Sorted by date Results 101 - 125 of 777
Pick your cliché: Push comes to shove; between a rock and a hard place; money is tight; living within your means; don’t spend more than you can afford. Children need a quality education to succeed in life. Just because the cliches flow easily, don’t expect the answers to be as easy. The school district is in its last year of federal pandemic relief aid, which it has used to cover the salaries and benefits of Wrangell’s two school principals. That means district officials and the school board will have to absorb those expenses into an already ti...
The Alaska Legislature failed on Jan. 18 to override Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s veto of $87 million in one-time additional state funding for the 2024-2025 school year. The vote was 33-26 and did not fall along party or political caucus lines. Forty-five votes were needed to override. The failed override capped days of legislative maneuvering and months of unsuccessful lobbying by public-education advocates. Attention now switches to a bill that would permanently increase the state’s funding formula for public schools. Unable to agree last year on...
Since Artha DeRuyter arrived in town three years ago with her husband, clinical psychologist and current school board member John DeRuyter, she has provided flowers and floral arrangements for residents from their floating home in the harbor, in addition to selling her wares at other venues like the monthly community market at the Nolan Center, prompting her to name her blooming business OnTheWater Floral. Originally hailing from Fairbanks, DeRuyter has been involved with flowers, whether as a...
Juneau school administrators are facing a severe budget shortfall partly related to flat state funding and declining enrollment. But much of the crisis comes from accounting errors that “drastically” undercounted staffing costs. The city’s school board learned Jan. 9 that the district is projected to be $7.6 million in deficit for the current fiscal year and carrying over a $1.9 million shortfall from the prior fiscal year. The combined $9.5 million deficit equates to roughly 10% of the district’s total budget, and it’s expected to keep ball...
It’s been eight years since the state last increased its per-student funding formula for public schools — a 0.5% nudge that year — and years of stagnant funding have caught up with districts statewide, including Wrangell. “We have to count on funding this year,” Schools Superintendent Bill Burr said. An increase in the state formula “is essential to us.” The state’s K-12 foundation funding covers almost 60% of the Wrangell district’s $5.3 million operating budget for the 2023-2024 school year, with borough funds filling about 30% and mostly fe...
Jan. 3, 1924 The liveliest event of the holidays for Wrangell was the big doubleheader basketball game between local teams and visiting teams from Kake. The first game was played between the All Stars of Wrangell and the Kake school team, and resulted in a score of 18-9 in favor of the visiting team. It was a good clean game and while the all stars put up a plucky fight, there was too much discrepancy in the weight and age of the two teams for the local boys to have a chance at winning. The second game was between the Wrangell High School and...
The Economic Development Board has recommended to the borough assembly that it put up half of the 20 lots at the Alder Top Village (Keishangita.’aan) subdivision in an online auction to the highest bidders, with the other half going on sale by lottery. There would be no limit on how many lots an individual could purchase in the auction, but the board decided to recommend limiting the lottery to one lot per individual. The five-member advisory board voted unanimously Dec. 20 to forward its recommendations to the assembly, which has final say o...
The school district is advancing funds to cover student travel to state competition this school year, with the account at an estimated $52,000 deficit. The district is looking to the community and the newly created Wrangell Athletic Club to repay the costs before the budget year closes out on June 30. “That is our hope,” Schools Superintendent Bill Burr said in late December. Student travel to state competition cost about $46,000 in the 2022-2023 school year, which the school board voted in November to cover on a one-time basis out of reserves...
The school board has offered a three-year contract extension to Schools Superintendent Bill Burr, effective July 1, 2024, pending further negotiations. “We just wanted him to know that we want him to stay,” said David Wilson, school board president, confirming that he and the rest of the board are very satisfied with Burr’s performance on the job. “He’s doing an amazing job, that’s why we offered it to him,” said school board member Liz Roundtree. The board voted at its Dec. 18 meeting to extend Burr’s contract. Burr said in an email on Dec. 2...
The primary election for the Alaska House of Representatives is more than nine months away and already five-term incumbent Rep. Dan Ortiz has at least two challengers for the District 1 seat that represents Ketchikan, Wrangell and Metlakatla. Robb Arnold, a chief purser aboard the state ferries who ran unsuccessfully for the Ketchikan city council and Ketchikan school board last year, has filed for the state House. Arnold is running as a Republican, as is fellow Republican Jeremy Bynum, who serves on the Ketchikan Gateway Borough Assembly....
Dec. 20, 1923 O.D. Leet, who has been in correspondence with members of the Wrangell Commercial Club for several months, arrived here a few days ago. He was present at the Commercial Club luncheon last Monday and laid his proposition before that organization. He announced that after investigating the local situation, he was convinced that there is a good opportunity here for a cold storage, and that he was willing to put in a plant if local people would go in with him on the proposition. He estimated that it would require $30,000 to put in a...
The borough has gone out to the public for a second time to survey their opinions on how to sell the first 20 lots of the Alder Top Village (Keishangita.’aan) subdivision, in advance of a decision by the Economic Development Board at its meeting set for 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 20, at City Hall. The board is scheduled to make a recommendation to the assembly for how the lots should be sold, with the assembly expected to take up the issue in January. According to the Economic Development Department’s proposed schedule, the borough would hol...
The school district has pulled money from reserves and other accounts to cover a $46,000 accumulated deficit in the account that pays for students to travel to state competition. Covering this school year’s state travel expenses and future years is still unresolved. As students already have traveled to several state competitions this school year, including volleyball, cross country and wrestling, the account for 2023-2024 is back in a deficit until a consistent funding stream is determined. The school board voted Nov. 20 to take money from r...
Alaska Attorney General Treg Taylor sent letters to libraries and school districts throughout the state in mid-November, warning that minors should not have access “indecent materials” at libraries and that parents must be given two weeks notice about any instruction related to “human reproduction and sexual matters.” The topic of gender identity, Taylor said, falls under this category. The letters align with a parental rights bill proposed this year by Gov. Mike Dunleavy, which would require parental approval for classes, textbooks, lessons an...
The Alaska Board of Fisheries voted 4-2 against requiring in-season management to more effectively hold the sport fishery chinook catch within its harvest limit. The board voted on Friday, Dec. 1, at its meeting in Homer, which was primarily devoted to Southcentral fisheries issues. The controversial proposal would have tightened in-season management of the Southeast chinook catch to better guard against resident and nonresident sport fishermen exceeding their share of the overall sport and commercial harvest. The proposal’s intent was to b...
Dec. 6, 1923 The monthly report of the community nurse as given to the executive board of the Red Cross reveals the need of the nursing service for the community for as long a time as it can possibly be continued. The fact that a thoroughly competent, well-trained nurse can be sent for in case of accident or illness and that her services can be secured for a small fee – which is turned into the Red Cross at the end of the month – should be a matter of pride and congratulations to every citizen. Dec. 3, 1948 The drive, which began just one mon...
Jeanie Arnold, who started work as the new director at the Nolan Center on Nov. 27, said she wants to "provide an overall sense of joy to the community of Wrangell through artistic exposure and historical storytelling." She replaces Cyni Crary, who is moving out of state. Crary had been in the job since July 2018. Arnold said some of her goals include broadening the scope of the center with new exhibits and events targeted at a wide variety of interests. She also hopes to collaborate with the...
State officials have released the names of the four people killed and two others still missing from the Nov. 20 landslide that hit just past 11-Mile Zimovia Highway. As of Monday, Nov. 27, searchers had found the bodies of Timothy Heller, 44, his wife, Beth Heller, 36, and their daughters, Mara, 16, and Kara, 11. Mara was a high school junior and Kara was in fifth grade. Searchers found Mara's body the night of the slide, during the initial search operations by first responders able to reach the...
Borough staff presented their plan for selling the first 20 lots of the Alder Top Village (Keishangita.'aan) subdivision to the Economic Development Board and members of the public at a work session Nov. 16. The plan is to sell the first row of 10 lots - the ones with waterfront views - at a public auction and the second row of 10 using a lottery system. The auction is tentatively scheduled for May 2024 and the lottery for June 2024, with buyers receiving access to their land in September, thoug...
Often, the best decisions are a compromise. Which is exactly what borough staff is proposing for the sale of 20 lots next year at the Alder Top Village (Keishangita.’aan) subdivision at the site of the former Wrangell Institute boarding school. Selling the residential lots to the highest bidders would earn the most for the municipal treasury, which would help taxpayers. But it could shut out potential buyers who can’t keep up if the auction drives prices beyond their budget. Selling the parcels at a fixed price by lottery would give eve...
State officials today released the names of the three people killed and three others still missing from the Monday night landslide at 11-Mile Zimovia Highway. Searchers have found the bodies of Timothy Heller, 44, his wife, Beth Heller, 36, and their daughter, Mara, 16. Mara was a high school junior. Searchers found her body on Monday night. Crews found Timothy and Beth Heller on Tuesday. As of Friday morning, searchers had not found Derek Heller, 12, Kara Heller, 11, or Otto Florschutz, 65. Derek was in sixth grade; Kara in fifth grade....
The borough wants to hear from the public as officials work toward deciding the best way to sell the several dozen residential lots that will be created at the Alder Top Village (Keishangita.’aan) subdivision upland from Shoemaker Bay. “The borough is considering two methods of disposing of the land — through an auction and a lottery,” according to the survey announcement issued by the Economic Development Department. “This dual approach is intended to enhance affordability and fairness in the land allocation process, ensuring a more equitable...
The newly created Wrangell Athletic Club is ready to start fundraising to cover student travel expenses for state competition. The group will focus on the state swim meet later this month, followed by the volleyball and wrestling championships in December. The group held its third organizing meeting on Oct. 25, looking to start fundraising efforts in time for the competitions. The school board is scheduled to meet Nov. 16 to consider an administration recommendation to draw from reserve funds to cover a $44,000 deficit for state event travel ex...
School district administrators have recommended using a collection of unspent accounts and general fund reserves to cover the $44,000 deficit in the travel account from past state competition, while acknowledging that does not address the funding problem for the current or future years. The school board will consider the staff recommendation for wiping out the negative balance in the state travel account at its Nov. 20 meeting, along with discussing options for covering travel costs for this...
I want to share my thoughts about the development of Wrangell’s waterfront properties. My opinions are based on the unique experience our family has enjoyed from residing in many Southeast communities. Raised and schooled in Ketchikan, serving in the U.S. Coast Guard in Sitka, banking and serving in my first elective office on the school board in Wrangell and living in Juneau as commissioner of the state Department of Economic Development and then later as governor have given us a terrific opportunity to see change throughout Southeast. F...