Sorted by date Results 1 - 25 of 7954
As voices became hushed and the crowd waited for the ceremony to begin, a toddler mumbled an inaudible question to their mother. Amid a sea of people packed into the Nolan Center, the woman's response was clear and without question. "The Army killed our people here," she said, "and now they're going to say sorry." The U.S. Army apologized for the 1869 bombardment of the Tlingit village called Ḵaachx̱aana.áakʼw at a ceremony on Saturday, Jan. 11, in Wrangell. Of the six Tlingit clans that receive... Full story
The failure of the U.S. House to reauthorize federal funding to assist rural communities with a lot of non-taxable federal land — such as the Tongass National Forest — presents a $550,000 challenge for the Wrangell School District and borough. If the new Congress doesn’t fix the problem, the district could have to further draw on its reserves, or the borough could have to take from its reserves to plug the gap, or a combination of the two. Or cut spending at the schools — the federal money represents about 10% of this year’s school district...
Five months after their initial presentation to the community, a team of university landslide experts is returning to town to provide an update on their research surrounding the November 2023 landslides that hit Wrangell. Margaret Darrow and her team of experts will speak at 6 p.m. Saturday at the Nolan Center. The presentation is expected to run a couple hours and pizza will be provided. The event is free to the public. “It’s supposed to be another great presentation,” Nolan Center Director Jeanie Arnold said. “The last one was really inclusi...
The public is invited to a community meeting to hear and share ideas on how the Sentinel can better serve the town and survive in a world where social media commands more attention than newspapers. The meeting, organized by the Sentinel, is set for 10 a.m. to noon Saturday, Jan. 25, at the Stikine Inn. There will be free cookies and free regular coffee — no free lattes or free cappuccino, though the Stik Café will be open for people who want to buy their special morning coffee. There is no agenda. The Sentinel staff will open the event with a... Full story
Wrangell’s Senior Center may be on the move. Three months after the borough proposed that the Senior Center relocate to the community center’s multipurpose room, a change in plans may be in order as the center explores the possibility of a new home: the American Legion Hall. Recent discussions between Juneau-based Catholic Community Service, which operates the Senior Center, and Wrangell’s American Legion Auxiliary have propelled the Legion Hall into pole position for the center’s eventual landing spot. Staff at Catholic Community Service...
The borough is looking for residents interested in serving on the port commission, which has a vacancy following the resignation of Gary Morrison. With Anne and Gary Morrison leaving town next month to live closer to family in Montana, the borough assembly loses a six-year member (Anne) and the port commission loses a five-year member (Gary). Residents interested in filling out the port commission term until October need to file a letter of interest with the borough clerk no later than 3 p.m. Feb. 11. The borough assembly is scheduled at its...
Mike Lewis is continuing to operate Tiny’s Taxi as he waits to see if a local resident is able to put together a deal to take over the business. Lewis closed down the 24-hour taxi service as of Jan. 1 — citing low demand for rides. He had been driving people around town since April 2022. “Tiny’s Taxi is open for business during our transfer of new ownership,” he posted to Facebook on Jan. 10. “We are pleased to be working with the new owners during this acquisition and will be open to serve the community of Wrangell. Our hours will be limited...
The Box Tops for Education program has been around for more than 25 years, raising money for schools across the country. But people no longer have to literally cut off the tops from food boxes and household products and turn them in to raise money. Like so many other things in life, it’s now an app. The program, started by General Mills in 1996, had raised almost $1 billion as of last year. Wrangell’s Evergreen Elementary School wants to remind residents of the digital opportunity to help raise a little extra cash for classrooms. It all depends...
Alaska lawmakers from fishing-dependent communities say they have ideas for ways to rescue the state's beleaguered seafood industry, with a series of proposed legislation likely to follow. Members of a legislative task force created last spring now have draft recommendations that range from the international level, where they say marketing of Alaska fish can be much more robust, to the hyper-local level, where projects like shared community cold-storage facilities can cut costs. The draft was... Full story
Members of the Alaska Senate are making another run at restoring the state’s pension system for public employees, one year after inaction by the Alaska House killed a prior effort. Senate Bill 28, filed Jan. 10 by Anchorage Sen. Cathy Giessel, would create a system slightly modified from the one eliminated by state lawmakers in 2006. Its early introduction is a sign that returning to a defined-benefit retirement plan — based on years of service — for state, municipal and school district employees will garner significant attention in the 34th... Full story
Challenges in recruitment and retention of state employees continue to bog down public services, according to budget documents. In recent months, the Fairbanks Pioneer Home, a state-operated assisted-living facility, has reduced its capacity because of a shortage of staff. The Alaska Psychiatric Institute in Anchorage, the only public inpatient mental health facility in the state, relies on contracted staff rather than employees to provide care. The Division of Juvenile Justice has closed its Fairbanks facility due to staffing shortages. The...
Gov. Mike Dunleavy has asked President-elect Donald Trump to immediately reverse the Biden administration’s Alaska environmental and tribal lands policies, arguing that they hurt the state’s economy. “Your election will hail in a new era of optimism and opportunity, and Alaska stands ready to and is eager to work with you to repair this damage wrought by the previous administration, and to set both Alaska and America on a course to prosperity,” Dunleavy said in a letter accompanying a 27-page document listing his desired Alaska policy changes... Full story
A creative Southeast Alaska fish processor took the often-discarded collars of black cod, smoked and canned them and came away with a new product for the holiday season that sold out to wholesalers within a few days. Mathew Scaletta is director of facilities and operations at Wildfish in Klawock, on Prince of Wales Island. Black cod tips, also known as collars, because they are taken from a part of the fish just below the head, offer a prime example of stretching a seafood harvest, and thanks to a $6,000 grant from the Alaska Sustainable... Full story
A group of homeowners has filed a lawsuit against the Native Village of Eklutna over a casino planned near Anchorage. It would be the third tribal-owned casino in the state, following by more than a decade much smaller operations in Metlakatla and Klawock in Southeast Alaska. The Eklutna gaming hall would be built on about eight acres of land, a few miles off the Glenn Highway, about 25 miles driving miles north of downtown Anchorage. “There’s a lot of horses and dog mushing, and that kind of activity out here,” said Debbie Ossiander, who lives...
Officials are still not close to reaching their goal of returning at least 5 million salmon and steelhead to the Columbia River Basin. However, new data shows a positive trend in total abundance of fish in the basin. That’s according to the Northwest Power and Conservation Council, which met Dec. 10 to discuss the latest data of salmon and steelhead populations in the Columbia River Basin. Before 1850, salmon and steelhead runs to the Columbia River Basin were estimated to have been between 10 million to 16 million annually. Dams s... Full story
On Saturday, Jan. 11, the U.S. Army will issue a formal apology to the community for its December 1869 bombardment of Wrangell's Tlingit village, Ḵaachx̱aana.áakʼw. This is the third recent military apology to Southeast communities after the Navy apologized last fall for its attacks on Kake (1869) and Angoon (1882). Given the rarity of these admissions of guilt, there is little precedent for the structure of the event, meaning the planning - at least for the Wrangell apology - was left up to loc...
The Washington state developer who wants to turn the former 6-Mile mill property into a waste-burning operation to heat large-scale greenhouses said his next steps include lining up financing and making an offer to buy the land from the borough. Dale Borgford said he was heartened by the warm reception he received from the borough assembly, mayor and borough staff when he and his crew met with officials and toured the site last month. The Colville, Washington businessman has estimated the cost for developing the Wrangell project could total...
Next time your friend asks for a ride to the airport, say yes. You might be their only hope. After two years in service, Tiny's Taxi turned off the ignition for the last time on Dec. 31. Tiny's has been the island's sole taxi service since Johnny Cab ceased operations last summer. "It's been an incredible journey," Tiny's founder Mike Lewis said. "I've met some amazing people and made some amazing friends. (I've) played catchup with a lot of the old-school locals after 30 years of being gone."...
In the 2022-2023 school year, over 70% of Wrangell students were chronically absent. That's nearly double the state average and nearly three times the national average. The Alaska Department of Education, which posts school district absenteeism numbers every year, defines chronic absenteeism as missing 10% of the school year. In Alaska, that amounts to 18 days of missed classes. "If a student misses those 18 days every year from kindergarten to 12th grade, that will add up to them being absent...
Wrangell students’ filmmaking efforts are going global — at least to Vancouver, British Columbia. This February, Wrangell high schoolers Jackson Pearson and Silje Morse will travel to the Vancouver International Mountain Film Festival alongside teacher Laura Davies. The trio was invited to attend the festival by See Stories — an Alaska nonprofit dedicated to building “inclusive communities with film and story.” See Stories and Wrangell’s high school documentary film club, Stikine Stories (whose program is modeled after See Stories), have collab...
“Grease cake” is not a recipe for success in Public Works Director Tom Wetor’s kitchen. And there’s nothing completely handy and harmless about wiping up a mess and flushing it down the toilet. It all clogs up the pumps, screens and equipment at Wrangell’s sewage treatment plant. “It’s definitely a constant problem,” Wetor said, so much so that the borough sends out a reminder every year to residents about what not to dump into their sinks, tubs and toilets. “You’d be amazed at how those wipes clump together,” twisting into a rope around th...
Borough staff is working with an engineering team to finish up the design and specifications to put in streets and utilities for the second phase of the Alder Top Village (Keishangita.’aan) residential subdivision near Shoemaker Harbor. If the borough goes ahead with the project, the street and utility work could be put out to bid for 2025 construction. Phase II of the subdivision of borough-owned land would make available for sale 20 residential lots, adding to the 20 lots already planned for sale by online bidding and a lottery this coming s...
Anne Morrison, who is moving to Montana to be closer to family, has resigned her seat on the borough assembly. Applications to fill the vacancy will be accepted until Feb. 11, when the assembly is expected to appoint a successor to serve until the next municipal election in October. Anyone interested in serving on the assembly needs to submit a letter of interest to the borough clerk’s office by 3 p.m. Feb. 11. The assembly will consider the applicants and make an appointment at its regularly scheduled meeting that evening. A majority vote o...
It’s been almost four months since an anchor line pulled up and bent the deepwater discharge pipe from Wrangell’s wastewater treatment plant, cutting off the outflow, but the repair work is going out for bid and the borough hopes to have everything back to normal by April. Borough crews will restore the normal flow through the buried discharge pipe near City Park just as soon as the contractor completes the underwater repairs, said Public Works Director Tom Wetor. Crews had dug up the pipe on the beach and cut into the line so that the tre...
President-elect Donald Trump has said he will "bring back the name of Mount McKinley" to the Alaska mountain known as Denali, the tallest in the United States. The mountain, referred to as Denali by Alaska Natives for centuries, was officially named Mount McKinley from 1917 until 2015, after former President William McKinley who was assassinated in 1901. The name was changed to Denali in 2015 during President Barack Obama's second term, with Trump vowing during his 2016 presidential campaign to...
