Sorted by date Results 1206 - 1230 of 7954
Visitors to the Anan Wildlife Observatory could pay much more than the current daily $10 permit fee if a proposed increase is approved later this year. The U.S. Forest Service recently proposed boosting the fee to $50 per person, per day. If enacted, the full amount would be phased in over the next four years, with the additional revenues helping to pay for work at the popular bear viewing site. According to Erica Keene, media relations specialist for the Forest Service in Alaska, Anan has not had a fee increase since 2004. “The revenue from t...
The Wrangell Cooperative Association’s Tl’átk - Earth Branch is hoping to purchase a parcel of land next to the community garden from the borough to build a greenhouse. The greenhouse would provide fresh produce to the community year-round and create a space for people to learn about gardening and sustainable practices. The planning and zoning commission and Economic Development Director Kate Thomas both recommended approving the land sale. The port commission will discuss the issue at its September meeting before passing it along to the boro...
It's beginning to look a lot like fitness at the Parks and Recreation Department. For the past several months, department staff and work crews have been laboring to finish projects, add more amenities and make the community healthier. One of the recently completed projects was a major fix to the swimming pool, which reopened on Aug. 7. The pool had been closed since last November to repair a leak and to upgrade the ventilation system. "We haven't had any major water loss, which means the repair...
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is proposing more stringent limits on the bacteria level in water that the Haines wastewater treatment plant releases into Lynn Canal. Wrangell faces a similar requirement to reduce the bacteria count in its wastewater discharge. A cost estimate this past spring put the price at $12.5 million to add equipment and upgrade the Wrangell facility to disinfect the treatment plant’s outflow. A section of the Federal Clean Water Act allows waivers for wastewater treatment plants to operate with a lower level o...
Alaska tribes, including the Central Council of the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska, and the University of Alaska Fairbanks will receive more than $350,000 in federal grants to use toward bringing objects of cultural significance back to the state and tribal clans. The National Park Service announced the funding on Aug. 7, as part of the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, known as NAGPRA. "It's very significant," Richard Chalyee Éesh Peterson, president of the...
The borough has nearly $30 million in capital projects in its budget for the current fiscal year that runs through next June 30. The majority of funding — 58% — comes from grants, with 23% from borough coffers and 19% from loans. The costliest upcoming projects by far are related to the borough’s water infrastructure, particularly the water treatment plant and reservoirs. Preparations are underway to upgrade the water treatment plant, allowing for more consistent water quality and more production. The project went out to bid in mid-July. The b...
When was the last time you had an excuse to let loose and dance or “cut a rug” like cool people said 100 years ago. On Saturday, Aug. 19, from 8 to 11 p.m. at the Elks Lodge, the adult prom will give partygoers the chance to live it up and help a community-based nonprofit at the same time. “It’s going to be your high school prom but better,” said event organizer Devyn Johnson. “It’s a retro disco, so you can choose any past decade you’d like to dress up as.” Proceeds from the prom will benefit Wrangell Burial Assistance, an organization John...
In an age of cash-strapped school budgets, teachers and support staff have found themselves getting creative in order to give students all the tools needed to succeed in their education. A teacher at Stikine Middle School had such success with an extracurricular class last year that she began fundraising to continue the program this year, reaching her goal in a short amount of time. Sixth grade teacher Laura Davies worked with Juneau-based Seth Bader and the See Stories program last spring. The...
Wrangell will host the annual Alaska Recreation & Parks Association conference Sept. 19-22 for the first of two consecutive years. The conference will bring over 40 recreation professionals to town from around Alaska and the United States to swap ideas, build their skillsets and make connections among parks and recreation departments. The conference’s workshops will be geared toward industry insiders, not community members at large, but Economic Development Director Kate Thomas hopes that the conference will give Wrangell “an opportunity to...
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...
