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As the Alaska House and Senate continue to prepare budgets for the coming year, residents of Wrangell and Ketchikan were invited to their Legislative Information Office locations for a call-in session with Rep. Dan Ortiz (I-District 36). Meeting late in the afternoon February 23, 10 Wrangell residents and seven in Ketchikan tuned in for the representative’s pitch for House Bill 115, a proposal to reconfigure Alaska’s Permanent Fund along with revenue enhancements being sponsored by the Majority-led House Finance Committee. The bill calls for...
Wrangell Public School District unveiled its first draft for next year’s operating budget at its board’s Monday evening meeting. Overall, the school district’s budget is projected to be 2.3 percent higher than the FY17 revised budget, coming in at $5,953,642. As with other city departments, the new fiscal year is slated to begin July 1. Accounting for the rise, step-and-column increases are anticipated to raise the teacher and support salaries budget by about $48,000, with another $96,000 increase in payroll benefits associated with a 10-pe...
For Wrangell, the past year was one mixed with successes and setbacks, shared tragedies and uplifting moments. Sales taxes collected over the spring and summer tour seasons neared all-time highs, with the visitor industry experiencing a good season overall. On the other end, fishermen experienced one of their worst harvests of the summer, which after a disappointing 2015 season has put the fiscal pinch on a number of local families, boat builders, and associated sectors. As 2017 dawns, concerns...
Alaska's two senators jointly welcomed a new addition to their Southeast team. Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan issued statements December 22 congratulating Chere Klein to serve at the South Southeast delegation representative office in her home town of Ketchikan. "The district office is kind of the eyes and ears of the senators when they're back in D.C.," Klein explained of the post. "Our main business is doing casework, and that's helping constituents around the district with any kind of...
The Wrangell Public School Board will get a first look at its budget next month for the upcoming year, which begins July 1, 2017. At its December 14 meeting, school superintendent Patrick Mayer reported the year’s budget would be reflecting expected reductions to revenue sources. He explained the district will be putting together its draft budget operating under four assumptions, which may change as the new year unfolds. One of these is a student enrollment count of 273, which takes into consideration part-time students. Health coverage p...
Wrangell’s Public School Board started in earnest a conversation on the nature and tone of sexual education for students at its Monday evening meeting. The board reviewed on first reading a draft policy on family life and sex education, with changes made in light of House Bill 156 passed by the Alaska Legislature in June. It became law without Gov. Bill Walker’s signature on October 26. The bill requires that those teaching on the subjects of sex health, reproduction, and human sexuality in public schools be credentialed and approved by ind...
With 99.55 percent of precincts reporting in the state, it appears the Alaska House Majority will be in new hands at the start of the January session. Numerically speaking, a majority of House seats were retained by Republicans, the inclusion of three of these in a bipartisan caucus was announced the day after the election. For the first time in decades this will shift the chamber over to a Democrat-led majority. Seventeen Democrats and two independent representatives bring their total number...
At this month's monthly meeting, the Borough Assembly approved a resolution dedicating November 1 to be "Extra Mile Day." An annual proclamation, the designation is meant to encourage community members to "go the extra mile" in personal effort, volunteerism and service. That can manifest itself in many ways, with a number of opportunities coming up this holiday season. Representing the town's collective churches, the Wrangell Ministerial Association will be holding its 15th annual Thanksgiving...
A new bus has been added to the fleet serving Wrangell, the Public School Board learned Monday. Etolin Bus Company has acquired a new Thomas Saf-T-Liner C2 model bus, which will be used for transporting middle and high school students on daily routes. Etolin operator Greg McCormack brought it and the previous Blue Bird model down to Evergreen Elementary to demonstrate the differences. “The new bus we have is what I consider the world’s most modern school bus,” he commented. Compared to the older vehicles, the Thomas sports a number of added...
Robert Rang , for two three-year terms Occupation and experience: Current CEO for Wrangell Medical Center, a recent director on the Wrangell Chamber of Commerce Board, with a decade of experience on other hospital boards. Why do you want to serve on the Public School Board? "Schools and medical centers have similar challenges. You must meet the needs of the customer, the staff, as well as all the regulatory requirements mandated by the federal and state government. I feel my experience finding...
Wrangell High School's cross-country teams put their best feet forward over the weekend, with the girls together taking second place among 1-3A teams. "It went great," commented the team's coach, Jenn Davies. Runner Reyn Hutten ended up finishing in first place among her division's girls during Saturday's meet in Petersburg. She seems set this year to continue her pace of last year, when she placed first during the Region V run in Ketchikan. Teammate Jing O'Brien finished in 14th place, which...
Last week a new public cabin was added to Wrangell Ranger District's list, with the U.S. Forest Service's administrative camp at Deep Bay converted into a two-building recreational site. The cabin will be the district's 23rd, and its first on Zarembo Island, located about five miles to Wrangell's southwest. Due to its proximity and size, Zarembo is a popular destination for locals in the mood for activity, be it hunting, camping or taking the all-terrain vehicle out for a spin. The cabin is prim...
With school set to start on August 25 staff at Wrangell Public Schools have returned from their summer hiatus and are preparing for registration of students. Incoming elementary school students can be registered anytime between 8 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. next Tuesday through Thursday. Those enrolling kindergarteners are advised to bring along copies of birth certificates a nd immunization records. High schoolers likewise can register for classes on Tuesday, with middle schoolers doing so on Wednesday....
A finalized event schedule has been put out for the 2016 Fourth of July Celebration in Wrangell, which begins tomorrow and will last through Monday evening. This year’s celebratory theme is “Back to the Rock,” highlighting the annual Fourth holiday as a time when Wrangellite relatives, former residents and family friends return to the island. “It’s just kind of that catch phrase people in Wrangell use for coming back home,” explained Aleisha Mollen, Chamber of Commerce treasurer and chair of this year’s festivities. Though she has organized the...
Wrangell officially threw its support behind a proposed accelerated high school program, after the Borough Assembly issued a resolution in favor of it at Tuesday’s meeting. Coming to view during the planning process for the former Institute property’s future development, the Alaska Native Science and Engineering Program is looking to take its advanced summer curriculum to the next level with a residential facility. Currently operating between between regular school years, the program helps give rural, primarily Native Alaskan students ext...
The planning team for future development at Wrangell's former Institute site returned this week for a second round of public discussions. At a presentation Monday night, information gleaned from previous sessions in March had been narrowed down into three different concepts. Project lead Chris Mertl of Corvus Design was joined by architect James Bibb of NorthWind Architects and analyst Meilani Schijvens of Rain Coast Data. A surveyor with R&M Engineering joined them the following day for open...
In the Sentinel 100, 75, 50 and 25 years ago. May 11, 1916: L.T. Watson, mining man from the Stikine country, is in town this week. Mr. Watson states that the mining outlook for his country was never better and is looking for a number of prospectors to go into the country this spring. Mr. Watson reports that the past winter has been an exceptionally good one for furs and states that one of the largest catches in the country will come down the river as soon as navigation is on in good shape. Mr. Watson also put in a good word for the work being...
With its last meeting of the academic year, the Wrangell Public School Board looked back on its progress as measured against its 2015-16 strategic plan goals. The plan started to develop in February 2015, with faculty and members of the community collaborating on ways to improve students' experience in four primary areas: academic achievement, technical education, safety and facilities improvements, and technology. "Everyone had a hand in the final product," school superintendent Patrick Mayer s...
Wrangell’s Public School Board approved a second draft of its Fiscal Year 2017 budget during a special session Tuesday evening. Several sizable changes were made to both its expenditures and revenues, reflecting previously unacknowledged items. Driving the change was a reduction of $53,871 to the district’s Foundation Support revenues, due to expiry of Wrangell’s “Hold Harmless” provision with the state. Hold Harmless addresses declines in a district’s size-adjusted ADM, temporarily increasing it where a district has lost five or more percen...
The community’s dialogue on how it wants to proceed with regulated cannabis continued on April 14, with a public workshop held before the monthly Planning and Zoning Commission meeting. While members of the public were invited to attend and provide input, the commissioners themselves were encouraged to start deciding what they want to see from the nascent industry. Adopted by ballot initiative during the 2014 elections, Alaska’s marijuana legalization process began taking effect in February. Licenses to sell, cultivate, test and man...
In an agreement reached March 24, the University of Alaska will be cooperating with Petersburg High School and the Wrangell Ranger District to conduct research at LeConte Glacier. Under the arrangement, the project will be undertaken by university researchers making third-party use of the high school's special use permit issued by USFS' Alaska regional office. The university's study will monitor the dynamics, glacial runoff and subglacial discharge of LeConte Glacier. It discharges icebergs and meltwater into the nearby bay each year, and...
An applicant to be next year's secondary schools principal has been offered a contract. At their Monday evening meeting members of the Wrangell Public School Board were presented with a contract for Bill Schwan, after current principal Kendall Benson tendered his resignation earlier this month. Since 2012 Schwan has been the principal of Dillingham Middle/High School. Prior to that he had been a high school principal in Powell, Wyo., and has a background in special education. Superintendent...
With rock bottom oil prices pushing the expected deficit to as high as $4 billion, Alaska's financial crisis understandably cast a pallor over Tuesday's City and Borough Assembly meeting. Speaking with city finance director Lee Burgess on Monday, one of the key areas of concern for Wrangell moving forward will be an impending drop by thirds each year to state revenue sharing commitments. This year funds came to $568,000, but could taper off to $417,000 the coming year, less than $300,000 after that, followed by no funds at all by the middle of...
A crowd-drawing discussion on recreation funding held by the Forest Service Tuesday evening made the council chambers at City Hall feel unusually short for space. About two dozen members of the public met with staff of the Wrangell Ranger District to share their concerns about facilities maintenance. Listing concerns from greatest to least, residents participating at the meeting identified cabins, ATV trails and the overall recreation program as their top priorities, followed by trails, berry access, subsistence and stoves. Funding for...
At its regular monthly meeting, the Wrangell Public School Board approved the purchase of a new phone system for its two campuses. Board members approved a $65,000 contract with AP&T to install the new system, which replaces the district's 71 phones with IP-based handsets and will include a one-year service agreement for parts and equipment. "The current system that we have right now, they say they can't support them," explained Matt Gore, technology director for the school district. The new...
