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  • Alaska's congressional delegation tries again with 'landless' legislation

    Riley Rogerson, Anchorage Daily News|Aug 30, 2023

    WASHINGTON — More than 50 years after the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act passed Congress, proposed legislation again seeks to resolve claims with so-called “landless” Alaska Natives from five Southeast Alaska communities that were left out of the landmark law, including Wrangell. Supporters of the effort say concerns about the environmental damages of logging and public access restricted by private ownership of the lands have stalled progress on the land-transfer legislation in past years. But they are hopeful the political atmos...

  • Fresh coat

    Aug 30, 2023

    Parks and Recreation Department staffers Erik Scheib, left, and Lane Fitzjarrald work on painting, sealing and providing fixes to the outside of the community gym building on Aug. 22. In a separate project, replacement of the exterior siding at the swimming pool, along with repairs to rot-damaged wood at the building, continues under a contract with Johnson Construction. That work has been delayed while the contractor waits for materials to arrive....

  • Family Resilience Fair looking for organizations to participate

    Caroleine James, Wrangell Sentinel|Aug 30, 2023

    The sixth annual Family Resilience Fair will bring games, prizes and educational resources to the community on Oct. 14 at the Nolan Center. BRAVE Wrangell, a domestic violence prevention organization whose name stands for Building Respect and Valuing Everyone, is organizing the event. Since the fair is a little over a month away, BRAVE is seeking community organizations to get involved, specifically those that support families, explained member Kay Larsen. “School groups, faith communities, health-related agencies … anything with a special foc...

  • Petersburg housing review sees need for over 300 more units

    Thomas Copeland, KFSK Petersburg radio|Aug 30, 2023

    Housing is a big concern for communities across Southeast Alaska, from Ketchikan to Skagway and every town in between. In Petersburg, the results of a community survey indicate that more than 300 housing units may need to be built or renovated over the next decade. The borough assembly set up the housing task force to research and address the problem. The survey results were reviewed at a task force meeting on Aug. 17, where Assembly Member Dave Kensinger said: “I think we need to figure out a way to start building more housing. It’s pre...

  • Ferry system advisory board recommends emergency hiring powers

    Meredith Jordan, Juneau Empire|Aug 30, 2023

    The Alaska Marine Highway System Operations Board — an advisory panel created last year — wants the Dunleavy administration and the state Legislature to grant emergency powers for hiring personnel to the ferry system’s marine director. The system has suffered chronic shortages of workers for more than two years, forcing cuts in service to coastal communities. Despite spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on consultants’ reports, hiring bonuses and paying a private firm to recruit new employees, the system remains far short of its hiring...

  • Governor names radio show host to commercial fishing post

    Nathaniel Herz, Northern Journal|Aug 30, 2023

    Gov. Mike Dunleavy has appointed a Republican advertising consultant and talk show host to a highly paid state government job overseeing commercial fishing permits. Dunleavy this month appointed Mike Porcaro of Anchorage as one of two commissioners overseeing the Commercial Fisheries Entry Commission, or CFEC — a Juneau-based agency with some 20 employees. The commission issues annual commercial fishing permits, grants and denies permit transfers in the event of illnesses and deaths and publishes fisheries reports and statistics. Porcaro is a D... Full story

  • Federal grant will fund canoe carving program for Southeast students

    Claire Stremple, Alaska Beacon|Aug 30, 2023

    Federal money for arts, culture and educational programs will fund the creation of two dugout canoes in Southeast Alaska. Goldbelt Heritage Foundation, the nonprofit arm of Goldbelt, the Native corporation for Juneau, will teach Alaska Native youth how to carve canoes with nearly a quarter-million dollars in grant funding from the National Park Service. The goal is to teach Tlingit culture while applying the principles of science, technology, engineering and math education to canoe making. The National Park Service awarded the grant of... Full story

  • State rejects initiative for legislative term limits

    James Brooks, Alaska Beacon|Aug 30, 2023

    Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom has rejected a proposed legislative term-limits ballot measure, citing a Department of Law legal analysis that found the measure was likely unconstitutional. “The precedent set by the Alaska Supreme Court establishes that legislative term limits violate the Alaska Constitution,” she wrote in an Aug. 23 letter directed to the sponsors of the measure. As written, the proposed ballot measure would have limited state legislators to no more than 12 consecutive years in office and no more than 20 years in total. “I’m unhappy... Full story

  • Federal agency rejects endangered listing for Southeast wolves

    James Brooks, Alaska Beacon|Aug 30, 2023

    The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has again rejected a request to list Southeast Alaska’s Alexander Archipelago wolves as endangered or threatened. The wolves, found in Southeast Alaska and British Columbia, range among the region’s large, old trees and are a subspecies of gray wolves. Putting the wolves on the endangered species list, either as endangered or threatened, likely would have resulted in new restrictions on development, logging and construction in the region. The state of Alaska opposed the idea, which was put forward by thr... Full story

  • Thousands of Alaskans lose Medicaid as state reviews eligibility

    Claire Stremple, Alaska Beacon|Aug 30, 2023

    The number of Alaskans covered by Medicaid has dropped by more than 14,000 since April, after federal protections for the health care benefits ended with expiration of the COVID-19 emergency declaration. The number losing their benefits may increase as the state continues the process of determining who still meets eligibility requirements — the reviews were halted during the national emergency declaration. And while many Alaskans are losing their coverage or waiting to hear if they will, the state’s Health Department continues working to cle... Full story

  • First-time state report lists 24 missing Alaska Natives

    Claire Stremple, Alaska Beacon|Aug 30, 2023

    According to a new state report, nearly 200 Alaska Native or American Indian people went missing between the beginning of April and the end of June in Alaska. Two dozen of them have not been found. Violence against American Indian and Alaska Native people far exceeds the national average and Alaska has one of the highest rates of missing and murdered Indigenous people in the United States. The problem especially affects women and girls. In Alaska, calls for justice preceded Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s formation of a Missing and Murdered Indigenous P... Full story

  • Filing deadline Aug. 31 for municipal election ballot

    Marc Lutz, Wrangell Sentinel|Aug 23, 2023

    Four elected positions will be on the municipal ballot on Oct. 3, and as of Monday it was uncertain if all of the incumbents will seek re-election. Two seats on the borough assembly, one on the school board and one on the port commission will be on the ballot. All four are three-year terms. Esther Aaltséen Reese, the only incumbent on the five-member school board whose term expires this year, said last week she is undecided as to whether to run for the position again or not. Anne Morrison, who holds one of the assembly seats that will be on...

  • WCA, Tlingit & Haida and Legion distribute back-to-school essentials

    Caroleine James, Wrangell Sentinel|Aug 23, 2023

    Last Friday and Saturday, WCA, Tlingit & Haida and the American Legion distributed backpacks and other school supplies to help prepare the community's youth for the academic year. A long line of students and families snaked out of the WCA Cultural Center on Friday morning, Aug. 18, as parents and children geared up for the task of backpack selection. "This is an important program to make sure that we're supporting our children and also our tribal families with school essentials," said Tribal...

  • Alaska ferry system confronts costly reality of aging fleet

    Meredith Jordan, Juneau Empire|Aug 23, 2023

    Age is a major issue behind the Alaska Marine Highway System’s pending master plan, which will go to state legislators this month. The state ferry Columbia, which turns 50 next year, had been sidelined at the Ketchikan ferry dock for about three years until February. Management’s decision to park the vessel was based on the large expense of operating the ship, the costliest of any ferry in the fleet. Things changed when it was discovered that the 60-year-old Matanuska, which had suffered a series of maintenance setbacks, had more serious iss...

  • Answering tourist questions is part of the summer fun

    Caroleine James, Wrangell Sentinel|Aug 23, 2023

    Anyone who’s spent the summer in Wrangell knows that tourists often say — and do — the darndest things, whether it’s standing in the middle of the road or inquiring about the town’s elevation as they look out across the water, only yards below them. With just over a month left in the tourism season, the community’s guides, tour operators and service workers reflect on their most amusing tourist tales from this summer and beyond. Several summers ago, Zach Taylor of Muddy Water Adventures was guiding a tour up the Stikine River. As the group r...

  • Clearing the way

    Aug 23, 2023

    Santiago Bautista, the borough's construction manager on the job, right, talks about what clearing work has been completed so far at the Alder Top subdivision project, while Amber Al-Haddad, director of the Capital Facilities Department, looks on. Clearing and preliminary road work for the lower and entrance streets are included in the $1 million contract with Ketchikan Ready-Mix & Quarry. The completion date is Oct. 30. After further work, including installing utilities, the borough plans to...

  • School enrollment estimate adjusted up by a couple of students

    Marc Lutz, Wrangell Sentinel|Aug 23, 2023

    Though not all children had enrolled before the scheduled start of school on Thursday, Aug. 24, due to migrant status or other reasons, district staff reported an increase of two students over their enrollment estimates from last November, which will help with a very small increase in state funding. A couple more students could add maybe $20,000 or so in state money to the overall $5 million school district operating budget. The budget for the 2023-2024 school year is based on 263 students, however, after the updated enrollment estimate, that n...

  • WCA's first repair and reuse clinic planned for Monday afternoon

    Caroleine James, Wrangell Sentinel|Aug 23, 2023

    Ever wanted to learn how to hem a pair of jeans? Fix a bike? Patch a tire? Drain the fluids from an old car so that it’s ready for disposal? The Wrangell Cooperative Association’s upcoming fix-it clinic will help the community learn to maintain and repair household items, promoting sustainability and reducing waste. The event will be held at the covered basketball court on Monday, Aug. 28, from noon to 4 p.m. Marilyn Mork will be available to share her sewing and mending expertise, particularly hemming and attaching loose buttons. She pla...

  • Wrangell will go without ferry service for 18 days late fall

    Sentinel staff|Aug 23, 2023

    The Alaska Marine Highway System last week announced its fall and winter schedule, showing Wrangell without any ferry service between Nov. 27 and Dec. 15. That’s a change from the draft schedule released in early July which proposed regular weekly northbound service but no southbound ferry stops in alternate weeks from Oct. 1 to mid-November. Ferry schedules in recent years have been constricted by a dwindling fleet of operable vessels and crew shortages. Despite a concerted push to hire more crew, the limitations continue. Though the ferry s...

  • Parks and Rec seeks to add more community volunteers

    Caroleine James, Wrangell Sentinel|Aug 23, 2023

    Do you love playing sports, spending time outdoors or working with kids? Do you take advantage of Wrangell’s many recreational opportunities and feel a desire to give back? If so, you are likely the type of person the Parks and Recreation Department is looking for. The department put out a call to the community on Aug. 14, seeking residents to volunteer for its many activities, programs and events. The majority of Parks and Recreation programs, from water aerobics to wrestling camp, are run by volunteers, explained Recreation Coordinator D...

  • U.S. Transportation Secretary rides state ferry to Haines

    James Brooks, Alaska Beacon|Aug 23, 2023

    When U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg's flight from Juneau to Haines was rained out on Aug. 16, he changed plans and did what Alaskans have done for decades: He boarded a ferry. Sen. Lisa Murkowski traveled with Buttigieg and said the last-minute switch in travel plans "was a typical Alaska jump ball." It was an appropriate capstone to Buttigieg's three-day Alaska visit: a trip intended to emphasize the benefits of the Biden administration's infrastructure law, passed by Congress... Full story

  • Haines brown bear raids garden for carrots

    Lex Treinen, Chilkat Valley News Haines|Aug 23, 2023

    When Leigh Horner slipped out of her house on the outskirts of Fort Seward in Haines last week for a Mai Tai at the distillery, she didn’t realize someone was watching her, waiting for a chance to steal some of her things. But the someone wasn’t a person — it was a grizzly bear, who Horner believes waited in the trees for her to leave and sauntered over to her glistening carrot patch. “They only got the orange carrots, and he very carefully pulled them out of the ground,” said Horner. “The bear was very neat and tidy. I was impressed....

  • Navy will name ship after late Metlakatla veteran Sol Atkinson

    Riley Rogerson, Anchorage Daily News|Aug 23, 2023

    WASHINGTON — The U.S. Navy is naming a ship after decorated Alaska Native veteran Solomon “Sol” Atkinson, of Metlakatla. Atkinson, who died in 2019, was one of the first Navy SEALs. He was deployed to Korea and completed three tours in Vietnam, for which he was awarded a Bronze Star and Purple Heart. Among his many acts of service, Atkinson also trained astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin in underwater weightless simulations. The Navy announced plans Aug. 7 to name a future Navajo-class oceangoing tug and rescue ship — which are traditi...

  • Alaska Airlines flight attendants demonstrate for new contract

    Alex DeMarban, Anchorage Daily News|Aug 23, 2023

    More than 150 Alaska Airlines flight attendants demonstrated outside the Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport on Aug. 15, part of a broader protest nationally as the airline’s attendants demand what they’re calling their first meaningful pay raise in nearly a decade. “Record profits, corporate greed, Alaska pay us what we need,” they shouted. They hoisted yellow signs with messages such as “pay us or chaos.” First-year flight attendants at the airline make an average base pay of less than $24,000 annually, said LeiLauni Scheideman,...

  • Permanent Fund will open office in Anchorage; first time ever outside Juneau

    James Brooks, Alaska Beacon|Aug 23, 2023

    The Alaska Permanent Fund Corp. intends to open an office in Anchorage by the end of the year, the chairman of the corporation’s board of trustees said Aug. 10. When the office opens in space leased by the Department of Environmental Conservation, it will be the first time since its creation in 1976 that the corporation has opened a satellite branch outside Juneau. “The principal policy driver behind this is recruitment and retention of employees,” said board chair Ethan Schutt. The corporation, which manages the $78 billion Alaska Perma... Full story

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