Sorted by date Results 1871 - 1895 of 2344
Spooks, vampires, and ponies descended on downtown Oct. 12 for the Wrangell Chamber of Commerce Pumpkin Patch. Organizers said the event was a success. Activities included a cake walk, face painting, pony rides, and other family-focused activities. Chamber officials estimated the attendance at about 140 people. “We had about 200 pumpkins, and at the end of the day we had very few left,” said Cynthia Waddington. “It was a huge success.” Organizers were grateful to all organizations and busines...
Local U.S. Forest Service employees express frustration with the ongoing government shutdown this week. The Wrangell Unit of the Tongass National Forest has been closed for 15 days following negotiations between the Republican-controlled U.S. House of Representatives and the Democrat-controlled U.S. Senate Oct. 1. The office’s 28 employees have been instructed call a 1-800 phone number each day to determine whether the office will be reopened, according to Forest Service Ranger Bob Dalrymple. D...
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...
For Rhonda Christian, life as a breast cancer survivor is filled with moments of small horror. She remembers the moment in March when tests at Mt. Edgecumbe Medical Center revealed what might be a small mass, amid planning for her and husband Ernie’s honeymoon in Jamaica. There was the moment when her husband insisted on getting it checked out in Seattle, on a more accurate, updated machine. And then there was the moment when she woke up from anesthesia and looked down, and her breast was gone. “I don’t know how to describe it,” she said. “The...
School lunches were the main topic of conversation at the Oct. 9 school board meeting. Documents provided by the school meals program show the school provided 2,623 meals in September, down 1,182 meals from the same month last year. The figure represents a decrease of 31 percent. District figures show students ate 443 fewer breakfasts this year than last year, and 739 fewer lunches. The decline in meals is also attributable in part to declining enrollment. Fewer students mean fewer lunches and breakfasts. As evidence, they pointed out that the...
The Wrangell Borough Assembly clarified questions to be put to an attorney relating to the ongoing debate over the Thomas Bay Power Authority. Discussion focused around questions to be put to a power attorney – borough manager Jeff Jabusch mentioned one of the attorneys who drafted the original Long-Term Power Sales Agreement, which dictates the terms under which electricity from Tyee Lake power plant and Swan Lake dam are sold as a possibility – as the borough resolves questions about the future of the Authority. The scope of the que...
Southeast Alaska Power Agency CEO Trey Acteson this week decried what he called the ‘overwhelming amount of misinformation’ circulated at a city council meeting Sept. 24. Acteson focused primarily on accusations made at that meeting during the public comments section. In particular, he cited rumors of a rate increase, the possibility of new diesel construction, and statements about the SEAPA payroll, saying they were false. At least one SEAPA board member disagreed with Acteson’s characterization of the debate. Both he and SEAPA keep the walle...
Contractors were hard at work Monday closing out the last big construction project of the season at the marine haul-out facility. Their tasks included installing rebar, over which concrete will eventually be poured to replace the gravel surface and create a smooth, even surface. The work will also eventually include the installation of a 300-ton hoist, effectively doubling the harbor’s lifting capacity. Officials say the hoist, which could feature as a central draw for fishing and pleasure c...
This year’s Domestic Abuse Awareness month finds officials with the Healthy Wrangell Coalition working to re-establish a somewhat lapsed network of support. Last month the coalition launched a committee to examine the potential for supporting women – and men, officials are quick to point out – who find themselves trapped in abusive situations in a community with a fine line between intimate and common knowledge. Nor is abuse limited to the sort of physical advice which often spills into the police station or the courts, said Elizabeth Brumm...
October 30, 1913: Martin Hofstad has been a busy man during the past two weeks getting the new General Merchandise Store of Martin and Richard Hofstad into shape for the opening the latter part of next week. The store is situated in the new Uhler Building and will carry a full stock of general merchandise. Both men are well known in Wrangell and are sure of their share of their patronage. October 28, 1938: The gas screw Etolin, fishpacker owned and operated by Capt. Manuel Loftus, was reported a total loss by flames last Saturday morning in Red...
Widely reported technical glitches and uncertainty over how a new influx of insured patients would affect the local medical business greeted the Alaska version of the Federal government’s new health insurance exchange program. Users seeking to enroll in the exchange via the Federal government website www.healthcare.gov were allowed to create an account, however, the transition from the Federal site to the State-specific site Enroll Alaska were greeted with a simple page reading “Downstream Error” most of the weekend. The site was tempo...
The borough assembly certified the results of the Oct. 1 election on Monday. The official results presented by borough clerk Kim Lane to the council are identical to informal results announced after the polls closed Oct. 1, except they include absentee vote totals as well. New members of the assembly include Julie Decker – who ran unopposed for Seat E and has served by appointment on the assembly since her appointment in September – and Daniel Blake, who ran unopposed for Seat F’s three...
Wrangell voters insurmountably rejected a proposal to lower the sales tax, retained their sitting mayor, and removed one member of the assembly in municipal elections Tuesday, officials said. The unofficial results, read aloud shortly after the polls closed at 8 pm, put the vote tally for the contentious tax proposal at 451 votes against lowering taxes from 7 percent to 5.5 percent, and 172 votes in favor of the change. Sitting mayor David Jack tallied 455 votes while Kipha Valvoda scored 118....
An argument between a Thomas Bay Power Authority commissioner and two Thomas Bay employees after the Wrangell Assembly has added to the venom in the debate over the future of TBPA. Shortly after Tuesday’s regular assembly meeting, Commissioner Clay Hammer confronted TBPA office manager Rhonda Christian over public comment delivered to the Borough Assembly on the subject of TBPA, Nicholls and Christian said. Hammer accused Christian of overstepping her bounds as a TBPA employee to address the commission, and Christian countered that Hammer w...
October 21, 1913: After being in the hands of the court for several years, owing to the death of the owners, Thomas Wilson and Rufas Sylvester, the Wrangell Mills are for the first time clear and when started in the spring it will be a purely local management. The mills were given over from the court to the Wilson and Sylvester Mill Company, Inc. on the first of October which company is composed of Mrs. M.A. Wilson, president, F. Matheson, secretary and H. Gartley, treasurer, who will operate the mill. T.C. McHugh has been appointed the...
The borough assembly has narrowed a field of 14 applicants for the position of borough manager down to five, according to members of the assembly. The borough assembly met last Thursday in executive session to consider the applications, no action was taken in open session. The names of the remaining applicants aren’t in the public domain yet to protect their professional standing at their existing jobs. However, two local applicants who have admitted in public to pursing the position – interim manager and finance director Jeff Jabusch and for...
A federal bill allocating at least a quarter of the school system’s local funding passed the Senate and House of Representatives this week. The Secure Rural Schools program provides Wrangell Schools with $1.3 million per year, which represents roughly 25 to 30 percent of the school system’s budget, according to Superintendent Rich Rhodes. Local officials and the borough’s lobbyist expressed concern for the fate of the bill among the widely reported atmosphere of fiscal belt-tightening in Washington. The bill awaits President Obama’s expecte...
A new greenhouse at Evergreen Elementary School is on hold after the student-designed project failed to win a community improvement grant, school officials said. Students at Wrangell High School designed the greenhouse as part of the construction trades class. Most of the students in the class said the hoped a new source of funding could be located. “I really hope they do build it,” said Cody Thomassen. “It would nice.” The new greenhouse wouldn’t be used, he said. Students discussed the proje...
The Island of Faith congregation has settled in with a new intern pastor. Lynne Ogren, the church’s intern pastor, arrived in Wrangell back in January, but started her ministry recently. So far, she’s overcome her share of island adjustments. “Not being able to drive to another town has been an adjusment,” said the Oak Harbor, Wash. native. “When you need to go to the mall in another town, you just get in your car and go. Here you need a plane or a boat. That took some adjustment for me.” The...
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...
The Wrangell Borough Assembly voted Tuesday 4-2 against asking the Southeast Alaska Power Authority for $55,000 in “net non-billable” expenses. The resolution as voted on had instructed borough Administrator Jeff Jabusch to withhold that amount from power payments made to SEAPA in the event that they declined. However, Mayor David Jack directed Jabusch to seek legal advice as to whether such a claim had any legal standing, and to consult with an attorney to that end. The vote and subsequent direction to the administrator seemed to strike a bal...
After 60 years of greeting tourists visiting Wrangell, Lurine McGee officially called it quits earlier this year. “Well, I’m 91 (years old),” she said. “Don’t you think it’s time?” The retired nurse and grandmother of four has been a fixture to decades of cruise ship passengers looking to take in Wrangell, often walking down to the terminal in driving wind and heavy rain. She officially greeted her last cruise ship Aug. 7. “It’s getting harder for me to get down there, particularly if the weathe...
