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Future Wrangell schools secondary principal Colter Barnes was in town this weekend to see the community and look for housing. Barnes will replace retiring secondary principal and athletic director Monty Buness Aug. 1. He's currently the traveling principal at Kokhanok and Igiugig schools in the Lake and Peninsula School system. He spent part of the weekend watching the multi-day middle school volleyball tournament at the high school. "Cause it's always sunny here, right?" he quipped, when asked...
For most Southeast residents the 1964 Good Friday earthquake is a relic of grainy newsreels and yellowed newspaper clippings. But some residents of Wrangell who lived through the disaster remember a hurried rush to higher ground to get away from a threatened tsunami they would not have been able to see in the dark. The wave never materialized, and no damage was reported. "The first thing that we knew that there was something wrong was the fire department was going around telling people to...
The Wrangell school board selected two finalist candidates for the position of superintendent in executive session Monday. According to a press release issued Tuesday morning, the finalists are: Patrick Mayer, principal since 2010 of Delta High School and the short-lived Delta Cyber School for the Delta Greely School District in Delta Junction, near Fairbanks; and Jay Thomas, Assistant Superintendent and Curriculum Director in the Bering Strait School District in Unalakleet on the shores of the Bering Sea. The school system reviewed 14...
Just as Nero fiddled while Rome burned, US policy makers are quibbling over climate issues as bivalves dissolve in an increasingly corrosive Pacific Ocean. Any kid’s chemistry set will show that big changes are occurring in seawater throughout the world. As the oceans absorb more carbon dioxide from fossil-fuel burning outputs (primarily coal), it increases acidity to a point where shellfish can’t survive. It is referred to as ocean acidification (OA) and results in sea creatures’ inability to grow skeletons and protective shells. The proce...
The borough staff returned to normal levels Tuesday with the addition of Finance Director Lee Burgess. The position had been vacant since the borough assembly named former finance director and Interim Borough Manager Jeff Jabusch to the manager post permanently Nov. 12. Jabusch announced the new hire to the borough assembly at the Feb. 11 assembly meeting. Jabusch has essentially performed both functions since the borough assembly accepted former manager Tim Rooney's resignation June 25. The...
Bait is always a big expenditure for many fishing businesses and pollock could help cut costs for Alaska halibut longliners who fish in the Gulf. Researchers have tested pollock in two projects to see if it might replace pricier chum salmon as halibut bait. Fish biologists use over 300,000 pounds of chums in their stock surveys each year, costing nearly half a million dollars. The baits are used at more than 1,200 testing stations from Oregon to the Bering Sea. A pilot study three years ago in the central Gulf and off of British Columbia...
Alaska’s seafood industry worked hard again in 2013 to ramp up its message to policy makers, most of whom still tend to overlook the industry’s economic significance to the state and beyond. What is that message? That “the industry” is made up of thousands of small businesses – the fishing boats that each supports one or several families. That the seafood companies in coastal towns provide one of the state’s biggest tax bases. And together, fishing and processing provide more jobs in Alaska than oil/gas, mining, tourism and timber combined. S...
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...
Michael Daris Frazier, known to friends as Wolf Creek Mike, was born May 30, 1939 in Walla Walla, Wash. to Daris and Ellen Frazier. He grew up in Walla Walla, Spokane, Lake Pend Orrville, and Bremerton, Illahee, and Gilberton on the Kitsap Peninsula. Mike graduated from Lincoln High School in Seattle, and joined the Marines on November 10, 1957. After receiving his honorable discharge Mike spent a couple of years in college and then it was on to industry, firmly establishing himself in the...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) - Haida carvers Joe and TJ Young arrived in Juneau last Monday to begin work on the first of two totem poles for Juneau’s Gajaa Hit building on Willoughby Avenue. The two poles will replace originals currently on site at Gajaa Hit erected in 1977 to honor the Raven and Eagle clans of the Aak’w Kwáan Tlingit. For the next several months, the Young brothers will work on the Raven pole at the Sealaska building downtown, offering an opportunity for locals to observe two of the state’s most highly regarded young carvers at wor...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) - New dormitories are going up at the University of Alaska Southeast campus in Juneau, and officials hope it will help retain more college students in the capital city. Concrete should begin pouring this week for the 31,000-square-foot freshman dormitory project. The $14 million project, which the Legislature provided $8 million, will feature two, four-story towers with a commons area. University officials said proceeds from the sale of the Bill Ray Center also will be put toward the freshman residence hall project. It will...
Alison Esther “SonE” Laurie Lewis, 70, passed away in Salem, Ore. on June 29, 2013. SonE was a lifelong Alaska resident, born in Anchorage on Nov. 21, 1942 to Robert and Vivian Laurie. She graduated from Anchorage High School in 1961 before attending the University of Alaska in Fairbanks and meeting her future husband, Gary. She completed her degree in Business Administration at Linfield College. SonE and Gary raised their family in Anchorage and later Palmer, and after some years in Cor...
A former social services administrator for Alaska Island Community Services has found a new home in the Mat-Su Valley helping manage grant programs for the Mat-Su Health Foundation. Desiré Shepler, who departed Wrangell approximately a month ago, has been hired as a program associate with the Foundation. “Desiré (brings) unique skills and experiences to the Foundation, and … will be a great asset as we continue to grow in our mission to help Mat-Su become the healthiest Borough in the natio...
The jury trial of former resident Steve Marshall for felony charges related to an alleged 2011 sexual assault began this week in Wrangell’s First District Court. Marshall, 54, was arrested on Dec. 7, 2011 at his residence in the Bloom Trailer Court after police responded to an argument between Marshall and his former girlfriend, Sonja Turner. Court documents allege that Marshall, who was indicted by a grand jury on seven charges, including sexual assault and assault in the first degree, is a...
Jesse Ryan Jack, son of David and Linda Jack, graduated from the University of Alaska Anchorage, School of Engineering with a Bachelors degree in Civil Engineering on May 5, 2013. Jesse, is currently serving an internship with the State of Alaska, Department of Environmental Conservation and resides in Palmer with his wife Lindsay and their three daughters, Candace, Scarlett and Sophia....
William Dennis Eastaugh 1941- 2013 William Dennis Eastaugh died quietly at Wrangell Medical Center very early Tuesday morning, March 19, 2013. He was born in Wrangell at the old Bishop Rowe Hospital on August 25, 1941 and, as it happened, was the very first cesarean delivery ever in Wrangell. He attended grade school in the big old white schoolhouse that stood next to our library. The family lived on Greif Street in the old pink house opposite the Roman Catholic Church. As with many young boys,...
In a word, the outlook for Alaska salmon markets this year is favorable. That’s the conclusion of Gunnar Knapp, fisheries economist at the University of Alaska/Anchorage in an overview of world markets to Alaska legislators. Knapp cited three key factors for the short term outlook: lower sockeye harvests, strong canned salmon markets with low inventories, and strengthening prices for farmed salmon. Lower harvests can boost prices, and Alaska wild salmon tends to follow the price trend for farmed...
The body of 13 year old Mackenzie H. Howard was discovered late Tuesday evening, Feb. 5 in the entrance of the Memorial Presbyterian Church by community members. “We are investigating this as a homicide,” Alaska Department of Public Safety Public Information Officer Megan Peters said. “There are a lot of rumors and speculation going around and we have to weed through all of them to get to the truth.” Howard's body was sent to Anchorage for an autopsy to determine the cause and manner of death. “The autopsy was completed Friday and we have rece...
Anchorage, Alaska – Governor Sean Parnell today appointed Alaska Court of Appeals Judge Joel Bolger as the 23rd justice of the Alaska Supreme Court. His appointment follows the retirement of Justice Walter “Bud” Carpeneti. “Judge Bolger’s vast experience will be a tremendous asset for Alaska’s highest court,” said Governor Parnell. “His service at each level of the Alaska Court System has prepared him to serve Alaskans with humility, thoughtfulness, legal expertise, and discernment.” Judge Bolger first moved to Alaska in 1978. He graduate...
Anchorage, Alaska – Governor Sean Parnell today appointed Alaska Court of Appeals Judge Joel Bolger as the 23rd justice of the Alaska Supreme Court. His appointment follows the retirement of Justice Walter “Bud” Carpeneti. “Judge Bolger’s vast experience will be a tremendous asset for Alaska’s highest court,” said Governor Parnell. “His service at each level of the Alaska Court System has prepared him to serve Alaskans with humility, thoughtfulness, legal expertise, and discernment.” Judge Bolger first moved to Alaska in 1978. He graduate...
A new mayor, renovations to the Shakes Island Tribal House and Marine Service Center, and the ongoing Wrangell Medical Center debate – all of these stories were newsmakers in 2012. Let’s take a look back at some of the biggest stories in Wrangell over the past year. JANUARY A late night blaze destroyed a trailer and sent a woman to Wrangell Medical Center with severe burns on Dec. 22. The fire, which began at 10:30 p.m. in a small pull-behind trailer near the top of the park, severely inj...
Governor Sean Parnell, in a letter to the State Board of Education and Early Development, expressed hope that the board will adopt higher professional content and performance standards for teachers and principals. The governor encouraged the board to be bold in setting the bar higher in tying teacher evaluations to student learning. His letter also proposes dropping certain outdated and unnecessary testing of Alaska children. “I know that student learning is important to members of the board and I am asking you to be bold and lead in this w...
Peter B. Iversen, Sr. of Anchorage, died on October 16, 2012 at the age of 62. He passed away while pursuing his lifelong passion of flying as a bush pilot in his home state. His plane went down near Skwentna, as he was heading to Nixon Fork Mine. Pete was born July 24, 1950 in Wrangell to Doris and Barney Iversen. He spent his youth hunting, fishing, playing basketball and dreaming of flying planes. He first snuck out of his home as a toddler, heading down to the docks to see the float planes....
State fishery managers are asking for input from Alaskans to help solve the case of disappearing king salmon. A letter went out last week from Alaska Department of Fish and Game Commissioner Cora Campbell inviting stakeholders to a two day symposium in Anchorage later this month titled ‘Understanding Abundance and Productivity Trends of Chinook salmon in Alaska.’ The stated goal is ‘to increase understanding and develop the most complete research plan possible.’ A draft analysis by a newly appointed fisheries research team represents initial...
Wells Fargo has named David Byrne Senior Business Banking relationship manager for Petersburg and Wrangell. During his 14-year financial services career in Alaska, Byrne has served consumer and business customers as a personal banker in Petersburg, business relationship manager in Dillingham and Kodiak and statewide commercial real estate industry specialist. He has served as a board member for numerous chamber, rotary and industry trade groups in Anchorage, Kodiak and Petersburg. Byrne is an...
