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August 21, 1919 Major Jack Hamilton, “soldier of fortune” and veteran of the late war, who has been travelling through Alaska for the past ten weeks on a lecture tour, arrived here from Petersburg last evening accompanied by Madame Hamilton. He will lecture in Wrangell tomorrow night. Since coming to Alaska Major Hamilton has received considerable publicity through the press of the Territory, and there is probably not a person in Wrangell who is not already familiar with the story of his life and adventure. “Major Hamilton touched on other...
The Wrangell School District's budget/finance committee held a brief meeting last Wednesday, Aug. 7. One of the topics covered related to infrastructure and capital improvements. Capital improvement projects, or CIP, have been an ongoing discussion for the school district as of late. CIPs generally involve improving or renovating existing infrastructure. The Wrangell School District, with their budget season recently coming to a close, has sought city support for various projects. Back in June,...
In a special meeting on July 11, the Wrangell School Board adopted various amendments to their FY 2019 budget as well as the recently adopted FY 2020 budget. Superintendent Debbe Lancaster said that the 2019 budget needed to be revised to show the actuals for the end of the year, what money was actually made and what was actually spent. Budgets go through various revisions through the school year, she said, and is more or less a constant process of revision to stay as accurate as possible. “It’s a real dynamic process through the year, unt...
July 10, 1919 It has always been the custom of Wrangell to celebrate the Fourth in a most joyous and enthusiastic manner, but our celebration this year had an added interest because of the presence of Governor and Mrs. Riggs who arrived Thursday noon on the Murre. Everyone in town who could get away was at the wharf to welcome the distinguished guests. The Admiral Evans was in port and her passengers joined in the greetings, the Wrangell band playing gaily all the while. While the reception for Mrs. Riggs was in progress Governor Riggs was...
The Wrangell School Board held a meeting last Monday evening, June 17, to review contracts for the next school year. The district holds various contracts with other entities to assist in the day-to-day management of the district, from transporting students to assisting in educating them. One contract is between the school district and the Etolin Bus Company. The company had a three-year contract to pick up and deliver Wrangell students to school and then back home at the end of the day, from...
There was a long and, at times, tense meeting over a single issue at city hall last Friday, May 31. The Wrangell Borough Assembly had called a special meeting to make a last-minute decision on how much money to give to the Wrangell School District this year. The assembly had planned to cover the item in their previous meeting on May 28, but opted to table the item to wait for extra financial information from the school. Over the course of two-and-a-half hours the assembly and several school...
The Wrangell Borough Assembly held a long meeting last Tuesday evening, May 28. The meeting covered a wide variety of topics, from the city’s water management strategy to budget matters. First there was a workshop on the water management strategy. Wrangell and other communities faced a power crisis recently due to low water levels at Tyee and Swan Lake. Wrangell briefly went on a water watch in early March, as the reservoirs dropped to low levels. The U.S. Drought Monitor reports that the majority of Southeast Alaska is currently facing d...
The Wrangell School Board met last Monday night, May 20, for one of their regularly scheduled meetings. One of the first items they covered was the final report of the school year from the student government. They heard updates about student activities, and what the kids have been up to their final few weeks of school before summer, or graduation, came around. The student government elected new leadership in their final meeting, held on May 7. Jing O'Brien was named president for the 2019-2020...
The Wrangell High School class of 2019 set up shop in the gym the afternoon of Tuesday, May 7, to give presentations on their community service projects. The projects are a requirement for graduation, according to Principal David Macri, worth about half a credit. The senior students, individually or in small groups, are supposed to spend at least 20 hours on a project or series of projects that help the wider community. Afterwards, they then put together a poster board reporting on what they...
May 22, 1919 “The union fishermen of the Wrangell district have declared a boycott on all local fish buyers. Buyers from Seattle and Ketchikan are already on the grounds, and we will ship fish from here to Prince Rupert direct, if necessary,” said E. R. Sawyer, secretary of the Wrangell, Alaska Labor Union. “Prince Rupert buyers are paying 4c above price paid here for round fish. Fishermen have land donated to them at Ward’s Cove where they will build a cooperative cold storage and mild curing plant, and will have their market in the Middle...
Members of the Wrangell School District and the borough assembly came together for a joint workshop on the school district’s recently adopted budget. As Superintendent Debbe Lancaster said in the past, and repeated in Monday evening’s meeting, this was a “no fat” budget that was operating very close to the district’s bare minimum. The FY 2020 budget is assuming $6.34 million in revenue, and almost the same in expenses. In comparison, this is a decrease from the FY 2019 budget which had expenses set at roughly $6.61 million, but still higher th...
May 15, 1919 Attorney General George Grigsby, candidate for Delegate to Congress to succeed the late Charles A. Sulzer, spoke in the Redmen’s hall Sunday afternoon. Mr. Grigsby reviewed the Wickersham-Sulzer contest and read the platform adopted by the Democratic convention, which nominated him. In his speech Mr. Grigsby referred to the petition, which was so industriously circulated a few weeks ago by Samuel Cunningham for a breakwater between Shustak Point and the mainland, which would create a smooth harbor for the protection of fishing v...
Fire, smoke, and sirens could all be seen and heard at the Wrangell airport last Tuesday afternoon. While there was no real emergency, the situation was meant to simulate one. A disaster drill was held on the airport's runway. According to Airport Manager Willie Bloom, the drill is a triennial event in Wrangell and is required by the FAA. He said the drill is meant to be an opportunity for the Department of Transportation, the Wrangell Fire Department, and the city's medical services be better...
Lean times are ahead for the Wrangell School District, according to the budget that was adopted on April 30. Funding for the district has been a topic of much concern ever since Governor Mike Dunleavy released his proposals for the state budget. One of his proposals was a major cut to the Base Student Allocation, a program that gives schools money for every student in their district. It has been very challenging to prepare a budget for the new school year without knowing for sure what was going...
Virginia Tulley moved to Wrangell in late July of 2018, ready to take on her new position as principal of Evergreen Elementary School. Coming from Arizona, Tulley has worked in a variety of teaching positions before the move to Alaska. Coming here was a bit of an adventure for her. “I always wanted to live in Alaska,” Tulley said to the Sentinel, back in July. “I don’t know my specific reason other than I wanted to explore.” After one school year as principal, however, Tulley decided to put in...
The third Helping Our Parks Project, according to Wrangell Parks and Recreation Director Kate Thomas, was a huge success. The HOP Project is an annual event organized by the parks and rec department, where volunteers come out to parks around Wrangell and help with cleaning and upkeep. Thomas said that they saw 61 volunteers at Volunteer Park last Saturday morning. This was on the higher end of the number of volunteers they have seen. In a previous interview, Thomas said that they see between 50...
The Wrangell School Board reviewed the school district's "report card to the public" in their recent meeting on Monday, April 15. The report card, released by the Alaska Department of Education and Early Development, collected and presented data on the performance of school districts across the state for the 2017-2018 school year. The report card examined items such as attendance and graduation rates, academic progress, teacher quality, and many other factors. According to the report card. Everg...
April 10, 1919 A committee has been busy at the Red Cross rooms the past week cutting refugee garments from material on hand. These garments consist of simply made girls’ petticoats and children’s shirts and they will be ready for distribution next Tuesday. While the pajama orders which the local Red Cross must finish as soon as possible is nearing completion, there are ten convalescent robes to be made at the sewing room and a great many refugee garments. Wrangell was unable to get the amount of old clothing for the refugees assigned as her sh...
The Wrangell Mariners' Memorial Board held its second annual auction at the Stikine Inn last Saturday evening. The auction, to raise money for a planned memorial to honor Wrangell seafarers, had over a dozen items in both a live and silent auction. Many people from across town came out to support the memorial and to bid. This was the second year in a row for the board to hold an auction. Board Member Brennon Eagle gave the public a short update on the memorial and the organization before the...
April 4, 1919 St. Philip’s Guild will enter into the magazine business temporarily, having made arrangements with the Priscilla Publishing Company to secure 50 subscribers before April 10. A committee representing the Guild will visit Wrangell homes and will have some tempting club offers to present with the Priscilla. With the end of war activities in sight, a longing for the needlework, which was laid aside during the busy months, will make itself felt once more, and a good fancy work magazine will be a household necessity. April 7, 1944 The...
The Wrangell Borough Assembly and the Wrangell School Board held a joint work session last Thursday to discuss the school district's proposed budget for the 2020 school year. Earlier this year, Governor Mike Dunleavy proposed a 23 percent cut to the Base Student Allocation, which helps determine the amount of funding a school district receives from the state based on the number of students within the district. Since then, funding for the Wrangell School District has been a topic of much concern...
The Wrangell Chamber of Commerce hosted its annual dinner to recognize people and businesses around town. The dinner, held at the Nolan Center last Saturday evening, drew a very large crowd. Attendees had the opportunity to participate in a silent auction and other contests. There was also an auction for various homemade desserts that saw a lot of high rollers. A chocolate cheesecake, baked by Kay Jabusch, was auctioned off for $500 to Jake Harris. The evening was not all about auctions and...
The Wrangell School Board met last Monday evening. During the meeting, Superintendent Debbe Lancaster provided the board with a brief recap of a recent public meeting the district held on school safety. For those unaware, concerns were raised among parents in the community after an unnamed student made threats against the school on Snapchat. The district contacted the police on the matter, who determined there was no threat, and then they informed parents of what had happened. The meeting was called to discuss the safety protocols the district...
A first draft of the Wrangell School District’s 2020 budget was made public at last Monday’s school board meeting. In total, the proposed budget for FY 2020 allows for $5.37 million in revenue, and $5.34 million in expenditures. This budget is fairly tight, and has several major cuts to expenditures, compared to previous years. For example, health benefits have been reduced by about $313,000. Funds for travel, supplies, and equipment have also been reduced. Another major change to how the district operates is the combination of two pos...
The Wrangell Parks and Recreation Advisory Board held their monthly meeting last Wednesday, Feb. 13. Among various topics of discussion was the list of priorities for the department with the new year. Parks and Recreation Director Kate Thomas lined out some of the priorities she felt needed the most attention. One is to increase the hours of the recreation coordinator position from 30 hours a week to 40. She also said she would like to hire a lifeguard to a permanent position to monitor evening...