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April The Department of Transportation is finally able to get started on a major Wrangell road repaving project. Perforated by potholes, the borough’s Evergreen Avenue will be resurfaced and repaired, with pedestrian improvements and other fixes. The major project has been on hold for half a decade, surviving rounds of budget cuts to capital funding elsewhere in the state along the way. Two local right of way issues which had lately been holding up the project were wrapped up in February, allowing the project to move along. Speaking at a p...
The past year has been a busy one for the community of Wrangell, and also one full of changes. Elections have come and gone, the school district saw a new superintendent and two new principals, a high school swimming and diving team was organized, and a new reporter came to town. A new organization was formed, BRAVE, to help bring people together to enhance life in the community for Wrangell’s younger population. Other organizations like the Senior Center and Nolan Center saw new faces, as well. There were lots of physical changes to W...
Lawrence Bahovec was a longtime resident of Wrangell, one of the oldest on the island. He was born on Jan. 4, 1917 in the city of Chicago, Illinois, but his family moved to Wrangell early in his life. He passed away on Dec. 6, 2018, at the age of 101. Relatives of Bahovec, friends, and other city residents came together at the Nolan Center last Friday for a memorial service, on what would have been his 102nd birthday. Bahovec was born to a Yugoslavian baron and a Tlingit princess from the...
With snow falling all through town, the last day of school for the Wrangell school district was made just that much more special. After a long semester starting last August, students in elementary, middle, and high school now have a few weeks to relax, spend time with family, and enjoy winter break. The last day of class was made into a celebration across all the schools. Students at Evergreen Elementary got to leave class early to take a trip to the Nolan Center. There, they were treated to a special showing of “The Grinch.” The middle sch...
Lawrence Frederick Bahovec, 101, passed away on Dec. 6, 2018 in Seattle, Washington after a brief battle with cancer. His family was by his side. Lawrence was born on Jan. 4, 1917, in Chicago, Illinois to Edna Bahovec (Kinch), and Frederick Bahovec. He attended the Sheldon Jackson boarding school in Sitka, Alaska, and went on to the University of Washington in Seattle as a young adult. Upon completion of college, Lawrence returned to Alaska, and along with two others, built a small fishing...
City officials, Wrangell Medical Center staff, SEARHC representatives, and many community members were present at the Nolan Center as the "future of healthcare" in Wrangell was celebrated. The party, which took place on the evening of Dec. 13, commemorated the SEARHC takeover of the medical center. SEARHC, a health consortium that serves Southeast Alaska, agreed to a four year lease of the medical center and to construct a brand new hospital. The new facility, which will be added to the AICS...
Anybody who has visited the Nolan Center in the past few weeks has seen all of its holiday decorations. While the numerous lights and other decorations are nice to look at, what may stand out to most people is the number of Christmas trees lining the center's walls. Each tree is uniquely and creatively decorated and, according to Elaine Torvend, they are all up for bid. Christmas Tree Lane, as the program is called, has been a tradition in Wrangell for at least the past ten years, Torvend said....
The Nolan Center hosted its second Riverflats Open Mic Night last Thursday. The event, organized by Community Roots, is meant to be a place for Wrangell residents to enjoy poetry, music, stories, or any talent they feel like sharing. It was a smaller turnout from the first open mic night, last month, but it was still an enjoyable evening for those in attendance. Vivian Faith Prescott served as the master of ceremonies for the evening. The theme of the night was “Grateful,” and members of the audience were asked to share things they were gra...
The Nolan Center recently unveiled their new logo. Cyni Crary, director of the Nolan Center, said that when she took the job she wanted to work on some rebranding. She said she wanted a more modern, cohesive logo that represented all the services the Nolan Center could provide. "I actually got out my own sketchbook and I started thinking about ways to cohesively bring all the different elements of the center, here, together," she said. "So I started drawing something that represented the...
The midterms have come again, and Wrangell turned out to make their voice heard in the Nov. 6 election. Polls were open at the Nolan Center. On the ballot was the position of Alaska governor and lieutenant governor, U.S. representative, and state representative. The race for governor was hotly contested. Bill Walker, the current governor of Alaska, suspended his re-election campaign in October, though his name still appeared on ballots. The other candidates include Democratic candidate Mark...
SEARHC ran a flu shot clinic at the Nolan Center on election day. The clinic was right across the hallway from the polling place....
The Friends of NRA is the fundraising wing of the National Rifle Association. According to the group's website, they are a "100 percent grassroots effort" to support the second amendment to raise funds and awareness for shooting sports. Since the group's inception, they have raised about $815,000,000, and awarded 3,000 grants across the country. Wrangell hosted the Friends of the NRA last Saturday at the Nolan Center, where the organization held a fundraiser banquet. Greg Stephens was the...
The cruise ship season closed in Wrangell earlier this month. The Oceania Regatta was the last cruise ship that pulled into the city dock in 2018. According to a draft schedule from the chamber of commerce, the season will reopen in May of 2019. For Wrangell, and Southeast Alaska in general, tourism is an important aspect of life. Stephanie Cook, with the chamber of commerce, said that 75 cruise ships visited Wrangell in the 2018 season, ranging from small size to large ships with about 1,500...
Over 150 years ago, on Oct. 18, 1867, the territory of Alaska was transferred from Russia to the United States of America. Today, Oct. 18 is commemorated across the state as “Alaska Day.” Southeast Beasts, a Wrangell running group, has organized an Alaska Day fun run on Oct. 20 to commemorate the holiday and to raise funds for the Wrangell Mariner’s Memorial. This will be the fourth fun run to take place in Wrangell. Lucy Robinson, with Southeast Beasts, said they did the fun run for three years in a row, but took a break last year. She said...
Halloween is a time of cheesy horror movies, trick-or-treating, costumes, and Halloween parties. KSTK, Wrangell's local radio station, is gearing up for a party of its own. The radio station is holding its second annual Halloween party on Oct. 20 at the Nolan Center. "It's definitely open of our larger fundraisers for the year," said Keeleigh Solverson with KSTK. "It's an all-adult party, so a bit different than some of the things we usually do. But as our second annual we're trying to...
Operation Christmas Child is an annual event put on by Samaritan's Purse, a Christian nonprofit that works to provide "spiritual and physical aid" to people around the world. The operation works to send needy children across the globe a shoebox filled with toys, school supplies, and hygienic items as a Christmas gift. According to Lucas Zellers, the media relations coordinator with Samaritan's Purse, Operation Christmas Child has delivered over 157 million shoeboxes to children across 160...
The Nolan Center was packed last Saturday night as people from all across Wrangell came together to support the high school wrestling team. The team had put together a halibut dinner to raise funds for their season, which opened on Sept. 26. Team members took tickets at the door, and also worked as servers through the evening. "I want to thank you all again, very much. We could not do this without your support," he said. Besides food, there was a silent auction and a place for people to leave...
BRAVE is a Wrangell-based organization that works to connect people with resources to help themselves and their families. Their work was put on display last Tuesday night at the Nolan Center as a "family resilience fair" was held. The fair brought together about 20 organizations that offered one form of support for Wrangell families or another. The organizations ranged from religious groups, medical organizations, government entities, and sports groups. Organizations that participated include...
Jennie Ridgeway said she fell in love with Wrangell when she came to town while visiting her daughter, who moved to the area. She came up here from Knoxville, Tennessee, where she had lived since 1992. Now, as one of Wrangell's newest residents, she has found work at the Nolan Center as its new facility manager. The facility manager is a new position for the Nolan Center, Ridgeway said. She was hired on Aug. 30 and had her first day of work Sept. 15. As facility manager, she will work closely wi...
The Wrangell High School wrestling team has begun training for another season. The team’s first tournament will be in Petersburg on Oct. 12 and 13. According to Assistant Coach Jack Carney, this year’s team is younger but very experienced. “After losing three seniors last year, we have a fairly young team,” he said in an email. “We have two seniors, three juniors, one sophomore, and six freshmen. Even though the team is young, most are experienced wrestlers that have placed at state-level tournaments and what we’re seeing in practices is very e...
BRAVE, the Wrangell organization advocating for stronger community relationships, will be hosting a Family Resilience Fair on Oct. 9 at 6:30 p.m. at the Nolan Center. According to volunteer Maleah Wenzel, the fair is meant to provide Wrangell families with information about what resources are available to them. She added that the event was originally going to be held at the high school commons, but it has outgrown the space and was moved to the Nolan Center. “Basically the purpose of this is to make sure people in town know what resources t...
