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The Coast Guard rescued an 85-year-old overdue boater last Friday on a beach in Steamer Bay, after a Wrangell Search and Rescue crew located the man. A Coast Guard helicopter crew from Air Station Sitka landed on the beach about 20 miles southwest of Wrangell, picked up Larry Jacobson, of Point Baker, then flew him to Wrangell where he was placed in the care of emergency medical personnel in good condition, according to a Coast Guard statement. The Coast Guard received initial notification at about 3:30 p.m. Thursday that Jacobson, who left...
In a room decorated with bright, quilted wall hangings and filled with stacks of quilting pattern books, the Stikine Stitchers discussed upcoming projects, swapped tricks of the trade and displayed recently completed work at their monthly meeting last Saturday. Lisa Torgramsen unfolded a few of her massive, colorful quilts, covered in twisting vines, bright flowers and complex geometric designs. Chris Ellis shared work that was smaller but just as intricate. Her hand-pieced cloth coasters...
From impressive athletic successes and community celebrations to business closures and painful losses, Wrangell's 2022 was full of engaging stories, both triumphant and tragic. Last January was a month of new beginnings. Issabella and Tawney Crowley welcomed Wrangell's first baby of the year, Ryleigh Rowan Crowley, into the world on Jan. 4 at the Ketchikan Medical Center. The Decker family established a memorial scholarship fund to honor Sig and Helen Decker, two former Wrangell residents who di...
Health care services for Native Americans and Alaska Natives will be bolstered by a provision included in the government spending bill approved by Congress in the final hours of the 2022 session. The measure provides more certainty for a federal agency that delivers health care to more than 2.5 million people. A coalition of lawmakers from Kansas, Arizona, New Mexico, California, Alaska and elsewhere fought to include advance appropriations for the Indian Health Service in the bill, marking a first for the chronically underfunded agency as a...
The assembly has approved an ordinance allowing the borough to list the former hospital property with a realtor for the value of the land, half the price of the previous minimum bid. However, Borough Manager Jeff Good told the assembly at its Dec. 20 meeting that he plans to delay listing the property while he negotiates with a potential investor. The property was listed for its full appraised value of $830,000 — a price that encompassed the value of its land and building — on a public surplus website in April 2022. The borough, however, rec...
Though the combined impacts of COVID-19, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and influenza have burdened medical facilities nationwide, seasonal flu cases appear to be plateauing in Alaska, though activity remains high. Wrangell has largely managed to avoid the effects of the “tripledemic” predicted by White House COVID-19 Response Coordinator Dr. Ashish Jha. Cases in Alaska started to rise steadily in October and hit pre-pandemic peaks in late November — months before the usual February peak for flu. As of the Dec. 24, the flu activity “is s...
The borough assembly is moving toward lowering the asking price for the former Wrangell hospital by almost half and hiring a real estate agent to sell the property. The assembly at its Nov. 22 meeting accepted an ordinance to reduce the asking price and set a public hearing on the ordinance for Dec. 20, at which time members could vote on the proposal. The Bennet Street lot has been vacant since the SouthEast Alaska Regional Health Consortium’s new medical center opened in February 2021. The borough has been looking actively – and unsuccessfull...
After a boating accident near Point Baker last week, former Wrangell resident Kelsey Leak spent 24 hours on West Rock before being rescued by a fishing boat. Her boyfriend, 27-year-old Arne Dahl has not been found and is presumed dead. The morning of Nov. 27 was bright and clear. Leak and Dahl set out from their Point Baker homestead at 11 a.m. to collect firewood aboard Dahl's old wooden fishing vessel, the Randi Jo. The pair had been living off-grid at Point Baker, where Dahl was raised, since...
Readers can find both an optimistic view and gloomy numbers in the borough’s annual economic conditions report, issued last month. “With some of the lowest electrical rates in Alaska, the highest school district test scores, the potential to grow its visitor industry, the lowest unemployment rate on record, and a high level of entrepreneurship (more than a quarter of all workers are self-employed), Wrangell has potential to improve its prospects,” says the report, prepared by Juneau-based consulting firm Rain Coast Data. However, the repor...
Former Wrangell residents Kelsey Leak and Arne Dahl were involved in a boating accident late Sunday afternoon. By mid-afternoon Monday, Leak had been picked up by a nearby fishing vessel. As of Tuesday morning, Dahl had not been found. The couple was boating near Point Baker and Point Protection, roughly 40 nautical miles west of Wrangell. Leak, who survived the accident, spent Sunday night on one of the West Rocks, in the area around Point Baker and Point Protection. "That was a feat by...
Residents are invited to reserve a spot at the Wrangell Medical Center’s COVID-19 booster vaccination clinics planned for Dec. 9 and 16. Though infection rates in Wrangell and across Alaska have declined this fall, health officials are advising that case counts could rise as people spend more time indoors for holiday activities. The first clinic is planned for 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. Dec. 9 for the Pfizer booster. Residents are advised to call 907-874-7000 and reserve an appointment. The third booster shot of the vaccine to help protect against C...
Ronald D. Kagee passed away Nov. 17 at the Wrangell Medical Center. Burial is planned for 1 p.m. on Dec. 6 at the Sunset Gardens Cemetery. No reception is planned. Ron was born to Bill and Toney Kagee on March 14, 1936, in Longview, Washington. He joined the U.S. Army shortly after graduating from high school in Castle Rock, Washington. He spent two years in the military in Germany and played the bugle. He then worked as a cutter in logging, working in Washington and Oregon before coming to Alas...
Ethel Aanwoogex' Lund, a pioneer of tribal health care, died in the early morning last Friday at the age of 91. She was instrumental in improving the quality of care for Alaska Native people and received national recognition for her contributions. Lund was born in Wrangell in 1931, where she witnessed firsthand the challenges that rural and Native Alaskans faced when trying to access health care. After tuberculosis devastated her community - and put her in the hospital for two and a half years...
At first glance, the water therapy class in the Parks and Recreation swimming pool might look like a group of people just standing around in the water. But, like ducks on a pond, there's much more going on beneath the surface. Every joint from head to toe is being exercised during the class, offering a low-impact workout for participants and providing relief from the effects of arthritis. Around 32.5 million adults in the United States suffer from some form of osteoarthritis, the most common...
Wrangell’s Native community is critical of last month’s chamber-sponsored economic forum for its lack of tribal presentations on the agenda and the offensive comment of a speaker. The chamber of commerce organized the five-hour session to spark a discussion about Wrangell’s economic future and create a space for business leaders to share their perspectives. However, key players in Wrangell’s economic landscape — particularly representatives of the tribal government — were not offered the opportunity to present. Esther Aaltséen Reese, triba...
Joint locks and compression locks might sound like the perils of getting old, but they are among hundreds of moves that are incorporated into Brazilian jiu-jitsu fighting. Though the sport can seem intimidating to first-time students, a group in Wrangell is working to welcome newcomers and highlight the many benefits. Jiu-jitsu was created over 100 years ago, originating from judo. Brazilian jiu-jitsu was created in the 1920s and has become one of, if not the fastest-growing martial arts in the...
Doctors may get all the attention, hefty salaries and steamy medical TV shows, but they are not the only health care professionals who play essential roles in the real-life drama of a hospital. Laboratory teams work with pipettes and samples behind the scenes, performing the tests that doctors use to diagnose illness. Patients at the SouthEast Alaska Regional Health Consortium's Wrangell Medical Center can rest assured that their test results are being processed with precision. The center's...
Despite a global COVID-19 pandemic the past two and a half years, influenza — the flu — is still among us. To that end, the SouthEast Alaska Regional Health Consortium will hold a flu clinic from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Oct. 22 at the Wrangell Medical Center SEARHC is asking people to call and schedule a time slot to reduce wait time, however walk-ins are still welcome. The clinic was originally scheduled for Oct. 8 but was rescheduled due to a delay in the shipment of vaccines. Between 2010 and 2020, the Centers for Disease Control and Pre...
Terry Courson, a firearms instructor and retired police officer, is running for borough mayor. Though he declined interviews with KSTK and the Sentinel, he has posted flyers around Wrangell outlining his stances and experience. Courson served on the borough assembly from 2020 to 2021. He is a fiscal conservative and plans to vote no on the bond issues on the Oct. 4 municipal election ballot, which would finance repairs at the schools and Public Safety Building. Officials believe that the borough can cover the annual debt payment on the $3.5...
After seven years on the borough assembly, Bay Co. manager David Powell is running for another three-year term. Powell's desire to get land out of the borough's hands was what first motivated him to pursue an assembly seat, and he is running again in hopes of seeing his goals completed. If elected, his primary focuses will be selling or leasing the 6-Mile mill property, which the borough purchased this summer, and the former Wrangell Institute property, which was the site of a federally...
Normally, I do not respond to anonymous questions. Most all newspapers, the Sentinel included, will not print anonymous letters. To do otherwise would allow people to take free shots at anyone they want, hiding from view and protecting their own identity while they criticize or question others. However, sometimes the questions raised in an anonymous letter are worth sharing with the community. Such as the case of an unsigned letter mailed to the Sentinel, raising multiple questions about the proposed bond issues to pay for repairs to the...
The SouthEast Alaska Regional Health Consortium’s expansion of its long-term care unit at the Wrangell Medical Center remains on target for construction completion at the end of 2022. In June, SEARHC broke ground on an 1,800-square-foot addition to increase the unit’s capacity by four beds. According to Lyndsey Schaefer, director of marketing and communications at SEARHC, the additional beds will be available for use in early 2023. Spots in the 14-bed long-term care unit are “hard to come by,” said Schaefer. Once construction ends and the new...
The SouthEast Alaska Regional Health Consortium will switch its food service contractor for the Wrangell Medical Center from NANA Management Services (NMS) to Aramark Corp. The switch in providers, according to SEARHC marketing and communications director Lyndsey Schaefer, was a “business decision.” SEARHC will officially transition from NMS to Aramark on Oct. 1. All 20 current NMS employees in Wrangell will be offered jobs with Aramark, Schaefer said last week. NMS is an Alaska-based, Native-owned company that provides food and security ser...
At 8 a.m. on July 30, Andrew Simmonds, 60, entered the chilling waters of Sandy Beach in Petersburg, setting out to prove that age has not slowed him down. His goal was to swim across Frederick Sound to the mainland, more than six miles away. His journey started months earlier. Soon after arriving in Petersburg in November, Simmonds, who is a physical therapist at Petersburg Medical Center, visited Sandy Beach to gaze out over Frederick Sound. He admired the whales leaping above the water and cr...
The borough will list Wrangell’s former hospital building on a nationwide surplus public property website, hoping for better results than efforts the past two months which resulted in not a single bid. “We’ve got to get rid of this,” Mayor Steve Prysunka said at the July 26 borough assembly meeting. The borough has been paying close to $100,000 a year to keep the building heated and insured, and protected against water damage. The borough ran an online auction in June to sell the property but received no bids. It then offered the buildin...
