Sorted by date Results 151 - 175 of 412
For the sake of this holiday political fable, let’s assume there is a Santa Claus and the all-knowing gift giver tracks your behavior 365 days a year, not just the month or so before Christmas — much like your phone, your web browsing history, Alexa, front-door camera or whatever other electronic tracking device that watches over you. Santa knows who has been naughty or nice long before anyone starts wrapping December presents. And let’s hope that Santa — and coastal Alaska voters — have been making the list and checking it twice for the past...
The Alaska Marine Highway System is looking for private companies to fill service gaps over the winter for small Northern Southeast communities. The LeConte is scheduled to go out of service in early January until the end of February for its annual overhaul and recertification. That would leave several communities without ferry service for two months. Mainline ferries are too large to serve the communities and the state’s smaller ships are unavailable. “The stars are not aligning for us to use one of our own vessels,” said Sam Dapcevich, a spo...
A new state advisory board intended to provide more public input over operations and investment decisions for the Alaska Marine Highway System is starting to gather up its members, with five of the nine positions filled. None of the board members named so far are from southern Southeast Alaska. The Legislature this year approved the new panel’s composition and advisory responsibilities to replace a board structure under an 18-year-old law that had been criticized as ineffective and often ignored by state officials. House Speaker Louise S...
The aftermath of an unexpectedly strong Tuesday weather system affected life in Wrangell, postponing community events and unfurling an outpouring of support amid power outages. Power was restored to about 90 households early Thursday morning, according to Kim Lane, acting borough manager. Power poles at City Park are up and repaired, and power has been restored to the island. Crews worked through the night to restore the power, Lane said in a message. "Having roughly 100 homes without power...
Nov. 17, 1921 According to the Alaska Directory published in the General Federation News, the official organ of the club women of the country, Mrs. I.C. Bjorge, of Wrangell, has been appointed chair of the Alaska Federation. Other chair are: Art and Music, Mrs. Frank LeNoir, Douglas; Civics, Mrs. Russel Herman, Chickaloon; Legislation, Mrs. Vara E. Kaser, Juneau; Library Extension, Mrs. F. Rader, Matanuska; Home Economics, Sanitation and Health, Mrs. G. Borgen, Seward: History (appointment to be made later). Nov. 15, 1946 Stream surveys of...
By Frank Murkowski There has been a concentrated effort the past few years to develop a long-term solution to the many problems of our ferry system. The effort has been led by the Alaska Department of Transportation. The department has hired several consulting firms over the years including the Spaulding Group, McDowell Group, Northern Economics and the governor's "reshaping work group," at a cost to the state of several hundred thousand dollars. These reports have done a good job identifying problems, yet very few of their proposed solutions...
The cost of keeping the idled state ferry Malaspina at the dock in Ketchikan is nearly twice as much as reported to the public and state lawmakers. That's according to internal emails obtained by CoastAlaska under state public records law. The nearly 60-year-old Malaspina, one of the marine highway's original three sister ships, hasn't carried passengers in almost two years. It's costing the state almost $900,000 a year to insure and maintain the unused ship. Gov. Mike Dunleavy's administration...
The borough received five applications for the interim borough manager position: Jeff Good, of Wrangell; Gene Green, of Silverton, Oregon; Mark Lynch, of Stanford, Illinois; Darrell Maple, of Jacksonville, Oregon; and David Palmer, of Anacortes, Washington. Manager Lisa Von Bargen’s last day will be Oct. 29. The interim borough manager will fulfill the duties of manager until a new manager can be hired. The position will be a short-time hire, with an expected commitment of between one to three months, according to the borough's job notice. P...
Former and current secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture Thomas Vilsack, who was instrumental in reimposing the 2001 roadless rule on the Tongass National Forest in 2011 and is planning to reimpose it again before Nov. 1, has announced a new Southeast Alaska Sustainability Strategy “to help support a diverse economy, enhance community resilience, and conserve natural resources.” This is to be “a collaborative process to invest approximately $25 million in financial and technical resources in sustainable opportunities for econo...
Monday’s state ferry to Petersburg and Juneau was the last northbound sailing scheduled for Wrangell until Dec. 10. With the Matanuska pulled out of service for winter maintenance, the Alaska Marine Highway System will operate at a reduced schedule until the ship returns in December. That means a loss of weekly northbound and southbound stops in Wrangell. The Kennicott is covering Southeast in place of the Matanuska, but the Kennicott also will serve Cordova and Whittier in Prince William Sound, resulting in less time — and fewer port cal...
There is no precise count but it looks like federal pandemic aid distributed or allocated over the past 18 months to Wrangell residents, businesses, the borough, school district, tribe and nonprofits totals close to $30 million. That's about equal to all the income earned by every household in town in half a year, according to U.S. Census numbers. It's almost three times the annual budget of the borough and school board combined. Most of the money came as grants or simply as federal aid to keep...
Design plans have been finalized to add crew quarters to the state ferry Hubbard, which hasn’t been in service since it was built a few years ago because its intended routes would go beyond limits for employee working hours. The Alaska Marine Highway System is getting ready to seek bids for the project. “We’re hoping to be in a shipyard somewhere ... by the first of November. That’s our goal,” John Falvey, general manager of the marine highway, said Aug. 23. “We don’t know where. Could be here (the Ketchikan shipyard), could be the Lower 48.” T...
The two unused Alaska fast ferries — which the state sold earlier this year as surplus — have been delivered to the Spanish Island of Ibiza, according to the Diario de Ibiza news website. Diario de Ibiza on Aug. 30 posted several photographs of the former ferries Chenega and Fairweather aboard a heavy-lift ship that left Ketchikan on July 4 and made its way to and through the Panama Canal before crossing the Atlantic Ocean and into the Mediterranean Sea. “The two ships arrived this morning on the island, specifically to the Calo des Moro area,...
The Alaska Marine Highway System fall/winter schedule is online and open for reservations, but don’t look for too many sailings into Wrangell in October and November. A state ferry will pull into town just six times over the two months. But it will be more service than the community received last year. The Kennicott will make two northbound and two southbound stops in Wrangell in October, and just two southbound stops — nothing northbound — during November. The Matanuska, which usually calls on Wrangell once a week in each direction, will...
The state ferry system hopes to resume service next summer to Prince Rupert, British Columbia, after a two-year absence due to a customs-clearance issue between the U.S. and Canada. “We are now working at very high levels to try to get back there,” said John Falvey, general manager of the Alaska Marine Highway System. “Rupert is an important port for us.” It’s also a historic port. The Alaska Marine Highway System went into business in 1963, sailing between Prince Rupert and Southeast, before extending its run to Seattle in 1967 and maintaini...
The Alaska Marine Highway System has put out its summer 2022 draft schedule for public comment, with two potentially big changes from this year: The possible return to service of the Columbia, the largest ship in the fleet, and the possible return to Prince Rupert, British Columbia, after a two-year absence from the port. If the Columbia returns, it would give the state ferry system two sailings a week out of Bellingham, Washington, to Southeast Alaska ports. With the Columbia, Wrangell could get two northbound and two southbound ferry calls a...
The Alaska Marine Highway System is not alone in trying to manage with a crew shortage, nor is it a new problem. But the fear of COVID-19 is making it worse. “We’ve had a slow progression of loss of crew over the years,” John Falvey, the system’s general manager, said in an interview last week. “COVID has not helped us.” Fear of catching the coronavirus is an issue for recruiting new stewards who work in the galley and dining area, clean the cabins and public areas, he said. “There tends to be a concern now (of COVID) when you look at custo...
The Alaska Marine Highway System has been advertising statewide since June in a concerted effort to recruit new crewmembers for the vessels, though help did not arrive in time when the LeConte had to cancel its northbound sailing out of Juneau on Aug. 11 due to a crew shortage. The cancelation “stems from a system-wide crew shortage,” Sam Dapcevich, public information officer for the ferry system, told the Chilkat Valley News in Haines. The one-day cancellation disrupted travel plans for 84 people who were traveling to Haines or Skagway, accord...
The 2,700-page, trillion-dollar infrastructure bill that passed the U.S. Senate on Tuesday could provide tens of millions of dollars, maybe more, to help the ailing Alaska Marine Highway System. How to use the money - assuming Congress approves the final package later this year, which is far from certain - would be decided by the governor and Alaska legislators next year. "We can't allow it to be a total replacement of the state's responsibilities," Robert Venables, executive director of the Sou...
Some of the key players in legislative efforts to reach a compromise on a long-term fiscal plan for the state — in addition to settling on an amount for this fall’s Permanent Fund dividend — say growing regional, political and economic differences, plus a large number of first-term legislators, make the effort harder. “To find a common ground means people have to give up something,” said Anchorage Sen. Natasha von Imhof. That compromise of spending versus revenues versus dividends has to add up to a solution that balances the checkbook...
Wrangell would see one northbound ferry every other week during October and November, and one southbound ferry the other weeks in October and November under the draft winter schedule released by the Alaska Marine Highway System. That’s down significantly from the current summer schedule of one northbound and one southbound stop each week. “At what point do we just say, ‘We don’t have a ferry system anymore,’” Mayor Steve Prysunka said. “We just get these schedules that are horrendous in the fall.” The community received one northbound ferry in...
Gov. Mike Dunleavy used his veto power to thwart a legislative effort to boost the state ferry system budget. The governor cut almost $8.5 million from an overall appropriation of $190.7 million intended to cover the next 18 months of Alaska Marine Highway System operations. The veto scales back the budget closer to last year’s level on a 12-month basis and frustrates legislative attempts to restore some of the service cuts under the governor’s administration. This is the third budget Dunleavy has signed since he took office in December 201...
The heavy-lift vessel Red Zed I resurfaces with the former Alaska Marine Highway System fast ferries Chenega and Fairweather on its back last Friday in Tongass Narrows in front of Ketchikan. The Amak Towing vessels Ethan B. and Jennie B. moved the 235-foot-long ferries from their moorings in Ward Cove and into the narrows, where the Red Zed I has been anchored since April 2. The 712-foot-long lift vessel submerged, allowing the ferries to climb aboard for the long voyage to their new home in...
Legislature finishes budget, but more to do The Alaska House of Representative was able to come together Monday for a final-passage vote of the state budget, averting a looming government shutdown. The budget totals $4.5 billion in state unrestricted general funds, which is very similar to previous year budgets, continuing the six-year trend of flat spending. The budget forward funds the Alaska Marine Highway System for 18 months, providing more stability for future seasons’ schedules. The budget also includes an additional $2.5 million for p...
It’s been about 25 years since Wrangell had a U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary detachment — and Liz Buness wants to bring it back. She thought about the need while she was working aboard the state ferries for 16 years, vowing “when I retire, maybe that’ll happen.” Buness, who retired from the Alaska Marine Highway System as a chief purser in 2019, talked with Coast Guard auxiliary officials, took the classes required for auxiliary membership, and now serves as part of the Ketchikan flotilla in Wrangell. She decided this summer is a good time to s...