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Sabrina Yoder and her 2-year-old daughter Addy are just starting on their bird feeder project, arranging the pre-cut pieces in a workshop held as part of the annual Stikine Birding Festival last Saturday. Sponsored by the U.S. Forest Service and Angerman's, the event in front of the Nolan Center provided the wood and tools, along with help, for people to build a bird feeder, while also learning more about feathered fliers. (Photo by Caleb Vierkant)...
City officials reported a new COVID-19 case Monday afternoon, bringing to 18 the number of positive cases since April 8. Of those, 16 are reported as having recovered, the city's 4:30 p.m. announcement said. "No additional information is known at this time," the city said of the latest case. Most of the previous 17 cases this month were reported as community spread. "Wrangell currently has a face-covering requirement in place through April 30 for certain indoor public and communal spaces," the city's statement said. "Please mask up to help stop...
The annual Stikine River Birding Festival starts Friday and includes movies, a morning walk to identify birds, video presentations, virtual storytelling from the library, a session on how to build a bird feeder, a community cleanup and a nature trail scavenger hunt. Activities run through May 8. Organizers are spreading out the events this year, rather than squeezing everything into four days as was the schedule in 2019. The pandemic forced cancellation of last year's activities. "We have been m...
The Nolan Center, Wrangell's movie theater, museum and community center, is understaffed. Leaving the facility manager position vacant this fiscal year has been too much of a strain on the remaining staff, the administration told borough assembly members, who unanimously approved a full-time coordinator position at the center. The change, however, still will be a money-saver for the city, as the coordinator will be at a lower pay scale than the facility manager position. The Nolan Center general...
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...
After no season last year, Wrangell started 2021 with hopes of as many as 20,000 tourists coming to town this summer aboard cruise ships of varying sizes, with capacity of between 40 and 700 passengers. With the loss of larger vessels, and some smaller ones, however, the maximum ship capacity into town has fallen to under 2,000 this summer. "The actual number of cruise visitors to Wrangell will likely be much smaller than capacity due to protocols and restrictions for COVID-19 safety...
While Alaska legislators await federal rules for how the state can spend the almost $1.2 billion in federal pandemic relief funds headed this way, communities are waiting to see their allocations from a separate pot of federal aid - and ready to push the state to share some of its money. In addition to the general relief funding going to the state, Alaska communities will receive a share of a separate $231 million municipal allocation under the American Rescue Plan signed into law last month....
The Chugach Ranger, the last wooden boat in the U.S. Forest Service fleet, was relocated to its new home beside the Nolan Center on March 31. The city museum and visitor center has been advocating the past several years to move the boat into a permanent historical display outside the center. However, the protective tarp covering the boat could stay there awhile, Cyni Crary, Nolan Center director, said Monday. Relocating the boat is just the first phase of turning it into a museum exhibit, she sa...
City officials reported three more COVID-19 cases late Wednesday afternoon, bringing to 12 the total number of new cases in town in the past seven days. "Wrangell is experiencing a COVID outbreak," said the statement issued by Wrangell's emergency operations center. "There is confirmation of community spread of the virus. We need everyone’s help to stop this outbreak." The three reported coronavirus cases Wednesday are local residents and are in isolation. The outbreak started last Thursday, with more cases reported Friday, Sunday, Monday and T...
Tax season is not commonly thought of as an enjoyable experience. There is complicated paperwork, the stress of reviewing personal finances, the headache of doing math. Fortunately for Wrangell residents, there are people who not only are willing to help with tax preparation, but also enjoy it. "I like helping people," said Paula Rak. "It's fun for me." Rak, and Nancy McQueen are volunteer tax counselors with the American Association of Retired Persons' tax aide program. McQueen said this is...
The Borough Assembly will hold in-person meetings in the near future, with limits on people in the room to account for the COVID-19 pandemic. During their meeting Tuesday night, the assembly adopted a resolution repealing and replacing a temporary amendment to municipal code that allows city business to be conducted through virtual meetings. The item was adopted unanimously. Under the new provisions, six members of the public or city staff at a time, in addition to assembly members, will be...
Thanks to the use of federal CARES Act funds to offset wages, and not as bleak a year as had been expected for sales tax revenue, the city general fund is projected to close out Fiscal Year 2021 in the black anywhere from about $100,000 to $800,000. However, the next fiscal year starting July 1 is less certain, according to reports at a borough assembly workshop Feb. 9. "This paints a really great picture for FY21, but I need to caution you for FY22," Borough Manager Lisa Von Bargen said in the...
As part of ongoing efforts to encourage people to get vaccinated against COVID-19, the chief medical officer of the Southeast Alaska Regional Health Consortium stood in front of a Wrangell audience - live and on Zoom - to take questions. The Wrangell Cooperative Association had invited Dr. Elliot Bruhl to town, where he explained how the vaccine works, how it was developed, and answered questions from the public Feb. 4 at the Nolan Center. As of Feb. 4, 680 people in Wrangell had received their...
After a seven-week absence, Wrangell's community markets will return this Saturday at the Nolan Center. "We're really excited to have it back," Nolan Center Director Cyni Crary said of the event, planned for 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. The community markets are an opportunity for enterprising locals to show off their homemade goods for sale. Past markets have seen items ranging from baked goods to artwork to jewelry, and more. The last market was held Dec. 19, Crary said. The event was put on hiatus...
The Wrangell Borough Assembly unanimously voted Tuesday evening to extend the borough's COVID-19 emergency declaration through March to ensure the community remains eligible for any financial assistance. The assembly also voted to extend its resolution allowing the suspension of in-person assembly meetings until it can make accommodations for social distancing. The assembly declaration retroactively extends through March an emergency ordinance that had expired Dec. 31, which was a continuation...
January Jan. 2: Along with the lights, trees and carolers, the Salvation Army's red Christmas kettles are a common sight during the holiday season. Lt. Jon Tollerud, Wrangell's new corps officer, said the red kettles brought in $10,469. Jan. 9: The Nolan Center celebrated the new year Dec. 31 with a murder mystery party. As this new year marks a new decade, a return to the '20s, the party had a 1920s theme to it. With jazz music, themed costumes and masks, partygoers had the chance to return to...
Wrangell Borough Assembly held a workshop last Tuesday, Dec. 8 to review the city's current financial status. That evening's presentation, according to Borough Manager Lisa Von Bargen, was primarily focused on Wrangell's major revenues through November, year-to-date. They will be covering expenses in a future workshop. "This is a snapshot, it's certainly not everything, but as it says here it's some of the major ones." she said. The presentation started with looking at revenues under the city's...
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...
During their meeting on Tuesday night the Wrangell Borough Assembly was scheduled to consider an extension of their mask mandate. However, this item was pulled from the agenda during the meeting. The assembly also held a discussion about reopening city buildings to public access. The assembly adopted their mask mandate in November, requiring people in Wrangell to wear face masks or other face coverings while out in public. This was done in response to a growing number of COVID-19 cases across...
Wrangell's Dove Tree was set up in the downtown pavilion last week. The tree, an annual tradition by the Hospice of Wrangell, serves as a holiday memorial for loved ones who passed away that year. Community members are invited to visit the tree, write the names of loved ones on dove ornaments, and hang them on the tree. As of Dec. 7, over 50 doves are hanging on this year's tree. There was no in-person ceremony for the Dove Tree this year, due to COVID-19, but an on air ceremony was held last...
The Wrangell Borough Assembly met Tuesday night, Dec. 8, for a work session and regular assembly meeting. There were multiple items covered during the night. Three big topics of discussion included a settlement with the Alaska Department of Environment Conservation, a fee increase for port and harbor facilities, and the acceptance of a grant from the State Homeland Security Division. Back in October, according to the meeting's agenda packet, city administration reported to the assembly that the...
Midnight Madness, Wrangell’s annual welcoming of the Christmas season, is scheduled to take place this Friday, Dec. 4. Stephanie Cook, with the chamber of commerce, said that people can expect many of the usual traditions of Midnight Madness, but with some changes in response to COVID-19. “We are going to be doing the tree lighting at 6 p.m., and we’ll do the count-off from 10 to 0, and the tree will light up,” She said. “We are asking people to mask up and social distance if they’re going to be coming downtown to watch the tree lighting, j...
While this holiday season may look different with the COVID-19 pandemic, several Wrangell traditions are still going strong. The public will still be able to participate in the annual Christmas Tree Lane, though there will be some changes. The Dove Tree ceremony is still moving forward, as well. Christmas Tree Lane is a yearly fundraiser for the Hospice of Wrangell. People and organizations across the city donate uniquely decorated Christmas Trees, and then others can place bids on them to take...
Last Thursday morning, Nov. 12, many Alaskans received an emergency alert on their phones from Governor Mike Dunleavy. The message contained a link to a video of Dunleavy, in which he addressed the rapid spread of COVID-19 across the state. Effective immediately, he said, all state employees were to work from home if possible, and face masks and social distancing were mandatory at state work sites. On Nov. 16 he also issued a new 30-day COVID-19 disaster declaration. In his address, the governor...
