Sorted by date Results 1503 - 1527 of 7954
Tribal citizens lined up outside the WCA carving shed on the sunny afternoon of May 2 to collect boxes of herring eggs from the Central Council of Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska. The Tlingit and Haida Traditional Food Security program purchased over 17,000 pounds from spawn-on-kelp fishery permit holders in the Craig and Klawock area, according to the Ketchikan Daily News. The eggs are being distributed in 21 designated communities, including Wrangell, which received 463 pounds of eggs in about 100 4.5-pound boxes for tribal...
On June 1, the Wrangell Senior Center will cut back its in-person meals and ride services after a loss of funding. Juneau-based Catholic Community Services, the organization that operates the senior center, announced on May 1 that there would no longer be any funding from COVID-19 emergency relief federal programs, making it necessary to reduce operating hours. “With the White House’s announcement that the coronavirus public health emergency is officially ending, there is no longer emergency relief money available to support the senior ope...
As the days get longer and the weather gets warmer, Wrangellites are gearing up for a fun-filled summer. And thanks to a new downtown business that will offer candy, inflatables, décor, custom clothing and more, the community's seasonal festivities are about to get even sweeter. Scott and Keeleigh Curley's new Front Street shop, Midnight Oil, will hold its grand opening starting at 10 a.m. on Saturday, one of the borough's two sales tax-free days in 2023. Midnight Oil will offer the community...
State Sen. Click Bishop remembers his first paycheck as a teenager in Fairbanks in the early 1970s. His boss explained the $10 deduction for the state’s so-called school head tax. “That pays for your education,” the boss told his young employee. “I’ve never forgotten that,” said Bishop. The Legislature in 1980 abolished the small education tax, along with Alaska’s personal income tax and a tax on business gross receipts. The state was getting rich from oil and a majority of lawmakers saw little need for taxes. Bishop, now in his 11th year in...
An Anchorage legislator has added another idea to the growing list of tax proposals before lawmakers who are struggling to cover the state’s revenue needs. Rep. Zack Fields has proposed a personal income tax limited to no more than the amount of each year’s Permanent Fund dividend. “It’s a net-zero tax on Alaskans,” he said last week. No matter how much an individual earns, the annual tax would not exceed the amount of the PFD. In addition, anyone earning less than $75,000 a year would be exempt from the tax. The second-term Democrat described...
A Washington state family has pleaded guilty in federal court to violating the federal Indian Arts and Crafts Act when they owned and operated several businesses in Ketchikan. They sold carvings and wood totem poles made by people in the Philippines, misrepresenting the items as authentic artwork made by Alaska Natives, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. According to the department, Cristobal Rodrigo, 59, Glenda Rodrigo, 46, and Christian Rodrigo, 24, sold carvings imitating traditional Alaska Native designs out of two stores in...
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Senate failed to advance a symbolic measure to enshrine in the Constitution equal protection for women, a century after the idea began circulating among lawmakers. Senators on April 27 voted 51-47 to go forward with a bill that would lift Congress’ self-imposed 1982 deadline for three-fourths of the states to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment. However, the procedural vote, or cloture vote, required 60 senators for the ERA to move forward. The joint resolution, sponsored by Republican Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Dem...
Legislation to impose a state tax on e-cigarettes and vaping devices appears headed to next year’s legislative work list. Lawmakers raised multiple questions about the bills at two committee hearings last week, and the Legislature faces a May 17 adjournment deadline. Bills not acted on by then return for consideration next year. The legislation was heard in the Senate Finance Committee and House Health and Social Services Committee, both on May 4, with bill sponsors fielding multiple questions about penalties for underage use, the tax burden o...
The Legislature has passed and is sending to the governor a bill intended to reduce the cost of Alaska-made lumber for housing projects. After it is signed into law by Gov. Mike Dunleavy, the legislation would set up an in-state quality testing system for lumber produced by Alaska sawmills. Currently, that lumber must be tested and graded by a national standards organization, and bringing an outside grader to Alaska adds significant costs, state forester Helge Eng said last fall. The state House overwhelmingly approved Senate Bill 87,...
The Legislature passed a bill Friday extending Medicaid coverage from two months to 12 months for a couple thousand new mothers a year. Senate Bill 58, proposed by Gov. Mike Dunleavy, is intended to prevent gaps in health care coverage and to address the state’s high and rising maternal mortality rate. State Department of Health officials told lawmakers that 51% of births in Alaska are covered by Medicaid; those new mothers would benefit from the legislation. The Senate passed the final bill 19-1 on Friday. The House passed the legislation f...
Alaskans affected by monthslong food stamp delays have agreed to pause their class-action lawsuit against the state, with the Department of Health pledging to clear 50% of the backlog by mid-October. The lawsuit was filed in January on behalf of thousands of Alaskans who had waited months to receive Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits, also known as food stamps. Under federal law, states must provide food stamps to eligible applicants no later than 30 days after an application is made. The state met with attorneys for the...
The Alaska Legislature is changing some procedures after Capitol phone lines became overloaded by public testimony for a record fifth time this year. The Capitol’s phones reached capacity on May 2, during a hearing about a bill that intends to repeal the state’s new ranked-choice voting law. The phone lines have filled more times this year than in the past six years combined, legislative statistics indicate. Overall call volume hasn’t changed significantly from past years, but Alaskans’ habits have: Members of the public are now much more li...
Thousands of Alaskans who depend on government assistance have waited months for food stamp benefits, exacerbating a long-standing hunger crisis worsened by the pandemic, inflation and the remnants of a typhoon that wiped out stockpiles of fish and fishing equipment in Western Alaska. The backlog, which began last August, is especially concerning in a state where communities in far-flung areas, including Alaska Native villages, are often not connected by roads. They must have food shipped in by...
JUNEAU — An Anchorage civil rights law firm has filed a class-action lawsuit against the state Department of Health over delays in processing applications for a program that provides assistance for thousands of vulnerable Alaskans. The state’s adult public assistance program pays an average of $308.20 per month, and is often supplemented by federal assistance programs, according to the Department of Health. During the past fiscal year, an average of 15,385 Alaskans received the monthly aid, alongside a separate transition program. In Wra...
A bill advancing in the Alaska Legislature would dramatically shorten the time needed to authorize logging of some state-owned lands, shrinking approval time from years to days in the most extreme cases. Proponents say the bill will alleviate fire danger and revitalize the state’s dwindling logging industry by expanding the amount of timber that can be sold from public land, but legislative and public critics contend that the bill’s lack of specificity gives the commissioner of the Department of Natural Resources almost unlimited discretion to...
As public employees rallied in front of the Alaska Capitol last week, demanding reinstatement of a pension system the Legislature abolished 18 years ago, leading members of the state Senate said their request was unlikely to be fulfilled this year. Members of the 17-member bipartisan Senate majority said at the start of this year’s legislative session that a bill intended to improve recruitment and retention of state employees was a priority. But with only a week left in the regular legislative session, Senate President Gary Stevens said a p...
Parents of Alaska public school students would be required to OK every lesson taught by their child’s teacher under newly revised legislation approved by the House Education Committee, but which is not expected to pass the Legislature this year. Without permission, the student would be held out of field trips, extracurricular activities, and even basic lessons on algebra, biology and history. The revised bill also requires school districts to make single-person restrooms available to students. An earlier version of the bill, proposed by Gov. M...
A staffing crisis in the state agency that provides guardianship services for some of the most vulnerable Alaskans means it can no longer accept new cases, agency heads said in a letter to the Alaska court system. The Office of Public Advocacy is required by law to provide guardianship services for adults with severe mental illness, intellectual or developmental disabilities, dementia or traumatic brain injuries, along with young adults transitioning out of the custody of foster care or the juvenile justice system. That means connecting them...
A pair of connected Southeast Alaska waterways are on the 2023 list of America’s Most Endangered Rivers issued by a national environmental organization. The Chilkat River and its biggest tributary, the Klehini River, are among the rivers cited as at risk by the organization American Rivers, which issued its annual list of top 10 threatened rivers last month. The Chilkat and Klehini rivers flow through the Alaska Chilkat Bald Eagle Preserve, which holds the world’s largest congregation of eagles. The rivers also support salmon runs and a pop...
The end of federal pandemic assistance and years of flat state funding have hurt the school district’s ability to cover its costs. The borough assembly has stepped up for the second year in a row to help close the budget gap. At its meeting April 25, the assembly unanimously approved a $1.6 million contribution to Wrangell Public Schools, which is the amount Superintendent Bill Burr said the district needs to essentially balance its budget. The assembly approved$700,000 from sales tax funds and $900,000 from the federal Secure Rural Schools f...
The borough assembly at a special meeting Monday evening considered a $25,000 appropriation to help the chamber of commerce afford this year’s Fourth of July celebrations. However, assembly members voted unanimously to postpone the decision until the May 23 meeting, saying they wanted to hold a public hearing. The chamber requested the $25,000 in addition to the $27,000 that the borough contributed to the chamber’s general budget this fiscal year. “We have a lot of concerns moving forward,” said Borough Manager Jeff Good, including what th...
The Tlingit Nation has stewarded the land in and around Wrangell since time immemorial, and new biological research from the University at Buffalo New York adds further proof of the genetic continuity of coastal people over thousands of years. A 3,000-year-old bone fragment found years ago near Wrangell was recently identified as the remains of a woman. Researchers studying paleogenetics in the region collaborated with the Wrangell Cooperative Association to learn more about the early history of the Tlingit and their relationships to other...
Spring may still be gray and dreary in Wrangell but the sun will come out on May 12. That Friday at 7 p.m., the musical "Annie" will open at the Nolan Center theater and will run again May 13 at 4 p.m., May 20 at 7 p.m. and May 21 at 4 p.m. Last Sunday, cast and crew were busy checking microphones, coordinating and rehearsing a full run-through of the performance for the first time. According to Haley Reeves, in her directorial debut, there are between 30 and 40 cast members, some of whom are...
How does their garden grow? It's elementary, dear reader. Last Thursday, fifth and sixth graders gathered at the Evergreen Elementary School garden to prepare the soil for planting, growing and ultimately harvesting. Tracey Martin's fifth grade class has been learning the science behind growing, along with some math and other lessons. Finally, they were able to put some of that education into practice as they cleaned the garden, which runs along Bennett Street in front of the school. The class...
The borough reassessed the values of all properties on the road system this year in an effort to correct tax inequities among property owners. But this unprecedented mass review has meant a major increase in the number of appeals compared to previous years. In the coming weeks, the borough’s contract assessors and the Board of Equalization will get to work addressing those appeals. Of around 2,300 properties that were reassessed this year, owners appealed 179 valuations. Last year, there were only 52 appeals, though only a third of p...
