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High oil prices could provide an additional $500 for Alaskans a year from now. As part of the end-of-session budget deal put together by legislative leaders, particularly in the Senate, lawmakers in May adopted a provision in the fiscal year 2024 state spending plan that will provide a one-time “energy relief payment” next fall if state revenues exceed estimates. Global supply shortages, caused largely by production cuts in Saudi Arabia and Russia, have driven up oil prices and boosted state revenues for the first three months of the fis...
Wages rose and job opportunities increased across much of Southeast through 2022, but problems such as the lack of affordable housing and child care remain persistent throughout the region, an economic consultant told the annual gathering of the Southeast Conference. Meilani Schijvens gave Southeast’s economy an overall grade of A, the highest rating she has ever assigned for the region in her annual report, now in its 10th year. “Why did our economy earn an A? … Number One — our jobs were up by 5%,” she answered. “That’s an increase of 2,200 j...
After a period when COVID-19 restrictions halted the spread of other respiratory diseases, Alaska had a big increase in influenza cases last fall and winter, state data shows. The overall influenza case load during the 2022-23 season was much higher than in prior years, reports a new bulletin issued by the epidemiology section of the Alaska Division of Public Health. Most notably, cases spiked much earlier in the season, in November and December, before dropping. There were five influenza deaths over the season, all among adults, according to...
Members of the Tlingit community gathered outside the Wrangell airport last Friday while chests carrying four objects -a mudshark hat, a mudshark tunic, a blanket and a blanket with a killer whale stranded on a rock while hunting - were carefully lowered back into their hands after 91 years of separation. The objects, which belong to the Naanya.aayí clan, were taken by Wrangell police from the home of Mary Kunk, Eva Blake and Betty Carlstrom in the 1930s. In an effort to right past wrongs,...
Several hundred Wrangell residents who receive Medicaid benefits should make sure the state has their current address and all the information needed to verify their eligibility. The state of Alaska — same as all the states — is reviewing its Medicaid rolls to ensure that everyone still qualifies for the government-funded free health care program. It’s required now that the federally declared COVID-19 public health emergency has ended. During the pandemic, millions were added to Medicaid, and annual eligibility reviews were suspended for milli...
The number of Alaskans covered by Medicaid has dropped by more than 14,000 since April, after federal protections for the health care benefits ended with expiration of the COVID-19 emergency declaration. The number losing their benefits may increase as the state continues the process of determining who still meets eligibility requirements — the reviews were halted during the national emergency declaration. And while many Alaskans are losing their coverage or waiting to hear if they will, the state’s Health Department continues working to cle...
Alaska is a vast and beautiful state but also one of the most isolated and underserved in terms of broadband access. According to the Federal Communications Commission, only 65% of Alaskans have access to broadband speeds of at least 25 Mbps, compared to 94% of Americans nationwide. This digital divide has serious consequences for Alaskans’ education, health, economy and quality of life. Created by the federal government as a response to the COVID-19 public health emergency, the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) is a $14.2 billion e...
A new $120,000 program that puts retired state troopers in uniform on Alaska ferries is seeing results: no incidents and an appreciative crew, which has long been tasked with overseeing the occasional unruly passenger. “We’re here to make sure that people enjoy their trips, but don’t interfere with other people enjoying their trips,” said retired trooper Chad Goeden, who was in uniform and stood out among passengers in casual clothes on the Columbia during the ferry’s three-day passage from Bellingham, Washington, to Ketchikan on July 14-1...
Elders and adults with disabilities will have more opportunities to get care at home or in a home-like setting under a bill that became state law when Gov. Mike Dunleavy signed it on July 29. The measure, Senate Bill 57, serves two broad categories of Alaskans who might otherwise have to move into assisted-care facilities: disabled adults, including youth who have aged out of the foster system, and elders. For disabled adults, the bill authorizes a system of adult host homes serving one or two people, a category into which foster parents’ h...
Since its 2020 opening, Sirene Spa has been freshening faces, lengthening lashes, clearing pores and applying perfect tans. But now, the spa is giving itself a makeover. Esthetician Robyn Byrd has changed the name of her business from "Sirene Spa" to "Salt and Cedar" - a name that honors her Tlingit heritage and better reflects her updated establishment, which has expanded to include Alaska gifts, jewelry and more. The spa has also moved from the Churchill Building to a larger, more accessible...
A state judge has ordered a tourist shop outside Denali National Park to stop selling products labeled as “Made in Alaska” after the state accused the shop of repeatedly selling fake souvenirs and art. According to a complaint filed by the Alaska Department of Law on July 20 in Fairbanks, the owners of a shop known variously as The Himalayan and Mt. McKinley Clothing Company repeatedly attempted to mislabel foreign products as Alaska-made. At one point, the owners of the store told an undercover investigator “that an alpaca poncho depic...
While Alaska’s state government has made progress in getting more people the food stamps they are entitled to receive, advocates say the process to appeal denials or delays is breaking down. Food stamps are a federal benefit managed by the states, and there are rules for how quickly a state has to get the benefit to qualified applicants. Alaska has been taking an unlawfully long time to process most applications since last fall. Citizens have a right to a legal hearing when the state takes too long to get them food stamps or denies their a...
Alaska saw a drop in the number of food stamp recipients over the past year far larger than any other state as processing delays caused low-income households to miss out on their benefits. While more than half of states actually had an increase in SNAP beneficiaries, among those that saw a decline none came anywhere close to the 69% drop in participation Alaska experienced through this spring. Behind Alaska, Maryland saw a 21% decrease, Arkansas saw a 19% decrease and New Jersey saw a 14% decrease between March 2022 and March 2023. Those...
Juneau tourism companies are being forced to turn away visitors who want to see the Mendenhall Glacier Recreation Area this summer as they are reaching the commercial tourism limit due to “unprecedented increases in visitation,” the U.S. Forest Service announced July 7. The Forest Service each year doles out permitted “service days” to tour providers, such as bus companies or taxi services carrying tourists, in order to manage the area and protect the ecosystem. A service day equates to one tourist visiting the Mendenhall Glacier for one day...
Alaskans are having a harder time accessing child care now than they were five years ago, an expert told a new task force charged by Gov. Mike Dunleavy with developing a plan to make child care in the state more available and affordable. The task force, which Dunleavy formed in April, had its first public meeting on June 28 via Zoom with about 60 people, including the dozen task force members, in attendance. The group has until the end of December to deliver an initial plan to address the state’s child care challenges. At stake is the welfare o...
A Ketchikan man agreed to plead guilty earlier this month to federal charges in conjunction with a long-running scheme to sell fake Alaska Native souvenirs manufactured in the Philippines. Travis Lee Macaset's plea deal follows several other guilty pleas this summer that stem from a scheme to sell mislabeled products out of two businesses in Ketchikan. "It occurs more often than we would like," said Jack Schmidt, the assistant U.S. Attorney who prosecuted the cases. With tourism rebounding from...
Paint, used cooking oil, pesticides and more can be safely disposed of on Thursday. The borough is sponsoring a household hazardous waste event from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at the transfer station on Evergreen Avenue on the north end of the island. Fees are waived up to 200 pounds in materials and will cost $18 per load for anything over that weight, said Tom Wetor, Public Works Department director. Only household waste can be brought to the collections event; no commercial waste. The site will be closed for lunch from 11 a.m. to noon. It’s t...
Rooney Schafer, 6, sits in a Caterpillar TH83 Telehandler - a forklift with a 41-foot boom in back - at the Touch-a-Truck event last Saturday. Horns blared, sirens wailed, lights flashed and children giggled and smiled as they were able to experience what it's like to be inside different heavy equipment and emergency vehicles. Organizer Devyn Johnson said the event is the sixth one that's been held in Wrangell, with one year as a parade due to COVID-19 precautions. She began holding the event...
Alaska’s legislative session ended last month, and Gov. Mike Dunleavy has yet to consider most of the 31 bills passed by both House and Senate this spring. The Legislature’s 31 bills are the third fewest of any first-year session since statehood. The biggest bills of the year are the budget bill and the annual mental health budget. Dunleavy could veto or reduce line items within the budget before the start of the state’s fiscal year on July 1, but with a couple weeks to go, he hasn’t given any clues about his thinking. Other bills waiting...
The Polynesian Voyaging Society vessel Hōkūle’a had been scheduled to arrive in Wrangell on Monday, June 26, but due to the crew’s exposure to COVID-19 in Juneau the vessel delayed its departure from Angoon by a day. The plan is to leave Angoon on Friday, June 23. The vessel is now scheduled to arrive in Wrangell on Tuesday, June 27, a day later than originally expected. Rapid PCR tests have been conducted, none of the crew have symptoms and all are feeling well, according to a revised schedule from the crew. Barring any other delays, the Hōkūl...
When Lt. Jon Tollerud gave his first sermon in Wrangell, there was one person in the congregation, and it was a newspaper reporter covering the story of the new pastor in town. Now, three and a half years later, an average of 20 congregants gather to hear the weekly message, and Sunday will be the last one given by Tollerud and his wife, Lt. Rosie Tollerud, as they have been transferred to Fairbanks by The Salvation Army. In their time here, the Tolleruds have not only increased the number of...
The U.S. Forest Service again this year is making available permits for unguided visits to the Anan Wildlife Observatory, limited to four per day. The permits must be requested in person at the Wrangell Ranger District office, up to one week in advance. Permits, at $10 each, are required for visiting Anan from July 5 through Aug. 25, when the popular bear-viewing site is limited to 60 visitors a day on guided tours. The four unguided visitor permits are in addition to the 60. “These (four) permits are for people arriving with their own means o...
Alaska school administrators are welcoming the $175 million in additional one-time funding in this year’s state budget, but warn that they’ll again face large deficits next year. Permanently increasing the base student allocation — the state’s per-student funding formula — was a top priority for many legislators this year. School districts across the state reported being in crisis after six years of essentially flat funding, high inflation and the end of federal COVID-19 relief aid. “The legislature has offered a spring bonus rather than...
In southwestern Alaska’s Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, which has some of the nation’s worst water and sanitation service and most overcrowded housing, vaccines proved to be valuable safeguards against the worst ravages of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a new study. The study, by experts from the Yukon-Kuskokwim Health Corp. and the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, tracked COVID cases, hospitalizations and vaccination status of the region’s mostly Yupik residents throughout 2021. It found that vaccination was 92% effec...
Since 2019, Caitlin Cardinell has worked as the liaison between members of the Stikine River Jet Boat Association and cruise lines to schedule tours and advocate for the organization. After 10 years in Wrangell and seeing the SRJBA through the COVID-19 pandemic, Cardinell is resigning her position as executive director and returning to Minnesota. Though the position has been a challenge, her reasons for leaving are to spend more time with her aging parents. She will maintain a home in Wrangell...
