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With the final votes tallied by the canvass board earlier that morning, the Wrangell Borough Assembly met last Thursday, Oct. 3, to confirm this year's local election. There were several positions open for election on the assembly, school board, and an open seat on the port commission in the election on Oct. 1. The public also voted on a proposition to remove the Wrangell Medical Center Board from the city's charter. In total, there were 365 votes cast on election day, plus an additional 41...
Stephani Ann Ruks, 77, died on August 16, 2019, in Wrangell, Alaska. Ann was born in Louisville, Kentucky and moved with her family to Wrangell when she was young. She graduated from Wrangell High School in 1961 and worked in Nome and Anchorage and the Alaska Pipeline in Valdez. She lived 18 years in Arizona before returning home to Wrangell where she worked at Wrangell Medical Center until her retirement. Ann was a member of the hospital auxiliary and served in hospice for many years. She was...
A total of 365 ballots were cast on Wrangell's election day, Oct.1, plus an additional 40 absentee ballots. There were several positions up for election on the borough assembly, school board and port commission. The public also had the opportunity to vote to make a minor amendment to Wrangell's charter, removing the Wrangell Medical Center Board as the hospital is no longer operated by the borough. The following is the preliminary election results (* indicates preliminary winner): Borough...
Southeast Alaska Regional Health Consortium (SEARHC) Wrangell Medical Center’s (WMC) Cathy Gross, Registered Health Information Technician and WMC Performance Improvement Manager, has been named the 2019 winner of the Front-line Staff Outstanding Performance Award by the Alaska State Hospital and Nursing Home Association (ASHNHA). Gross was honored during the September 26 ASHNHA Annual Conference for her years of dedication to patient safety improvements at WMC. She was notified of the award on the first-ever World Patient Safety Day, S...
Sabina Schlotzhauer, at one month old, is one of Wrangell's newest residents. Born to Kassee and Curtis Schlotzhauer, Sabina is facing some medical issues. Kassee said in a Facebook message that Sabina suffers from HIE, or Hypoxic-ischemic Encephalopathy. According to the HIE Help Center, it is a form of brain damage that can occur in newborns when there is a shortage of oxygen in the bloodstream and a shortage of blood flow to the brain. There are a wide range of causes for HIE, according to...
Harbor House, the assisted living facility, closed its doors on Sept. 1. The facility opened in April of 2017 as a place for Wrangell's senior citizens to live, and also became a popular spot for haunted houses around Halloween. Before then, the building was known as the Sourdough Lodge. According to a 2017 article in the Wrangell Sentinel, Harbor House offered five assisted living rooms and an additional 11 rooms for senior housing. According to a letter sent to employees of Harbor House, the...
SouthEast Alaska Regional Healthcare Consortium's (SEARHC) Sitka Long-Term Care (SLTC) and Wrangell Medical Center Long-Term Care (WMC LTC) will be presented with a trio of quality awards this month from Mountain Pacific Quality Health's (MPQH). SEARHC will be awarded "Gold Pans" during the Alaska State Hospital and Nursing Home Association annual conference on Sept. 26 in Girdwood, Alaska, with STLC tabbed as a recipient for the Quality Achievement Award and WMC LTC receiving both the Quality...
Declarations for candidacy in Wrangell's upcoming October elections closed at 4 p.m. last Friday, Aug. 30. From city hall to the school board, there are multiple positions open as well as people willing to run for them. The following is a list of open seats and a list of candidates, courtesy of city hall: Wrangell Borough Assembly Two open seats for three-year terms: Incumbent Julie Decker and incumbent Patricia Gilbert. Two open seats for one-year unexpired terms: Incumbent Anne Morrison,...
Construction of Wrangell's new hospital is on track, according to Hospital Administrator Leatha Merculieff. Construction began back in April, as land next to the AICS Clinic was cleared of trees and leveled. An official groundbreaking ceremony was held on May 30. Back in 2018, the old Wrangell Medical Center was acquired by the Southeast Alaska Regional Health Consortium. As part of this deal, SEARHC agreed to build a new hospital for the city. Designs for the new hospital will connect to the...
Last weekend was the Wrangell Medical Center Foundation's Rally for Cancer Care Tournament, held at Muskeg Meadows. The annual event draws sizable crowds from both Wrangell and Petersburg, to raise money to cover cancer patients' travel expenses. This year was no exception. On Saturday, Aug. 17, 51 women attended the tournament. Of these, 31 were from Petersburg. This was not a serious tournament, but an excuse to hang out with friends and enjoy several golf-themed contests. Food, and a silent a...
This coming weekend, Muskeg Meadows Golf Course will host the annual Rally for Cancer Care tournaments. The rally has become a longstanding and popular tradition for people in Wrangell and Petersburg, drawing people from both towns. Betty Abbott, with the Wrangell Medical Center Foundation, said that the program has been around since 2009. She explained that the foundation uses the tournament to raise funds, which they then use to help offset travel expenses for cancer patients. As Southeast...
City Park was crowded and colorful last Saturday as people came together for the annual Long Term Care Color Run. The event is sponsored by the Wrangell Medical Center and its Long Term Care unit. There were 22 people who participated in the color run this year, according to organizer Alyssa Dame. The run is a fun way for Long Term Care residents to raise money, she said. This year they were going to donate their proceeds to Hannah's Place and local youth sports organizations. The color run star...
The Wrangell Cooperative Association, along with Corvus Design and SALT, a consulting team, held a workshop at the Nolan Center last Thursday, June 13. The workshop was part of the Administration for Native Americans grant project, which has been led in Wrangell by Ruby McMurren and Talea Massin of the WCA. The project was designed to look at ways to prevent the out-migration of the native community in Wrangell. Through several meetings with community and tribal leaders, McMurren and Massin...
The Wrangell Borough Assembly gave a second reading of the proposed FY 2020 budget during their meeting on Tuesday, June 11. This year's budget season has been a challenge for local governments across the state, thanks in part to an ongoing battle over the state budget in the Alaska legislature. City governments and school boards are all looking at financial challenges in the near future, and Wrangell is no exception. The proposed budget for the borough has revenues set at about $16.62 million,...
June 3, 2019 Animal complaint: Dog killing chickens. Traffic complaint. Report of assault. Traffic stop: Verbal warning for driving habits. June 4, 2019 Parking complaint. Traffic stop: Verbal warning for driving habits. Violating conditions of release: Unfounded. Disturbance: Unfounded. June 5, 2019 Motor vehicle accident. Found property. June 6, 2019 Suspicious circumstance. Parking complaint. Civil matter. Fireworks. June 7, 2019 Agency assist: Line crew. Agency assist: Wrangell Medical Center. Suspicious person. Agency assist: Public...
A groundbreaking ceremony was held next to the AICS clinic on Wood Street last Thursday, May 30, signifying the official beginning of construction of Wrangell's new hospital. Wrangell has been seeking a new hospital to replace the Wrangell Medical Center for some time now. The Southeast Alaska Health Consortium, SEARHC, acquired the medical center in 2018. Part of this acquisition deal was the construction of a new hospital. The new medical center, which will connect with the existing clinic,...
Southeast Alaska construction company SECON has returned to Wrangell to do some road work. They were working in Wrangell last summer to renovate Evergreen Avenue, which runs from the ferry terminal past Petroglyph Beach, before transitioning into the Airport Road. These renovations included resurfacing the entire street and constructing a sidewalk along the road. This year, according to Project Manager Ralph Vigilante, SECON will be doing some extensive work on the other side of the airport loop, on Bennett Street and Airport Road itself....
On Thursday, May 30, SouthEast Alaska Regional Health Consortium (SEARHC) will hold a groundbreaking ceremony for the new Wrangell Medical Center (WMC) from 12:00 to 1:30 p.m. at 232 Wood Street in Wrangell. Located adjacent to the Alaska Island Community Services (AICS) Medical Clinic, the new WMC will include a critical access hospital and long-term care facility. The decision to build a new medical center is in concert with SEARHC's intent to enhance and expand healthcare services in...
Fire, smoke, and sirens could all be seen and heard at the Wrangell airport last Tuesday afternoon. While there was no real emergency, the situation was meant to simulate one. A disaster drill was held on the airport's runway. According to Airport Manager Willie Bloom, the drill is a triennial event in Wrangell and is required by the FAA. He said the drill is meant to be an opportunity for the Department of Transportation, the Wrangell Fire Department, and the city's medical services be better...
Charles P. Berg, 88, of Litchfield Park, Arizona, passed away peacefully at Abrazo West Medical Center on April 9, 2019. He was born in Pierpoint, South Dakota on March 2, 1931 and spent his youth in Seward, Alaska and Wrangell, Alaska. His parents, Claude and Geraldine were teachers. He graduated from Wrangell High School in 1949 and played varsity basketball for the Wrangell Wolves. Charlie met his wife, Helen Angerman, during high school and they were married on September 17, 1954 in...
The Tlingit and Haida Regional Housing Authority held a two-hour training session at the Nolan Center last Wednesday evening, April 24. The THRHA works across Southeast Alaska to create affordable housing, offers opportunities for home repairs, and even helps people learn about money management. Representatives from the organization came to Wrangell last week to offer training on financial planning and preventative home maintenance. The budgeting portion of the training session was handled by...
Hospice of Wrangell operates a loan closet from which people all around town are able to borrow medical equipment, such as walkers, wheel chairs, shower benches, and other items. Hospice President Alice Rooney explained that the loan closet stores many of its items in the attic of the AICS Clinic on Wood Street. With the construction of Wrangell's new hospital beginning, however, the clinic's storage space will be renovated and the loan closet's items needed to be moved. "So those items had to...
Work began to clear land for Wrangell's new hospital last week. Kendall Nielsen, with Dawson Construction, said that they began cutting down trees on April 4, and will continue to clear and level land next to the AICS Clinic through the rest of the month. The land will be ready to pour the foundation by the second week of May, he added. The new hospital has been an ongoing project in Wrangell for several years. Construction of a new hospital was part of the deal made by the Southeast Alaska...
The Wrangell School Board reviewed the school district's "report card to the public" in their recent meeting on Monday, April 15. The report card, released by the Alaska Department of Education and Early Development, collected and presented data on the performance of school districts across the state for the 2017-2018 school year. The report card examined items such as attendance and graduation rates, academic progress, teacher quality, and many other factors. According to the report card. Everg...
