Sorted by date Results 651 - 675 of 831
Now that you have been appointed to the Wrangell Borough Assembly, what are the top three goals you would like to see accomplished during you tenure? I will move forward on securing ownership of the Tyee Hydroelectric project for the energy security for Wrangell and Petersburg. I have been and will continue to be an advocate for the building of the AK/BC Intertie. By providing a connection to the North American grid, the AK/BC Intertie would provide energy security to the communities currently...
After more than a year of legal and administrative actions regarding Dr. Greg Salard’s credentialing at Wrangell Medical Center, the Wrangell Medical Center Board of Trustees has granted the physician unrestricted privileges at the hospital for the next two years. The notification came, Salard said, in the form of a letter signed by the board and delivered to him on Tuesday, Feb. 26. A group of former board members, most of whom were recalled last year, acted as a “fair hearing committee” and made the decision to deny Salard privileges on Fr...
The Wrangell Borough Assembly appointed Ernie Christian to fill the seat vacated by Mayor David Jack at their Feb. 26 regular meeting at City Hall. Assembly member Bill Privett had initially motioned to appoint Wrangell resident Billie Younce to the seat, but the motion failed for lack of a second. Assembly member James Stough then motioned for Christian’s appointment, with a second coming from member Maxi Wiederspohn. The Assembly voted 3-2 to appoint Christian, with Privett and Jack voting “no.” Christian, who was traveling on business durin...
The terms of a modified settlement agreement between the City and Borough of Wrangell and former Wrangell Medical Center CEO Noel Rea, as well as a group of former WMC board members, was disclosed during the Feb. 20 meeting of the WMC Board of Trustees. Board president Woody Wilson revealed the terms after presenting the quorum with an email sent from Borough Manager Tim Rooney to the Mayor and members of the Borough Assembly. While the original terms of the agreement, which were previously...
Oral arguments over Dr. Greg Salard’s administrative appeal of his denial of privileges at Wrangell Medical Center have been put aside after First District Judge Kevin Miller dismissed his appeal – a move that will allow the WMC Board of Trustees to act on his request to work again at the hospital. On Feb. 14 Judge Miller ordered that Salard’s administrative appeal be dismissed without prejudice, a move that would allow him to refile another appeal if he is not credentialed by the board. In his written decision, Miller laid out some backg...
Monday Feb 11 -Citation issued to Britany Lindley, age 23, for Failure to Provide Proof of Insurance and verbal warning for faulty equipment. Tuesday Feb 12 -Parking Complaint: Vehicle moved from Episcopal Street. -Criminal Mischief. Wednesday Feb 13 -Officer responded to domestic dispute. -Person requested welfare check. -Officer responded to a driving complaint UTL. Thursday Feb 14 -Citation issued to Aundria Cummings age 24 for No Proof of Insurance. -Agency assist: line department. -Report of deer carcass in dumpster. -Agency Assist Wrangel...
Pok Sun (Sue) Fields passed away February 8, 2013 at the Wrangell Medical Center Long Term Care Facility. Sue was born in Korea in 1942 to Father, Chan Ho Choe and Mother, Su Kyo Kim-Choe. Both her parents were killed in the Korean War and Sue at 8 years old was raised by her sister. She met Ron Jones a U.S. soldier and married him when she was 25 years old. They spent some time in Germany when Ron was stationed there. Living in the U.S. Ron was a truck driver; Sue would accompany him doing...
Now that you have been appointed Mayor, how will you accomplish some of the goals you set out, such as building the new hospital? By encouraging the Medical Center Board and the Assembly to work together to find the best way to complete the project. What do you see in the future for the Marine Service Center? Will your administration seek additional property where the Borough can expand its operations? I believe the Marine Service Center is a bright spot in the community. I see it as being a...
After narrowly losing the election for Mayor of the City and Borough of Wrangell last year – by a mere two votes – Borough Assembly member Dave Jack was appointed to the position during the group’s regular meeting on Feb. 12. Jack was appointed to the position after being unanimously approved. Member Maxi Wiederspohn was not present at the meeting. Mayor Jack was also absent from the meeting as he is attending the Southeast Conference in Juneau. He will be sworn in at the next regular meeti...
Wrangell Medical Center is utilizing the skills and techniques taught by a consultant to improve the “culture” and “performance” of departments at the hospital – and saving money in the process. WMC administrator Marla Sanger recently brought in Dr. Marv Erisman to help bridge gaps in hospital administration and operations. “Wrangell Medical Center is working to strengthen its culture of teamwork and collaboration for the purpose of improving performance within and across departments...
To the Editor: Hospice of Wrangell is interested in you. We are stretched thin to meet the needs of our community. We need your help. Organized in 2001, we've supported those living with a life-threatening illness and those at the end of life. Hospice philosophy believes that the end of life is not a medical experience, it is a human experience that benefits from supporters bringing comfort, self-respect, and tranquility to people in the final experience of life. Hospice of Wrangell is an all-volunteer program. Volunteers offer their time,...
Citing health concerns and a recent 11-day medical trip to Seattle, Wrangell Mayor Don McConachie relinquished his gavel last Thursday night as he resigned from his position on the Borough Assembly. In a letter written by McConachie that he read to the other members of the Assembly he explained his reasoning behind leaving his post in city government. “Since 1998 it has been my privilege to serve on the Assembly of the City and Borough of Wrangell, Alaska. Many things have happened during t...
Wrangell Police Department officers are investigating allegations of an assault that led to the hospitalization of a 17-year old Wrangell High School student. The incident, which is alleged to have occurred at a residence near the corner of Case Avenue and Front Street in the late evening hours of Saturday, Jan. 12, involved a party where allegedly a number of minors and at least two adults were present – and where WPD Lieutenant Merlin Ehlers said alcohol was a major contributing factor. “We are investigating a number of individuals who wer...
The end could be near regarding the lawsuit filed by the City and Borough of Wrangell against former Wrangell Medical Center administrator Noel Rea and six former members of the WMC Board of Directors. According to Borough Manager Tim Rooney, Borough attorney Robert Blasco, along with Rea’s attorney, David Shoup, held a phone conference with Judge Trevor Stephens on Friday, Jan 11 to schedule a settlement conference in the case. As a result of that meeting, the settlement conference has been tentatively scheduled for Tuesday, Feb. 19, in K...
A new confidentiality agreement related to credentialing of medical staff, and changes to a number of personnel policies at Wrangell Medical Center, were the main topics of discussion and action during the Jan. 16 WMC Board of Trustees meeting. The board began with a new agreement that each member must sign agreeing to, “hold as confidential all credentialing and privileging information obtained during the course of and following my association with the Wrangell Medical Center Governing Board.” Members will also not be allowed to make copies of...
Customers of GCI in Wrangell lost Internet, cable television and cell phone coverage in the early hours on Saturday, Jan. 5 after a massive earthquake rattled the coast of Southeast Alaska. The 7.5 magnitude temblor, which was located 110 kilometers west of Craig and was approximately six miles under the earth’s surface, struck just minutes before midnight on Friday, shaking houses across the region – and knocking out the communications provider approximately half-an-hour after the initial sho...
James “Jimmy” Shirai, 75 died on December 7, 2012 at Alaska Native Medical Center from complications of a stroke suffered on November 30, 2012. He was born on June 1, 1939 in Ketchikan, Alaska to Harvey and Minnie Eshanclan Shirai. Jimmy was a Raven from the Kids.adi people of Wrangell. He went to Wrangell Institute as a young man and lived with his great-aunt and uncle, Alice and John Joseph. His adopted family were Jim and Edith Stevens and he loved his siblings, Harvey Shirai , (Audrey) and...
It’s official – the City and Borough of Wrangell has decided to purchase a 300-ton travel lift from Ascom S.p.A., an Italian manufacturer that recently won the bidding contest for the right to supply the Marine Service Center with its new haul out equipment. The decision to buy the new lift became official after the Borough Assembly approved the bid in a unanimous vote during their Jan. 8 regular meeting, which was their first of the New Year. Debate had initially raged about whether the Modena,...
A new mayor, renovations to the Shakes Island Tribal House and Marine Service Center, and the ongoing Wrangell Medical Center debate – all of these stories were newsmakers in 2012. Let’s take a look back at some of the biggest stories in Wrangell over the past year. JANUARY A late night blaze destroyed a trailer and sent a woman to Wrangell Medical Center with severe burns on Dec. 22. The fire, which began at 10:30 p.m. in a small pull-behind trailer near the top of the park, severely inj...
Dawn Hutchinson – Stevens, 66, passed away on December 5, 2012 with family by her side. Dawn was born April 11, 1946 in Wrangell to Fanny Stepetin (Nauska) and Henry Bradley. Dawn picked up the nickname of Butchie as a young child and some still called her that. She was also proud of her Tlingit name - Glaintz. She graduated from Wrangell High School in 1964 and obtained a BA in Fine Arts from Washington State University in 1982, with a minor in Native American Studies. Dawn returned to W...
In addition to approving a bevy of capital projects that will likely come to fruition in 2013, the Borough Assembly added two new members to the Southeast Alaska Power Agency Board of Directors this week during their last regular session meeting of 2012 on Tuesday, Dec. 11. Before beginning the meeting in earnest, however, Desiré Shepler of Alaska Island Community Services made a community presentation to the Assembly on her speaking tour of Wrangell and Petersburg regarding the State of...
To the Editor: Wrangell, many of you have prayed for and with us this past year since our son’s massive stroke, then aneurysm, craniotomy, cranioplasty and nine months later ruptured appendix. Many Wrangellites contributed financially to their need. This past Sunday their church, Mountainside Bible Chapel in New York, celebrated the one year mark of the stroke. It was a grand day, all of his current therapists and their families were there and upon being introduced the crowd gave them a standing ovation - they were touched and saw first hand ho...
The battle over a laptop computer and iPad device are still at the heart of a lawsuit filed by the City and Borough of Wrangell against former Wrangell Medical Center administrator Noel Rea and six former members of the WMC Board of Directors after a hearing showed attorneys for both sides debating the merits of a settlement conference in the matter. A hearing held Dec. 6 in Wrangell’s First District Court seemed at first to be an opportunity for all sides and their attorneys – Rea, the six rec...
The City and Borough of Wrangell are talking about capital projects for 2013 – with a large emphasis resting upon utilities and other new projects in downtown as city officials and the public look ahead to a new year and new development. To that end, a workshop on proposed capital improvements for the borough was held Tuesday, Dec. 4 at City Hall, with Borough Manager Tim Rooney, and members of the Borough Assembly present. During the workshop session 12 priority projects were discussed as k...
For nearly the first twenty minutes – and a later part of the Nov. 28 meeting of the Wrangell Medical Center Board of Directors – concerned citizens spoke up during public comment about the credentialing of Alaska Island Community Services physician Greg Salard and included a pointed request coming from the doctor himself. Salard, who has not worked in the medical center since losing his credentialing in March when the former board, acting as a “fair hearing committee” made the decisio...
