Sorted by date Results 101 - 125 of 181
City officials reported a new COVID-19 case Tuesday afternoon, bringing to 17 the number of positive cases since April 8. The case "is due to community spread," the city's 5:30 p.m. announcement said. "This is the only information about the case at this time," the city reported. Of the 17 cases over the past 12 days, eight people have recovered and nine cases were still active as of Tuesday. Wrangell is under a face mask requirement for indoor public spaces. The borough assembly approved the ordinance at an emergency meeting Saturday amid the...
Members of the Ritchie family enjoy their drive-through lunch at Irene Ingle Public Library (left to right): Bonnie, Chad and Bo. The library hosted a hot dog lunch for the public Tuesday afternoon, in celebration of National Library Week. Red velvet cupcakes were the dessert....
December 17 Jamie Roberts, with the Wrangell EOC, reported that there are currently no active cases of COVID-19 in the community. Statewide, Alaska’s case count is 41,859 as of yesterday. This is an increase of 3,151 from last week. Wrangell received its first shipment of COVID-19 vaccines Wednesday afternoon, Dec. 16. According to SEARHC, following guidance from the Alaska Vaccine Advisory Council, vaccinations will be given to frontline health workers first, along with first responders, and l...
The Irene Ingle Public Library hosted a "teddy bear clinic" at their outdoor gazebo last week, as part of Bearfest. Families could bring their old and damaged stuffed animals to get them patched up. Pictured here (left to right) is Janet Strohm, Fiona Scambler, and Duncan Scambler....
On Sunday evening, June 7, the first positive case of COVID-19 was announced in the community of Wrangell. A joint press release from the city and SEARHC reports that the patient is an unnamed female. She is a resident of Wrangell, according to the press release, and is asymptomatic. Contact tracing, trying to determine who might have come into contact with the patient and may potentially be at risk, is currently ongoing. "SouthEast Alaska Regional Health Consortium (SEARHC) representatives are...
The Wrangell Borough assembly held another budget workshop last week, Wednesday, June 3. In this meeting the assembly briefly reviewed a looming budget deficit in the borough's general fund. They also looked at a variety of department budgets that, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, are anticipating reduced revenues. Among these are the Transient Tax and CPV budget, the Nolan Center, and Parks and Recreation. As reported in previous articles regarding these budget workshops, the City and Borough of...
Last week's borough assembly meeting, on April 28, only had a few items on the agenda. The majority of the meeting was spent receiving comments on the COVID-19 situation from the public and some assembly members. Joan Sargent, of Island of Faith Lutheran Church, led the invocation for the meeting. Afterwards, she also shared her comments on the pandemic and the community's response to it. She wanted to share with the public that the Irene Ingle Public Library, which has been serving as a hub to...
As the COVID-19 virus continues to impact the world, and Alaska, many people are doing their part to mitigate its spread. People are working from home, self-isolating, and social distancing. A recent health alert by the state of Alaska recommends that people begin wearing face masks when in public, as well. "Scientific evidence available to date indicates that asymptomatic and presymptomatic shedding of the virus that causes COVID-19 is occurring," the April 3 health alert reads. "This means...
With the ongoing spread of COVID-19, also known as the coronavirus, many communities across the nation are doing their best to be prepared. This is also true in Alaska. There are only a few confirmed cases of the virus in Anchorage and Fairbanks as of March 17. All across the state, however, communities are taking precautionary measures to keep the virus from spreading further. In Wrangell, many events and facilities have been postponed for the sake of caution. "As a preventative measure to...
A Wrangell home caught fire last week, and firefighters suspect a candle is to blame. The fire occurred around 3:45 p.m. last Thursday. The residence, home to Jim "Bear" Jenkins and his son Josh Jenkins, is located on Second Street, next door to the Irene Ingle Public Library. The Wrangell Volunteer Fire Department responded to the call quickly, and had the fire put out shortly after 4 p.m. Nobody was home when the fire began however, the Jenkins' dog, Rowdy, was inside at the time....
The Wrangell Borough Assembly met Tuesday, Feb. 25, to have a follow-up work session on staffing issues at the Irene Ingle Public Library and the Nolan Center. As covered in a Feb. 13 article of the Sentinel, the assembly has been considering how best to resolve staffing questions at both facilities while also keeping everything as affordable as possible. During their last workshop, the assembly considered a number of options for an empty assistant position at the library. The Nolan Center has...
The Wrangell Borough Assembly met Monday, Feb. 10, to workshop some staffing issues at the Irene Ingle Public Library and the Nolan Center. The assembly originally planned to hold a special assembly meeting right after the workshop, but instead decided to just have the workshop and revisit the topic at a later meeting. An assistant position is currently open, one of three permanent positions the city maintains at the library: Library Director, Assistant II, and Assistant I. The Assistant I...
Past microfilms of the Stikine River Journal, the Fort Wrangell News and the Wrangell Sentinel will be digitally archived using a $8,250 grant that Wrangell Cooperative Association applied for and received from the Institute of Museum and Library Services. About 18,500 images are set to be digitized by APEX Covantage and will meet the same standards as the Alaska State Library's historical newspaper documentation program, according to Tribal Administrator Esther Ashton. Issues from the Stikine...
The Wrangell Borough Assembly organized a work session to discuss a recently vacated position at the Irene Ingle Public Library. There are three primary jobs at the library: Library Director, Assistant II, and Assistant I. The "Assistant II" position was recently vacated. It was proposed to promote Sarah Scambler, then Assistant I, up to the Assistant II position. This would leave the Assistant I position open, which the library planned to post as available and search for a new hire. However,...
The Wrangell Cooperative Association held an award ceremony at Wrangell High School Monday evening, Sept. 30. Tribal Administrator Esther Ashton, along with several members of the WCA board, organized the ceremony to officially give several local organizations a check from the Southeast Alaska Regional Health Consortium's "Healthy Is Here" grant. In total, $10,600 was given to 17 organizations. "The reason we're here today is that we received from SEARHC a Healthy Is Here grant," Ashton said....
September 11, 1919 One of the prettiest war souvenirs we have seen was received this week by Wrangell man, O. A. Brown, from the American Can Company. The shell is of brass, over three inches in diameter and 2 ½ feet in length. The following note accompanied the souvenir. “When loaded for service the brass case contains the propelling charge of smokeless powder, which shoots the steel to an extreme range of four miles. The steel shell is filled with high explosive, usually T.N.T., which is caused to explode when striking the target or gr...
The Irene Ingle Public Library is gearing up for their annual summer reading program once again. The program has been running for over 20 years, according to Library Director Margaret Villarma. She said it is designed to hone kids' reading comprehension even when they are not in school. "It's important for them to do the reading program because if they don't read over the summer they lose some of what they learned the previous school year," she said. "They call that 'summer backslide,' I think...
Andrea Thomas, patient health benefits manager with SEARHC, gave a presentation at the Irene Ingle Public Library last Thursday on the basics of Medicare. As many people know, Medicare is a government-run health insurance program. There is a common misconception that Medicare is reserved only for people 65-years-old and older. Thomas said in her presentation that this is not true. In fact, anyone under the age of 65-years-old with certain disabilities, end-stage renal disease, or Lou Gehrig's disease also qualify for Medicare. The purpose of...
Ernestine Hayes, author of "The Tao of Raven," "Blonde Indian," and "Juneau (Images of America)" was in Wrangell last weekend to host a writer's workshop. She also visited with Wrangell residents at the Irene Ingle Public Library at a meet-and-greet on Friday....
The Wrangell Borough Assembly recognized the Lady Wolves high school basketball team during their meeting on Tuesday evening for their hard work over the recent season. Mayor Steve Prysunka, in reading a proclamation congratulating the team, pointed out that the Lady Wolves took first place in regionals, defeating Metlakatla, for the first time in 25 years, and that numerous team members had received several awards and accolades over the course of the season. "I, Stephen Prysunka, mayor of the...
Ernestine Hayes said that she was raised as the only child of a single mother who was an avid reader. Growing up in Juneau in the '50s, she said, having her mother read to her was one of her main inspirations for becoming a writer. "The best way to become a writer is to be a reader," she said. Hayes and her mother moved to California when she was 15, according to Hayes' website, but when she was 40-years-old she "resolved to go home or die with my thoughts facing north." Her first book, "Blonde...
Mary Ann Phillips, 65 and a lifelong Wrangell resident, passed away February 5, 2019 in Zihuantanejo, Mexico while on vacation with her family. She was born on November 18, 1953 in Bishop Rowe Hospital to Maurice and Mary Buness. She attended Wrangell Public Schools until her family moved to the Tacoma area in 1964. She returned to Wrangell with them in January 1970 and made her home here since. After graduating from Wrangell High School, she attended the University of Alaska Fairbanks. She...
