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Richard Gilewitz has been playing guitar for about 44 years, and has been touring for 34. He said that he has been to 49 states and 14 countries. Last Tuesday night Gilewitz made a visit to Alaska for the second time in his career with a performance at the Nolan Center. The show benefited Bear Fest, who sponsored the event. "I love Alaska, it's stunning here," Gilewitz said before his performance. Having travelled extensively, he said that Alaskans reminded him strongly of people living on the...
The Nolan Center was packed Monday night as Wold Architects held a meeting to update the community on plans for the new hospital. Members of the city government, SEARHC, the Wrangell Medical Center, and many residents came to hear the update. According to WMC CEO Robert Rang, there were about 60 people in attendance. Josh Ripplinger, with Wold Architects, gave the update. Ripplinger started the meeting by reviewing a timeline of how the hospital would eventually be constructed. He said that they were currently in the “schematic design p...
The Nolan Center was littered with maps of the Tongass National Forest Sept. 5. Members of the Wrangell and Petersburg Ranger districts came by to hold a public meeting on the Central Tongass Project, a series of proposed long-term renovations in the area. Dave Zimmerman, with the Petersburg Ranger District, explained that the Central Tongass Project covers both the Petersburg and Wrangell districts, an area that stretches across the Wrangell, Mitkof, Kupreanof, Kuiu, Zarembo, and Etolin islands...
"I've always liked parades because you can dress up as crazy as you want," said Anny Newport, organizer of the upcoming Wonderfulness Parade. Newport has brought her love of costumes and parades everywhere she's lived. Over the years she has collected a wide variety of costumes, and said she loves to be a part of parades. When not in a parade or in costume, she also goes around town as the self-described "Free Toy Fairy," leaving free toys around town for kids to find. The Wonderfulness Parade...
The Wrangell Borough Assembly met Tuesday night to hold a meeting that was rescheduled from July 24. Before getting into new business, the assembly heard a request from Lavern Lawrence, who lives at 4.2 mile. Lawrence said that she and her husband live right next door to the dump, and have had several health issues arise because of it. She came before the assembly because she said her doctors have requested they get a toxicology report to rule out what could be causing some of these health...
A symposium was held Wednesday night at the Nolan Center to discuss the effects of mining on Southeast Alaska's bear population. Lance Craighead, a bear biologist, said that mining has the potential to have a very negative impact on bears. Most mining, Craighead said, occurs in nearby British Columbia but anything happening there would literally flow downstream to Alaska. "In general, Canada has some of the laxest mining regulations in the world next to China," he said. "For that reason they're...
Chief Shakes Tribal House was filled with curious visitors looking to learn about the Tlingits, a Native Alaskan people indigenous to Southeast Alaska and the Pacific Northwest. Wrangell is home to many people of Tlingit descent, some of whom came together Saturday afternoon to share stories and pieces of their culture. John Martin, who organized the event, said that he and several other participants wanted to share part of their native heritage. Tlingit culture is filled with stories, some of which can be found in people’s names. Martin’s Tli...
"The reason I'm 'Michael' is I have eight brothers and sisters, and I'm the oldest. Guess what they [my parents] had wanted?" Michael Bania introduced herself to her class. Bania hosted an art workshop at the Nolan Center Wednesday afternoon. Bania has been an artist for as long as she can remember, she said. She has written and illustrated several children's books, and is in the process of working on a new one titled "No Bears Allowed!" She described her art style as cartoony and not overly ser...
"For us, this journey is called 'In the footsteps of Ferdinand von Wrangel,' and you are a big footstep," said Carola von Wrangel to the gathered crowd at the Nolan Center. Ferdinand von Wrangel was governor of the Russian Empire's holdings in Alaska in the early 1800s, as well as an avid explorer and scientist. The city of Wrangell is named after Baron von Wrangel. He also oversaw the construction of the first fortification on Wrangell Island in 1834. He would go on to be a part of the Russian...
events next week, the ninth Wrangell has hosted. The five-day series of events has been organized each year by Sylvia Ettefagh, an outfitter with Alaska Vistas whose work frequently conveys visitors southward to the Anan Wildlife Observatory, a mainland enclosure overlooking the Anan Creek lower falls and its robust bear population. As Alaskan a sight as the salmon they come to feed upon, the festival highlights these black and brown bears inhabiting the area surrounding Wrangell. Chock full of...
The Friends of the Museum will be hosting a reception next Tuesday to celebrate Wrangell's eponym, in a sense, and welcome a group of his descendants. The island is one of the namesakes of a prominent Russian explorer, the Baron Ferdinand von Wrangel, who in the early 19th century explored the Siberian Arctic and was appointed governor of the empire's holdings in Alaska in 1829. While an explorer, administrator and admiral for the Russian Empire, Wrangel was himself of German descent, part of th...
July 2, 2018 Found keys. Citation issued: Steven Cole, 66: Blocking roadway prohibited. Agency assist: Report of juvenile eagle with broken wing. Parking complaint: Citation issued to Jana Wright, 57. Parking complaint: Citation issued to Thomas Hunter, 64: Blocking traffic. Theft reported. Summons served. Report of dead deer. Intoxicated person: Officer responded. July 3, 2018 Report of harassment. Intoxicated person: Title 47. Found false teeth. Traffic stop: Citation issued to Devan Harding, 25, for speeding. Traffic stop: Verbal warning...
A new director for the Nolan Center was named late last week, with Cyni Crary to begin in the position later this month. Crary has been the executive director at the Wrangell Chamber of Commerce for most of the past eight years, coming with a background in business administration. “I have many ideas for potentially increasing revenue and evaluating the work flow process to create efficiencies and growth,” she said in a statement. “I’m excited to explore new ideas with the team while continuing to advocate on behalf of Wrangell.” On the hiring,...
This year’s Independence Day festivities are set to start Saturday morning, kicking off five whole days of activities. Organized by the Wrangell Chamber of Commerce, the celebration is a high mark on the community’s annual calendar, typically drawing in hundreds of visitors. Every year’s observance has a theme, and 2018 will call attention to our shared resources and the opportunities they provide: “Thankful for our Great Land.” “Which could mean our local land, or our country,” said Cyni Crary, executive director at the Chamber. A logo captur...
The hunt is on for a whole crop of high-level management positions in different city departments. The City and Borough of Wrangell is in the early stages of finding replacements for the heads of the Nolan Center, Wrangell Municipal Light and Power and Public Works, plus the city’s top accountant and a newly-created maintenance lead position. The tidal wave of turnover started on April 16, when WMLP superintendent Clay Hammer stepped down in order to head projects for Southeast Alaska Power Agency. City manager Lisa Von Bargen reported the s...
For the first time since 1995, Wrangell will be hosting the annual shareholders’ meeting for Sealaska Corporation this weekend. Formed in 1972 after the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act had been adopted the previous year, Sealaska has become the largest of 13 regional corporations subsequently created in the state. The corporation represents 22,000 Native shareholders from among the Tlingit, Haida and Tsimshian peoples, of which 254 live in Wrangell. Headquartered in Juneau, Sealaska manages 650,000 acres of tribal lands and makes i...
It's a royal rumble this month, with the competition to see who gets crowned this year's king or queen of Wrangell's Independence Day celebrations starting off on May 31. Arranged by the Chamber of Commerce, the competition is meant to raise funds both for the summer festivities and for the candidates themselves. Typically individuals have used what they raise to support higher education or some other project. This year's group is no exception. Recent graduate McKinley Bosdell intends to head...
After a series of meetings and public presentations last week, a proposed acquisition of Wrangell Medical Center by a regional health group looks more probable. Southeast Alaska Rural Health Consortium has expressed interest in administering the municipal hospital, which has been in a prolonged state of financial difficulty. At the Wrangell Assembly's most recent meeting last Tuesday, WMC chief executive officer Robert Rang reported having only 13 days' cash on hand with which to cover...
May Mary Schmohl, 71, passed away on Mother's Day, May 13, 2018 in Wrangell. She was born on May 17, 1946 in Telegraph Creek, British Columbia. A Native Tahltan of the Crow clan Edzerta family, she was the daughter of the late Mona Keso, also of Wrangell. Heritage was important to her and she regularly returning to her ancestral home throughout her life reconnecting with culture and family. After moving to Wrangell as a young child, she attended Sheldon Jackson High School in Sitka, Alaska, and...
A series of meetings between Southeast Alaska Rural Health Consortium and the City and Borough of Wrangell are planned for early next week. The regional health group is entertaining making an offer to assume control of Wrangell Medical Center, a municipally-run critical access hospital which has in recent years fallen into financial difficulties. Starting Sunday afternoon and lasting through Tuesday, SEARHC will hold a series of meetings with city staff, hospital transition steering committee members and the wider community, in order to go...
At a public presentation at the Nolan Center on Monday, staff with the Department of Environmental Conservation and its contractors updated Wrangell on the status of a proposed monofill site on the island. A designated monofill to house around 18,500 cubic yards of contaminated earth from the former Byford junkyard is planned to be sited at a state-owned rock pit. Accessible by Forest Service roads along Pats Creek, the project’s nearness to the popular fishing stream has been a point of c...
Crowned this year's queen and king, Helen Decker and Riley Blatchley receive court at Wrangell High School's prom, held Saturday evening at the Nolan Center. The Class of 2018 will be graduating 17 seniors this year....
