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The cruise ship Regatta's departure Tuesday evening marked the start of the end for Wrangell's tourist 2015 season. "I think it was a great season," said Cyni Waddington, with the Chamber of Commerce. "I feel we had just the right amount of cruise ships." The summer's high point came during Wrangell's annual July 4 celebrations, which benefitted from clear weather during an otherwise unusually rainy month. "It was probably one of the most well-attended," Waddington said. "I was happy with the...
With the start of school today, Wrangell Cooperative Association ensured more than a few local students came prepared. Last week the Tribe distributed 110 backpacks as part of its annual back to school program. Eighty-five of these came from the Central Council of the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska, which provides the backpacks to families across the region annually. The brand-name bags are outfitted with notebooks and materials suitable for different ages and include stationary, a new water bottle, a ruler and a waterproof bag....
Test results for shellfish compiled by the local Indian Environmental General Assistance Program (IGAP) office have been released. Working locally in partnership with Wrangell Cooperative Association, IGAP's primary mission is to undertake projects focused on addressing environmental and quality of life problems. On April 20, IGAP staff and volunteers collected littleneck and butterneck clams, cockles, horse clams and other commonly-consumed shellfish from three beach locations along Zimovia...
As several major mining projects continue to develop upstream of the Stikine River, Wrangell's Native community formally observed the first anniversary of the tailings dam failure at Mount Polley mine on Sunday afternoon. A water blessing ceremony was held outside of the Chief Shakes Island tribal house, with those in attendance including members of the Tlingit and Haida tribes, a delegation of First Nations activists from Canada, and other concerned community members. The visitors included...
On Sunday Alaska Native and Canadian First Nations groups will mark the first anniversary of the Mount Polley tailings dam collapse in a ceremony on the Stikine River. On Aug. 4, 2014, a rupture in the tailings dam servicing the British Columbia mine released billions of gallons of metals-tainted effluent into waters that fed into the salmon-rich Fraser River system. Earlier this month the mine’s owner, Imperial Metals, received a restricted permit from the provincial government allowing it to reopen Mt. Polley, using an alternate tailings o...
Wrangell's annual Bearfest offers a unique opportunity each year for biologists, researchers, photographers and artists to come together for a common cause, and last week's event was no exception. With an international climate conference set to meet in Paris this November, it seemed appropriate that this year's Bearfest lectures revolved around climate change and its anticipated effect on bears and other species. Speakers were invited and an overall theme was arranged by Lance Craighead, a...
A good-sized crowd of over 100 people attended the dedication ceremony for the Wrangell Cooperative Association's new cultural center on Saturday. After a welcoming performance by the Shxat Kwaan Dancers, the building was consecrated by Rev. Wilson Valentine of St. Philip's Episcopal Church and cleansed with a traditional placement of cedar boughs by community members. "This is over a decade in the making," said Aaron Angerman, WCA tribal administrator. He expressed the Tribe's thanks for those...
Members of and visitors to the community are invited to join the Wrangell Cooperative Association (WCA) at the dedication ceremony for its new cultural center on July 25 at 5 p.m. Also known as the carving facility, the building will host a variety of cultural activities, including classes, and provide a workspace for artists and crafters and a gift shop for them to sell their creations. “More than just carving’s going to go on,” explained Aaron Angerman, WCA tribal administrator. The facility is envisioned as a center for Native arts, with mul...
It was a sold-out show at the Nolan Center last Friday, as over 200 Wrangellites packed themselves in to watch the New Old Time Chautauqua, a vaudevillian group of performers based out of Washington. The traveling troupe is passing through Southeast Alaska on a summer tour – the "AKqua Chautauqua" – its first visit to the state since 1992. Nolan staff had only planned for a crowd of 160, but word-of-mouth and a pair of parades through town on Thursday and Friday had sparked considerable int...
The Red Chris mine in neighboring British Columbia passed its final bureaucratic hurdle, after the province’s Ministry of Energy and Mines issued a Mines Act permit amendment last Friday. The mine’s owning company, Imperial Metals, had earlier been granted its Environmental Management Act Permit on June 15, allowing Red Chris to begin discharging tailings into its tailings storage facility. From there, water can be discharged subject to provincial water quality guidelines. The Red Chris property is located in the province’s northwest, approxima...
A skull found by a hunter near the Stikine River almost three years ago has yet to be interred. Wrangell resident Vena Stough discovered the skull while at Government Slough on Oct. 5, 2012, and brought it to the local police department. From there it made its way to United States Forest Service offices in Petersburg for further analysis. “What we try to do is figure out if it’s Native American ancestry,” explained Jane Smith, an archaeologist for the USFS for 23 years. The repatriation process is governed by the Native American Graves Prote...
The New Old Time Chautauqua is still set to stop through on its summer tour of Southeast Alaska later this month. Founded in 1981 by a group of performers, health care practitioners and educators, the Chautauqua revives a brand of entertainment widely popular in the rural United States until the Great Depression. As a movement, the Chautauqua emphasizes community building through education and entertainment. Sixty performers will stop into Southeast communities between June 21 and July 13 for...
Wrangell shoppers saddled themselves down with appliances, wares and other sundries during the borough’s Tax-free Day on May 2. Twice a year, sales taxes are waived for local businesses in an effort to boost retail purchases. During the autumn tax holiday, grocers Bob’s IGA and City Market tend to hold their big case lot sales, and Front Street shops often feature special offers and discounts on Tax-free Days. “Every time we have one it gets bigger,” said Bob Robbins, owner of Bob’s IGA. He said the last three such days have each beaten ou...
As the Legislature was being summoned for special session, Wrangell's Borough Assembly continued to look at its own budget for the coming fiscal year at its Tuesday evening meeting. The regular meeting was preceded by a workshop on the FY16 budget. The budget Borough Manager Jeff Jabusch presented was balanced using the existing mil tax rate, with services maintained at much the same levels as at present. Some cuts include smaller items like travel expenses, supplies and subscriptions, and a reduction in contributions to radio station KSTK and...
With a new Tribal Council and new items on the agenda for the year, Wrangell Cooperative Association (WCA) is inviting its members to bring their appetites and ideas Saturday to the biannual Meeting of the Association, from noon to 3 p.m. “We want to make it a fun event, for everyone to come down and visit,” explained Aaron Angerman, WCA’s new tribal administrator. The format will be kept informal, with a potluck dinner and different booths set up to inform and take feedback from members on different issues. The event will also provide an op...
Last week's Southeast Alaska Regional Artfest went as prettily as a picture, by all counts. Sixty students and 15 teachers from high schools in Juneau, Klawock, Skagway, Petersburg, Craig, Sitka and Mount Edgecumbe made their way to Wrangell to participate in the four-day event, from April 8 to 11. Fifteen different classes were offered at various locations in town. These were taught by a combination of visiting and local artists, and students were immersed in sometimes brand new mediums of...
A collection drive begun last August by Wrangell's Indian Environmental General Assistance Program (IGAP) has brought in quite a haul: about 3,300 pounds of discarded gill netting, brought in by area fishermen for recycling. A survey conducted last year by Wrangell Cooperative Association (WCA) found that illegal dumping was a top environmental issue among residents. Among the items being abandoned around the island's lots and roadsides, old gill nets were a particularly knotty issue. City...
All of last weekend, the first of what is intended to be many cultural courses was held at Wrangell Cooperative Association's new carving facility, which was finished last autumn. From Thursday afternoon through Sunday, local Native residents were shown how to craft with sea otter pelts by Jeremiah James, operator of Yakutat Furs since 2010. "This is the ninth class I've done," James explained, and the second he has delivered in Wrangell. It was his first time working in the new facility...
Tribal members of the Wrangell Cooperative Association headed to the polls Saturday afternoon to choose six new members of the WCA Board. The six council seats that were up for election this term were previously held by Lynn Allen, Lovey Brock, Arthur Larson, Brooke Leslie, current board vice-president Ken Lewis Jr. and Tim Gillen. Gillen and Leslie did not seek reelection. Sam Campus, Luella Knapp, Catherine White and Richard Oliver joined Allen, Brock, Larson, and Lewis on this year’s ballot. Between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. at the Stikine N...
A number of concerned residents appeared Tuesday night at the public hearing for an ordinance amending Title 10 of the Municipal Code, specifically dealing with concealed-carry and weapons misconduct in the City and Borough of Wrangell. The Assembly had the proposal before them on its second reading, and during oral presentations at the hearing and later in their regular meeting itself, half a dozen people expressed their dissatisfaction with some provisions of the ordinance. Local resident Charles Hazel felt the rules omitted allowing the...
Tomorrow the local Indian Environmental General Assistance Program (IGAP) office will conclude its elder property cleanup program, which was first started in October. The need had been one of those identified through listening sessions hosted last year by IGAP and the Wrangell Cooperative Association. Operating through an Environmental Protection Agency grant, the program first sought out elderly residents within Wrangell's Native community who needed help collecting and disposing of various...
A group of 11 community members gathered on Jan. 21 to discuss and provide direction for how to use Wrangell Cooperative Association’s new carving facility, which was completed in October. The facility’s completion was the second of three phases for cultural development being undertaken by WCA, beginning with the restoration of the tribal house on Chief Shakes Island in 2013 and to conclude with the future recarving of eight totem poles and the training of master crafters. Among others, the planning group included members of the WCA Board, Tlin...
A team of architects and civic planners appeared before Wrangell officials and residents last week to start drafting a master plan for the city's future waterfront development. The eventual goal is to develop the fill area along Campbell Drive into a mixed-use property for businesses, locals and visitors to enjoy. Chris Mertl of Corvus Design, James Bibb of North Wind Architects, Dick Somerville of PND Engineers and Meilani Scheijvens of Rain Coast Data make up the team assembled to develop the...
Kicking things off with a new borough manager in Jeff Jabusch, 2014 for Wrangell was not only a period of changes, but also one of building and continued development. Pavement was poured at the Marine Service Center, a number of roads were resurfaced or due to eventually see improvement, and the city was able to showcase itself to other regional communities by hosting several prolific functions. January Wrangell Cooperative Association collected 210 registrations for Tlingit-Haida members at...
More children than ever before were able to enjoy this year's annual Christmas celebration at the Irene Ingle Public Library. "It's something we've done for years," explained head librarian Kay Jabusch. For 20 years, Wrangell's library has hosted its pajama story time every first week of December, with treats to enjoy and a visit from Santa Claus. Due to rising participation, library staff decided to approach the tradition in a new way this time around. "We broke it up this year," Jabusch said,...
