Sorted by date Results 2356 - 2380 of 7954
Of Wrangell’s 667 COVID-19 cases reported to state health authorities since the count started in March 2020, almost 20% — 128 infections — have been recorded in just the past three months. That is double the statewide average, which shows about 10% of pandemic cases have been reported in the past three months. New variants of the coronavirus are pushing up infection rates across the United States as the nation works through its third year of the pandemic. Alaska’s seven-day case rate per 100,000 people was second highest in the nation as of l...
It's summer break, but some kids are only taking a break from the writin' and 'rithmetic portions of school. There are 158 who are immersed in the readin'. The Irene Ingle Public Library summer reading program, which kicked off in June, has about two weeks left before wrapping up with a pizza and pool party for those who earn 10 points or more. According to Margaret Villarma, head librarian, children grades kindergarten to ninth read accelerated reader books. Before starting the program, kids...
In front of more than 5,000 cheering supporters in Anchorage on Saturday, former President Donald Trump fulfilled a year-old promise to campaign in Alaska against incumbent U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, one of seven Republicans who voted in favor of his impeachment following the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection that targeted Congress. With a 90-minute speech that included a story about a trip to Iraq, conversations with foreign leaders and his thoughts on a variety of issues, Trump endorsed Murkowski's...
The chainsaws are quiet. The laughter and cheers have subsided. The splashing has passed. The Fourth of July celebration and events may be over, but the memories, victories and bragging rights will live on. From catching fish and chopping wood to volunteering and counting raffle tickets, there were plenty of positive outcomes. "I think everything went well considering this is only the second Fourth of July celebration since COVID," said Brittani Robbins, executive director of the chamber of...
The 1,918-passenger Holland America Noordam has added Wrangell to its end-of-season itinerary, with a stop scheduled for Sept. 21. The 935-foot-long ship will be on its final Alaska summer-season voyage, a 14-day trip from Vancouver, British Columbia, with visits to Ketchikan, Juneau, Icy Strait Point (Hoonah), Skagway, Sitka and Wrangell, with cruises into Glacier Bay, Endicott/Tracy Arm, Hubbard Glacier and Misty Fjords. A stop also is planned for Prince Rupert, British Columbia. The company plans to work with Wrangell tour operators to offer...
Gov. Mike Dunleavy and U.S. House hopeful Nick Begich III are poised for dominant victories during this year’s special and general elections, according to an online Alaska Survey Research poll of 1,201 likely voters conducted between July 2-5. The survey also shows Sen. Lisa Murkowski eking out a narrow win due to the state’s new ranked-choice voting system. Ranked-choice voting also could shake up the U.S. House race, since Democratic candidate Mary Peltola appears to have a slight advantage in a head-to-head match against former Gov. Sar...
Families with children in first through sixth grade still have time to sign up for The Salvation Army’s summer lunch program. The program, which began in June, runs through July 29. Ten spots are still available and there is no deadline to sign up. “This is the second year we have done this program and both years it has been a great (program) for us to do,” said Lt. Jon Tollerud of The Salvation Army in Wrangell. “We believe that providing meals for working families is helpful so that parents can worry a little less during summer about their k...
The executive director of the Alaska Democratic Party was arrested for driving under the influence early July 2 near Soldotna, according to law enforcement. Lindsay Kavanaugh, 42, faces three misdemeanor charges for driving under the influence of a controlled substance, refusing to undergo a breath test, and unplugging trooper equipment following her arrest. Kavanaugh has served as the executive director of the Alaska Democratic Party since 2019. Prior to that, she worked as a senior adviser to U.S. Sen. Mark Begich. “I am disappointed that m...
A 19-year-old from Wyoming died in Gustavus when he was struck by fireworks he had lit, according to Alaska State Troopers. Benjamin Jorgensen of Green River, Wyoming, was reported dead late July 4 to the Gustavus Fire Department, troopers said. Jorgensen lit a commercially produced mortar-style projectile that struck him, killing him instantly, trooper spokesman Austin McDaniel said. Troopers were notified of the death at 11:36 p.m., and National Park Service rangers from Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve responded around 1 a.m. July 5....
SITKA (AP) - The family had given up hope of finding their blind, elderly golden retriever who wandered away from their Sitka home three weeks ago, but a construction crew found Lulu in salmonberry bushes after initially confusing her for a bear. Lulu was barely alive after being found July 5, but she is being nursed back to health and is back home with her family, the Daily Sitka Sentinel reported. "She means everything," owner Ted Kubacki said. "I have five daughters and they're 4 to 13 years...
Princess Cruises will not add any additional Southeast businesses to its MedallionPay program this summer, taking time after the season ends to better explain to merchants the digital payment system that can be used by passengers to buy goods and services while in port — with a substantial commission retained by the cruise line. The program takes as much as an 18% commission on local purchases. Objections from merchants and the mayor in Skagway were part of the company’s decision to pause adding new Southeast businesses to the payment system, w...
BELLINGHAM, Wash. (AP) — Southern Resident killer whales of the U.S. and Canadian West Coast have not had enough food for several years, which could affect their already small numbers, according to a study by the University of British Columbia. Researchers looked at requirements and availability of prey for Northeastern Pacific Southern Resident killer whales. The study found a fluctuating level of salmon from spawning areas on rivers had a detrimental effect on killer whale health, threatening a small and fragile group of whales, the B...
It's called Between Worlds. And it features a diving whale. "Peering through the bones of this diving whale pattern is this ancestor with her face and hands pressed against the veil between worlds," Alaska Chilkat and Ravenstail Weaver Lily Wooshkindein Da.Áat Hope said. "Because we talk about the Chilkat dancing blanket as the veil that separates our physical realm to the spirit realm on the other side." Hope and weaving assistant Nadezdha Hughes are working on a full-size ceremonial Chilkat da...
TORONTO (AP) — Indigenous leaders met with Canadian bishops and were told Pope Francis will not add any more stops – despite their request – during his trip to Canada this month, when he will apologize in person for the abuse suffered by Indigenous people at the hands of the Catholic church. Pope Francis, who has been using a wheelchair because of a bad knee, will head to Canada on July 24 and visit Alberta, Quebec and Iqaluit, a small town in the far north that is closer to Greenland than it is to any major Canadian city. The pope will depart...
Howard Starbard knew he had a problem when the pumps couldn’t keep up with the water pouring into his 37-foot commercial fishing boat, Miss Amy. The 63-year-old retired Alaska State Troopers commander couldn’t know he was about to spend 45 minutes in the sea, fighting to stay afloat before a relative, two Good Samaritan vessels and the U.S. Coast Guard intervened to help him survive his boat’s sinking off the Southeast community of Pelican. Starbard was power trolling for king salmon during a commercial opener July 4 with his 13-year-old grand...
With last month’s U.S. Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade, reproductive rights advocates in Alaska are encouraging voters to vote no on a constitutional convention during the general election this November, while abortion opponents are encouraging voters to vote yes. The right to have an abortion in Alaska is protected through the state constitution’s provision on privacy, as recognized by the Alaska Supreme Court in 1997. This November, voters will be asked whether or not to call a constitutional convention, which would pave the...
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP) — A U.S. Supreme Court ruling expanding state authority to prosecute some crimes on Native American land is fracturing decades of law built around the hard-fought principle that tribes have the right to govern themselves on their own territory, legal experts say. The June 29 ruling is a marked departure from federal Indian law and veers away from the push to increase tribes’ ability to prosecute all crimes on reservations — regardless of who is involved. It also casts tribes as part of states, rather than the sover...
With smiles and hugs, the 2022 Race to Alaska concluded last Thursday evening when the last two teams still in the race — Fix Oder Nix and Sockeye Voyages — arrived at the finish in Ketchikan’s Thomas Basin. It had taken both teams more than 21 days to complete the approximately 710-mile distance between Victoria, British Columbia, where the R2AK’s second leg to Ketchikan had begun at noon Pacific time on June 16. Sails, ores or paddles — no motors allowed. “We made it,” Joachim Roesler of Team Fix Oder Nix said after their arrival at th...
Alaska’s state alcohol regulator is declining to stop distilleries from selling kegs of premixed cocktails despite a warning by federal regulators, who have concluded that the process is illegal. The Alaska Alcohol Control Board has rescinded an advisory notice that had cautioned distilleries against selling kegs to bars and other places with alcohol licenses. The board also voted unanimously to create a working group to consider the topic further. “In the meantime, I’m not going to go after a guy who has been doing something, allegedly lawfu...
No one bid on the former Wrangell hospital building, which the borough had offered to sell at a minimum asking price of $830,000. The bidding period was open for a month and closed last Thursday. The property is now available for an over-the-counter sale. “It means that the first person to come in to sign an intent to purchase with a 20% down payment (payment in full within 60 days of signing) would be the buyer,” Borough Clerk Kim Lane explained last Friday. “If that happens, I would then take a resolution to the assembly to approve the sale....
The borough assembly approved a budget for the fiscal year that started last Friday similar to past years — no increase in property tax or sales tax rates, and with more than half of the total spending going to the self-supporting operations of sewage, water, garbage, electricity, port and harbors services. The budget approved by the assembly June 28 includes more than 20 repair, maintenance and improvement projects across the borough and in several departments, including: Repairs and maintenance at the schools, recreation center and pool, i...
The U.S. Forest Service is looking to build a few new public-use recreational cabins in the Wrangell and Petersburg area, hoping to use federal infrastructure funding to pay for the work and considering sites that would be easier for people to reach. The site selection process has been underway for a few years, with the latest round of public comment closing July 6. Past suggestions have included a site several miles south of town along Zimovia Highway, Fools Inlet and a site near the southern end of Wrangell Island, Anita Bay and Burnett Inlet...
Sealaska Heritage Institute has made available online for the public recordings of two important treasures in the preservation of traditional Southeast Native culture, knowledge and history: Radio interviews with Native leaders that go back almost 40 years and the biennial Celebration festival. The 164 radio interviews preserved in digital files are from an hour-long program, “Southeast Native Radio,” that aired on Juneau public station KTOO 1985 to 2001. “The collection is remarkable, as it offers so many interviews with people on topic...
Though he vetoed funding for several projects and public services around Alaska, Gov. Mike Dunleavy did not cross out $4.1 million in state grant funding toward a new $15 million water treatment plant in Wrangell. The borough hopes to finish design work and go out for bids on the project later this year. Federal funds are covering about $11 million of the cost. The governor also left intact a one-time $57 million legislative appropriation to boost state funding by 5% for local school district operating budgets. The increase for the 2022-2023...
School district staff, a school board member, borough assembly members and law enforcement met on June 28 in a work session to discuss school safety measures in the case of an intruder. Ideas such as single points of entry on campuses, student identification cards, video surveillance, arming teachers and others were brainstormed as possible solutions to increase the security of each school. Nationwide so far in 2022, there have been 27 school shootings that resulted in 27 deaths and 56 injuries, according to Education Week, a publication that...
