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Cell phones won’t be the only things that need charging before a school day. Wrangell could need to plug in its bus too. The school board moved closer on Aug. 20 with plans to purchase an electric school bus. Most of the $423,000 cost would come from a $378,000 federal Environmental Protection Agency grant the school district received in 2023. The rest of the funding would likely come from the district’s reserve fund. Superintendent Bill Burr estimates the bus could arrive sometime in 2025. The board is scheduled to consider the purchase con...
Tracey Martin wants to bring everyone together. After working in classrooms for three decades, she found her way back to her hometown three years ago. She retired from teaching this past spring and began her new role as executive director of the Wrangell Chamber of Commerce on Aug. 13. After working with students for 30 years, Martin hopes to apply what she learned in classrooms to her new role working with small businesses. "There is so much planning that goes into teaching," she said. "I want...
The Wrangell Athletic Club has raised more than $17,000 toward covering the estimated $24,000 to $25,000 the school district spent on sending students, coaches and chaperones to state competition in the 2023-2024 school year. The district had sent the fundraising group an invoice for more than $29,000, but the nonprofit is contesting about $5,000 of the charges. The Wrangell Athletic Club said the additional costs were for school district administrators who accompanied the students to competition, which is outside of what the nonprofit...
Medals made of pieces from the Eiffel Tower may not be up for grabs in Southeast Alaska, but the Wrangell High School swim team is just as motivated as ever. Another swim season is underway as practices began earlier this month. The team trains five days a week and will travel to its first meet of the season in Petersburg on Sept. 6. For Jamie Roberts, the team's head coach, the upcoming season has some sentimental value. After eight years on the job, this season will be her last. Roberts...
School is back — at least it will be in a week. On Aug. 22, students will walk through the doors of Evergreen Elementary, Stikine Middle and Wrangell High, marking the start of the 2024-2025 school year. Superintendent Bill Burr said this year’s projected enrollment of 260 students is an estimate, nearly identical to last year’s average daily tally of 259.5. Though school might not feel all that different for students walking the halls, the upcoming school year will not be without some changes. In personnel, Jamie Wollman and Greg Clark will...
BACK-TO-SCHOOL REGISTRATION for grades K-12. Online registration is open. Check the school district website at www.wpsd.us. Classes begin Aug. 22. NOLAN CENTER THEATER “Twisters” rated PG-13, at 6 p.m. Friday, 6 p.m. Saturday and 4 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 16-18. The disaster action adventure thriller runs 2 hours and 2 minutes; tickets are $7 for adults, $5 for children under age 12. Children under 12 must be accompanied by an adult. MUSKEG MEADOWS Valley Electric nine-hole, best-ball golf tournament, Saturday and Sunday, Aug. 17-18. Tournament pla...
Alaska state law requires children to get vaccinated against multiple serious diseases to attend school, but it’s about more than keeping students and their classmates healthy, said the chief medical officer for SEARHC. “You’re protecting your community,” said Juneau-based Dr. Cate Buley, a family medicine practitioner with 21 years of experience at SEARHC. Vaccinations are an effective tool to prevent disease throughout the community, she said. “What we really worry about is our babies and our elders.” With the start of the school year just a...
The Aug. 20 primary election for the state House district that covers Wrangell is a preview of the Nov. 5 general election. All three primary election candidates to succeed Rep. Dan Ortiz in representing Ketchikan, Metlakatla and Wrangell in the House will advance to the November round under Alaska’s voting system that sends up to the top four primary finishers to the general election. Competing for the seat are Jeremy Bynum, a Ketchikan Gateway Borough Assembly member and Ketchikan Public Utilities electric manager; Grant EchoHawk, also a m...
BACK-TO-SCHOOL REGISTRATION for grades K-12. Online registration is open. In-person registration on Monday, Aug. 12, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the Evergreen Elementary gym for grades K-12. Check the school district website at www.wpsd.us. Classes begin Aug. 22. BRAVE MEETING (Building Respect and Valuing Everyone) 2 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 8, at the Lutheran Church. All are welcome. To join the Zoom session, contact brave.wrangell@gmail.com for a link, or call Kay Larson at 907-209-9117. BACK-TO-SCHOOL backpacks for tribal youth who signed up for...
So, you want to see bears at the Anan Wildlife Observatory. But maybe you couldn't get one of the limited number of permits, or you live out of town and can't make the trip, or maybe you are a little more afraid of them than you care to admit. But now, thanks to the U.S. Forest Service, explore.org and 14 Wrangell high school students in the T3 Program, anyone worldwide can view Anan's fish-crazed black and brown bears. Last week, after months of preparation, planning and prototyping, the two...
LEARN TO LINE DANCE 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. Tuesdays through Aug. 27 at the community center multi-purpose room, with Issabella Crowley. For ages 18 years old and up. Entry fee is by donation. NOLAN CENTER THEATER “Despicable Me 4,” rated PG, at 6 p.m. Friday, 6 p.m. Saturday, 4 p.m. Sunday Aug. 2-4. The animated adventure comedy runs 1 hour and 34 minutes; tickets are $7 for adults, $5 for children under age 12. Children under 12 must be accompanied by an adult. MUSKEG MEADOWS Compass Line Shop, 9-hole best-ball golf tournament, with special prizes,...
WRANGELL SCHOOL BOARD special school board meeting 6:30 p.m. Thursday, July 25, at Evergreen Elementary School Room 101. Agenda: superintendent’s evaluation. LEARN TO LINE DANCE 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. Tuesdays from July 30 to Aug. 27 at the community center multi-purpose room with Isabella Crowley. For ages 18 years old and up. Entry fee is by donation. BEARFEST Wednesday through Sunday, July 24-28. An event dedicated to bears and their surroundings. Enjoy symposiums, cultural events, art and photo workshops, fine dining, a marathon and much m...
Bearfest this week provides an opportunity for people to try their artistic skills at making holiday ornaments. In the shape of bears, of course. But nothing ordinary about these ornaments — they will hang on the national Christmas tree on the lawn of the U.S. Capitol. The U.S. Forest Service has selected a tree from the Wrangell Ranger District of the Tongass National Forest — they won’t say which one yet — and the agency has called on Alaskans to create 10,000 ornaments for the big tree and multiple smaller trees that will be display...
HELP WANTED Tongass FCU is looking for someone to join our team as a Member Service Representative in our Wrangell branch. If you want to make an impact, learn and grow, apply online at tongassfcu.com or stop by the branch! HELP WANTED Wrangell Chamber of Commerce is accepting applicants for executive director who plans, organizes, coordinates and directs chamber business as well as oversees the daily operation of the chamber. Posting open until filled. Full job description and applications are available by emailing Chamber President...
Wrangell schools online student registration will begin on Wednesday, Aug. 7, for grades K-12 at wrg.powerschool.com/public/. For those who need assistance, in-person registration will be held Monday, Aug. 12, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the elementary school gym. The first day of school for students is Thursday, Aug. 22, with teachers starting earlier in the week. This year’s holiday break will start after classes end on Friday, Dec. 20, with school reopening on Monday, Jan. 6. Student fees remain unchanged from last year and are due at the t...
Wrangell is in a Goldilocks situation when it comes to tourists. Too many is no good. It would leave the town feeling stuffed. Too few is what we have, leaving the town hungry to fill its economic bowl. Just enough more visitors to warm up the economy would be the right amount. Too bad it’s not as easy a choice as Goldilocks picking which porridge to bear down on. Wrangell is not a tourism-dominated community like Skagway or Juneau. Nor does it want to be. But a little more sales tax revenue would be a good thing, particularly if those sales t...
HELP WANTED Wrangell Chamber of Commerce is accepting applicants for executive officer who plans, organizes, coordinates and directs chamber business as well as oversees the daily operation of the chamber. Posting open until filled. Full job description and applications are available by emailing Chamber President bburr@wrangellchamber.com. HELP WANTED Wrangell Public Schools is accepting applications for the following positions for the 2024-2025 school year: - Special Education Paraprofessional: This is a part-time, 9-month classified position,...
Gov. Mike Dunleavy vetoed more than $230 million in spending from the state budget but left intact $6.5 million for repairs to Wrangell school buildings, along with $5 million for stabilization work at the community’s water reservoir earthen dams and $200,000 for the borough to start planning an emergency access route from the southern end of Zimovia Highway. In addition to covering state-provided public services, construction projects and community grants, the budget bills signed by Dunleavy on June 27 also will provide an estimated $1,650 t...
Wrangell is on a financial winning streak these days. It has received multiple state and federal grants to pay for construction, repairs, rebuilds and improvements. But that does not help pay the operating costs of public services and local support for the schools. It’s a distinction people need to keep in mind. Money in one pocket does not automatically transfer to another pocket. The borough has received notice of a $25 million federal grant to rebuild most of the downtown harbors floats. It will receive $6.5 million from the state to go t...
Wrangell is facing a network of aging underground utilities. Some pipes are up to 70 years old, said Tom Wetor, public works director. Since the first of the year, at least five water and sewer line leaks have sprung up around town. Wetor explained that a lot of the underground utility work was done in the 1980s and is beginning to age out. He explained that the environment in Wrangell is particularly harsh and causes pipes to degrade faster than they should. A lot of the pipes in town are made of ductile iron, which he said were estimated to...
The school district is readvertising for a full-time, in-person counselor to serve Wrangell’s 260 students starting in August. Amid pushback from faculty and at least one board member at last month’s school board meeting, the previously selected out-of-town applicant withdrew her bid to work as a remote K-12 counselor for the coming school year. The district administration last month proposed a contract for remote services with Lindsay Pinkelman, who runs Find a Way Consulting, based in Delta Junction, 95 miles southeast of Fairbanks. Tho...
Wrangell has a lot of positives. It’s a caring community that can pull together a potluck and fill the tables to overflow. Residents support each other in times of loss without needing to be asked. People truly believe in helping their neighbors, regardless of their neighbors’ politics. Fundraisers are a way of life in Wrangell — and a necessity. School sports teams, youth groups, student activities, nonprofit organizations and others are always in need of money, frequently asking businesses to donate goods, services or cash to worthy causes. A...
An apology for the bombardment that destroyed Angoon in 1882 will be offered by the U.S. Navy, Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski said while appearing with a dance group from the Tlingit village at Celebration in Juneau on Friday. The attack burned the village, leaving few structures intact, resulting in the death of at least six children and "countless" more due to its impact during the winter, according to the Sealaska Heritage Institute. Historical narratives by Natives in Angoon and the Navy...
The assembly’s decision to take away any benefit to the school district of the Legislature’s one-year increase in state education funding for next year makes sense from the perspective of the borough’s own finances. However, there are more perspectives to consider. Long term, the community needs a plan to adequately fund its schools. The school board had asked the borough to contribute $1.75 million — the maximum amount allowed under state law — to the school district’s $6 million spending plan for the 2024-2025 school year. That would have...
Rep. Dan Ortiz, the Ketchikan independent who has represented southern Southeast communities since January 2015, including Wrangell, has decided to withdraw as a candidate for reelection, citing health and family considerations. Ortiz had filed in July as a candidate for reelection to House District 1, representing Ketchikan, Saxman, Metlakatla, Wrangell, Hyder, Coffman Cove and Whale Pass. However, a “more definitive” health concern caused him to reconsider, he told the Ketchikan Daily News on May 28. “It’s been within the last week that I...
