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A shortage of pilots amid a labor dispute has forced Alaska Airlines to cancel hundreds of flights since last Friday. Pickets went up Friday at airports in Seattle and elsewhere on the airline’s West Coast route system. Alaska reported it canceled 9% of its service on Friday, about 120 flights, and 7% on Saturday, which affected about 12,000 travelers that day. Flight cancellations were down to 6% on Sunday and about 3% on Monday. “We apologize for the inconvenience and frustration we have caused because so many travel plans have been dis...
It’s been more than two years since “coronavirus” became a household word, and though case numbers have subsided from last summer’s surge and record highs this past winter, the disease is still in town. Wrangell recorded about 10% of its total pandemic infections in the last two weeks of March, the state reported last Friday. Of the 517 Wrangell cases recorded by the state in the past two years, 54 came in the last two weeks of the month. “It’s still here and it’s still making people sick,” Dr. Anne Zink, the state’s chief medical officer,...
The Alaska House went back to work on Monday after canceling floor sessions last week when several members refused to wear face masks amid an outbreak of COVID-19 among lawmakers and staff. At its worst last week, almost 10% of the 60 legislators and more than 300 staffers in the Capitol had tested positive for the coronavirus. House Speaker Louise Stutes said she canceled floor sessions due to an unwillingness by several Republican lawmakers to comply with temporary masking rules she had imposed. The speaker announced March 28 that masks...
Federal health officials are dropping the warning they have attached to cruising since the beginning of the pandemic, leaving it up to vacationers to decide whether they feel safe getting on a ship. Cruise-ship operators welcomed the announcement, which came as many people thought about summer vacation plans. An industry trade group said the move by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last Wednesday validated measures that ship owners have taken, including requiring crew members and most passengers to be vaccinated against the...
For 41 years, a Wrangell High School student was chosen as Shop Student of the Year. The honor was put on hold for two years but has been revived. Shop teacher Winston Davies decided to start giving out the award again, picking Logan Ritchie, who graduated last year, as the recipient for the 2020-2021 school year, when larger shop projects couldn't be finished due to COVID-19 restrictions. "I'm just carrying on a tradition that was started back in the 1980s," Davies said. "There are 41 previous...
Alaska is one of 21 states with Republican attorneys general that sued March 29 to halt the federal government’s requirement that people wear masks on planes, trains, ferries and other public transportation amid the coronavirus pandemic. The lawsuit, announced by Florida’s Gov. Ron DeSantis and Attorney General Ashley Moody and filed in federal court in Tampa, Florida, contends that the mask mandate exceeds the authority of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The mandate in its current form may be in effect only a few wee...
Island Salon has moved to a new location on Peninsula Street, but the mission remains the same: Keeping clients looking their best. The move was to combine the salon with Wrangell Fitness, so clients can not only look good but feel good. The salon and the fitness studio are both owned by Clay Culbert and Heidi Milazzo, and both opened five years ago at separate locations. "Part of the reason for moving into here was to consolidate both businesses and to keep things easier," Milazzo said. "Our...
Wrangell schools need substitute teachers, and they’re looking anywhere and everywhere. The substitute drought has been a problem for a few years, but it’s been made worse by COVID-19 and a lack of people willing to work. “Currently, we have 16 substitutes on the list, which means three or four are available on any given day,” said Kimberly Powell, administrative assistant for the school district. “We could use 10 more.” Powell said in the past they have had 25 substitutes on the call list, making it easier to cover for any staff — from teac...
Wrangell schools are not short of dedicated staff, engaged students or supportive parents. But what the district is short of — and getting shorter — are students and funding. That is a bad combination, putting stress on the schools as management puts together a budget for the 2022-2023 school year, and creating a serious long-term problem that needs the full attention of the school board, borough assembly and, most importantly, the community. The Wrangell School District has been losing students for the past 25 years, dropping from more tha...
Posted 2:30 p.m. Friday, April 1 The state health department website reported Friday that there have been 54 COVID-19 cases in Wrangell in the past 14 days, with 28 of those in the past seven days and nine in the past two days. The case counts include only those test results reported to the state; at-home test results are not included. Wrangell's case count, while significantly higher than the average over the two years of the pandemic, is down substantially from the post-holidays record-high surge in January and February. Statewide counts are...
Posted at noon Friday, April 1 Alaska Airlines canceled dozens of flights Friday — including the northbound jet through Wrangell — as pilots picketed over an impasse in contract negotiations that have lasted nearly three years. As of 8 a.m. Alaska time, the airline said it had canceled more than 120 flights for the day, about 9% of its traffic, due to a shortage of pilots. Friday’s cancelations include 66 flights in Seattle, 20 in Portland, 10 in Los Angeles and seven in San Francisco, according to the flight tracking website fligh...
WASHINGTON (AP) - Alaska Rep. Don Young, the longest-serving Republican in U.S. House history, will lie in state in the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday, March 29, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced Monday. Young, 88, a blunt-speaking politician known for his brusque style, died last Friday. He was first elected to the U.S. House in 1973 He was reelected in 2020 to serve his 25th term and was running this year for another term. A special election will be held this summer to fill the seat. Pelosi's...
With 1,153 boxes of two tests each piled up at the fire hall, there were enough COVID-19 self-tests available as of last Friday for more than the entire population of Wrangell to check for the virus at home. The tests are still available for free, though it can be days in between requests, said Wrangell Fire Department Capt. Dorianne Sprehe last Friday. Initially, during the Omicron wave of infections that hit the country last fall, at-home test kits were in short supply. Eventually, supply caught up with demand, and now demand has fallen back...
For nearly 10 years, Renèe Roberts has dedicated her life to swimming, and all those miles swum are taking her places. Roberts, a standout member of the Wrangell High School swim team, signed with Western Colorado University and will be one of 12 freshmen this fall joining the women's swimming and dive team. When she was 9 years old, Renee started swimming for fun, but was learning and practicing swim strokes right away. In 2016, at 12, she joined the Wrangell Swim Club and began improving her...
JUNEAU (AP) — Simmering public anger in Alaska over the Legislature’s failure to settle the state’s most radioactive issue — how big a check residents should receive from the state’s oil-wealth fund — is colliding with a once-a-decade opportunity for political activists: The chance for voters to call a convention to amend the state constitution. The frustration over the long-festering Permanent Fund dividend question is providing a tailwind for groups seeking to change the constitution to address a range of hot-button topics, such as restrictin...
A bill that would ban discrimination on the basis of COVID-19 vaccination status passed the Alaska Senate on March 16 in a move to limit state service providers and private businesses from requiring the life-saving vaccine. The bill, sponsored by Eagle River Republican Sen. Lora Reinbold, would make it illegal for the state to withhold services based on COVID-19 vaccination status, such as in public education or assisted living in Pioneer Homes. The bill would also ban private businesses from requiring COVID-19 vaccinations as a condition for...
VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) — The Canadian government’s announcement it is dropping the requirement for vaccinated travelers to show a negative COVID-19 test result to enter the country was greeted with relief by tourism and business groups on both sides of the border last Thursday. Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos said tests will no longer be needed beginning April 1. Currently, fully vaccinated travelers entering Canada must present proof of a negative result from a professionally administered antigen test. The antigen test replaced the...
After a 30-month absence due to a new federal requirement for armed customs agents and the COVID-19 pandemic shutdown of Canadian waters, the Alaska Marine Highway System is scheduled to resume limited service this summer to Prince Rupert, British Columbia. The Matanuska is scheduled for two stops each month in June, July and August, and one visit in September before the ferry system switches over to its more limited fall/winter schedule, which is still being developed. The first sailing from Ketchikan to Prince Rupert is set for June 20....
Sunlight streamed in through the windows of the Wrangell Senior Center where a handful of elders gathered after lunch last Wednesday to play bingo until "blackout" - the second such gathering since the center reopened to group activities after pandemic safety measures eased in light of declining case counts. Lunch wrapped up early, so the game began at about 12:30, with Solvay Gillen, site manager, calling out letter and number combinations. The bingo cards were well-loved, American Legion Auxil...
Canada’s Minister of Transport has announced that cruise ships are again welcome at the nation’s ports, starting April 6. The COVID-19 pandemic stopped all cruise ship traffic in 2020 as Canada closed its waters, and the revenue hit was substantial for Alaska businesses and municipalities that rely on summer travelers. Even when cruise ships resumed limited operations in 2021, they had to bypass Canadian ports and traffic to Alaska was a fraction of past summers. A major barrier to the ability of ships to sail between the Lower 48 and Ala...
Applications are now being accepted for a federally funded financial assistance program for Alaska homeowners. Applications will be accepted through April 4 by the Alaska Housing Finance Corp., which is administering the $50 million program to help homeowners hurt by income loss the past two years due to the pandemic. As of last Friday, 13 Wrangell homeowners had preregistered for the program, out of almost 5,400 people statewide, according to Stacy Barnes, public affairs director at the agency. The aid can go toward eligible homeowners’ m...
WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal officials are extending the requirement for masks on planes and public transportation for one more month — through mid-April — while taking steps that could lead to lifting the rule. The mask mandate was scheduled to expire March 18, but the Transportation Security Administration said last Thursday that it will extend the requirement through April 18. TSA said the extra month will give the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention time to develop new, more targeted policies that will consider the number of cases...
DULUTH, Minn. (AP) — Medical student Fred Blaisdell has a few months to go before anyone calls him doctor, but the Oneida Nation tribal member has already learned one lesson around the importance of Native physicians serving Native patients. During a recent psychiatry rotation at a Minneapolis clinic, he introduced himself to a patient who lit up when she heard him speak Ojibwe. “After that, the patient really opened up and started to talk about a lot more things that she hadn’t really engaged with us before,’’ recalled Blaisdell, 27, who i...
ANCHORAGE (AP) — Don Young, a blunt-speaking Republican and longest-serving member of Alaska’s congressional delegation, has died. He was 88. His office announced Young's death in a statement Friday night. “It’s with heavy hearts and deep sadness that we announce Congressman Don Young, the Dean of the House and revered champion for Alaska, passed away today while traveling home to Alaska to be with the state and people that he loved. His beloved wife Anne was by his side," said the statement from his spokesperson, Zach Brown. Young lost co...
State House lawmakers have proposed paying Alaskans almost $1,300 as an “energy relief check” on top of the annual Permanent Fund dividend. As presented by the House Finance Committee on Friday, the two payments would total about $2,500 this year for every eligible Alaskan. The energy relief payment would use some of the state’s unexpectedly high oil revenues to help residents hit by rising fuel prices, record inflation and ongoing financial recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, lawmakers in the House majority said in a written statement on Ma...