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The Wrangell Chamber of Commerce hosted its annual dinner to recognize people and businesses around town. The dinner, held at the Nolan Center last Saturday evening, drew a very large crowd. Attendees had the opportunity to participate in a silent auction and other contests. There was also an auction for various homemade desserts that saw a lot of high rollers. A chocolate cheesecake, baked by Kay Jabusch, was auctioned off for $500 to Jake Harris. The evening was not all about auctions and...
The Wrangell Borough Assembly discussed a proposed noise ordinance once again during their meeting onTuesday. The ordinance has been the source of some controversy around town, some seeing it as the result of two feuding neighbors, or that the regulations proposed by the ordinance are unrealistic. When the ordinance was brought up for discussion in the last meeting, on March 12, there was a very large public turnout to speak their minds on the topic. During that meeting, the assembly proposed various amendments to the ordinance. Previously,...
The United States Department of Veterans Affairs is a federal agency that works to care for the nation's veterans. The VA offers eligible veterans healthcare, as well as other non-medical benefits such as memorial benefits and disability payments. The state of Alaska is home to somewhere between 75 to 90,000 veterans, according to Alaska VA Healthcare System Director Dr. Timothy Ballard. Of these, however, he said that maybe only 36,000 are signed up and receiving their VA benefits, and they...
Southeast Alaska is well known for its wildlife: Bears, moose, salmon and eagles. The Tongass National Forest is home to a wide variety of creatures. One species that is absent is elephants. Luckily, a Petersburg filmmaker has decided to bring the elephants to Alaska in the form of a new documentary, "A Herd of Orphans." Kelly Bakos has a background of doing film work for conservation organizations. In 2008, the nonprofit organization Game Rangers International opened up a new "elephant...
The Nolan Center hosted the first of several Chautauqua speaking lectures last Thursday. Members of the Southeast Alaska Watershed Coalition, a regional organization dedicated to the stewardship of Southeast Alaska watersheds, were invited to talk about the Pat Creek watershed. A watershed, for those unfamiliar with the term, is an area of land that feeds all of the water that comes into the area into a single body of water. These bodies of water, then flow into larger bodies of water, which eventually all connect into a stream or a lake. The...
Ever since Governor Mike Dunleavy announced his proposed budget, it has been a hot topic of debate across Southeast Alaska. The proposed budget does offer a full PFD to all Alaska residents, as well as supply “back pay” for PFDs that were smaller than usual, but it also makes some serious cuts to public education and the Alaska Marine Highway System. Many people in Wrangell have wondered how the proposed budget could affect the city. To discuss these concerns, a town hall meeting was held at the Nolan Center last Wed., March 6. “I’m confide...
The Southeast Alaska Conservation Council, SEACC, was founded in 1970 to protect the land and wildlife of the Tongass National Forest. The SEACC board of directors is made up of people who have made this region their home, from Seattle to Yakutat. Current Board President Stephen Todd is a Wrangell resident. SEACC board members and staff all came to Wrangell this past week to hold meetings on topics they felt were of public interest. The main two topics that were brought up were the Roadless...
“Chautauqua” was a movement that began in the late 1800s, focused on spreading culture, educating the public, and providing entertainment. The movement takes its name from Lake Chautauqua, in western New York, where it was started. Chautauquas were designed as public events to give platforms for public speaking, musicians, preachers, or just about anybody who wanted an audience. In 2005, with the collaboration of the Forest Service and the then-new Nolan Center, Wrangell got its own Chautauqua speaking series. The series proved to be rat...
The Wrangell Convention and Visitor Bureau held a meeting last Thursday, on Feb. 21. The bureau’s online presence was a big topic of discussion. The bureau is working on a new website. This has been a big project for them for the past several months, and is still in the works. The new site is designed to show off Wrangell and let visitors know about the many attractions the island has to offer, and to help tourists plan their trips. The site is up and running, but the bureau is still working to make sure all the links are working and the i...
The Nolan Center has a new exhibit available for public viewing. A collection of almost 50 "story dolls" currently sit in glass shelves at the center, depicting life of Alaska natives in the rural parts of the state. Cyni Crary, with the Nolan Center, said that the doll collection was put together by Jane Niebergall, of Anchorage. The dolls themselves were created by a variety of different artists. The Nolan Center is the first museum to show these dolls, she added. "She called and asked if we m...
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... Full story
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...