Sorted by date Results 1936 - 1960 of 7954
BADLANDS NATIONAL PARK, S.D. - Perched atop a fence at Badlands National Park, Troy Heinert peered from beneath his wide-brimmed hat into a corral where 100 wild bison awaited transfer to the Rosebud Indian Reservation. Descendants of bison that once roamed North America's Great Plains by the tens of millions, the animals would soon thunder up a chute, take a truck ride across South Dakota and join one of many burgeoning herds Heinert has helped reestablish on Native American lands. Heinert...
Alaska’s two U.S. senators joined 10 other Republicans on Nov. 29 in voting to advance legal protections for same-sex and interracial marriages. The Respect for Marriage Act, which passed the Senate in a 61-36 vote, now goes to the House, which passed a different version of the bill earlier this year. The votes of both senators were expected; each senator had voted in favor of a procedural motion to advance the bill toward final passage two weeks ago. In a prepared statement, Alaska’s senior senator, Lisa Murkowski, said she was proud to vot...
A new lawsuit threatens to upend a landmark, four-decade-old revenue-sharing pact that has guided the distribution of more than $2.5 billion among Alaska’s Native corporations. The litigation stems from the 121-page, 1982 settlement agreement that has long defused financial disputes between the 12 regional Native corporations. That deal successfully outlined how the companies should share income from developing resources like forests, but didn’t specifically contemplate what should happen with money earned by preserving them. The new lawsuit, f...
The biggest fish processing plant in the Haines borough will stay closed next summer for the third straight season, OBI Seafoods’ Excursion Inlet plant manager Tom Marshall said last week, citing a low pink salmon forecast and the company’s ability to handle the regional load at its Petersburg plant. The continued suspension of processing at Excursion means the borough will see another year of low raw fish tax revenue. Haines averaged about $200,000 in taxes on fish landed locally in the five years prior to the Excursion plant’s closure, compa...
JUNEAU (AP) — Republican Sarah Palin re-emerged in Alaska politics over a decade after resigning as governor with hopes of winning the state’s U.S. House seat. She had a lot going for her: unbeatable name recognition, the backing of former President Donald Trump in a state he carried twice, an unrivaled ability to attract national media attention. But she struggled to catch fire with voters, some of whom were put off by her 2009 resignation, and ran what critics saw as a lackluster campaign against a Republican endorsed by state party lea...
Rescuing a moose that fell into a Soldotna basement was not something that Kenai Peninsula firefighter Gunnar Romatz expected on his shift Nov. 20. Nonetheless, that’s just where Romatz found himself — helping extract a young moose from the lower level of a home, where the animal became trapped after falling through a window. “Like any curious human being, I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, I really want to be there for this because there’s no way anybody’s gonna believe this,’ ” he said a few hours after the rescue. “I can’t even believe it.” Romatz...
On Nov. 28, the cryptocurrency bank BlockFi filed for bankruptcy, the announcement coming less than three weeks after the financial implosion of FTX, one of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges. The collapse of free-wheeling and unregulated cryptocurrencies is having an impact on investors who were at the bleeding edge of finance, but the impact on the $76.7 billion Alaska Permanent Fund has been muted, according to public records and statements from officials at the corporation that governs the fund. “For a while, we were getting a l...
Readers can find both an optimistic view and gloomy numbers in the borough’s annual economic conditions report, issued last month. “With some of the lowest electrical rates in Alaska, the highest school district test scores, the potential to grow its visitor industry, the lowest unemployment rate on record, and a high level of entrepreneurship (more than a quarter of all workers are self-employed), Wrangell has potential to improve its prospects,” says the report, prepared by Juneau-based consulting firm Rain Coast Data. However, the repor...
Former Wrangell residents Kelsey Leak and Arne Dahl were involved in a boating accident late Sunday afternoon. By mid-afternoon Monday, Leak had been picked up by a nearby fishing vessel. As of Tuesday morning, Dahl had not been found. The couple was boating near Point Baker and Point Protection, roughly 40 nautical miles west of Wrangell. Leak, who survived the accident, spent Sunday night on one of the West Rocks, in the area around Point Baker and Point Protection. "That was a feat by...
Statewide assessment test scores have been released by the Alaska Department of Education, and the results are not good. In English language arts, 70% of students tested were not proficient. In math, 77% were not proficient. In science, 62% were not proficient. Wrangell’s students fared better than the statewide average, with 62.68% not proficient in English language arts, 65.49% not proficient in math and 48.08% not proficient in science. That’s not necessarily bad news, say Wrangell’s educators. The tests given last spring were the Alask...
Next month, Sarah Lewis of the University of Alaska Fairbanks Extension Service will help Wrangell residents develop the skills they need to ride out the dark winter days, from preserving delicious foods to reducing those shocking seasonal energy bills. From Dec. 8 to 11, she will teach a wide variety of home skills and food preservation classes in collaboration with the Wrangell Cooperative Association, the nonprofit RurAL Cap and the federal Tribes Extension Program. Lewis, a licensed architect with a master’s degree in social work, has m...
Three students traveled to Boise, Idaho, earlier this month for a gathering of young minds that could shape not only their futures but the future of Wrangell and beyond. Members of the Teaching Through Technology Alliance, better known as the T3 Alliance, attended the Energy Summit at Boise State University Nov. 3 - 7, and were tasked with finding an energy-related problem and then working together to come up with innovative solutions. Senior Nikolai Bardin-Siekawitch and juniors Sean McDonald...
Residents are invited to reserve a spot at the Wrangell Medical Center’s COVID-19 booster vaccination clinics planned for Dec. 9 and 16. Though infection rates in Wrangell and across Alaska have declined this fall, health officials are advising that case counts could rise as people spend more time indoors for holiday activities. The first clinic is planned for 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. Dec. 9 for the Pfizer booster. Residents are advised to call 907-874-7000 and reserve an appointment. The third booster shot of the vaccine to help protect against C...
Wrangell vessel owners who already shuttle passengers and freight around southern Southeast said they would be willing to contract with the borough for service to Petersburg and Coffman Cove, rather than see the borough subsidize a return of the more expensive Inter-Island Ferry Authority. Zach Taylor, who operates the 38-foot catamaran Island Cat, and Eric Yancey, who operates the 75-foot landing craft Rainforest Islander, have expressed their willingness to contract with the borough to provide regular service between the communities. “If Wran...
Despite recent rate hikes, the borough’s user fees are still insufficient to fully cover future big-ticket infrastructure costs, according to the audit of last year’s municipal finances. At a Nov. 15 assembly work session, Finance Director Mason Villarma and Joy Merriner, of the audit firm BDO’s Anchorage office, suggested that the borough conduct “comprehensive rate revaluation and reserve modeling” annually, to ensure that rates keep up with inflation and generate enough money to maintain essential infrastructure, like vacuum trucks, t...
The Wrangell School District has taken another step toward curbing harassment by using modern technology. Earlier this month, the district installed the STOPit system on electronic devices to make it easier for students and staff to anonymously report any bullying they may witness. “It’s been in the works for a year now,” said Schools Superintendent Bill Burr. “The Southeast Regional Resource Center in Juneau wrote a grant and included most of the Southeast school districts in the grant. This is an online program with an app, already install...
It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas, thanks to Evergreen Elementary School students. Last Wednesday, students in every grade level had an opportunity to create ornaments for this year's community Christmas tree. All manner of colorful baubles were crafted and made ready to adorn the tree. Teacher Jenn Davies' third grade class was busy the day before Thanksgiving using cellophane to wrap empty and cleaned food containers, such as strawberry packaging, to make ornaments that look like gia...
Nearing the end of his flight from Seattle to Juneau, Frank Hughes looked out his plane window to the ground below where the outline of the Kake slowly appeared beneath him. An excitement built in him, one that he said made him feel like his heart had just skipped a beat. Though Hughes has lived in the small Southeast Native community for years and has come and gone from it too many times to count, this time was different — because he wasn’t alone in coming home. In the belly of the plane sat a sturdy black bin locked by zip ties and sca...
The 2022 Southeast Alaska salmon harvest is estimated at 29.6 million fish, mostly comprised of 17.6 million wild stock pink salmon, according to Troy Thynes, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game's regional management coordinator for commercial fisheries. Though the pink salmon harvest was only 53% of the recent 10-year average, it was above the preseason estimate of 16 million fish. "The pink salmon in Southeast have been on a strong odd year, even cycle for probably almost the past 15 years or so, and so this year compared with the parent...
Top photo, from left: Kastle Powers, Silje Morse, Brogan Booker, Alana Harrison, Clara Carney, Amura Roaher and Mariah Carney, as the Von Trapp children, listen to Sarah Scambler, playing Maria, as they rehearse for "The Sound of Music." It's been more than 20 years since Wrangell staged a community play. The musical will be performed at the Nolan Center at 7 p.m. Friday and 4 p.m. Saturday. Tickets are on sale at the Nolan Center or online at bit.ly/3ioydek. Bottom photo, from left: Ellen...
WASHINGTON — A year after Congress passed the $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill, Alaska has been allotted over $2.6 billion, making the state one of the top recipients per capita in the country. The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act will ultimately provide $550 billion for infrastructure improvements across the country, distributing funding over five years to improve roads, internet connectivity, and provide clean water, among other initiatives. Democrats and several Republicans supported the bill, including Alaska Republican S...
Rolland Wimberley has a bear of a time running the Wrangell Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving Day. Wimberley, along with many others, ran and walked the Volunteer Park Nature Trail loop three times to total 3.1 miles. Many were dressed in costumes as part of the traditional event to help burn calories and raise funds for the Parks and Recreation Department, which put on the race....
Seventeen of Alaska’s 20 state senators and senator-elects have banded together to form a bipartisan majority coalition that members promise will be moderate and consensus-focused. Gary Stevens, a Kodiak Republican and veteran lawmaker known as a moderate, will be president, returning to the role he held from 2009 to 2012. “It’s a pleasure for me to announce that we have a very healthy majority and we’ve found a way to share responsibilities between all of us,” Stevens said at an Anchorage news conference late Friday. Cathy Giessel, a Republica...
JUNEAU (AP) —Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy has won reelection, becoming the first governor in the state since 1998 to win back-to-back terms. Dunleavy received 50.28% of the vote after final tallies were released Nov. 23. Because he won a majority of votes, the race did not go to ranked-choice voting. Dunleavy said he was “relieved that it’s over and behind us and now we can focus on the next four years.” Dunleavy, who during his first term faced a recall effort, overcame challenges in the Nov. 8 election from former Gov. Bill Walker, an inde...
JUNEAU (AP) — Republican U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski has won reelection, defeating Donald Trump-endorsed GOP rival Kelly Tshibaka. Murkowski beat Tshibaka in the Nov. 8 ranked-choice election. The results were announced Nov. 23, when elections officials tabulated the results after neither candidate won more than 50% of first-choice votes. Murkowski wound up with 54% of the vote after ranked-choice voting, picking up a majority of the votes cast for Democrat Pat Chesbro after she was eliminated. Tshibaka in a statement posted on her website c...
