Sorted by date Results 401 - 425 of 497
A professionally diverse group of Wrangellers gathered Dec. 3 to help develop a future focus for the local Indian Environmental General Assistance Program (IGAP) office. Working through the Wrangell Cooperative Association, the office's new coordinator Chris Hatton invited representatives of the borough's local government, healthcare, education and industry to come conduct some brainstorming, while also learning about where IGAP is currently at with projects. “I'm stepping in at a challenging t...
It was a festive holiday weekend for Wrangell, but the local Tlingit community had particular reason to celebrate as they dedicated a new canoe Saturday inside the Wrangell Cooperative Association's recently completed carving facility. The 30-foot vessel seats up to nine crew members and is constructed of fiberglass and wood framing with a red cedar inlay. It was constructed over the summer at the old carving shed, near the causeway entrance to Chief Shakes Island. "Shane Gillen is the one who...
After nearly 34 years of service, Irene Ingle Public Library will be getting a new head librarian after Kay Jabusch retires at the end of this year. She began there in June 1980, working closely with Irene Ingle – the previous head librarian for whom the library was renamed – before taking over her position after Ingle's retirement on Jan. 1, 1981. When Jabusch retires from the position on Jan. 1, 2015, assistant librarian Margaret Villarma will likewise assume the post. "I think the tra...
At the public hearing preceding Tuesday’s regular Wrangell Borough Assembly meeting, a few people showed up to listen but only one took to the lectern with her concerns with ordinance number 887, which would amend the municipal code dealing with animal violations and add a new chapter. The proposed ordinance was one of five being considered on their second reading. “The first thing that I have noticed is a series of fines,” Christina Florschutz told the Assembly, looking at the meeting packet. “I’m fine with having fines,” she said, addin...
Representatives of Southeast Alaskan tribal groups will be meeting in Juneau next week to discuss regional concerns at the annual Southeast Environmental Conference in the city’s Vocational Training and Resource Center. Beginning Monday, the five-day event is being hosted by the Central Council of the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska, in partnership with the Chilkat Indian Village, Craig Tribal Association, Douglas Indian Association, Organized Village of Kasaan, Petersburg Indian A...
School may have just begun for Wrangell students, but they can’t rightly start without notebooks, pencils and other supplies. For those still needing materials, the Wrangell Cooperative Association will be holding its annual backpack giveaway on Wednesday. Last year 85 new backpacks were distributed to area students, each laden with brand new school materials. But due to cutbacks, this year’s program was only going to be able to acquire around 20. Knowing some donors, the program’s organizer, Carol Snoddy, decided to see if she could acqui...
The final touches on the Weber Street project concluded this week. For the Wrangell Cooperative Association (WCA), the repaving and sidewalk work on the formerly two-way street in the middle of a residential neighborhood is simply one more project completed. The project was three years in the making. Bidding for construction was estimated at about $490,000, though final figures for the construction aren't yet available, officials said, and they are waiting for the project to be completed before...
An informal survey of Wrangellites conducted by the Indian Environmental General Assistance Program (IGAP) concluded illegal dumping and recycling were the top environmental issues locally. The survey’s 158 respondents were asked to rank, on a one-to-five scale, 16 environmental issues, ranging from safe drinking water to mining issues on the Stikine River. The survey also included a place for respondents’ own suggestions. The scores for each issue were then combined and ranked according to how high they had scored. Under this rubric, dum...
Summer road projects will result in two Wrangell streets being paved for the first time. Work is currently underway to pave Weber Street, starting at its intersection with Church Street and stretching up into the small subdivision above Reid Street, with completion expected by the end of this week. City officials expect to pave and rework culverts on Cassiar Street from Mission Street to the street's end starting June 15, according to Public Works Director Carl Johnson. A firm completion date hasn't yet been set, though officials expect the...
A ceremony set for May 12 will draw guest speakers from federal and state veterans’ agencies to the Wrangell High School gymnasium. Monday’s planned ceremony will honor veterans of all stripes, according to Rhonda Christian who organized the ceremony with assistance from the Alaska Department of Military & Veterans Affairs, the American Legion, the local Boy Scouts and other community groups. The presentation will start at 6 p.m. with an introduction by Forrest E. Powell III of Alaska Veterans Affairs, followed by a welcome by Mayor David Jac...
$4.6 million is definitely better than zero. The state’s proposed capital budget would set aside more than $1.6 million for Wrangell-based projects, up from nothing in Gov. Sean Parnell’s proposed capital budget announced Dec. 12. An additional almost $3 million in proposed infrastructure “reallocations” will also be headed to Wrangell, with some slight modifications to allow the use of the funds to be more flexible. The capital funds include: $615,000 for a Wrangell connection to the upper reservoir, which will allow the Department of Public...
A local carving facility and cultural center is a big step closer to completion. The MJ Murdoch Charitable Trust awarded a $250,000 grant to the Wrangell Cooperative Association this week. That leaves about$100,000, or 35 percent of total cost of the building, remaining before the shed's cost is totally funded, said Tis Peterman, a grant writer and administrator with the WCA. "We're really excited about it," she said. The carving facility - known informally around town as the "carving shed," a...
Local healthcare consumers face an imminent deadline. After twice extending the deadline to sign up for a healthcare plan under the Patient Affordable Care Act – known colloquially as Obamacare – the date finally stuck at March 31, with little indication that officials will change it, according to various national news outlets. Uninsured patients will thus face a penalty on their next tax return. Consumers who fail to enroll will face a penalty of $95 or one percent of their income, whichever is greater. Families must pay $47.50 per uni...
The Chamber of Commerce honored Lucy Robinson with the Citizen of the Year award at Saturday's annual dinner. The event also honored new chamber members, the Business of the Year, retiring school system personnel, and distributed the Chamber Membership Appreciation Award. It drew more than 200 members and guests to the Nolan Center for dinner, drinks, dessert auctions, and games. The dinner is the sole event dedicated exclusively to Chamber fundraising, Director Cyni Waddington told the crowd....
Authorities charged Lavina “Lovey” Brock, 68, of Wrangell with four counts of promoting illegal gambling. A criminal complaint filed Feb. 5 in district court alleges that Brock held Texas Hold ‘em games for cash at American Legion Post #6, and promoted the games around town using flyers. The prosecuting agency is the Office of Special Prosecutions and Appeals. The complaint lists offense dates as Feb. 19, 2009, June 29, 2009, Dec. 20, 2010, and Feb. 10, 2010. Brock is a prominent community member, and sits on the governing body of the Wrang...
Native Alaskans will elect four of seven candidates to the Wrangell Cooperative Association’s leadership council today. The WCA is an umbrella organization for the local Alaskan Native community and maintains, among other things, the Chief Shakes House and the carving shed cultural center. The group has played an increasingly important role in civic affairs, primarily as a go-to organization to obtain funding for infrastructure projects when state or federal authorities are sometimes unwilling to foot the bill. The association appears in discus...
A Wrangell Public Schools budget presented at the Jan. 20 school board meeting and distributed to the borough assembly shows a $219,461 shortfall. Business manager Pam Roope characterized the drafts as very preliminary, and meetings to refine the numbers are ongoing. The figures have been presented before the school board, but only as a discussion item, and not an action item requiring a vote. Since the budgeting process is only now just beginning for the 2015 fiscal year, potential cuts to programs or other things would likely take place in...
More than 200 people met Saturday with local organizations at the Wrangell Cooperative Association's first membership rally. Representatives from the Association, the Indian Environmental General Assistance Program, Alaska Island Community Services and Tlingit-Haida registered, updated, collected and distributed information for 210 people by the end of the four-hour event at the Stikine Native Organizations building. Organizers from the WCA's Membership Committee had worked on organizing the...
Between 30 and 50 yachts will depart Seattle sometime in June and arrive in Wrangell June 17. The yachts will participate in the annual Salty Dog Rally, sponsored by Boating Puget Sound, a website dedicated to yachting in the Seattle area. Once they arrive, yachters will be welcomed by local Tlingit drummers and dancers and be feted in a gala dinner with the mayor. Borough officials estimate between 60 and 150 people will participate, though they won’t have official numbers until registration for the event concludes in April. Members of the W...
The borough assembly voted 5-0 Tuesday night to approve a no-bid design contract with Juneau-based Corvus Design. The contract allots $11,372 from a $35,000 state grant to renovate heritage harbor for that purpose. Port commissioners previously said the contract was designed to be no-bid in order to avoid a prolonged bidding process which might stretch past the June 30 expiration date for the grant. The money “is part of the starting of this thing?” assembly member James Stough asked harbormaster Greg Meissner. “Is that what this is?” The goa...
The Chief Shakes House rededication was easily the biggest event of 2013 in Wrangell. However, the year was filled with events and news stories big and small. On the first edition of 2014, the Sentinel pauses to recollect the stories throughout the year. January An electrical fire damaged the fish tank at the Nolan Center, causing it to be removed. A 7.5-magnitude earthquake struck off of Craig Jan. 4, rattling windows and nerves in town. The quake caused no major damage in town, but...
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...
While one part of the news was certainly somber at the informal end-of-year Outfitter Guide Meeting at the Wrangell Ranger District, the tone was light-hearted. First, the somber news. The Wrangell Ranger District faces a 30 percent cut to its recreation budget in preliminary figures. Ranger Bob Dalrymple cautioned that if that number were to hold – although he’s seen budget cuts fail to materialize in the past – the Anan Bear Observatory could be shuttered. The observatory is a marquee attraction for tourism in Wrangell, and drew 2,873 visit...
U.S. Rep. Don Young cancelled a planned public appearance in Wrangell and Petersburg Nov. 6 after reporting chest discomfort, according to a press release issued by his office. Young had originally planned for a public meet-and-greet following a tour of city facilities in Wrangell with borough department heads and assembly members. He completed the tour with department heads, according to Harbormaster Greg Meissner. When media representatives and officials later showed up for the 3 pm meeting with Mr. Young, a staff representative said Young...
Name: Ernie Christian Age: 48 Occupation: Manager, Ottesen’s Inc. What background or experience do you have that qualifies you to be an Assembly member? I have previously served on boards, committees, councils, and assembly. I am currently serving as Vice-Mayor on the City and Borough of Wrangell assembly and Vice-President on the Wrangell Cooperative Association board. I understand budgets and ask questions to make sure that I am accountable to the electorate. Why are you running for the A...
