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At the outset of their Wednesday meeting, chairman Grover Mathis told his fellow members on the Wrangell Parks and Recreation Advisory Board that he would soon be departing. “I’m not going to put my name up for reappointment,” he said. Mathis has been on the board since 1997, and he explained he wanted to make room for new participants. “I’m not as involved as I’d like to be,” he explained. “I think it’s time for me to fade away.” Mathis confirmed he still intends to attend the next month or two of meetings, until a replacement is deci...
The next time you enjoy a nice sit or fast bite at the picnic tables outside of City Hall, be sure to thank Tyler Eagle. He recently refurbished all five tables as the service project portion of his Eagle Scout application. As part of the project's stipulations, the work has to benefit an organization other than the Boy Scouts of America and display a Scout's ability to plan and direct. Pondering his options, Eagle had been eating lunch with his mom on the City Hall lawn when she mentioned what...
The borough assembly voted 5-0 Tuesday to pass both the property tax rate and the municipal budget for the fiscal year 2015. At a May 13 budget workshop, officials pledged the mill rate of 12.75 mills will remain unchanged this year. That means that a house assessed at $200,000 would pay a property tax bill of $2,550. Since presenting the budget at a public workshop May 24, officials have received news of $37,219 in additional revenue, composed of a $23,821 shot in the arm from increased revenue sharing and a $13,398 increase from the state...
A shortage of workers willing to take on part time jobs has temporarily slowed plans for a spring cemetery cleanup. Officials had planned the cleanup in response to public criticism about the condition and size of graves, as well as standing borough ordinances preventing grave adornment outside of certain standards. However, city officials soon discovered how difficult it was to find the regular complement of two seasonal workers, much less the one or two additional workers officials had planned, according to borough manager Jeff Jabusch. The...
Parks officials will move ahead with hours changes for the community gym and pool facility. A sparsely attended May 7 public hearing drew only a Sentinel reporter, though officials say they have received mostly positive feedback on the proposed hours changes from the community. The proposed changes would open the facility from 6 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., re-opening at 3:30 p.m., and closing at 7:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday. Friday it will close at 8:30 p.m.. Saturday’s hours will be 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.. The schedule adds two hours overall recreat...
A complaint over the status of the two public Wrangell cemeteries will lead to a drive to remove decorations this spring. Memorial Cemetery – known about town as the "old cemetery" – and Sunset Gardens Cemetery – known as the "new cemetery" – faced criticism at the March 25 borough assembly meeting from Wayne Kaer. At the same meeting, assembly members voted on the final step in a series of ordinance changes abolishing the borough's cemetery committee, because of a lack of interest, and because...
The Wrangell Parks and Recreation committee unanimously recommended two measures to the borough assembly at Wednesday’s meeting. The first vote recommended the assembly change the hours of operation for the pool and workout facility. A second vote recommended an ordinance for consideration related to logging in city parks. The hours change could head to a public hearing for feedback before consideration by the assembly. The ordinance will go to the borough attorney for legal evaluation before beginning the process of becoming ordinance. The c...
The Wrangell parks and recreation advisory board discussed but took no vote on a draft of an ordinance aimed to prevent logging in city parks. The ordinance has been in the works since police reported that at least two trees had been cut down for Christmas trees in December. Parks manager Amber Al-Haddad presented committee members with templates cribbed in part from similar ordinances on the Internet, though logging in public parks isn’t a particularly widespread public dilemma, she said. “What I found from cities around the nation is that par...
Parks and recreation committee members will consider rescheduling the hours of operation for the swimming pool facility in the coming months. Two themes emerged over the course of the discussion of some potential schedules at the Jan. 8 Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee meeting. The first was concerns that the current schedule, which has variable hours for the non-pool facilities over the various weekdays, is inconvenient for some customers. The second was concerns that altering the hours of operation for both the pool and the weight room...
The Chief Shakes House rededication was easily the biggest event of 2013 in Wrangell. However, the year was filled with events and news stories big and small. On the first edition of 2014, the Sentinel pauses to recollect the stories throughout the year. January An electrical fire damaged the fish tank at the Nolan Center, causing it to be removed. A 7.5-magnitude earthquake struck off of Craig Jan. 4, rattling windows and nerves in town. The quake caused no major damage in town, but...
Volunteers were hard at work in the Nolan Center Nov. 26 preparing to bring a little holiday cheer into the community. The annual Christmas Tree Lane display and Christmas tree auction opened Tuesday. About half the proceeds from the annual auction go to volunteer hospice care, organizers said, though it's up to community groups and individuals who sponsor individual trees to decide how much to give. Volunteers provide decorative sometimes-intricate trees typically built around a central theme....
Gym denizens looking for a treat after a few hours on a treadmill may have to go a little further. Parks officials are considering remove vending machines from the swimming pool to make space for additional exercise equipment and the hallway outside the community gym to prevent food from working its way into the gym, Parks and Recreation Director Amber Al-Haddad told the department’s advisory committee. Concerns about the availability of space and about the healthiness of the snacks offered drove the decision, Al-Haddad said. “I totally und...
In the Sentinel 100, 75, 50 and 25 years ago. November 13, 1913: Yesterday at high noon at the Presbyterian Church which was beautifully decorated for the occasion occurred one of the prettiest weddings of the season, when Mr. J.G. Bjorge and Miss Bessie Swift were united in Holy Wedlock by Rev. J.S. Clark. Just at High Noon the bridal party was ushered in to the strains of Lohengren’s Wedding March. Mr. Roy Cole gave the Bride away. The Bride was charming in a gown of white satin charmeuse with a chiffon over dress of pearl beading and wore a...
A long-term plan for trails in and around Wrangell is taking shape with a little help from the National Park Service. The Borough Planning and Zoning Commission heard testimony from economic development officer Carol Rushmore earlier in the month that a network of trails joining the Volunteer Park Trail to the Dewey Mountain Trail has been under consideration recently. Parks and Recreation Director Amber Al-Haddad was careful to stress that no plans have been finalized, and hikers may have to...
In the Sentinel 100, 75, 50 and 25 years ago. August 28, 1913: The School Board is looking for the teachers for the ensuing year on one of the first boats. Owing to the fact that the teachers of last year, Mrs. Burke and Miss Prichett and Miss Haley, found it impossible to return at a late date caused some anxiety among the school board but the positions have been filled with a staff of teachers who have the recommendations of the University of Washington which make it sure that we are getting the right people for the right situation. The...
With Petersburg foregoing a tax-free day this spring, is Wrangell next on the list of Southeast cities that will abandon their customer-friendly days of no sales tax in the Borough? This past weekend’s tax-free day was the latest sales holiday where money the Borough would usually take in did not make it into city coffers. With the distinct possibility of a 5.5 percent sales tax rate reduction looming on the October ballot, the City and Borough of Wrangell could see an end to the tax-free holidays local citizens have enjoyed since its i...
Sentinel writer When you look at a website, a business card, or just about any sign or graphical image you can imagine, you can expect to see information. That information is usually one-dimensional and does not extend beyond what you might see with your own eyes. A group of students from Wrangell High School are working to change that, however. An after-school “AVATAR” club led by WHS teacher Michele Galla has been working on developing a technology that will “augment” the reality of images...
For Jeff Rooney, Sr., a longtime employee of the Wrangell Public Works Department and head coach of the Wrangell High School Wolves wrestling team, getting up at the crack of dawn to clean our streets or work on an important project is just something he does – and has done for years – without any major recognition or awards. That changed last weekend as the Wrangell Chamber of Commerce held their annual dinner and auction at the Nolan Center. Rooney, who was nominated by a number of local res...
With the stroke of a pen and a handwritten letter addressed to Mayor David Jack and members of the Borough Assembly, longtime member and Vice Mayor Bill Privett resigned his position with the quorum at their April 9 meeting. “Please consider this my formal letter of resignation, effective immediately,” Vice Mayor Privett wrote. “My grandson has applied for employment with Castle Mountain Entertainment and cannot be hired because of my Assembly position. Maybe again in the future I will be able...
The Borough Assembly undertook one of their longest and most productive sessions in recent months this week as they attempted for a second time to form an “energy committee,” approved a number of contracts and construction projects, and took under consideration a recent protest over use of the former Wrangell Institute property for storage of timber from an Alaska Mental Heath Land Trust land sale. The formation of an energy committee, which would be tasked with looking at the possibilities of d...
Some people swim for fun, while some do it for health. Wrangellite Kim Covalt does it for both – and for the last 23 years has also gotten paid to do it as an employee of, and eventually the director of, the Wrangell Parks and Recreation Department. Covalt recently announced his retirement from the organization where he has worked since 1990. “I have been extremely happy working for the City and Borough of Wrangell these past 23 years,” Covalt wrote in a letter to Borough Manager Tim Roone...
Citing health concerns and a recent 11-day medical trip to Seattle, Wrangell Mayor Don McConachie relinquished his gavel last Thursday night as he resigned from his position on the Borough Assembly. In a letter written by McConachie that he read to the other members of the Assembly he explained his reasoning behind leaving his post in city government. “Since 1998 it has been my privilege to serve on the Assembly of the City and Borough of Wrangell, Alaska. Many things have happened during t...
A new mayor, renovations to the Shakes Island Tribal House and Marine Service Center, and the ongoing Wrangell Medical Center debate – all of these stories were newsmakers in 2012. Let’s take a look back at some of the biggest stories in Wrangell over the past year. JANUARY A late night blaze destroyed a trailer and sent a woman to Wrangell Medical Center with severe burns on Dec. 22. The fire, which began at 10:30 p.m. in a small pull-behind trailer near the top of the park, severely inj...
A proposed resolution to support the development of new hatcheries in Wrangell and Petersburg – and the resignation of a member of the assembly were the main topics of discussion at the July 24 regular meeting of the Borough Assembly. Mike Symons, who has held Seat F on the assembly since 2010, formally tendered his resignation from the assembly after being tapped as the new General Manager and News Director at KSTK FM. Symons said his resignation was spurred on by the nature of his position as the head of the news department at the station. “I...
The group of residents participating in the “walkathon” gather Saturday morning near the trailhead of Volunteer Park. The walkers were raising money for the Parks and Recreation Department to buy a new pool inflatable toy....