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Aug. 10, 1922 It has been decided to use the Guild Room back of St. Philip’s gymnasium for kindergarten, which the Wrangell school will add this year. There is no room in the school building for such a department, and a survey of the available buildings failed to locate anything else that was entirely suitable, most of the rooms being on Front Street where no playground could be secured for the tots. While the Guild Room seems at first thought to be rather far from the center of town, the location is really a central one when the fact is c...
As students start school on Aug. 25, two new administrators will be joining them. Ann Hilburn is the new principal for Evergreen Elementary and Bob Burkhart is new the principal for Wrangell High and Stikine Middle school. Hilburn was previously the special education teacher at the high school and middle school, while Burkhart was working as a principal in Missoula, Montana, after having been retired. Leadership positions at the schools opened after Bob Davis retired from the high school and...
August is a time for fishing, the last of any gardening work and the enjoyment of harvesting the fruits (and vegetables) of that effort. It’s a time for home repairs, while there is still a plausible chance of dry weather to patch the roof, refinish the deck or scrape and repaint the siding. It’s also a time to consider serving in public office. Probably you’re thinking you’d rather pick garden slugs or clean the gutters than serve on the borough assembly, school board or port commission. At least no one criticizes you for those other pursuit...
Candidates have until 4 p.m. Aug. 31 to file their declaration and signature petition at City Hall for a spot on the Oct. 4 municipal election ballot. The offices of mayor, two borough assembly seats, three school board seats and two spots on the port commission will be on the ballot. Mayor Steve Prysunka, who has served two terms (four years), said last week he is not seeking reelection. Before winning his first term as mayor in 2018, Prysunka served three years on the borough assembly. The mayor’s job is a two-year term. The terms also expire...
Each step was like planting my feet into water-soaked bath towels. Thirteen miles of nonstop sloshing in last Sunday’s BearFest half marathon could be viewed by some as not so fun. But for me, it was a chance to think about the past year. Most runners will tell you that the pastime is therapy, affording us plenty of time to ponder our path in life. Just under a year ago, I arrived in Wrangell, with a U-Haul full of my past life. My decision has been reaffirmed every day since. Here’s why: I came from a place where a population of 45,000 peo...
Sealaska Heritage Institute has made available online for the public recordings of two important treasures in the preservation of traditional Southeast Native culture, knowledge and history: Radio interviews with Native leaders that go back almost 40 years and the biennial Celebration festival. The 164 radio interviews preserved in digital files are from an hour-long program, “Southeast Native Radio,” that aired on Juneau public station KTOO 1985 to 2001. “The collection is remarkable, as it offers so many interviews with people on topic...
School district staff, a school board member, borough assembly members and law enforcement met on June 28 in a work session to discuss school safety measures in the case of an intruder. Ideas such as single points of entry on campuses, student identification cards, video surveillance, arming teachers and others were brainstormed as possible solutions to increase the security of each school. Nationwide so far in 2022, there have been 27 school shootings that resulted in 27 deaths and 56 injuries, according to Education Week, a publication that...
Friendly competitions, food tosses, tests of endurance and plenty of fun filled the weekend as hundreds flocked to various Fourth of July events throughout Wrangell. Tourists, visitors, family and former residents returning home joined locals in watching and participating in the parade, talent show, basketball and many other events from Friday through Monday in celebration of the Fourth. Despite a change in venue for the fireworks show from Volunteer Park to a barge in Zimovia Strait due to dry...
Running has provided Mason Villarma with the discipline needed to set and achieve goals, not only with the sport but in other aspects of life. It's training he will lean on as he is taking on two new part-time jobs in addition to his full-time work as the borough's finance director. On June 20, the school board voted to accept two contracts for Villarma: One as the high school assistant cross country running coach and another as the activities director for the school district. Villarma sees...
The recent news that the longtime Alaska Marine Highway System ferry Malaspina will be officially retired and will remain in Ketchikan's Ward Cove as a privately owned and operated museum and a training vessel is good news to its fans who had feared that the "Mal" would suffer the same fate as its sistership, the Taku, which was sold in 2018 and scrapped in India. The Malaspina, along with the Taku and the Matanuska, were the first mainline ferries in the fleet, all going online in 1963. They...
June 1, 1922 Five dollars will be paid to any person who furnishes information leading to conviction of anyone fishing in the city dam or the waters above the dam. Fishing or taking fish from the city dam has been prohibited and the parents of minor children will be held responsible for the acts of their children in the violation of this municipal law. Evidence given will be held strictly confidential and unless absolutely necessary the informant need not be present at the trial. “The city council desires to protect the health of every p...
The assembly on May 10 unanimously approved $1.617 million as the borough contribution to the school budget for the 2022-2023 academic year, more than $300,000 higher than this year's local funding level and at the maximum allowed under state law. Everyone who spoke at the assembly meeting called on the assembly to appropriate more money for schools. Schools Superintendent Bill Burr, School Board President David Wilson, teacher Tasha Morse, parent Kaelene Harrison and first grade teacher and...
May 18, 1922 Judge Charles E. Bunnell, president of the Alaska Agricultural College and School of Mines, arrived on the Jefferson on Saturday and called on Miss Rees, school superintendent. He also met members of the school board and Parent-Teacher Association. Judge Bunnel is full of enthusiasm for the opening of the farthest north college in the world and is anxious to get the institution launched just outside of Fairbanks. He is confident of its future and its ability to compete for students on an equal plane with similar institutions in...
The chamber of commerce is planning a welcome ceremony for the first ship on Wrangell's official cruise calendar, which also happens to be a brand new vessel making its inaugural sailing to Southeast. The 186-passenger Ocean Victory, chartered by American Queen Voyages, is scheduled to arrive at 8 a.m. Thursday at the City Dock. Chamber Executive Director Brittani Robbins on Monday said the ceremony is planned for 10 a.m. Thursday and will feature Tlingit dancers, a presentation of a key to the...
"A River Runs Through Us" is the theme chosen for this year's Fourth of July celebration in Wrangell, prompting event organizers to hold a first-ever art contest, with the winner's work being featured on posters and other swag. Plus, there's a chance to win $1,000. Entries can come from anyone and can be hard copies or digital. The piece should capture the theme of the contest, which refers to the Stikine River. The deadline is Friday by 4 p.m. "It's a connection that everybody from here...
Just as other communities, Wrangell is enduring a springtime bloom of COVID-19 cases. As of April 20, the state health department reported 79 new cases in the community in the past 30 days. Most of those were reported to the state in late March and early April, with new infections declining in the past week. The spread of the highly infectious disease is of particular concern at the schools. “We have had an increase in COVID and other illnesses during the past month and the schools have been struggling to find ways to stay open,” Sup...
School board members voted unanimously on April 18 to adopt the district’s budget for the 2022-23 school year, which is balanced on the assumption of $432,000 in additional state and borough funding. The school district submitted a letter along with the adopted $5 million budget to the borough, requesting an additional $292,000 on top of the $1.3 million the borough has paid the district in past annual appropriations. The district also is counting on an additional $140,000 in state funding for next year. The borough funds its local c...
The school board on April 18 voted to hire a former Alaskan as the new principal for Wrangell High School and Stikine Middle school. Robert Burkhart will begin as principal for the secondary schools on Aug. 8. He applied for the position after another candidate was chosen and had withdrawn her application. The district received more than 30 applications for the position, which is a one-year contract. It will be paid with federal funds from an American Rescue Plan Act grant. The school board approved the contract for a new principal at...
April 20, 1922 Messrs. Hansen and Lystad arrived here from Seattle recently and will enter the mild-curing seafood business. They will be located where the Ripley Fish Co. formerly had its station, and they will also have a scow near Shakes Island where the shrimp cannery was recently in operation. This firm will ship salmon and trout. Both members of the firm are old-timers in Alaska, and are by no means new in the fish business. Wrangell welcomes this new firm and there is every reason to believe that their venture will be a success. April...
In a special session last Saturday, the school board approved the contract for a new elementary school principal. Board members unanimously accepted the contract for Ann Hilburn as Evergreen Elementary School principal beginning the 2022-23 school year. Hilburn is in her first year as the special education teacher at the high school and middle school, having moved to Wrangell from Mississippi last fall. Hilburn was part of an applicant pool of more than 30 people, which was narrowed down to eight to 10 applicants. Schools Superintendent Bill...
March 30, 1922 Probably the largest audience seen in Wrangell during the past year was the one that greeted Alaska Territorial Delegate to Congress Dan Sutherland at the Redmen’s Hall on Tuesday evening. In his opening remarks, Mr. Sutherland touched briefly upon the disarmament conference, which he considered one of the greatest events in world history. Mr. Sutherland began reading an editorial in an Alaska newspaper calling on him to explain why he disregarded the wishes of the people of Alaska and failed to support Judge Wickersham for t...
Senior James Shilts cares about his school so much that it became the focus of his senior project. Shilts and wrestling teammate Rowen Wiederspohn grappled with the idea of beautifying part of Wrangell High School to satisfy a graduation requirement. "I was at a wrestling meet in the afternoon (last fall). I was walking outside, and I noticed the benches and how bad they were looking," Shilts said. "The next day, I went and talked to (assistant principal Bob) Davis to see if it was a good...
March 30, 1922 The best news in Wrangell in a long time came this week in the form of a letter from the Federal Power Commission, indicating a willingness to grant an exclusive permit to the town of Wrangell for the purpose of water power development on Mill Creek. The town council has been working very hard on this proposition for several months. Through their efforts B.F. Heintzelman, special representative of the Federal Power Commission, recently came to Wrangell to go into the matter with the council personally. Several special meetings of...
Wrangell schools are not short of dedicated staff, engaged students or supportive parents. But what the district is short of — and getting shorter — are students and funding. That is a bad combination, putting stress on the schools as management puts together a budget for the 2022-2023 school year, and creating a serious long-term problem that needs the full attention of the school board, borough assembly and, most importantly, the community. The Wrangell School District has been losing students for the past 25 years, dropping from more tha...
The Lady Wolves came off their Southeast regional championship with the confidence to compete all the way to the state title for the first time since 1985, eventually falling one game short. In three games in Anchorage last week, the Wrangell High School girls basketball team twice showed why they entered the Division 2A state tournament as the top seed, but it was not enough to overcome the strong defense and speed of the Tikigaq High School squad from Point Hope. The Tikigaq Harpooners of the...
