Sorted by date Results 2225 - 2249 of 7954
Throughout rural Alaska, the summer’s fuel barges arrived with loads of diesel, heating fuel and a big bill for cities and boroughs. Away from Alaska’s road system and along western and northern coasts that freeze in winter, fuel arrives by barge or plane once, twice or a handful of times per year. This year, those deliveries are coming with prices near record highs. While consumers are paying at the pump directly, there is the growing potential for a second financial hit as towns, villages, cities and boroughs absorb high fuel costs in the...
Over a five-year period, 867 Alaska sea lions, seals, whales and small marine mammals like dolphins died or were gravely injured from interactions with humans, according to a report newly released by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The report, required by the Marine Mammal Protection Act, lists documented cases of human-inflicted harm from 2016 to 2020 to mammal species managed by NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service. The vast majority of cases involve entanglements in fishing gear or marine debris, and Steller sea l...
ALONG THE COLUMBIA RIVER (AP) - James Kiona stands on a rocky ledge overlooking Lyle Falls where the water froths and rushes through steep canyon walls just before merging with the Columbia River. His silvery ponytail flutters in the wind, and a string of eagle claws adorns his neck. Kiona has fished for Chinook salmon for decades on his family's scaffold at the edge of the falls, using a dip net suspended from a 33-foot pole. "Fishing is an art and a spiritual practice," says Kiona, a Yakama...
Bear activity has been increasing in Juneau in August, said wildlife officials, and some of the bruins are looking in parked cars to grab some food. Carl Koch, assistant area management biologist for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, said the department is monitoring two black bears in the Mendenhall Valley area that have learned how to open car doors, and have caused “fairly significant damage” to at least three vehicles in the past few weeks. Another bear occurrence was posted on the Juneau Community Collective Facebook page, sho...
Wrangell would get pretty much the same service it has in recent years under the draft fall/winter state ferry schedule released last week — one stop in each direction per week, October through April. Fortunately, unlike the past two years, when the community endured almost a two-month span each fall without any ferry service, the draft schedule shows no interruptions in service. That assumes ships return to service from winter overhaul on schedule, which has been inconsistent, particularly as supply-chain issues delay the delivery of needed p...
Faced with a $474,000 reduction in state funding from last year, the Wrangell School District found several ways to cut the budget for the 2022-2023 school year. State funding is based on enrollment, and Wrangell’s count is down about 50 students — more than 15% — from before the pandemic. The district lost students to homeschooling and enrollment in correspondence schools in 2020. The district this year did not fill a vacant teaching position at the middle school, in addition to adopting a budget that assumes less spending on substitute teache...
Perhaps no school staff member has as much contact with parents and the public as do secretaries. And the public and parents have three new secretaries to get to know as the school year starts Thursday. As of last week, all three secretary positions at the elementary, middle and high school were filled after resignations at the end of last school year left the crucial roles open. Kendra McDougall, Jennifer Stewart and Marsha McCay have been hired as the secretaries of Evergreen Elementary, Stiki...
At noon on Sept. 30, business-minded residents will gather in the Nolan Center classroom to discuss the economic future of Wrangell. The chamber of commerce will host the economic forum, where speakers will present research on the challenges facing the Wrangell economy and discuss possible solutions. The chamber aims to create a space for engaged citizens and key players in the business community to exchange ideas. For Jeff Good, borough manager, the forum will be an opportunity to listen to the community and better understand its needs....
Every year, the Wrangell Cooperative Association reminds the community about the recycling and waste disposal options available in town. The initiative, said Kim Wickman, who coordinates the effort, is about "giving people the information they need to make better choices." Wickman believes that most people want to lessen their environmental impact, but don't always know how. "Making (recycling) simpler for people makes them a lot likelier to do it," explained Wickman. The WCA's 2022 disposal gui...
While the twinkling lights, bright colors and resounding explosions of the Fourth of July fireworks put the community in a celebratory mood last month, they have also put a dent in the pockets of the chamber of commerce. Though chamber Executive Director Brittani Robbins declined to release the exact amount of money she will need to raise before the chamber can afford next year’s fireworks, she called the sum “significant.” A variety of factors contributed to the chamber’s financial straits, including a lean year for royalty fundrai...
The Ketchikan City Council on Aug. 18 voted to adopt a seasonal sales tax rate structure. The current 4% rate within the city limits will increase to 5.5% from April 1 through Sept. 30, and will drop to 3% from Oct. 1 through March 31 each year. The change will take effect April 1, 2023. The city sales tax rate currently is 4% year-round, and is added to the Ketchikan Gateway Borough tax rate of 2.5% on each sale. According to a memo written by City Finance Director Michelle Johansen, the annual increase in revenue expected with the changes is...
ANCHORAGE (AP) — Two oil and gas companies have announced plans to invest $2.6 billion into developing a major oil field on Alaska’s North Slope. Australia-based Santos and Spain-based Repsol made the announcement, which was lauded by Alaska political leaders as positive news for state revenues and jobs. Santos, which has a 51% stake in the Pikka project, said Aug. 16 that its investment will be $1.3 billion. Santos last year acquired Oil Search of Papua New Guinea, which had been working for several years to advance the project. Santos, in...
When there's trouble in Wrangell, it doesn't take long for the community to show up and pitch in. Such was the case when vandalism was discovered at the Head Start school on Aug. 12. Staff was shocked at first to find broken equipment, toys and supplies scattered around and graffiti sprayed on support pillars. As soon as the community found out, people began to pitch in. "We don't need the kids growing up and thinking everybody is bad and ruining their things," said Katherine George-Byrd, co-own...
Shannon Lindley, left, gets registration assistance from Evergreen Elementary secretary Kendra McDougall, while high school secretary Marsha McCay and IT Director Bob Russell assist Eleanor Knecht during in-person registrations Aug. 17 at the high school commons. Lindley has a child in elementary school, one in middle school and one in high school this year. McCay estimated about 50 parents showed up for help with registration....
A line of parents and students stretched across the Wrangell Cooperative Association parking lot last Friday, waiting for the doors to open at 10 a.m. Some families arrived a half hour in advance to ensure that they would be among the first to enter the building. But it wasn't a rock concert or a new iPhone that drew this substantial queue downtown. They came for the free backpacks, filled with school supplies, that were being distributed by WCA. Before the beginning of each new school year,...
Aly Howell has patiently waited like a student watching the clock for recess. After eight years working on Prince of Wales Island, she has returned to Wrangell to teach. On Thursday, second graders at Evergreen Elementary will be greeted by their new teacher, who is settling in to help shape young minds and raise her family. Her journey to get here was nothing short of adventurous. Howell graduated from college in 2011 with a degree in Christian studies. Her intent was to become a youth pastor....
A change to the school district’s COVID-19 mitigation plan calls for a reduction in testing and an increased focus on students and staff staying “symptom-free.” During the school board meeting Aug. 15, Schools Superintendent Bill Burr detailed what language was removed, what was added and what was kept in the ever-evolving mitigation plan. The district and board review the plan on a regular basis to make necessary changes. The district adopted the test-to-stay protocol last school year, which required students and staff to be tested for COVID...
Election day went smoothly in Wrangell on Aug. 16 despite the transition to ranked-choice ballots. Voters interviewed left the polling place with a largely positive impression of the new system. This was the first election in Alaska with the new voting system, which allows voters to rank candidates in order of preference. The system, adopted by voters in a 2020 ballot initiative, is intended to reduce political polarization and negative campaigning, though critics argue that it could complicate the voting process unnecessarily. Alaska is one...
Patty Gilbert, who serves on the borough assembly and previously served on the school board, has filed her candidacy papers to run for mayor in the Oct. 4 municipal election. Steve Prysunka, in his sixth year as Wrangell mayor, has decided not to seek another term. Gilbert currently serves as vice-mayor on the assembly. Her term ends in October. She served on the school board 2019-2021, and served on the borough assembly 2016-2019. The deadline to file for municipal office is 4 p.m. Aug. 31 at City Hall. In addition to the mayor’s job, two b...
As election day results came in late night Aug. 16 and into early the next morning, Alaska’s senior U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski’s slight lead over Trump-backed Republican challenger Kelly Tshibaka widened. By the afternoon of Aug. 17, with 395 of 402 precincts reporting, the trend continued and Murkowski was ahead 68,800 to 61,994. Democratic Party-endorsed candidate Patricia Chesbro held the third spot with just over 6% of the votes, at 9,620, and self-proclaimed “hard right” Republican Buzz Kelley rounded out the final four with 2.22%, or 3,45...
Democrat Mary Peltola is leading Alaska's special election for U.S. House, but the state's new ranked-choice voting system may leave Republican candidate and former governor Sarah Palin the ultimate winner. As of Aug. 17, with 395 of 402 precincts reporting, Peltola had earned 58,689 (38%) first-choice votes in a race that will determine who fills Alaska's lone U.S. House seat until January, completing the term left unfinished by the death of Congressman Don Young earlier this year. Palin...
Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy received nearly twice as many votes as his nearest rival in last week’s primary election for governor. The incumbent received 64,676 votes as of Aug, 17 to 34,248 for former Gov. Bill Walker, running as an independent, and 33,974 for former Anchorage Rep. Les Gara, running as a Democrat. Dunleavy won by an even larger margin in Wrangell, where his 256 votes in the Aug. 16 primary far exceeded the combined total of Walker, 126, and Gara, 63. It was the opposite 30 miles away in Petersburg, where Walker outpolled D...
Wrangell’s two state legislators both received more votes than their challengers in last week’s primary election. With only two candidates in each race, the Aug. 16 primary was a preview of the Nov. 8 general election, when voters again will choose between the same two candidates for the House and Senate seats. Under Alaska’s new elections system, the top vote-getters in the primary, regardless of political party, advance to the general election. Republican Sen. Bert Stedman, of Sitka, in his 19th year in the Legislature, outpolled his Repub...
The total of invasive European green crabs found in the waters around Metlakatla has risen to 34 live ones, plus some dead ones and a dozen shells of the destructive species. The latest count, from Aug. 9, follows the discovery in July of the first sightings ever in Alaska, according to the Metlakatla Indian Community Department of Fish and Wildlife, the state Department of Fish and Game and federal NOAA Fisheries. The live crabs have been found in Tamgas Harbor, and the dead crabs in Smuggler Cove. Green crab infestations are damaging in...
Hopeful that the borough will be able to strike a deal for private development of the former sawmill property at 6 Mile Zimovia Highway, the assembly will hold a public hearing Aug. 23 on an ordinance that would ask voter approval to sell or lease the 32 acres of uplands. The borough charter and code require voter approval for the sale or lease of any municipally owned property worth more than $1 million. The borough in June purchased the waterfront property for $2.5 million, looking to preserve the parcel intact and hoping it can attract priva...
