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The M/V Matanuska will be sailing on an altered schedule into next week, according to the Alaska Marine Highway System. Due to problems with one of the vessel’s engines, it remained overnight in Ketchikan for repairs. It resumed its course Monday, but will be running on a delayed timetable through December 20, when it departs from Ketchikan for its evening stop in Wrangell. Its scheduled northbound stop into Wrangell was bumped to Wednesday at 7:15 a.m. On its southbound leg, the ferry is due into port again Friday at 4:45 p.m., arriving a...
The special committee tasked with pursuing development of a residential high school in Wrangell is currently courting support from a major consortium of tribal villages in Interior Alaska. The school would be the first year-round residential facility to be operated under the Alaska Native Science and Engineering Program (ANSEP), a supplementary learning program which earlier this fall opened its first full-time accelerated high school in the Matanuska-Susitna area. The program is part of the University of Alaska system, and was founded to impro...
The special committee tasked with pursuing development of a residential high school in Wrangell is currently courting support from a major consortium of tribal villages in Interior Alaska. The school would be the first year-round residential facility to be operated under the Alaska Native Science and Engineering Program (ANSEP), a supplementary learning program which earlier this fall opened its first full-time accelerated high school in the Matanuska-Susitna area. The program is part of the Uni...
The Alaska Marine Highway System announced its schedule for the coming summer was ready. The finalized schedule essentially remained the same as a proposal put forward earlier this fall, with an overall 10-week service reduction to operations from the previous summer, down to around 325 operating weeks overall. “We’re pretty much going forward with what was put out,” explained Jeremy Woodrow, AMHS public information officer. The schedule is based on expected funding levels for the 2018 fiscal year, and reflects input collected from the publi...
A new bus has been added to the fleet serving Wrangell, the Public School Board learned Monday. Etolin Bus Company has acquired a new Thomas Saf-T-Liner C2 model bus, which will be used for transporting middle and high school students on daily routes. Etolin operator Greg McCormack brought it and the previous Blue Bird model down to Evergreen Elementary to demonstrate the differences. “The new bus we have is what I consider the world’s most modern school bus,” he commented. Compared to the older vehicles, the Thomas sports a number of added...
The state Department of Transportation and Public Facilities announced Tuesday a proposed ferry schedule for the coming summer. The schedule patterns being proposed for the Alaska Marine Highway System would cover sailings from May through September. The schedule is based on expected funding levels for the 2018 fiscal year. It would feature an overall 10-week service reduction to operations, down to around 325 operating weeks. “It’s pretty consistent,” explained Jeremy Woodrow, public information officer for ADOTP&F. Service to Wrangell would...
The Alaska Marine Highway System’s M/V Columbia is scheduled for a trip to Oregon for repairs after divers noticed a bent starboard propeller late last week, according to Jeremy Woodrow, Alaska Department of Transportation spokesman. “Not a huge bend, but there was a noticeable bend,” he said. “That was the only visible damage the divers noticed.” Earlier in the week, the vessel was traveling Lynn Canal to Haines or Skagway when those onboard noticed a vibration. Soon after, it was discovered the vibration happened when the vessel exceeded...
Earlier this month a Wrangell youth was among four-dozen Alaskan students to put their math and science skills to the test in Anchorage. Seventh-grader Rowen Wiederspohn was accepted into the ExxonMobil Bernard Harris Summer Science Camp put on each year by the Alaska Native Science and Engineering Program (ANSEP). Hosted by the University of Alaska Anchorage, the two-week, all expenses paid, summer program focuses on honing young Alaskans' science, technology, engineering and mathematics...
With school set to start on August 25 staff at Wrangell Public Schools have returned from their summer hiatus and are preparing for registration of students. Incoming elementary school students can be registered anytime between 8 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. next Tuesday through Thursday. Those enrolling kindergarteners are advised to bring along copies of birth certificates a nd immunization records. High schoolers likewise can register for classes on Tuesday, with middle schoolers doing so on Wednesday....
Wrangell’s Borough Assembly revisited its local contractors list, which it had adopted last year in order to streamline hiring for small projects. An idea was first put forward to the Assembly by Borough Manager Jeff Jabusch in December 2014, drafting a list of licensed local contractors who could be called upon for small-scale jobs under $25,000 on a rotating on-call basis. A pool of qualified local contractors hirable by the city was created, ensuring those contacted for jobs were qualified for the work and that all those qualifying would b...
Wrangell officially threw its support behind a proposed accelerated high school program, after the Borough Assembly issued a resolution in favor of it at Tuesday’s meeting. Coming to view during the planning process for the former Institute property’s future development, the Alaska Native Science and Engineering Program is looking to take its advanced summer curriculum to the next level with a residential facility. Currently operating between between regular school years, the program helps give rural, primarily Native Alaskan students ext...
A draft for the Alaska Marine Highway System’s post-summer schedule was released last week. AMHS general manager Captain John Falvey Jr. reported the new schedule will be based on expected funding levels for the next fiscal year, which begins July 1. Presently, the ferry intends to run 330.2 operating weeks for nine of its vessels; the Taku and Chenega will both be on layup for much of the next fiscal year as cost saving measures. Entering its second year of inactivity, the Taku may be on the road to divestment. “We’ve announced this briefly,...
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) – Alaska’s population will continue to climb over the next 30 years, inching closer to the 1 million mark, a new report says. The state’s population is projected to increase by 162,200 from 2015 numbers to 899,825 people in 2045, according to a report released last week from the Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development. The population of Alaskans age 65 and older is the group expected to grow the fastest, and annual natural growth births minus deaths is expected to slow. Southeast Alaska is the only regio...
Students at Stikine Middle School will be hosting a group from Colony Middle School in Palmer next week as part of a cultural exchange program. Humanities teacher Jim Brooks has organized the exchange on Wrangell's end, which is supported by the Alaska Humanities Forum. Its Sister School Exchange is an experiential program which promotes understanding between urban and rural communities through cross-cultural exchanges for middle and high school students. A teacher and five students from an...
In the Sentinel 100, 75, 50 and 25 years ago. November 12, 1915: Bert McKay was in from the mine at Groundhog Basin last Tuesday and reports that Manager J.G. Galvin is rushing the work at the mine and that they expect to strike the big ledge within a few days. Three crews are at work at the mine and they have cut through one ledge already which is important enough that it is a mine itself, but the big body of ore is expected to be cut into shortly and then we can look for some big announcements from the men who are backing the proposition....
Repairs caused delays for those expecting to ride the Alaska Marine Highway System last week, after M/V Columbia was held up in Juneau. On its way south through Wrangell to Ketchikan and eventually Bellingham, Wash., the Columbia was not able to leave Juneau as scheduled on July 14. It eventually departed three days later. “It took a few days while it was in Juneau to discover the problem,” explained Jeremy Woodrow, public relations officer for the Alaska Department of Transportation. “It had an issue with the starboard engines—one of its gover...
Five of Alaska Marine Highway System’s 11 ferries will be laid up at some point next year under a draft vessel deployment plan released on June 24. The Taku will be held in layup status the whole year, while the Kennicott will be from October until entering overhaul in early January. The Fairweather and Chenega will enter federal projects in October and mid-September, respectively, and will both be laid up starting in May 2016. The Malaspina is also scheduled to enter layup status in late May of next year. Under the draft schedule, from O...
Following recommendations made to the Wrangell Public School Board in April, the school district administration is pursuing a review of its current crisis response plans. Superintendent Patrick Mayer, administrative assistant Kim Powell, and maintenance director Fred Angerman met with emergency services personnel at the Fire Hall last Thursday for the second of several planning sessions. “We’re just collecting some baseline information,” Mayer said, something to build from at future meetings. By the end of the summer he hopes to have a comprehe...
PETERSBURG – Representatives from the Alaska Department of Transportation (ADOT&PF) gave a public presentation on their long-range transportation plan for Southeast Alaska last Wednesday. The presentation was followed by a public comment period, which centered largely on ferry service and the Kake Access project. ADOT&PF’s draft Southeast Alaska Transportation Plan (SATP) is a 20-year plan for the region which recommends projects for roadways, airports and ferry service. Regional trends, current priorities and projects, as well as mai...
The Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities (ADOT&PF) will be holding a series of open houses and public meetings in selected communities in Southeast to review and take comments on the draft Southeast Alaska Transportation Plan (SATP). The draft plan, a component of the Alaska Long Range Transportation Plan, will provide direction for transportation improvements in the region through 2035. The draft plan recommends retiring up to three mainline ferries depending on funding and travel demand. The Malaspina, the Taku and the...
Students and teachers feted Bob Davis's Teacher of Excellence Award Friday with pizza, a short break from classes at the end of the day, and an error-riddled sign. The errors were intentional, a loving tweak of pet-peeve grammatical errors Davis has reminded students about countless times over his years as a middle school English teacher. "They're the ones I would harp at," he said, chuckling. Davis is in his 20th year as a teacher at Stikine. Teaching emerged as a career path after a long time...
Want to know at a glance how many fishing boats call the Kenai Peninsula Borough home? It’s 1,089. Or what percentage of Wrangellites fish for a living? Just over 15 percent. Or how many skippers plus crew fish out of Juneau? That number is 705. To help policy makers and the public become better informed about how the seafood industry fits into the state’s economy, the United Fishermen of Alaska has compiled Fishing Fact sheets for 26 communities, plus statewide tallies for Alaska and Washington. A big misconception the well documented UFA dat...
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Voters in the Matanuska-Susitna Borough will decide in Tuesday’s election on whether to allow the borough to enact a 5 percent tax on areawide alcohol sales. The tax would offset the burden on property tax payers, but opponents say the measure unfairly targets a specific industry. The proposed tax was introduced in June by borough Assemblyman Steve Colligan. It was approved the following month for the ballot. Colligan said he sees the measure simply as a sales tax, KSKA reported. “Why should property owners be beari...
With the Alaska Marine Highway System’s maiden ferry, the M/V Malaspina, making a celebratory tour throughout Southeast Alaska next week, the Sentinel is taking a look back in time at some of the events and stories that led up to the development of the system many Alaskans and lower 48 residents rely on every week. During the Malaspina’s docking in Wrangell, guests will be able to tour the bridge, dine onboard, and visit the gift shop for new 50th Anniversary items. The Malaspina will dock in...
The Alaska Marine Highway System is celebrating 50 years of service to Alaskans this year. In light of this, the Wrangell Sentinel is looking back at the stories that shaped the development of the system, which began with one ship in 1963 and has grown to eleven vessels serving more than 350,000 passengers a year. It all began with the M/V Malaspina, when the first ship in the newly formed system docked in Ketchikan on Jan. 21, 1963. Three days later the vessel docked in Wrangell for the first...
