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Ringing in the new year, Wrangell's American Legion Post 6 decided to take an opportunity to thank several of its longest-serving members over coffee at the Stikine Inn on Saturday. Certificates were presented to four veterans who have been with the organization for more than half a century: Gilbert Gunderson, Harry Churchill, Willy Eyon and Cappy Bakke. Post commander Chuck Petticrew Sr. explained the award ceremony was a first for him since taking the position last March. "We admire you boys t...
The year 2015 was largely a good one for Wrangell, with the appearance of several new businesses, large infrastructural developments undertaken by businesses, the formal opening of the Tribe's cultural center, and a balanced financial outlook for the city despite tumultuous budget negotiations in Juneau. The state deficit will remain the largest issue moving ahead into 2016, as will continued mining developments in Canada along shared waters. January On Jan. 12 and 14 the first of three sets of...
Wrangell Medical Center is alerting residents to a recent phone scam seeking credit account information. Hospital development coordinator Kris Reed conveyed reports that a caller “with a strong foreign accent” has been claiming to be a representative of “a local medical center” or a member of its billing service, asking for payment on a medical bill. The caller has been vague on details and has been unable to give any particulars on a potential patient’s care. The hospital would like to remind residents its staff does not demand payment over th...
The year’s end has been slow for Wrangell Medical Center, with patient volumes declining through October and November. In his report to the hospital board on Dec. 16, chief financial officer Doran Hammett guessed this was likely seasonal as fish processing came to an end and people began heading south for the winter. Figures were still up from last year, but revenue has nonetheless been impacted. “That slow-down is affecting cash flow,” he explained. Reserves have subsequently dropped from just over $800,000 to around $600,000 by last week...
The hospital’s financial reserves continue to improve, the Wrangell Medical Center Board learned during its monthly meeting Nov. 18. Financial officer Doran Hammett reported the medical center’s coffers topped $1,001,000 by the end of October, equivalent to 36 days’ operating expenses. This was up from under $600,000 at the month’s start, though after payments made to Medicare, Hammett said the reserves were back to $729,000 by the time of the meeting. “It is certainly trending in the right direction,” he said. Deposits collected by WMC for...
At its monthly meeting for November, Wrangell's City and Borough Assembly put the lights out on a proposal to conduct an electric rate study, deciding it was too expensive. The proposal would have awarded a $24,990 no-bid contract to HDR Engineering to assess the city's capital requirement needs for the next five years, determining whether or not and to what extent it should alter utility rates. The firm conducted a rate study in 2010 for a similar fee, and at the time had recommended that rates remain as they were for the foreseeable future....
Pint sized poltergeists, ghouls, Minions and Stormtroopers took to the streets in Wrangell last weekend, as a variety of tricked-out trick-or-treaters stocked up on sugary sweets for Halloween. Probably the best costume to have for Friday's "Early Trick or Treats" would have incorporated an umbrella. Wrangell received 1.86 inches of chilly rain that day, most of it during the afternoon. Turnout was still strong, with children and parents completing the circuit of participating businesses in the...
The Wrangell Medical Center Board was officially acquainted with the hospital’s new chief executive at its regularly scheduled meeting on Oct. 21. Already in his second week, Robert Rang was chosen by the board to replace outgoing CEO Marla Sanger, whose last day with the hospital will be tomorrow. Initially hired for a year to serve on an interim basis through a management contract with PeaceHealth, Sanger ended up heading Wrangell’s hospital for the past three years. She will return to Washington to be closer to her family, and passes on the...
The new CEO of Wrangell Medical Center officially began work on Oct. 12. Robert Rang was selected by the hospital board from a field of nearly 40 candidates this summer. Robert Rang was formerly the long-term care administrator for the Providence Kodiak Island Medical Center. Before that he was chief nurse executive for the Yukon Kuskokwim Health Corporation in Bethel, and had served in the Army on active-duty and in the reserves for 28 years. Rang is a registered nurse and holds masters...
More than a year after his arrest and three months after being found guilty of child pornography charges, former Wrangell physician Greg Salard is still awaiting sentencing while being detained at Lemon Creek Correctional Facility in Juneau. Arrested at his home Oct. 14, 2014, after an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Salard was found guilty in July on two of three charges for receipt and distribution of illicit material. A sentencing date set for Oct. 9 has since been moved to Dec. 3. For each count, he faces no less than...
After Tuesday's polls closed, unofficial results for Wrangell's regular municipal elections were in. Three-hundred twenty-six votes were cast at the Nolan Center, slightly more than the 312 cast last year. Several seats were in contest this year, and on the ballot were two ballot propositions to draw voters. Incumbents David Powell and Becky Rooney both appear to have won reelection to three-year seats on the City and Borough Assembly. Challenger Christie Jamieson ran a write-in campaign, but the number of write-in votes tallied for the...
Polls will open for Wrangell’s regular municipal elections this Tuesday. Candidates have filed for all available seats, with several positions in contest. Among those open to the polls this year are two three-year seats on the City and Borough Assembly. Incumbents David Powell and Becky Rooney have both filed to run again, and Christie Jamieson last week announced her intention to run as a write-in candidate. Jamieson had previously served as Wrangell’s City Clerk from 1997 to 2012. Rooney has been on the Assembly since her election to an une...
Like raking leaves and pumpkin-based desserts, influenza inoculations are another sign that summer is finally over. A pair of flu clinics will be held by Wrangell healthcare providers later this month. The Center for Disease Control recommends that people get immunized early on in the season, before flu activity picks up the pace. The strain chosen for this year’s vaccine is expected to perform better than last year’s. On its site, CDC explains vaccine efficacy can vary depending on how far the virus “drifts” during a season. Its finding...
The due date for property tax collection from 2016 on may be moved again, after the Wrangell City and Borough Assembly reevaluated a decision made earlier this year. At member David Powell's request, at its Tuesday meeting the Assembly agreed to revise the due date to Oct. 15. Previously, the Assembly passed an ordinance creating a single collection date of Sept. 15, rather than requiring payments in two installments. A temporary measure was adopted last month to ease residents into the transition, with collection dates this year set for Sept....
Maxi Wiederspohn Occupation: Retired Why do you want to sit on the WMC Board? "I worked there 50 years and I thought maybe if there's another way to help, I plan to start going to their meetings after the election. Maybe I can continue to help in a different way." What would you identify as the hospital's most pressing need, and what role do you feel the board should take in addressing that? "As always, money and patient care are number one on top of the lists, whether as a worker or a board...
Applications for candidacy in the Oct. 6 regular borough-wide election closed on Monday. Candidates have filed for all available seats, with those on the Wrangell School Board in contest. Among those open to the polls this year are two 3-year seats on the City and Borough Assembly. Incumbents David Powell and Becky Rooney have both filed to run again and are uncontested. Incumbents John Martin and Clay Hammer have also filed to retain two 3-year seats on the Port Commission. On the Wrangell Medical Center Board, Woody Wilson has filed to...
Wrangell Medical Center's Board of Directors announced Robert Rang will take over as the hospital CEO once Marla Sanger steps down Oct. 30. Rang is currently the long-term care administrator for the Providence Kodiak Island Medical Center. He will relocate to Wrangell the first week of October and begin working on Oct. 12, allowing him three weeks to work alongside Sanger as he transitions into the position. When Sanger announced her intention to step down in June, her employer PeaceHealth confi...
Meeting in a special session Aug. 12, a full City and Borough Assembly unanimously approved setting aside $500,000 in funds for the Wrangell Medical Center. Interim CEO Marla Sanger approached the Assembly last month seeking permission to obtain a line of credit for that amount from a bank. While appreciative of the hospital’s concerns, Assembly members had not favored the idea of approving such a line through a private bank due to concerns about interest and accountability. Instead, they offered to provide a reserve from money in the G...
Area golfers teed off for cancer treatment last weekend, during Wrangell Medical Center's tenth annual Rally For Cancer Care Tournament at Muskeg Meadows. The yearly tournaments raise funds for the WMC Foundation's cancer care program, which assists patients with travel and lodging expenses as they seek treatment for various forms of cancer. Fifty-nine women took part in Saturday's tournament, which featured noncompetitive, fun challenges on the course. Twenty-one of the participants came from...
The Wrangell Medical Center Board last week announced it had narrowed the field for the hospital’s future executive officer from ten candidates to three. After meeting Wednesday morning, board members wanted to see more of Jeffery Lyle, Aaron McPherson and Robert Rang. Coming from Belton, Texas, and Kodiak, Alaska, respectively, Lyle and Rang will be brought to Wrangell for site visits next week, from Tuesday through Friday. Along with Wrangell resident McPherson, they will meet with hospital staff, Alaska Island Community Services p...
As parents run through their back-to-school checklists, Wrangell’s Public Health Center urges them not to forget vaccinations. As August is National Immunization Awareness Month, health nurse Ty Esposito said her office provides all the necessary childhood shots, including diptheria, rotovirus and hepatitis shots. Adults are admonished to get their vaccinations as well, for pneumonia, tetanus, zoster, meningitis and human papillomavirus. Next month, the office will be offering its annual round of influenza vaccines as well. The shots are a...
The City and Borough of Wrangell is taking applications for this year’s borough-wide regular election, set for Oct. 6. Up for contest this year are two 3-year seats on the Assembly, currently held by Daniel Blake and Julie Decker. The two three-year Port Commission seats of John Martin and Clay Hammer will expire in October, as will the four-year terms of Dorothy Hunt-Sweat and Woody Wilson on the Wrangell Medical Center Board. Tammy Groshong’s three-year seat on the School Board expires in October, and there will be two other vacant sea...
A special meeting will be held on Aug. 12 to allow the public to discuss and review a proposed ordinance relating to the new property tax payment due date. In May the Wrangell Assembly passed an ordinance amending the Municipal Code to establish a single due date for payment of property taxes to Sept. 15, rather than dividing it between two dates. Under the ordinance, interest on late payments was set to 10 percent annually. Mayor David Jack requested the Assembly revisit the matter at its meeting Tuesday, after some residents expressed...
The jury in the trial of Greg Salard found the former family physician guilty of two child pornography charges, for receipt and distribution. A lesser, third count was not deliberated by jurors. Judge Anthony Burgess presided over the proceedings, which lasted seven days. Jury selection began last week, and the trial included five days of testimony. Prosecutors finally rested their case on Monday, after the court heard from a federal investigator, arresting officers and a computer specialist. Evidence shown during the trial included screenshots...
Members of the Wrangell Medical Center (WMC) board’s special hiring committee met at the Nolan Center Wednesday morning to sort through a sheaf of resumes received over the preceding weeks. A replacement chief executive officer for the hospital is being sought, after interim CEO Marla Sanger announced last month she will not continue in the position after October. Her employer, PeaceHealth, issued a statement that it would not seek to renew its management contract with WMC after Sanger’s departure. Made up of members of the hospital board, the...