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Now that the holidays are over, those looking to put the feasting and festivities behind them can challenge themselves with a workout regimen. Wrangell Parks and Recreation launched its third annual Winter Workout Challenge on Monday, welcoming the new year with some healthy competition. “It’s an eight-week, progressively building workout challenge,” explained Kate Thomas, the department director. The department overhauled some of its activities for this year’s competition, and while tailored mainly to entry-level activity, beginne...
At last week’s Park Board meeting, the department head reported the lack of qualified lifeguarding staff has been causing problems. Parks and Recreation director Kate Thomas explained last Wednesday that Wrangell’s public pool operates 63 hours per week, requiring 105 lifeguard hours to operate. While 10 available staffers would be ideal, the department currently only has four to try and cover shifts. Both herself and the assistant director have been spending up to half their time filling in at the pool. The pool is the most heavily used ame...
At Wrangell’s regular meeting of the Borough Assembly Tuesday, members opted not to withdraw their opposition to a proposed timber sale package. The United States Forest Service has over the course of years been putting together a timber sale for Wrangell Island, of which it manages 93 percent of the borough’s land area, which has been nearing its final stages. In August the city responded to the project’s final draft record of decision with an objection letter. After speaking with staff, Tongass National Forest supervisor Earl Stewart propo...
With summer finally behind it, Wrangell’s Parks and Recreation Department is starting up its fall and winter youth program. Team selection for youth basketball was on September 13, with practice to begin this week. Turnout was strong enough to have the program split into two age groups, each with two teams. Coaches have been selected to lead them, with 24 kids in the second- and third-grade group and 29 enrolled in the fourth- through sixth-grade group. An entirely new program for Wrangell is set to start the first weekend of October. Area r...
Wrangell’s new city manager sat in on her first meeting of the City and Borough Assembly Tuesday evening. Starting work last week, Lisa Von Bargen gave her first report to council members on the state of city departments. Offered the job back in April, the former Valdez economic director reported she has been getting to know the departments under her since her arrival. She has been getting together with staff at City Hall, the Harbor Department and Public Works this past week to visit sites. She further plans to meet with Parks and R...
PETERSBURG - The Alaska Office of Special Prosecutions issued a press release on Tuesday addressing the murder and manslaughter charges against 24-year-old William Christopher Allen, the driver of a vehicle that landed upside down after running off a Petersburg road on July 4, 2016, killing two and injuring one. The state alleges that Allen was driving a Borough-owned van moments before the crash, despite warnings from doctors to not because of a seizure disorder that was “well-known” and “well-documented,” according to Assistant Attorney Gener...
Towering over town as it does, Mount Dewey is just about impossible to miss while in Wrangell. The feature draws visitors about 400 feet up to its summit throughout the year, with a viewing platform there offering a unique view both of the town and of the surrounding islands. The quarter-mile boardwalk trail winding its way up to the platform also offers glimpses of the Back Channel, scattered muskegs and the industrial park. It makes for a short but active climb, and so has proven popular with...
Summer officially began this week, with the solstice marking the year’s longest day on Wednesday. For hundreds of Wrangell children, the months-long break between school years began at the end of May, and programming to keep them active and socially engaged started up soon afterward. Wrangell Parks and Recreation kicked off its summer activities at the start of June. The library’s summer reading program began June 1, and young residents have already begun taking lessons in horseback riding and swimming. A fee structure is in place for par...
Members of Wrangell’s Port Commission have set a timetable for themselves for reworking how lot leases at the boatyard are arranged. At their meeting Monday, commission chair Clay Hammer and harbormaster Greg Meissner said they are putting together an ordinance proposal to consider after the summer season winds down. In its drafting stages, it would reflect discussions held last year and feedback from various yard contractors. The conversation has been an ongoing one for a year and a half, and the commission had previously intended to settle t...
A survey being put out by Wrangell’s Parks Department will be digging into the community’s recreational priorities in the coming years. “With the current climate of our state economy and the increasing demand for our current facilities, we need to prioritize our tasks and goals,” explained department director Kate Thomas. She said a system-wide needs assessment would help the department focus in on what residents like – what parks they frequent, which trails they climb, the amenities they would like to see – beyond the programs and more easily...
A Wrangell girl has taken second place in the state for the 2016-17 Elk's Hoop Shoot. Jamie Early sank 18 of 25 baskets during the Wrangell Lodge's shoot in December, taking first among the girls 12 to 13 age group. Local-level winners have their scores weighed against those from around the state, with awards distributed via various Elks lodges. Those taking first place by category can compete on the regional level, going on from there to the national competition in Chicago on April 22. Now a...
Wrangell Parks and Recreation is looking to raise some funds and gather a few hands to spruce up the trail at Volunteer Park. Volunteer is the most popular public use facility in Wrangell, outside of the city’s ports and harbor system. It already got a bit of work last year, with two culverts added and some patchwork done to its trail surface. In laying down patches, the department used a different, smaller grade of rock, which proved pretty popular with runners. “We got a lot of positive response from the community,” said department head...
At its regular scheduled meeting last Tuesday, the Borough Assembly signed on to a letter opposed to adoption of an amended timber plan for managing the Tongass National Forest. The letter, written by Juneau attorney Jim Clark, petitions recently reelected Sen. Lisa Murkowski to support delaying the implementation of the Tongass Transition Plan amendment, which the Department of Agriculture is looking to apply to the 2008 Amended Tongass Land and Management Resource Plan. The intent of the amendment is to transition over to a young-growth...
In the Sentinel 75, 50 and 25 years ago. May 9, 1941: The C.P.R. Freighter Nootka arrived here this week on her annual spring trip, bringing approximately 175 tons of supplies for Watson Lake in Canada and general merchandise for up the Stikine. About 125 tons, lumber and other supplies and some equipment was for Watson Lake. This morning the Barrington Transportation boats, the Hazel B No. 1, No. 2 and No. 3 and the new barge, were loaded and prepared to start up the river with a big consignment of goods and 37 workmen for the General...
Wrangell’s Parks and Recreation Department will be changing up the fee assistance program, its advisory board decided. Meeting on March 2, the board examined the program since its redesign last year. “What we found there is, we are going to eliminate the option for people to get annual passes,” explained parks director Kate Thomas. With the pass rate increases which also took effect, someone applying for assistance could get upwards of $700 off of a family pass. The program only budgeted $1,800 to start with, so an application or two could take...
A vehicle lost control near Shoemaker Bay Monday morning and took out about 260 feet of chain-link fencing around a playground. In a pickup truck on Zimovia Highway northward toward town, a driver reportedly lost control after hitting a patch of ice and slid off the road. "Basically it was black ice," explained Chief Doug McCloskey of the Wrangell Police Department. A witness reported the accident at around 9 a.m. and the driver remained at the scene until police responded. He was cooperative,...
Wrangell’s Parks and Recreation Board held its first meeting of the new year on Jan. 6, reviewing a new draft of the department’s liability waiver. Parks and Rec director Kate Thomas explained a review of the policy came about after two patrons expressed dissatisfaction with the waiver’s language. At the time, Thomas found herself unable to clearly explain or justify several of the lines. In particular was line six, releasing the City of Wrangell and recreation department of legal liability “even if they, or any of them, negligently cause m...
In the Sentinel 100, 75, 50 and 25 years ago. November 25, 1915: The first shipment of shrimp to be made from Wrangell was made on the Dolphin last Saturday. The shipment contained about two hundred pounds of fine large shrimp. Wrangellites were given a chance to try them as about a hundred pounds were placed on the market and sold here. The shrimp were caught at the entrance of the Wrangell Narrows by Victor Noberg, Chas. Chase and Arthur Thebo. Mr. R.L. Petty of Ketchikan was a visitor in Wrangell for a few days this past week. In speaking...
Two weeks into its Tot Gym program, Wrangell's Parks and Recreation Department expects some new equipment and other changes will have a positive effect. At the Parks Board monthly meeting in November, department director Kate Thomas brainstormed with board members and concerned parents about how to give the tri-weekly gym program a boost. The number of participants dropped from 1,058 for the 2013-14 season to a mere 164 for 2014-15. Thomas has said several changes that year probably contributed to the drop, including implementation of age...
Wrangell’s advisory board to the Parks and Recreation Department is exploring options to boost attendance to its annual Tot Gym program, which is set to start Nov. 16. The program offers public playtime geared toward smaller children, with the community center opened several times a week through the season’s end in May. Changes to Tot Gym’s administration have brought about a significant decline in participation over the past two years, a trend the Parks Department would like to curb this year. In her monthly report to the board on Nov. 4, de...
The Wrangell Borough Assembly held a swift meeting Tuesday night, breaking into executive session before the half hour was up. Assembly members approved on second reading ordinances 909 and 910, amending elements of titles 9 and 11 of the Municipal Code relating to traffic, nuisance and litter violations. The changes add reference to the minor offense schedule in WMC 1.20.050 as well, and clean up sections of the code. Ordinance 911 was passed on first reading, having been changed in significant ways since it was reviewed at the last meeting....
At its regularly scheduled meeting Oct. 14, the Parks and Recreation Board learned the city department is in the process of gathering feedback on its “Tot Gym” program. The program is geared toward smaller children, providing an opportunity to play with others and use equipment several times a week at the community gym. Once a free service, Parks director Kate Thomas explained the program has lately been experiencing a decline in attendance. The input she hopes to get from local families would go toward reversing this trend. “It’s good to get...
At its first meeting since the Oct. 6 elections, an unchanged Wrangell City and Borough Assembly discussed and largely approved a number of revisions to the Municipal Code on first reading. The proposed ordinances would clarify violations relating to littering, nuisances, distributing handbills, the burning of rubbish without permit, and other infractions, adding them to the minor offense schedule in Title 1. Staff notes indicate the change is a requirement of the state’s court system. Not listing the fines and applicable penalties in Title 1...
Wrangell’s Parks and Rec hosted an American Red Cross certified lifeguard course over the weekend as part of its efforts to improve its pool-related programming. Currently there are around ten people able to lifeguard locally, but in recent months the department has been unable to train any more themselves. The departure of several staff members this year meant there were no more employees certified to be instructors. Parks director Kate Thomas explained she just received her certification to instruct this week, taking a two-day course in I...
Wrangell’s Parks and Recreation Department has wound down its summer programming, and its advisory board began looking ahead to off-season maintenance and future projects at its Sept. 2 meeting. Department head Kate Thomas reported 22 extra staffers were hired this summer to administer courses and programs including a pilot program for the adult swim club, the annual Summer Recreation Program, new yoga and fitness courses, and two sessions of the Learn-to-Swim program. Following a lengthy closure of the pool for repairs, Thomas reported a...