Sorted by date Results 2031 - 2055 of 7954
Dozens of hands small and large held a firm grip on the 30-foot-long dugout canoe they pushed down Angoon's Front Street despite their shoes slipping on the rain-soaked road. Neither the potholes on the road nor the rain on Oct. 26 seemed to discourage the more than 50 Chatham School District students and Angoon residents from pushing what was the first dugout canoe made in Angoon since the U.S. Navy bombardment 140 years ago. The 1882 bombardment destroyed all but one of its fleet of dugout...
Backers of a proposed copper and gold mine in Southwest Alaska “tried to trick regulators by pretending to pursue a smaller project with the intention of expanding” after the project was approved, a report released Oct. 28 by a U.S. House panel said. The report makes several recommendations, including environmental review process changes to ensure a more inclusive review “of cumulative impacts of projects.” Mike Heatwole, a spokesperson for the Pebble Limited Partnership, which is seeking to develop the Pebble Mine, said the company has not...
Gov. Mike Dunleavy has requested a federal disaster declaration and U.S. Rep. Mary Peltola has requested $250 million in relief funding after the failure of this year’s Bering Sea snow crab and Bristol Bay red king crab fisheries. Last week, Peltola asked Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and the chair of the House Appropriations Committee to include relief funding for crab fishermen and the crabbing industry in Congress’ year-end appropriation bill. Disaster relief funding could be available if Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo declares a f...
Alaska’s minimum wage will rise 51 cents, to $10.85 per hour, starting next year. The adjustment, announced last month by the Alaska Department of Labor, is intended to compensate for a 5% rise in the cost of living in Anchorage. Alaska law requires the minimum wage to be adjusted each year for inflation. Despite the increase, the minimum wage remains well below a widely used measure of a living wage in Alaska. In Anchorage, the median apartment rental cost is $1,339 per month, according to a survey conducted this year by the Alaska Housing F...
With Election Day less than a week away, the leading group encouraging Alaskans to vote no on a constitutional convention has raised much more money than its opponents after attracting a broad bipartisan group of supporters and a growing list of influential organizations backing its cause. Dwarfed in spending, the leading yes group is fighting on two fronts: In secular public forums, supporters are staying focused on a convention as a way to resolve Permanent Fund dividend debates. Meanwhile, some of the same conservative supporters are also...
Republican governor candidate Charlie Pierce confirmed on Oct. 26 that he will continue his campaign despite a lawsuit accusing him of sexually harassing a Kenai Peninsula Borough employee while he served as borough mayor. “We’re in this race to the very end,” he said during a broadcast of KSRM-AM radio’s “Sound Off” program. Pierce, at 6.6% of the vote in the August primary, is far behind the other three candidates in the Nov. 8 general election for governor. “I think the honorable thing to do is finish what you start, and that’s what I...
Nick Begich, who is running against fellow Republican Sarah Palin and Democratic incumbent Mary Peltola for Alaska’s single U.S. House seat, will be in Wrangell on Friday. He is the only one of the three leading candidates to schedule a visit to the community. His conservative platform includes deregulating Alaska minerals development and bolstering the state’s role in supplying resources to the nation. Peltola won the House seat in August to fill out the unexpired term of the late Rep. Don Young until January. The Nov. 8 general election wil...
In the final debate of Alaska's U.S. Senate election, incumbent Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski and her principal challenger, Republican Kelly Tshibaka, argued about contentious issues including abortion and gun control, but their biggest difference was one of strategy and bipartisanship. During a fast-moving hour Oct. 27, Tshibaka criticized Murkowski for working with Democrats and the administration of President Joe Biden during her latest term in Congress, while Murkowski defended her choices...
Republican lieutenant governor candidate Edie Grunwald is withdrawing from the Nov. 8 election after her running mate, former Kenai Peninsula Borough Mayor Charlie Pierce, was sued over allegations he sexually harassed a former borough employee. Grunwald encouraged Alaskans to vote for fellow Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy. She said "recent circumstances" surrounding Pierce had led her to make the decision to step aside. "I support and advocate for the respectful treatment of women in politics, t...
Alaska's four candidates for governor sparred over crime, education, abortion access and the state budget on Oct. 19 in the only live televised debate ahead of the November election. Independent former Gov. Bill Walker and Democratic former state legislator Les Gara devoted much of their responses to attacking Republican incumbent Gov. Mike Dunleavy for his record. Meanwhile, Dunleavy and fellow Republican candidate Charlie Pierce, former mayor of the Kenai Peninsula Borough, appeared to agree...
The cost of preschool child care is a growing problem in Alaska, one of 33 states where the annual cost of day care exceeds the cost of college tuition. The University of Alaska Fairbanks charges $9,870 per year; the latest available estimates of child care costs predate the COVID-19 pandemic and range between $10,000 and $14,000 per year. In forums, debates and questionnaires, Alaska’s four candidates for governor have been asked what they would do to address the problem: In the past two years of incumbent Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s ter...
In unprecedented move tailor-made for Alaska’s new voting system, two different campaigns for governor on Oct. 28 released a joint ad urging voters to rank them either first or second — regardless of the order. It’s not a new message for independent candidate former Gov. Bill Walker and Democratic candidate former state Rep. Les Gara. Both Walker and Gara for months have indicated that they would vote for the other candidate second. But it’s the first time their campaigns have indicated as much in an ad jointly produced by the two campaig...
Alaska U.S. Rep. Mary Peltola in a televised debate Oct. 26 called partisanship a threat to the country as the Democrat sought to make the case for reelection to the seat she’s held since September against challengers including Republican Sarah Palin. Peltola beat Palin and Republican Nick Begich in a ranked-choice August special election to fill the remainder of the late Republican Rep. Don Young’s term. Those three, along with Libertarian Chris Bye, are running in the Nov. 8 election for a full two-year term that starts in January. This ele...
The Alaska Supreme Court issued a full opinion on Oct. 21, explaining why it upheld the state’s new ranked-choice voting and open-primary system as constitutional in January. The five justices issued a brief order at the time in favor of the new system that was narrowly approved by voters in a 2020 ballot measure. It was issued quickly to confirm to the Alaska Division of Elections that the new voting system would be used this year. Alaska is the second state after Maine to implement ranked-choice voting, in which voters are asked to rank f...
At East Ohmer Creek, 22 miles south of Petersburg, is a tree believed to be the largest left on Mitkof Island. U.S. Forest Service Fish Biologist Eric Castro said foresters estimate the tree, which grew on a once-rich floodplain, is around 600 years old. "Those giant pumpkins are what used to grow in this type of environment," Castro said. That tree stands in contrast to those that have grown around it over the past 60 years, which have reached four to eight inches in diameter - about a tenth...
Years of flat state funding create budget stress for schools across Alaska By James Brooks and Lisa Phu Alaska Beacon The Anchorage School District, which is considering the closure of six elementary schools amid a projected $68 million budget shortfall, isn’t the only district facing a major fiscal problem. At the end of the last school year, Fairbanks closed three schools. In Juneau, the school board is considering whether to fire specialists intended to help students recover reading skills lost during the COVID-19 pandemic. In rural A...
As the state ferry system ages, the Alaska Department of Transportation is turning to new technologies to update its fleet. The department is implementing diesel-electric hybrid power on its upcoming Tustumena replacement vessel, which is slated to set sail in 2027. By then, the Tustumena will be 62 years old. In addition to its diesel engines, the new ferry will feature a “room for housing batteries” that could cut fuel consumption by 1%, according to a Juneau KTOO radio report. At an Oct. 14 meeting, Brian Jennings, a projects staffer wit...
For about four and a half years, Twisted Root supplied Wrangell residents with organic and natural foods which could be difficult to find in larger grocery stores. That came to an end when the shop closed on Tuesday. The closure highlights the challenges of owning a small business. While the economic climate has led to some owners taking down their shingle, others have been able to open or expand. Twisted Root, owned by Sierra Roland, of Moose Pass, on the Kenai Peninsula, was open for almost...
Not every year can be a record-breaker, and after an exceptional 2021 yield, the 2022 Wrangell moose harvest has returned to average levels. Hunters took 116 moose in the region, according to Frank Robbins, a wildlife biologist with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game in Petersburg. This year's harvest is "down a bit from last year," Robbins said, but it is still "within what we'd expect for the average on this hunt." "Keep in mind, last year was a record harvest," he added. The five-year...
The holidays are a time for tasty food, corny films and family fun. But, as every Wrangellite knows, shipping delays and unexpected freight fees have a way of impeding the festive spirit of the season, leaving gift givers scrambling to stuff stockings and wrap postponed packages. C&D Deliveries and Alaska Marine Lines are sharing their tips and tricks to help the community streamline its holiday shopping. Chris Booker of C&D Deliveries can distill his shopping advice down to a two-word maxim: “Order early.” Mid to late October is the “pe...
Tourists often have fraught relationships with the communities they visit. In Costa Rica, tourists may swell the country’s gross domestic product, but when beaches are covered in suntanned travelers, sea turtles can’t access their nesting grounds. In Hawaii, tourists may fund fancy new resort developments, but their insatiable hunger for entertainment and tchotchkes has decimated the island environments. However, a new movement called “regenerative tourism” — which is taking root in Alaska — seeks to change the industry for good. Regenerative t...
The entire Wrangell family — consisting of parents, kids, siblings, elders, community members and more — is invited to the Family Resilience Fair at the Nolan Center next month. BRAVE, a domestic violence prevention organization whose name stands for Building Respect And Valuing Everyone, is hosting the fifth-annual fair on Nov. 19 from 2 to 4 p.m. The event will feature prizes, family-centric games and informative booths from social service organizations in the area. The upcoming fair is “a way for … agencies to connect with the communi...
Wrangell registered voters have the option to cast their ballots early if they will be out of town on election day Nov. 8 or would prefer to get it out of the way in advance. Early voting opened Monday and is available 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays through Nov. 7 at City Hall. The state is offering early voting sites in more than 150 communities across Alaska. Election-day voting in Wrangell is set for 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Nov. 8 at the Nolan Center. Alaskans will be using the state’s new ranked-choice voting system, just as they did in the August s...
ANCHORAGE (AP) — Republican candidate for governor, Charlie Pierce, faces a lawsuit alleging that he sexually harassed a former assistant while he was mayor of the Kenai Peninsula Borough. The lawsuit filed in state Superior Court on Friday accuses Pierce of “constant unwanted physical touching, sexual remarks, and sexual advances,” the Anchorage Daily News reported. The borough already has paid two other former employees a combined $267,000 in settlements for separate complaints against Pierce. “When an elected official abuses their power a...
Because the hybrid cruise ship Roald Amundsen started coming to Wrangell this summer, projects based in town are now eligible for grant funds through the cruise line parent company’s nonprofit foundation. Norway-based Hurtigruten Group has been awarding grants through its foundation to projects in communities its cruise ships visit since 2015. It awards projects focused on preserving wildlife, battling plastic waste and marine litter, and supporting the communities Hurtigruten stops in. “Everywhere we operate, we see the negative effects tha...
