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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 His letter also proposes dropping certain outdated and unnecessary testing of Alaska children.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...
As Alaska’s salmon season winds down, selling the bulk of the harvest gears up for seafood companies that purchased the pack. “This is the season for negotiations, you might say,” said salmon guru Gunnar Knapp, longtime fisheries economist at the University of Alaska/Anchorage. “You never know the price until the product is actually sold.” The salmon season runs on different tracks starting with sockeye, and fish sales have varying schedules and market patterns throughout the year. Plus, salmon markets depend on the species and how they are...
Governor Sean Parnell appointed Anchorage attorney Peter Maassen to the Alaska Supreme Court on Aug. 10. Maassen is the 22nd justice appointed to the Court, and he replaces Justice Morgan Christen, who was appointed to the United States Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit. Maassen came to Alaska in 1980 with his wife, and has been in private practice most of his career. He earned a bachelor’s degree at Hope College and his juris doctorate at the University of Michigan Law School. He is currently a partner at the general civil firm I...
There is an old adage that workplace romances never work. But, what if you brought your romance into the workplace – and held mutual dreams and goals for your life and career? That is precisely what two clinicians at Alaska Island Community Services are doing in the Crossings program. Bethany and Lee Burgess, a married couple who are Licensed Clinical Social Workers in the program, met in college in Michigan and, as the pair says, they fell in love and made their career goal a life’s passion – t...
Marine debris trackers are taking to the air any day to get a better idea of where and what is washing ashore from last year’s devastating tsunami in Japan. Best ‘guesstimates’ claim at least 1.5 million tons of debris are afloat on and under the current driven waters that routinely cover Alaska coastlines. The State has funded a $200,000 systematic aerial survey by Airborne Technologies, Inc. of Virginia that will span waters and beaches from Cold Bay to Ketchikan to get a more complete view of the debris problem. “That should give a good pi...
Lifelong Alaskan John (Larsen) Corwin, 53, passed away peacefully in his sleep June 10, 2012 at his home in Anchorage. John was born in Wrangell, and moved to Anchorage in 1967 with his parents, sisters and brothers. He attended Williwaw Elementary, Clark Jr. High and East High. After graduating he attended the University of Washington. He returned to Anchorage and began working in construction, eventually becoming certified in asbestos abatement. John was a loving father, grandfather, uncle...
A member of the Alaska Legislature who is vying for the Democratic nomination to face off against Republican incumbent Representative Don Young in November was in Wrangell last week to meet citizens and discuss topics important to residents in Southeast Alaska. Representative Sharon Cissna, who represents District 22 in the University Heights area of Anchorage, is seeking to unseat Young, a member of the House of Representatives since 1973. Cissna’s district, which encompasses the neighborhoods...
A resurgence of farmed fish and shifting world currencies could shake up salmon markets this year. “There are two trends going into the current salmon season that we haven’t seen for several years,” said Gunnar Knapp, a fisheries economist at the University of Alaska at Anchorage. “Exchange rates look to be weaker, not stronger, and perhaps more importantly, farmed salmon prices, rather than rising or holding steady, have fallen significantly. So we will be selling into a market where there is a lot more competing product available at a lot...
April 4, 1912: The results of the municipal elections Tuesday placed the business of the town of Wrangell into almost entirely new hands. The list of the seven highest who will constitute the Common Council of the town for the 1912-13 term is as follows: C.H. Horch, Chas. Benjamin, D. Lewis, L.M. Churchill, C.A. Emery, A.T. Spader, I.M. Wheeler. C.M. Coulter received 69 of the 78 votes cast for school director. The old saying, “Of those that hath, much is expected,” can be applied in this case, for some very material improvement will be exp...
Residents of Wrangell can expect to receive a questionnaire in their post office box this month asking what they know about amphibians, specifically frogs and salamanders. The mail survey is part of University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF) student Joshua Ream’s research. Ream, 27, is pursuing an interdisciplinary PhD from UAF in ecological anthropology, which focuses on the relationship between humans and their environment, or as Ream puts it, a way to combine his “interests in both the natural and...
January The Wrangell School Board found $128,451 in additional, unspent funding from a federal program. In passing their 2011 budget, the board also accepted an $8,300 grant for the Upward Bound program. Master carvers Steve Brown and Wayne Price visited Shakes Island to begin discussions on the renovation of the Tribal House and to propose a traditional tools class. The US Forest Service began a scoping project for an Environmental Impact Study regarding timber sales and road construction for...
The Southeast Alaska Regional Health Consortium has a new leader at the helm in Juneau. Charles Clement, who is currently serving as vice president and chief operation officer for the Southcentral Foundation, an Anchorage-based health care organization, has been selected as the organization’s next president and CEO. Clement will replace Roald Helgesen beginning in February 2012. Helgesen is set to take over as CEO of the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium. According to a press release, C...
