Sorted by date Results 401 - 416 of 416
With less than four months remaining until the rededication of Shakes Island and the Chief Shakes Tribal House, the Wrangell Cooperative Association is at a make-or-break moment when it comes to housing a group of 1,000-plus guests and dignitaries who will visit the island May 3-4. According to WCA Board of Directors member Ken Hoyt, a number of spaces have been filled, primarily by reserving nearly every room in the Stikine Inn, Diamond C Hotel, and Alaskan Sourdough Lodge, as well as a number of bed and breakfasts and private homes. It’s s...
The Southeast Conference celebrates its 55th birthday today, marking a milestone for a group that began with a group of leaders from across the region that wished to see a regional transportation system developed in Southeast Alaska. According to Shelly Wright, executive director of Southeast Conference, The organization’s first meeting took place in Petersburg in 1958. The result of the group’s initial efforts was the creation of the Alaska Marine Highway System. After that success, Southeast Conference board and membership stayed tog...
A new mayor, renovations to the Shakes Island Tribal House and Marine Service Center, and the ongoing Wrangell Medical Center debate – all of these stories were newsmakers in 2012. Let’s take a look back at some of the biggest stories in Wrangell over the past year. JANUARY A late night blaze destroyed a trailer and sent a woman to Wrangell Medical Center with severe burns on Dec. 22. The fire, which began at 10:30 p.m. in a small pull-behind trailer near the top of the park, severely inj...
The City and Borough of Wrangell is asking its citizens for help in lobbying Governor Sean Parnell’s office to help get a public works project in downtown back on track. A proposed renovation of Evergreen Road beginning at the Alaska Marine Highway System ferry terminal, and extending north and then east from the city center, has been a priority item on the Alaska Statewide Transportation Improvement Program since 2008 – holding down the top spot on that list since 2010. Last week it was str...
Michael R. Patterson passed away September 23, 2012 near Laramie, Wyo. He loved traveling and died doing what he loved. He was born in Astoria, Ore. on November 9, 1942 to Cora Halvorsen Patterson and Clair LeRoy Patterson. The family lived in a floathouse on the John Day River. In 1951 he moved with his family to Anchorage. Mike attended school in Anchorage and joined the Navy after high school in 1960. Part of his service time was shipping out on the Aircraft Carrier Midway. After his...
If estimates of expected attendance hold true, the population of Wrangell could increase by 25 percent or more in May 2013 – during the rededication of Chief Shakes Tribal House. The numbers of expected visitors, which has been calculated by Tis Peterman of the Wrangell Cooperative Association, could equal between 700-1,000 participants from across Alaska and the lower-48. Because of this projection, the hunt for housing so many visitors to the borough is on with a vengeance. “So far we...
Liz Buness and Tom Wolford were married on July 15, 2012 at Fort Abercrobie in Kodiak, Alaska. Tom is employed by Pacific Rim Log Scaling Bureau and Liz is a senior purser for the Alaska Marine Highway System. The ceremony was officiated by Pastor Tracy Hodges. The couple plans to make their home in Wrangell....
Illegal drugs are becoming more accessible to residents of Southeast – courtesy of the U.S. Postal Service. As communities throughout the region report significant volumes of illegal drugs transported via the USPS, Senator Lisa Murkowski asked the Postmaster General to address the matter, possibly by devoting additional US Postal Inspection Service resources to the area or increasing collaboration with local law enforcement agencies to reduce the flow of drugs into Southeast. Wrangell Police Department Lieutenant Merlin Ehlers said his o...
Several Alaska towns are vying for the title of ‘Ultimate Fishing Town’ which comes with a $25,000 check for local fishing projects. The annual competition is sponsored by the World Fishing Network, “a 24/7 television network dedicated to all segments of fishing,” according to its website. WFN, which focuses on sport fishing, originally launched in 2005 and is now seen in more than 20 million North American households via cable, satellite and the Internet. As of Friday, nine Alaska towns were among the hundreds of hopefuls on the leaderb...
PETERSBURG — The Alaska Marine Highway ferry Matanuska crashed into the face of the Ocean Beauty Seafoods dock in Petersburg at 1:00 p.m. Monday. The M/V Matanuska was negotiating a turn in Wrangell Narrows prior to the accident as it prepared to dock at the Petersburg ferry terminal on its southbound trip. Heavy damage was sustained to the face of the Ocean Beauty dock. Dock piling were broken and the hydraulic crane was dangling over the water. In addition to the dock damage, the second f...
Hello again from Juneau. We’re down to crunch time now, with the major focus being on the budgets, education funding, and oil taxes. The House is now primarily hearing Senate bills. The Senate is doing the same, by hearing House bills during the last week and a half of the session. There will be hundreds of bills that will die at the end of this session. Less than ten bills have passed both houses. The Senate passed their version of the Operating Budget, changing the House version in hundreds o...
The Petersburg City Council on Monday voted in favor of supporting the Alaska Marine Highway (AMHS) Bellingham run, and the replacement of current ferries. According to the resolution, AMHS has been serving Alaska’s coastal communities with vehicle, freight and passenger transportation for about 50 years. As in the hard-link road and rail system throughout the interior of Alaska, the ferry system relies on State and Federal funding. But also similar to the roadway, it will never be s...
To the Editor: To: Jeanne Lindley Thank you for writing to Governor Sean Parnell regarding your concerns about the Alaska Marine Highway System (AMHS). AMHS is a vital part of the transportation infrastructure of Alaska. In regard to your frustrations over public notices, AMHS posts meeting announcements in local bulletins and on their website http://www.dotstate.ak.us/amhs/, well in advance of public meeting dates. Additionally, you also expressed concerns about management of AMHS and transportation challenges in Southeast Alaska. Governor...
January The Wrangell School Board found $128,451 in additional, unspent funding from a federal program. In passing their 2011 budget, the board also accepted an $8,300 grant for the Upward Bound program. Master carvers Steve Brown and Wayne Price visited Shakes Island to begin discussions on the renovation of the Tribal House and to propose a traditional tools class. The US Forest Service began a scoping project for an Environmental Impact Study regarding timber sales and road construction for...
Re: Alaska Marine Highway, and the future of our ferry system (DOT, yearly “Scoping Plan” report, Wrangell Sentinel Oct. 27, 2011.) I didn’t know that DOT had a yearly “scoping plan.” I have lived in Alaska since 1963, when our ferries first started. I was here, when they enlarged our fleet so as to get our ferry service to our Indian villages, and our logging camps, so that all of us who lived in outlying towns would have access to our ferry system. I worked for the ferry system for many years, and I watched as DOT did less and less maintenan...
The Alaska Department of Transportation presented its 2011 scoping report update for the Southeast Alaska Transportation Plan on Tuesday, Oct. 18 at the James and Elsie Nolan Center in Wrangell. The purpose of the meeting, which has also been held in other communities across Southeast, was to inform the public about six possible outcomes of ADOT’s long-range planning for transportation issues in the region. The alternatives presented range from no change in the current plan to the d...
