invited to come choose from a variety of ornaments to paint and take home to adorn their Christmas trees. An example of one of the ornaments, bottom, is on display. The ornament was painted by a WCA staff member....

  • Students learn to cook under pressure - and enjoy it

    Caroleine James, Wrangell Sentinel|Dec 14, 2022

    From deadly toxins to dangerous explosions, the risks of pressure canning make this vital home skill sound like a stunt straight out of the "Mission: Impossible" franchise. But, armed with knowledge from Sarah Lewis of the University of Alaska Fairbanks Extension Service, Wrangell residents learned that food preservation can be safe, simple and fun during a series of classes hosted by the Wrangell Cooperative Association last week. Their mission, should they choose to accept it? Turn raw meat an...

  • Easy to cut a Christmas tree; just follow Forest Service guidelines

    Marc Lutz, Wrangell Sentinel|Dec 14, 2022

    Finding the perfect tree in Wrangell isn’t as easy as driving to the nearest lot and picking out a Christmas conifer. But, like many other pastimes in Alaska, one can be hunted down in the Tongass National Forest, as long as the rules are observed. The U.S. Forest Service doesn’t have regulations or require a permit for private household use on Christmas trees, but it does have some guidance for people to follow to help keep from damaging the forest’s ecosystem. According to the guidelines, trees may not be cut from any of its developed recre...

  • 'Tis not the season to wait for online orders

    Wrangell Sentinel|Dec 14, 2022

    No doubt Wrangell businesses do not stock everything on your holiday shopping list, but they probably have something on hand for most everyone on your list. It’s just a matter of being adaptive, like when the barge is late and you have to change the recipe for tonight’s dinner. Or when the plane is canceled due to weather and you have to host your visitors for another day, even though you were really ready to have the home to yourself. Or when you were late to the Girl Scouts cookie sale and your favorites, the Thin Mints, are sold out and you...

  • It took me awhile to care about spelling

    Larry Persily Publisher|Dec 14, 2022

    I was never a good student. I was easily distracted, especially in elementary and high school, and figured sentence construction, adverbs, adjectives and spelling were for the students who sat in the front of the class, not those of us who sat in the back to hide out. I was especially bad at spelling. So bad, in fact, that I once misspelled my own name on the nametag for parents day at school - my last name. I knew how to spell Larry. But, like with many things in life, I grew up. I now eat...

  • Wrangell schools should end COVID travel testing policy

    Dec 14, 2022

    I am the parent of an upcoming graduating senior at Wrangell High School. This May, I will have had two kids successfully complete their primary and secondary education through the Wrangell public schools. As I write this letter, I aim not to be too negative. However, I am deeply disappointed and disheartened by the school district’s continued COVID testing policy for student athletes who travel for competition. As reported by KSTK on Dec. 2, the policy supported by Schools Superintendent Bill Burr is stricter than the policy of the Alaska S...

  • No confirmed sightings of giant northern hornets this year

    The Associated Press|Dec 14, 2022

    BELLINGHAM, Wash. (AP) — Citizen trapping of northern giant hornets in northwest Washington ended Nov. 30 without any confirmed sightings of the hornets this year, state officials said Dec. 6. The Washington State Department of Agriculture also said that no confirmed sightings of the hornets were reported nearby in British Columbia. The northern giant hornet is native to Asia and has been the target of eradication efforts after hornets were discovered in both locations in 2019. The insects are the world's largest hornets, with queens r...

  • Harvey Gross -- April 7, 1929, to Nov. 30, 2022

    Dec 14, 2022

    Lifelong resident Harvey Gross came to the end of the trail and met death on Nov. 30, 2022, at the Wrangell SEARHC medical hospital. Born in Wrangell on April 7, 1929, to his Tlingit mother Bessie (Nickerson) Gross and Father William (Bill) Gross Sr., Harvey was the youngest of five children. Like so many who were poor during the Great Depression, he described living those years as "the chicken in the summer and the feathers in the winter." About 1935, the family took up homesteading on the...

  • Wynne makes a slam dunk with school senior project

    Marc Lutz, Wrangell Sentinel|Dec 14, 2022

    Leroy Wynne knows the value of volunteering and has experienced its rewards on the hardwood. Throughout October and into November, Wynne helped coach fourth and fifth graders in basketball, giving them a social outlet and a way to learn teamwork. The coaching was his high school senior project and a natural fit for the student-athlete. Wynne and a few other volunteer coaches, worked with 20 children to teach them the fundamentals of basketball, instill a love of the game, build teamwork and...

  • Schwartz-Yeager opens pop-up shop until Christmas

    Caroleine James, Wrangell Sentinel|Dec 14, 2022

    From the subtle shifts in an ocean current to the play of light and shadow on a snow-topped mountain, the work of Wrangell artist Brenda Schwartz-Yeager captures the ever-changing landscapes of coastal Alaska. The painter, who was born and raised on the island, will be displaying her work at a pop-up shop in the Stikine Inn throughout the month of December. "It feels really nostalgic to be back in this space," she said. "I think it's been like 20 years or something since I've been exhibiting...

  • Oh Christmas tree

    Dec 14, 2022

    Above: The Crayne family, Eric, holding Theo, and Aria, holding Laylynn, pose for a photo during the Christmas tree lighting event on Front Street last Saturday night. Right: Lights twinkle throughout the towering spruce tree after Santa Claus led the gathered crowd in a countdown...

  • Wrangell places second in Southeast; 7 wrestlers qualify for state

    Marc Lutz, Wrangell Sentinel|Dec 14, 2022

    There was plenty of tough competition last Friday and Saturday as the Wrangell High School wrestling squad attended the Southeast Division II regional championship competition in Ketchikan. Head coach Jack Carney's strategy to curb any risks of injury over the previous weeks paid off as grapplers brought home six first-place wins, one second-place finish, four third-place, two fourth-place, one fifth-place and one sixth-place win. The Wrangell squad placed second overall behind Mt. Edgecumbe...

  • New tech repair business boots up in Wrangell

    Caroleine James, Wrangell Sentinel|Dec 14, 2022

    If your smartphone screen is cracked, your tablet is on the fritz or your laptop won’t stop generating pop-up windows after you clicked on a suspicious link, Tyler Riberio of Tydi Creek Tech might be able to help. His new tech repair service assists Wrangell residents as they navigate the intimidating world of computers, whether he’s fixing minor cosmetic issues or performing total rebuilds. Riberio moved to Wrangell with his wife in July. After taking on a few pro-bono tech repairs, he “noticed that there was a need in the community” and dec...

  • No deaths in Alaska commercial fishing industry for second year ever

    Elizabeth Earl, Alaska Journal of Commerce|Dec 14, 2022

    For the second time ever, Alaska went a year without any fatalities in its commercial fishing industry. The U.S. Coast Guard reported that there were no operational fatalities from Oct. 1, 2021, to Sept. 30, 2022, in Alaska’s commercial fishing industry. An operational fatality is when someone dies during the operation of a vessel at sea, including from causes like drowning, lost vessels or accidents. This is only the second time Alaska recorded a year without a death in the commercial fishing sector; the first year was in 2015. However, the f...

  • Girls basketball team lacing up for new season

    Marc Lutz, Wrangell Sentinel|Dec 14, 2022

    "Remember, ladies," head coach Christina Good yells to her players from across the high school gym, "stretch really good. Hammies. Quads." Good moves about the hardwood, keeping an eye on the players' forms, with one bare foot. As players arrived for practice last Wednesday night, one had forgotten a single sock. Good lent the player hers. It's an example of how dedicated the coach and her team are toward making the most of the season. "That's what coaches do," Good said with a shrug. Last...

  • Postal delay prevents vote counting in six rural villages

    James Brooks, Alaska Beacon|Dec 14, 2022

    Ballots from six rural Alaska villages were not fully counted in Alaska’s November elections, the Division of Elections said. A division official said the U.S. Postal Service failed to deliver them to the state election headquarters before the election was certified on Nov. 30. “You’ll need to contact the USPS to find out why there were some that never arrived — as we were told from poll workers, everything had been mailed,” Tiffany Montemayor, the division’s public relations manager, said by email on Dec. 2. As a result, 259 voters in S...

  • State elections director retires; boss says misinformation takes toll on workers

    Anchorage Daily News|Dec 14, 2022

    Alaska’s top elections administrator left her job and retired last week, after overseeing the state’s first ranked-choice elections. Division of Elections Director Gail Fenumiai, 60, has held the job since 2019, when she was appointed by former Lt. Gov. Kevin Meyer. She previously served as the state’s elections director between 2008 and 2015, and is a 20-year veteran of administering Alaska’s elections. Meyer, who announced his retirement from politics late last year and was replaced by Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom on Dec. 5, attributed Fenumia...

  • Recount does not change results in tight legislative races

    The Associated Press|Dec 14, 2022

    JUNEAU (AP) — A recount of an Anchorage-area state Senate race reaffirmed Republican Cathy Giessel as the winner, while a recount of an Anchorage House race reaffirmed Republican Rep. Tom McKay as the winner. The Senate recount was conducted by the state Division of Elections on Dec. 7 at the request of Democrat Roselynn Cacy, who was the first of the three candidates in the race to be eliminated in the Nov. 8 ranked-vote contest. The other candidate in the race was Republican Sen. Roger Holland. Cacy had said she had questions about the r...

  • Police report

    Dec 14, 2022

    Monday, Dec. 5 Agency assist: Harbor Department. Agency assist: Fire Department. Tuesday, Dec. 6 Agency assist: Public Facilities. Citizen assist. Trespass. Parking complaint. Violation condition of release: Driving while revoked. Wednesday, Dec. 7 Agency assist: Hoonah Police Department. Agency assist: Ambulance. Agency assist: Hoonah Police Department. Thursday, Dec. 8 Road debris. Agency assist: Public Works. Death notification. Citizen assist. Driving complaint: Juveniles on four-wheelers downtown. Parking complaint. Dog complaint. Animal...

  • Alaska average wages slide down to 8th highest in nation

    Alex DeMarban, Anchorage Daily News|Dec 14, 2022

    The high wages that once coaxed people to Alaska have continued to shrink compared to the rest of the U.S., due partly to a statewide recession before the pandemic and a slow recovery after it, according to a new report from the Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development. Alaska’s average wages still outperform the rest of the country, said economist Neal Fried, writing in the agency’s latest publication of Alaska Economic Trends. They placed eighth nationally last year at $30.52 an hour, about $2.50 above the national average. But...

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