Sorted by date Results 2893 - 2917 of 7954
The Alaska Marine Highway System has activated the dormant state ferry Tazlina for more than 30 sailings from Juneau to northern Southeast communities in February and March, filling in service gaps to Haines, Skagway, Hoonah, Angoon and Gustavus. Given the shortage of regular ferry service across Southeast, there had been strong public pressure on the state to activate the Tazlina, a $60 million ship built in 2019 but largely unused to save money. Bringing the 300-passenger Tazlina into service required putting together a crew for the...
A Sitka businessman indicted more than two years ago on charges that he stole electricity for his multiple properties has pleaded guilty and was ordered to pay restitution to the city utility of almost $150,000, plus interest. Richard A. Forst, 59, pleaded guilty to a felony charge of theft of property or services and a misdemeanor of criminal mischief. He pleaded guilty on Jan. 31. Superior Court Judge Jude Pate placed Forst on probation for two years. The judge also fined him $5,000 and ordered Forst to perform 80 hours of community work...
Robbie Marshall, 25, and Kiara Marshall, 22, have known each other since elementary school. Robbie actually took Kiara's sister to the prom. Kiara and Robbie both ended up in her sister's wedding party in the summer of 2017. They started talking after that. Kiara's first impression of Robbie was that "he was really goofy and really cute." By November, they started dating. When they found out they were pregnant, "I asked her parents for her hand in marriage," Robbie said. But he still needed to...
Joe Hommel in 1996 at age 24 used to swing by the meat department at IGA to visit his best friend. Then Charity, 18, started working there, too. "It started with saying 'Hi' to my friend. Then I started saying 'Hi' to Charity," Joe, now 49, said. Charity, 43, said she lived on a boat for seven years with her family, and Wrangell was one of her favorite towns to stop in. Her family was sailing from Juneau to Ketchikan, and she jumped ship in Wrangell, getting a job at the former iterations of IGA...
Verda Villarma remembers Felix Villarma winked at her from the bleachers at a high school football game in Idaho seven decades ago. She was a cheerleader. "She was a good looking gal," he said. "Every time I'd look up there, he'd wink at me," Verda said. That was the first time they met. "He was very good looking," she added. Verda turns 89 in June, and Felix turns 90 later this month. On May 20, the couple will celebrate 67 years of marriage. "It sometimes amazes me," Verda said. Felix came...
Alaska House leaders last Friday backed away from a proposal to strip committee assignments from Wasilla Republican Rep. David Eastman, a member of the far-right organization Oath Keepers. For now, they plan to hold at least one hearing on the group. House Majority Leader Chris Tuck said members had been prepared earlier this week to vote on the proposal but said it was "questionable" whether the votes were there to remove Eastman from committees. Tuck described as informational the planned hear...
Timely environmental approval and a cable-laying ship available after finishing another job in Alaska waters will allow Alaska Power & Telephone to move ahead this fall with installation of a 214-mile undersea fiber optic cable from Prince of Wales Island to Juneau. The project, along with onshore network build-outs in Coffman Cove and Kasaan, will bring high-speed internet to the two Southeast communities. The $28.5 million project, called SEALink, is being funded by a $21.5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Utility...
JUNEAU (AP) — The state agreed to pay almost half-a-million dollars in public funds to settle with two psychiatrists who won their lawsuit against Gov. Mike Dunleavy when a federal judge ruled last fall they were wrongfully fired after “political” demands that violated their First Amendment rights. Under the agreement, announced Feb. 2, the state agreed to pay Anthony Blanford $220,000 and John Bellville $275,000, reflecting lost wages, damages and attorneys’ fees. The agreement says the payments are subject to legislative approval. Both wo...
Alaska truck drivers have rallied in support of their counterparts in Canada who oppose COVID-19 vaccine mandates. More than 100 truck drivers on Sunday drove the 10 miles from Anchorage to Eagle River to support truckers in Canada who have been loudly protesting in Ottawa against the mandates. Truck drivers and other service providers since Jan. 15 can only enter Canada if they are fully vaccinated. A week later, the U.S. started requiring vaccinations from essential non-resident travelers at highway border crossings, including truckers. “We h...
ANCHORAGE (AP) — A Homer man whose home was mistakenly raided by FBI agents searching for a laptop stolen from the U.S. Capitol during the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection has been chosen as the running mate for conservative Alaska Republican gubernatorial candidate Christopher Kurka. Paul Hueper, 59, wearing a T-shirt that said, “We the People are Pissed,” was introduced as the lieutenant governor candidate by Kurka at a rally Jan. 31 in Wasilla. Kurka, a freshman in the Alaska House, said he chose a running mate that has the same vision he has, and...
WASHINGTON (AP) — West Virginia Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin on Sunday endorsed Republican colleague Lisa Murkowski, of Alaska, for reelection, crossing party lines to back the incumbent who faces a primary challenger supported by former President Donald Trump. The lawmaker said he has teamed well with Murkowski in the 50-50 Senate to build bipartisan support for legislation such as President Joe Biden’s infrastructure law. He said Alaska and the Senate are well-served with her in office. “It’s hypocritical to basically work with a person...
MIAMI (AP) - Negotiators from the U.S., China and 13 other governments failed to take action to protect threatened squid stocks on the high seas off South America amid a recent surge in activity by China's distant fishing fleet of more than 700 ships targeting squid in 2020. The South Pacific Regional Fisheries Management Organization, or SPRFMO, is charged with ensuring the conservation and sustainable fishing off the west coast of South America. At the SPRFMO's annual meeting that ended Jan....
Updated Friday evening, Feb. 11, 2022 Wrangell reported eight new COVID-19 infections Friday, raising the total to 21 cases since Jan. 31 -- a slower pace than the record-setting wave of 185 COVID-19 cases Dec. 30 to Jan. 30. The 206 cases reported by the borough since Dec. 30 represent about one of every 11 residents. After record numbers statewide in January, Alaska's count is in decline. The state health department on Friday reported 1,870 new infections over the past two days. At its peak in late January and early February, Alaska’s rate o...
A different style of growing plants is budding in Wrangell, though it might take a while to bloom. Hydroponics, a technique that doesn't require soil, only water and nutrients, could be a more sustainable approach in places where viable soil and ideal weather are harder to come by. While some green thumbs on the island have tinkered with the method, one grower took hydroponics to a commercial level. Kelsey Martinsen, owner of Happy Cannabis, has used a flood-and-drain system to grow his...
Wrangell Medical Center has experienced staffing shortages due to the recent jump in COVID-19 cases, but it has not led to delays in procedures or rescheduling, said Carly Allen, hospital administrator. “We have been able to maintain full operations thanks to the hard work of our employees and the … (traveler) nursing staff that are still with us,” Allen said. Wrangell as of Monday was up to 190 COVID-19 infections reported by the borough since Dec. 30, almost three times the community’s highest monthly count of the pandemic and represe...
A bill that would restore the state licensing fee on sportfishing guides and operators — which expired in 2018 — is slowly working its way through the Legislature. An amendment in the House last year to charge nonresidents twice the annual fee as Alaska residents has raised some questions and concerns, most recently at a Senate committee hearing on the bill. Restoring the licensing fee would raise an estimated $420,000 a year for fisheries data management work. Meanwhile, a separate bill to bring back a longstanding surcharge on all spo...
Middle schoolers move in a circle while a woman beats a Tlingit drum, while just outside other students engage in a fierce and fun battle of warrior ball. Behaviors leading to suspension and other disciplinary actions have led school staff to apply a preventative approach. Activities, celebrations, contests and other methods have been implemented to help curb what appears to be a growing problem some have blamed on the COVID-19 pandemic. In the 2020-21 school year, there were 13 individual suspe...
The state is working through a couple of challenges in its plan to distribute tens of millions of dollars of federal relief funds to municipalities and businesses. Applications for grants to local governments far exceeded the available funds, while grant applications from eligible tourism-related businesses and others fell far short. The Department of Commerce, Community and Economic Development is looking for answers to both questions: How to decide which cities and boroughs will receive how much of the limited money to replace their lost tax...
Mad Hesler has always noticed the tiny stuff. The Wrangell artist and business owner of Tongass Resin grew up in northern New Hampshire in the White Mountains, and first came to Alaska in 2015 for a summer job as a camp counselor in Cooper Landing on the Kenai Peninsula when she was a junior at Plymouth State University, majoring in outdoor education. She had to return to New Hampshire for college, but Hesler, 27, said she "had this huge sense of, 'This is where I'm supposed to be.'" Hesler grad...
Finance Director Mason Villarma has been on the job for about five months and is proposing changes to the borough assembly that he believes could bolster Wrangell’s financial health. At a work session Jan. 25, Villarma said the borough’s assets totaled $39.7 million as of Dec. 31, a mixture of cash, cash equivalents, money market funds, investments and other accounts. Some can be spent, some is in long-term savings, and some is reserved for self-sufficient funds such as the electric utility and port and harbors. Almost one-quarter of that mon...
The state energy office is nominating corridors along Alaska’s roadways for electric vehicle charging station funding, including possibly in rural communities, using Federal Highway Administration money. It’s reached out to ask if Wrangell wants to be included in the request. Borough Manager Jeff Good told the assembly at its Jan. 25 meeting that the Alaska Energy Authority already has earmarked the state highway system for the program, and has asked Wrangell if it wants to be included in the funding request. Good on Monday said the energy aut...
After a delay pushed work on the Anan Wildlife Observatory to this spring from last fall, the Forest Service said the project timeline is still holding steady. The upper observation deck is set to be torn down this spring and reconstructed in time for the July 5 to Aug. 25 summer viewing season — weather depending — said Tory Houser, acting district ranger. “So far, it’s been a hard winter,” she said, but as far as funds and personnel, they are good to go. The Forest Service last June entered into a $989,800 contract with Petersbur...
JUNEAU (AP) — Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy has joined Texas Gov. Greg Abbott in seeking to block the U.S. Department of Defense from mandating COVID-19 vaccines for National Guard members who are under state command. The Pentagon has required COVID-19 vaccination for all service members, including the National Guard and Reserve. Attorneys for the two governors, in an amended lawsuit dated Jan. 25, say that when National Guard members are serving the state, the federal government has no command authority. The lawsuit claims the mandate is an u...
Alaska elections will be held for the first time this year under a unique new system that scraps party primaries and uses ranked-choice voting in general elections. The Alaska Supreme Court has upheld the system, narrowly approved by voters in 2020. It calls for an open primary in which all candidates for each race appear on the same ballot, regardless of party affiliation, followed by ranked voting in the general election. No other state conducts its elections with this combination, which appli...
ANCHORAGE (AP) — The state Supreme Court on Friday narrowly upheld the dismissal of a lawsuit filed by 16 young Alaskans who claimed the long-term effects of climate change will devastate Alaska and interfere with their fundamental constitutional rights. The lawsuit against the state argued that Alaska’s legislative and executive branches had not taken steps to lower greenhouse gas emissions. The lower court dismissed the case in 2018, saying these questions were better left to the other branches of government. The plaintiffs in the case are no...
