Sorted by date Results 1215 - 1239 of 7954
An insidious, invasive crab is multiplying in numbers on the southern shores of Annette Island. As of Friday, Aug. 11, Metlakatla Indian Community teams have recovered 1,622 invasive green crabs from Tamgas Harbor, a large, open bight in the southern end of the island, as well as from Muskeg Beach just outside and west of Tamgas. The invasive green crab is a destructive predator that can change and degrade habitat and threaten native species. The crab adapts well to most ecosystems, and has boomed on the coast of Oregon, Washington and British...
Sockeye and chum runs have been hovering around average this season, according to local fishers, and the upcoming coho season is showing signs of promise. For gillnetters Jacob and Keisha Rushmore, this year’s sockeye run has been underwhelming. “I think it’s hit and miss,” said Keisha. “One week it’s pretty decent, and another week there’s none to be found. It’s kind of a weird year. … You never really know what to expect.” Jacob, who has been fishing for about 15 years, said sockeye have been “trickling” in this year, rather than appearing i...
WAILUKU, Hawaii — In the hours before a wildfire engulfed the town of Lahaina, Maui County officials failed to activate sirens that would have warned the entire population of the approaching flames and instead relied on a series of sometimes confusing social media posts that reached a much smaller audience. Power and cellular outages for residents further stymied communication efforts. Radio reports were scarce, some survivors reported, even as the blaze began to consume the town. Roadblocks then forced fleeing drivers onto one narrow d...
The destruction came as a glacial dam burst in Alaska’s capital city on Aug. 5, swelling the Mendenhall River to an unprecedented degree. The bursting of such snow-and-ice dams is a phenomenon called a jökuhlaup, and while it’s relatively little-known in the U.S., researchers say such glacial floods could threaten about 15 million people around the world. “We sat down there and were just watching it, and all of a sudden trees started to fall in,” said Amanda Arra, whose house still hung precariously over the riverbank two days after the floodin...
Thousands of tourists spill onto a boardwalk in Alaska’s capital city every day from cruise ships towering over downtown. Vendors hawk shoreside trips and rows of buses stand ready to whisk visitors away, with many headed for the area’s crown jewel: the Mendenhall Glacier. The glacier gets swarmed by sightseeing helicopters and attracts visitors by kayak, canoe and foot. So many come to see the glacier and Juneau’s other wonders that the city’s immediate concern is how to manage them all as a record number are expected this year. Some residen...
As Alaska grapples with a shortage of teachers and high turnover rates, a regional nonprofit is recruiting Alaska Native educators to a new statewide program designed to support and retain them. Amber Frommherz, of Sealaska Heritage Institute, said the new initiative, called the Community of Practice program, is a place for educators from around the state to support each other. “The goal is really to increase their job satisfaction,” said Frommherz, who directs SHI’s education program. “It’s going to be some professional development with this...
A conditional-use permit for a $150 million development proposed on nearly three acres of Juneau’s downtown waterfront received approval Aug. 7 from the city planning commission. The action follows the commission’s vote in early July to approve another permit related to the same development for construction of a cruise ship dock located along Gastineau Channel just off Egan Drive as the thoroughfare nears downtown. The two projects, proposed by Huna Totem Corp., are part of the Alaska Native corporation’s large vision for its downtown water...
Environmental groups have asked a federal appeals court to overturn the Biden administration’s approval of exports from the proposed $44 billion project to sell North Slope natural gas. The Sierra Club and Center for Biological Diversity filed a petition with the U.S. Appeals Court for the District of Columbia on Friday, Aug. 11, seeking to reverse the Department of Energy approval granted in April to the state-led project that would send North Slope gas to Asian markets. The environmental groups argue that the massive project would unleash t...
More than 110 people completed the borough’s online survey to gauge public opinion on preferred uses for the former 6-Mile sawmill property, and an overwhelming majority said they want to see resource or industrial use at the site — not tourism development. “The community has less of a tolerance — almost none — to expand tourism into that area,” explained Kate Thomas, director of the Department of Economic Development, which ran the survey. Residents don’t want to create two separate tourism areas downtown and at 6 Mile, and are concerned “th...
The Forest Service’s Anan Bay cabin, which was destroyed by a fallen tree in February, will be one of the first seven cabins built — or in this case, rebuilt — as part of the federally funded Alaska cabins project. Reconstruction on the cabin is scheduled for the summer of 2024. The updated Anan Bay cabin will be in the same location, but with an altered design. “We had an engineer go out and determine that the cabin does need to be rebuilt, but the foundation can be used,” explained Dawn Collinsworth, Alaska Region deputy director for recre...
Just like the gardens they visited, the number of people in attendance grew as last Sunday's garden tour progressed. About 15 people showed up at first, but that number had sprung up to 22 by the end. Five gardens were visited during the nearly four-hour tour, with participants - both garden owners and visitors - sharing ideas, cultivating techniques and educating each other on what grows and what doesn't. The tour was presented by the community garden committee to give growing enthusiasts a...
The swimming pool reopened Monday after being closed since last November for repairs. The almost nine-month closure originally was due to a crack in the concrete near the center of the pool, causing it to leak about 3,000 gallons a day. Finding a contractor and finding other problems that needed work added to the closure. White Enterprises took on the repair job in mid-March, which entailed not only new concrete patching, but tiling and epoxy work among other repairs. During the closure, the Parks and Recreation Department’s water aerobics, o...
Jackie Hanson has been an educator for 19 years. For all that time, she has operated under the philosophy of helping people reach their aspirations, regardless of how different they might be. The new Wrangell High School and Stikine Middle School principal is already in the office, ready to meet teachers, staff and, most importantly, the students. Originally from Lewistown, Montana, Hanson began her teaching career in Noorvik, in the Northwest Arctic Borough School District. She and her...
Young readers flocked to the old gym last Saturday to celebrate their summer achievements with pizza, prizes and a majestic bouncy castle. The event was the culmination of the Irene Ingle Public Library's annual summer reading program, which encourages Wrangell youth to keep their reading skills sharp during the summer months. Autumn Steyers couldn't recall the title of her favorite book that she read this summer, but the storyline left an impression on her: "It was about a unicorn and a little...
The dock at Roosevelt Harbor on Zarembo Island, about 15 miles southwest of Wrangell, was severely damaged in a storm last winter and will be out of service until next year. Initially, the U.S. Forest Service said it hoped to have the dock fixed by deer season this year, which opened Aug. 1, but the contract still hasn’t been awarded. The cost of the repair project isn’t publicly available until the agency awards the contract. For hunters heading to Zarembo, the rustic boat launch at Roosevelt is still usable for landing crafts to pot...
Amanda Arra saw about 50 feet of her Juneau backyard consumed by the Mendenhall River in just a few hours as the waters rose to a record flood level Saturday afternoon, Aug. 5. By evening, as a nearby home fell into the river, she feared she was going to lose hers as well. Her home was still intact at midday Sunday, but about a quarter of the structure was hanging over the eroded riverbank as friends carried her belongings outside the house. Arra had abandoned the home the night before and said...
GCI, Alaska’s largest telecommunications company, will end its email service in mid-2024. At that point, customers will no longer be able to access their accounts and will have to transition to new providers. Reaction among Wrangell users is varied. August Schultz has had a GCI email for “as long as GCI had email,” he said. The company has offered the service since the 1990s. Schultz has been satisfied with his email and was surprised to learn that it will shut down next year. “They (GCI) didn’t email me, they didn’t send anything about it,...
The Head Start program operated in 10 Southeast communities by the Central Council of Tlingit & Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska wants to reduce its authorized enrollment by 80 children as the nonprofit adjusts to a tightening budget situation and staffing shortages. The program serves Wrangell, though the tribal nonprofit said there would be no reduction in classroom slots in the community. Tlingit & Haida is approved to serve 262 children across Southeast but has asked federal officials for permission to reduce the number to 182, according to...
Southeast Alaska commercial seine fishermen are blazing past pink salmon catch estimates that the Alaska Department of Fish and Game predicted for the summer season. Fish and Game in May forecast that seine fishermen would harvest about 19 million pink salmon across Southeast this summer. Bo Meredith, who manages Ketchikan-area commercial fisheries for Fish and Game, said on Aug. 4 that seiners already have likely caught 19 million since the season opened in early July, with more than a month of pink season still to come. The Southeast seine...
The Alaska Department of Fish and Game has announced a second opportunity for commercial trollers to catch chinook salmon in Southeast after a smaller-than-average troll fleet took about 85,000 chinook during an initial opener July 1-12. Troll fishermen can target an additional 10,000 chinook during a one-day fishery that will open from 12:01 a.m. through 11:59 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 11, the department announced on Monday, Aug. 7. The department originally had scheduled the one-day opening for Saturday, but a forecast of high winds pushed...
BearFest attendees brought their culinary and athletic skills to bear at the celebration's games, tournaments and contests. The festival, which ran from July 26 to July 30, featured a golf tournament, marathon, raffle, berry pie contest and smoked salmon contest. When he isn't busy with his job as borough manager, Jeff Good can be found dominating the Muskeg Meadows golf course, and the BearFest tournament was no exception. He won the straightest-drive competition and the team he was part of -...
It's hard to miss: Groups of people whizzing down the streets of Wrangell on what looks like a cross between a bicycle and an old-school moped, sometimes down the middle of the street or dangerously close to pedestrians on the sidewalks. Increased use of electric bicycles, or e-bikes for short, has some questioning how the law applies to the machines, specifically where they can and can't be ridden. Wrangell municipal code states, "No person shall ride a bicycle upon a sidewalk within the...
The Sitka city assembly has given the go-ahead to a plan for building a boat haul-out and shipyard at the Gary Paxton Industrial Park by late 2024. The option calls for a 150-ton boat lift, haul-out piers, washdown pad and an EPA-certified wastewater treatment system. The haul-out would be located next to the old Alaska Pulp Corp. utility dock, with an adjacent work yard for about 20 vessels. “I think that this will be a crucial piece of infrastructure that is worth investing in,” Assembly Member Kevin Mosher said at the July 27 meeting. “Ev...
A record number of people believed to be homeless have died on Anchorage streets in the past seven months, and the count could increase before the year is out, according to police data. The death count stood at 29 on July 28, surpassing the previous record of 24 set for all of last year, the Anchorage Daily News reported. Of this year’s count, more than half of the people died after the city closed its mass shelter at the Sullivan Arena on May 1, according to police incident reports. “That’s very unfortunate,” Alexis Johnson, the city’s...
The state has paid $350,000 to settle a four-year-old lawsuit that found Gov. Mike Dunleavy and his former chief of staff personally liable for illegally firing a state attorney. The settlement with Elizabeth Bakalar, of Juneau, ends a series of state and federal lawsuits triggered when Dunleavy and then-chief of staff Tuckerman Babcock asked state employees to submit resignation letters during the transition from the administration of Gov. Bill Walker in December 2018. In 2021, a federal judge concluded that the process was “an u...
