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Not only is Wrangell High School sending two vocalists to the state music festival in Anchorage for the first time in years, but they are brother and sister. It will be a repeat performance later this month for junior Ander Edens, who went to state last year. The vocalist will perform in a mixed choir as a Bass 2. His sister, sophomore Clara Edens, will perform at state for the first time, singing the Alto 2 part. "This is the first year that we're taking two kids to state," music teacher Tasha...
A pandemic aid program that provides one-time payments to tribal citizens is ending Nov. 30, though the Central Council of the Tlingit & Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska will continue to offer other federally funded assistance programs for its citizens affected by the COVID-19 pandemic that started more than three years ago. The household relief program is limited to $1,000 for each tribal citizen to help cover expenses related to coping with the pandemic and its economic hit. Those who have not yet applied since the program started in 2021 have...
In addition to their children’s Christmas party, the American Legion Auxiliary is also preparing to provide gifts and treats for other groups in the community, starting with the Veterans Cookie Trade a week before Thanksgiving, as well as their Senior Santa program. According to Marilyn Mork, the Veterans Cookie Trade began about five or six years ago. “At one of our meetings, we decided we would do something for our veterans,” she said. “The ladies and other community members offer to bake goodies and then we go deliver them.” Plans are to del...
The Turkey Trot returns to Wrangell for its 13th year at 9 a.m. on Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 23, at the Volunteer Park Nature Trail. Sign-ups begin at 8:45 a.m. at the covered basketball court behind Evergreen Elementary School. Sponsored by Parks and Recreation, the 5-kilometer (3.1 miles) race course is a three-times loop of the Nature Trail. Participants can choose to either run or walk. Though there isn’t an entry fee, a donation of $10 is suggested. Recreation Coordinator Devyn Johnson expects a turnout similar to last year. “We usually get...
Alaska fish-harvesting employment declined in 2022, a continuing yearslong slide caused by a variety of factors, according to an analysis by the state Department of Labor. Employment for people harvesting seafood dropped by about 25% from 2015 to 2022, according to the analysis, published in the November issue of Alaska Economic Trends, the department’s monthly research magazine. The industry lost ground compared to other sectors of the Alaska economy, the analysis found. Seafood harvesting accounted for 7.3% of Alaska jobs in July of 2021, b...
Chum salmon are now reproducing farther north in some North Slope rivers, researchers have confirmed. A University of Alaska Fairbanks team this fall found about 100 chum salmon that were spawning or had just spawned in the Anaktuvuk and Itkillik rivers. The rivers are tributaries of the Colville River, which flows into the Arctic Ocean. The discovery of salmon that far north was not a surprise since all five species of Alaska salmon have been spotted in the Arctic, said Peter Westley, an associate professor at UAF’s College of Fisheries and O...
The state has begun a sweeping analysis of its employees’ salaries to determine whether poor pay is contributing to ongoing hiring woes. The Alaska Department of Administration published a request for proposals, seeking a contractor to perform a comparison between state pay in Alaska, pay in the private sector and pay among other governments. The comparison will include 404 different job classes, including positions as varied as prison guards, archaeologists, ferry workers, tax auditors, and the people in charge of regulating the accuracy of g...
PORTLAND, Maine — The last wild Atlantic salmon that return to U.S. rivers have had their most productive year in more than a decade, raising hopes they may be weathering myriad ecological threats. Officials counted more than 1,500 salmon in the Penobscot River in Maine, home to the country’s largest run of Atlantic salmon, state data show. That is the most since 2011, when researchers counted about 2,900. The salmon were once abundant in American rivers, but factors such as overfishing, loss of habitat and pollution reduced their pop...
Nearly every Alaskan received a $1,312 payment last month, their annual share from the earnings of the state’s nest-egg oil fund. Some use the money for extras like vacations but others — particularly in high-cost rural Alaska where jobs and housing are limited — rely on it for home heating fuel or snowmachines that are critical for transportation. The unique-to-Alaska payment has become a blessing and a curse in a state that for decades has ridden the boom-and-bust cycle of oil, and the annual Permanent Fund dividend now competes for fundi...
Vic Fischer, the last living signer of the Alaska Constitution and active in progressive state politics for seven decades, died Oct. 22 at age 99. His death came after several years of declining health and an extended stay in hospice care. Born May 4, 1924, in Berlin, Germany, to an American father and Latvian mother, his family rotated between the Soviet Union and Germany, leaving the latter country for good after Adolf Hitler took power in 1933. As Josef Stalin’s purges took hold in the Soviet Union, Fischer’s father, journalist Louis Fischer...
The state has approved new regulations on inexpensive cannabis-like products derived from hemp, sometimes referred to as “diet weed.” The new changes mean intoxicating hemp-derived products will have to be regulated by the state’s marijuana control board, an act that will see them removed from vape shops and other unregulated stores across the state. Some nonintoxicating products will also be affected by the changes. So-called “full-spectrum” hemp products intended to help with epilepsy and pain include a variety of cannabinoids, including...
Former President Jimmy Carter was honored Nov. 1 by the Alaska Wilderness League for his conservation work in the state. The Mardie Murie Lifetime Achievement Award recognized Carter’s role in creating and passing the 1980 Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act. “Alaska is a special place for many Americans, and President Carter was ahead of his time in understanding how protecting wild Alaska would outlive his White House tenure,” Kristen Miller, the organization’s executive director, said in a statement. “We honor and celebrate...
The borough collected a record amount of sales tax revenues in the fiscal year that ended June 30, passing the $4 million mark. A growing share of the borough’s tax collections is coming from online sales, just over $401,000, according to Finance Director Mason Villarma. That 10% share of total sales tax receipts in the past fiscal year is substantially higher than the roughly 6% share two years ago. “It’s bittersweet,” Mayor Patty Gilbert said of the increase in online shopping. The increased tax revenue is not entirely the result of residen...
Ten Alaska Native youth from the Wrangell School District learned about their heritage and made connections with the statewide Native community at the Elders & Youth Conference in Anchorage last month. The event, which featured cultural and educational workshops, speeches, healing circles, a talent show and more, is a chance for Native youth to learn about democratic processes and leadership skills. This year, its theme was Woosht Guganéixh, which translates from Tlingit to “let it be that we heal each other.” Tlingit teacher Virginia Oliv...
The borough wants to hear from the public as officials work toward deciding the best way to sell the several dozen residential lots that will be created at the Alder Top Village (Keishangita.’aan) subdivision upland from Shoemaker Bay. “The borough is considering two methods of disposing of the land — through an auction and a lottery,” according to the survey announcement issued by the Economic Development Department. “This dual approach is intended to enhance affordability and fairness in the land allocation process, ensuring a more equitable...
While serving as interim borough manager, Finance Director Mason Villarma will make $10,000 per month in addition to his regular monthly base salary of just under $10,000 per month. As interim deputy borough manager, Clerk Kim Lane will receive an additional $2,700 per month. Lane already serves as “acting” borough manager if the borough manager is unavailable, and her amended contract adds the same amount to her monthly paycheck that she would make as acting manager. Both contracts take effect Nov. 1 and expire June 30, 2024, or as soon as...
After considering 11 projects submitted by community members and borough staff for Wrangell’s Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) application, the assembly selected the Stikine Middle School roof replacement as its top priority at the Oct. 24 meeting. Most of the middle school roof hasn’t been replaced since 1995, and the roof’s substrate has begun to warp after 28 years of water absorption. The estimated cost is $1.475 million. The CDBG is a federal program that provides financial assistance for low- to moderate-income communities seeki...
Jackie Hanson, high school and middle school principal, is attempting to make improvements in student attendance before it becomes an issue this school year. According to the most recent Alaska Department of Education’s Report Card to the Public, school attendance in the Wrangell School District has not yet returned to pre-pandemic levels, remaining at 86.72% for the 2021-2022 school year, almost 9% below its attendance rate of 95.54% during the 2019-2020 school year. “Given the transitions associated in how educational services were del...
Now that the tourist season has come to a close, the Nolan Center looks back on a successful year as it prepares for a winter of community events and holiday festivities. In 2023, the Nolan Center had a record year for tour visitors and museum pass sales. Museum passes brought in around $13,000 more than what Nolan Center Director Cyni Crary had anticipated, for a total of around $50,000. The center is also on track to meet or exceed its projected $15,000 in event revenues. "We're booked," said...
The newly created Wrangell Athletic Club is ready to start fundraising to cover student travel expenses for state competition. The group will focus on the state swim meet later this month, followed by the volleyball and wrestling championships in December. The group held its third organizing meeting on Oct. 25, looking to start fundraising efforts in time for the competitions. The school board is scheduled to meet Nov. 16 to consider an administration recommendation to draw from reserve funds to cover a $44,000 deficit for state event travel ex...
SEARHC is offering a flu vaccination clinic from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 4, at the Wrangell Medical Center. People are encouraged to pre-schedule a time slot to help reduce wait times, but walk-ins are welcome, said Randi Yancey, medical office coordinator at the clinic. Influenza vaccines are available for everyone ages 6 months and older, and high-dose vaccines formulated for people 65 and older will also be available. “To schedule a time slot, or to schedule an appointment for an alternative date and time if you are unable to a...
The smell of cedar and the sounds of singing filled the garden behind the Alaska Native Heritage Center in Anchorage during the raising of a totem pole that symbolizes healing from the boarding school era decades ago. More than 600 people gathered on Oct. 22 for the ceremony, raising Alaska's first totem pole dedicated to Alaska Natives who attended boarding schools operated by the federal government or religious orders, as well as their descendants and those who died during their time there....
The 50-year-old state ferry Columbia has been pulled from service, with the Alaska Marine Highway System reporting repairs is expected to take a week. The problem is in the steering system, Sam Dapcevich, spokesman for the Alaska Department of Transportation, told the Ketchikan Daily News on Friday, Oct. 27. “It’s going to require a fairly extensive repair that’s going to take place down in Bellingham, (Washington),” Dapcevich said. The Columbia left Southeast Alaska on its regular southbound sailing Monday, Oct. 30, heading from Ketchik...
Hunters harvested a total of 141 moose in the Wrangell-Petersburg area this year, according to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. This year’s take is much higher than the harvest of 118 in 2022 and exceeds the five-year average of about 120 moose, according to the department’s statistics. “The previous high was 132, and it was in 2021,” said Frank Robbins, a state game wildlife biologist in the Petersburg office. The season opened Sept. 15 and ran through Oct. 15. The count covers moose hunts on Wrangell, Mitkof, Kupreanof, Kuiu, Zarembo,...
For the next week, Alaskans have a chance to register their opinions on the future of the state ferry system through an online survey that will be used to help create a long-range plan. The survey responses will be used over the next year to craft the “2045 Long-Range Plan” for the Alaska Marine Highway System, intended to establish its goals for service levels and operations beyond the more reactive, short-term decisions that have guided the system in recent years. AMHS General Manager Craig Tornga opened an Oct. 24 public meeting by des...