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Wrangell paddlers Ian Weishar, Bryan Ottesen, Esther Ashton, Kelsey Leak and Lizzy Romane take part in the 4th annual Paddle Battle in the Narrows on Saturday. With participants taking to either paddleboards or kayaks, the friendly event raises money for Petersburg Medical Center, this year supporting the acquisition of new wheelchairs for its patients. This year was the first in which Wrangellites organized a team....
During its extensive Independence Day celebrations, Wrangell provides plenty of opportunity for children and adults alike to have fun. More than parades and fireworks displays, the event features a whole host of opportunities for good eating. One of its key highlights over the four-day weekend was the "Welcome Home Picnic" in Shoemaker Park on Sunday, for instance, giving reunited families and out-of-town friends the chance to catch up over a potluck, exchange some stories, and get their newest...
Christopher Raymond Feller, 60, passed away April 22, 2017 in Anchorage, Alaska at the Alaska Native Medical Center. He was born in Wrangell, Alaska on March 5, 1957, the youngest and fifth child of John and Carol Feller. Christopher lived most of his life in Wrangell and graduated from Wrangell High the class of 1976. He was a hard worker on his brother-in-law's seine boat F/V Miss Susan. He worked at the local lumber mill until it closed in 1994 and again, when it reopened for a few years...
While more commonly Wrangell leaves a lasting impression on its visitors, one thought to leave his mark on Wrangell instead. With the aid of two chainsaws and assorted carving equipment, Denny Leak spent most of last week outside Wrangell Cooperative Association's Cultural Center as he worked on fashioning out part of one of the tribe's stored totems. Hailing from Kansas, Leak was up for a visit with his daughter, who in March began work at Wrangell Medical Center as a physical therapy...
An updated schedule for next month's Independence Day festivities was put out this week by Wrangell's Chamber of Commerce. The big change in this year's lineup will be the return of boat racing, after a dry spell of nearly three decades. Heading up the organization of that effort were Penny Allen and Clay Hammer, who with Jay Einert and John Waddington figured out what needed to be done to get the event back into the water. Routes have been plotted out, rules drawn up and insurance secured for...
An area youth was seriously injured in a paddleboarding accident at Pats Creek late Sunday, and after being found by emergency medical technicians had to be airlifted out to safety. Sixteen-year-old Trevyn Stockton had been out on the water with two friends that evening. They were navigating Pats using paddleboards, similar to a surf board which the rider stands or sits on while using a paddle for direction. Heavy rainfall over the weekend contributed to high, swift water conditions. At some...
Wrangell Medical Center is gearing up for its 10th annual golf tournament and fundraiser dinner, proceeds from which will go toward several initiatives of its Foundation. Coupled with Saturday’s banquet and auction, the Brian Gilbert Memorial Golf Tournament is one of the biggest drives benefiting the WMC Foundation each year, with the weekend last year raising just under $30,000. The Foundation is the hospital’s philanthropic arm and in the past such weekends have supported two of the Foundation’s ongoing initiatives. One of these is its cance...
With the department heads scrambling to prepare budgets before the month’s end, rate discussions and spending plans seemed inevitable at the City and Borough Assembly’s Tuesday evening meeting. High up on its agenda was a continued discussion of the city’s residential and commercial water rates, which have lagged well behind covering costs. In light of looming supply problems (see water plant story), significant capital investments ahead for a new plant, and prospective development at the Institute and former mill sites, every penny count...
Marian Glenz, 80, of Wrangell, Alaska died on April 26, 2017 at the University of Washington Medical Center in Seattle. She was born to Buckshot and Irene Woolery on August19, 1936, in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin. She grew up in Port Protection, Ketchikan, Meyers Chuck and Wrangell. She graduated from Main School in Ketchikan and worked for her parents in Port Protection, fished commercially and ran the U.S Post Office in Meyers Chuck. She married Ed Glenz in 1958 in Ketchikan, and they were happily married for 54 years. Glenz was preceded in death...
Wrapping up the spring Chautauqua season at the Nolan Center this year, a Wrangell school senior presented the findings by her classmates and herself mapping the movements of Shakes Glacier. Located about 30 miles northeast of Wrangell up the Stikine River, the glacier is an oft-visited site by residents and visitors touring the river system. Its meltoff feeding into Shakes Lake, the glacier is part of the wider Stikine Ice Field, of which LeConte Glacier is included. Reyn Hutten this year was...
Wrangell Public Schools has adopted a final draft budget for the coming year. Meeting Monday evening at Evergreen Elementary School, the board voted to approve the third draft, which projects expenditures totaling $5,860,894. Attendance for the year is anticipated at 273 students. Costs since the first draft was put forward in February have come down by about $134,000 in expected benefits, due to lower insurance rates. “It's fairly straightforward, which is not always the case for the budget,” school superintendent Patrick Mayer explained. Som...
In its monthly meeting the Wrangell Medical Center Board learned progress continues to be made in drawing up plans for a new hospital. Hospital chief executive officer Robert Rang informed the board that architects with Juneau firm Jensen Yorba Lott are still hammering out designs, following a site visit in mid-March. At the moment the contractors are trying to reconcile staff’s “wish list” for a future facility with applicable standards, minimizing the building’s footprint where possible. On the financial end, the accountant at BDO in Anchora...
PETERSBURG – Petersburg was paid a visit by longstanding United States Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska) on Monday, part of a wider tour of Southeast that includes Ketchikan and Juneau. Extra chairs had to be brought into the Borough Assembly chambers to accommodate the audience, and people stood at the room's back and sides. Seated front and center, Young explained the session would be an informal way for people to give input and ask questions. "I'm here primarily to hear what's on your mind and w...
A survey being put out by Wrangell’s Parks Department will be digging into the community’s recreational priorities in the coming years. “With the current climate of our state economy and the increasing demand for our current facilities, we need to prioritize our tasks and goals,” explained department director Kate Thomas. She said a system-wide needs assessment would help the department focus in on what residents like – what parks they frequent, which trails they climb, the amenities they would like to see – beyond the programs and more easily...
Southeast Alaska Regional Health Consortium (SEARHC) has completed its acquisition of Alaska Island Community Services (AICS), with the transition formally taking effect on April 1. Started in 1975, SEARHC is a non-profit tribal health consortium representing 18 Native communities in the region. Among its other programs, it operates Mt. Edgecumbe Hospital and the Ethel Lund Medical Center in Juneau. One of the largest private employers in the region before the merger, the deal with AICS extends its reach to 24 communities. Established in...
Another year's Tent City Days wrapped up over the weekend, culminating in a post-roller derby party out on the town late Saturday. "It went pretty good," said Kelly Gunderson, who helped organize this year's events. "Especially with the derby girls." The Garnet Grit Betties hosted a special bout for the event. Twenty-eight women donned pads and skates and took to a converted track at the high school gym Saturday afternoon. Coming from six different communities, they formed two "mash-up" rosters...
A reboot to the local hospital’s new building project was underway last week, with key contractors on site for predevelopment work. Wrangell Medical Center CEO Robert Rang informed the hospital’s governing board at its March 15 meeting that principal architect Joann Lott and company president Wayne Jensen of Juneau-based firm Jensen Yorba Lott were in town preparing preliminary plans for a new hospital facility on Wood Street. The pair had looked over the proposed site on March 13, which is adjacent to the current Alaska Island Community Ser...
The hospital is offering a special on laboratory tests in the run-up to its annual Health Fair next month. Through March 24, Wrangell Medical Center is discounting a variety of screenings. These include a comprehensive health profile, which measures one’s blood count, cholesterol, and other components in a coronary risk profile. Other tests are for prostate specific antigen, which can indicate prostate cancer; Hemoglobin-A1C, used for diagnosing pre-diabetes and catching the disease in its early stages; thyroid stimulating hormone; and V...
The City and Borough Assembly confirmed its selection of an interim borough manager to serve after Jeff Jabusch retires from the position March 31. He announced his plans to retire last September, putting an end to four decades of service to the city. In his stead, economic director Carol Rushmore has been named to serve as interim manager. As part of the arrangement, the Assembly agreed she will be paid an extra stipend for the months of March, April, and however long it might take for the transition to resolve itself. Funds would be paid...
The hospital approved a response to the Wrangell Borough Assembly regarding the future of its billing services contract. At an August 23 meeting, the city’s governing body asked that Wrangell Medical Center put together an assessment of its two-year contract with TruBridge, which took over billing services for the community-owned hospital the summer of 2015. The contract offered the company 2.2 percent of the transactions it processes on behalf of the hospital, with the intention of addressing its excessive accounts receivable and minimizing u...
Women of a local service organization celebrated 30 years of its teddy bear program this Valentine's Day. The Wrangell chapter of Beta Sigma Phi (ΒΣΦ) continued its February 14 tradition of a dance and auction at the American Legion, with proceeds from the event going to purchase the plush toys. These in turn get sent to Wrangell Medical Center, providing a buddy for pediatric patients in need of care. For many years, ΒΣΦ supported the program in association with the Wrangell Lions Club, which...
A planned-for merger between two regional healthcare providers has been put on hold for two months. Alaska Island Community Services was to merge with larger organization SouthEast Alaska Regional Health Consortium (SEARHC) on February 1, but the consolidation will have to wait until April 1. The merger was formally announced last October, and heads of both organizations subsequently met with Wrangell officials in November and in January to explain the transition. AICS executive Mark Walker has said the move was needed due to growth in the orga...
At its 27th Annual Fundraiser Dinner on Saturday, the Wrangell Chamber of Commerce announced its honors list for 2017. There were five nominees for this year’s Wrangell Citizen of the Year: school board member and Wells Fargo Bank employee Aleisha Mollen; Sourdough Lodge proprietor Bruce Harding; Alaska Vistas operator Sylvia Ettefagh; Dr. Lynn Prysunka at Alaska Island Community Services; and Evergreen Elementary School secretary Renate Davies. Of the candidates, Prysunka was awarded this year’s honor, having served the community as a fam...