Sorted by date Results 26 - 50 of 8149
Alaska’s two U.S. senators split on a vote against President Donald Trump’s economic tariffs against Canada. The U.S. Senate voted 51-48 to approve a resolution April 2 that would end the presidentially declared emergency that allowed Trump to impose tariffs on Canada. The vote was largely symbolic because the resolution has almost no chance of passing the U.S. House, where the Speaker of the House has already taken action to prevent the proclaimed emergency from ending. Alaska Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski joined Senate Democrats and thr...
Police on Saturday arrested Ethan Robison, 22, on multiple charges after he allegedly hit one vehicle and ran two others off the road before losing control of his own vehicle and crashing off the highway. Police said they received a report about 5:25 p.m. Saturday, April 5, “of a potentially intoxicated driver” in a pickup truck near Evergreen Trailer Park on the north end of the island. “Shortly after, the same truck hit a vehicle at the intersection of Bennett Street and Zimovia Highway,” according to the Wrangell Police Department stateme...
The math of not having enough revenue to cover what the public wants out of state government isn't a shock to freshman Rep. Jeremy Bynum, who left four years of service on the Ketchikan Gateway Borough assembly to start his new job this year as a member of the Alaska House of Representatives. What surprised him is the size of the gap between available revenue and spending desires, said Bynum, who represents Ketchikan, Wrangell, Metlakatla, Hyder, Meyers Chuck, Whale Pass and Coffman Cove. He...
Kyan Stead talks a lot about practice. If there are two things the high school senior excels at, it's basketball and welding, two talents reliant on tedious repetition. And while that may deter some folks, Stead embraces it. For his senior project, he organized a wood and metal art table at the Nolan Center's holiday community market last December. He sold student projects and other creations students made in shop class. From cutting boards to coat hangers, he sold about $2,000 worth of goods. A...
"The roof is on fire, and I feel like nobody is actually paying attention," teacher Mikki Angerman said at a joint work session between the borough assembly and school board on March 24. Nearly 50 members of the public attended the meeting, and Angerman's impassioned speech to the school board exemplified the widespread frustration with the district's handling of its large budget shortfall. The meeting coincided with the release of the district's third draft of next year's budget. Business...
Without a real plan, Olivia Strano found herself in the right place at the right time. When she walked away from her work as a yacht stewardess and onto a Wrangell dock last summer, she felt she had found her home. "I've been searching for my place for 10 years, and Wrangell is everything I've been looking for," she said. While she was working a variety of jobs to make ends meet, she asked locals what was something that Wrangell needed but didn't have. Music, music venues and more bands were...
It’s even better than a raincoat, it’s “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat,” and the musical is coming to the stage at the Nolan Center this weekend. “If you’ve never seen a show, this is the one to see,” director Haley Reeves said of the community theater production, the fifth play since volunteers resumed putting on shows in December 2022 after an absence of more than 20 years. “Joseph” retells a Bible story about a large family and one young man’s journey and later reunion with his brothers. “It’s not a boring show,” Reeves sa...
Spring started a month ago, but better to wait until any remaining snow is gone and the temperatures are a little warmer before embarking on Wrangell’s annual community cleanup. The cleanup event is set for 8:30 a.m. to noon Saturday, April 19, with crews collecting their gear and heading out from the Evergreen Elementary School parking lot. “People come in and get bags to collect trash at the place of their choice,” said one of the volunteer organizers, Paula Rak, who has been helping with the community cleanup the past 40 years. The organ...
Prompted at a work session with the borough assembly last week to gather more public input into its long-term budget plans, the Wrangell school board is seeking volunteers to serve on a special committee. The school board announced March 28 that it is seeking letters of interest from people willing to serve on an ad hoc committee “to research long-term budgetary considerations,” such as a four-day school week, consolidation of the district’s three schools or other measures to cut expenses. “This is your opportunity to be a part of what could l...
A software problem with the borough’s transition to cloud-based servers resulted in missed auto payments for some Wrangell utility customers in March. Instead of the autopays going through as normal they went nowhere, and the April 1 account statements will show a delinquency for March, explained Jackson Pool, the borough’s finance director. “Please be assured that all late fees related to this issue will be waived,” Pool reported in a March 26 announcement of the problem. Wrangell has about 1,150 residential and commercial utility accounts cov...
DaNika Smalley and Amber Wade traveled to Juneau last month to go back in time. The pair conducted research at Sealaska Heritage Institute, the Tlingit & Haida Central Council archives and at the Alaska State Museum. Their four-day trip was covered by grant funding through Museums Alaska with additional support from the national nonprofit Henry Luce Foundation and the CIRI Foundation, established by the Native corporation for the Cook Inlet region. Smalley oversees collections for the Wrangell M...
Sealaska, the regional for-profit Native corporation for Southeast Alaska, has scheduled a meeting for its shareholders from 5 to 7 p.m. Wednesday, April 9, at the Nolan Center. The corporation is holding shareholder meetings across Southeast this spring, leading up to its annual meeting scheduled for June 21 in Kake. The Sealaska board of directors will be at the Wrangell meeting, said Christian Gomez, communications lead for the Juneau-based corporation. Tables will be set up in the civic center for shareholders to collect information and...
The beach between City Park and Heritage Harbor reopened to the public last week after a closure of more than six months to repair damage to the community’s sewage outfall line. The borough last month collected and tested samples from the beach to ensure the area is safe for the public. “Results of those tests have come back within regulatory compliance and historical averages,” according to a March 28 announcement from City Hall. A boat owner last September pulled anchor in front of the beach area, damaging the deepwater outfall line from...
A two-lane bypass around the Wolfe Point landslide area on the North Tongass Highway in Ketchikan opened last week for traffic to move in both directions. The gravel-surface bypass will remain the only route around the slide “until the stabilization project and full roadway repairs are completed,” according to a March 26 announcement from the Ketchikan Emergency Operations Center. The bypass was built as a temporary roadway for traffic after the March 20 slide of rocks, trees and debris blocked the highway and cut the town into two disconnected...
A couple of Wrangell kids scored victories in the state Elks Hoop Shoot competition. Jude Johnson placed second in the state among boys 10 and 11 years old, with his score of sinking 15 of 25 free throws at the Wrangell event. Connor Blake placed third in the state among boys 12 and 13 years old, with his score of making 18 of 25 shots. They were among the half-dozen kids who placed first in Wrangell’s annual Hoop Shoot in November. Their scores were sent to the state director, who ranked their record against first-place finishers from the 1...
Alejandro Calvillo, 24, was being held in the Wrangell jail last week on extortion and coercion charges for allegedly threatening a victim in an attempt to collect $1,000, Wrangell police said. Bond on the initial charges was set at $10,000, and the suspect was held pending his next court date on April 1, Police Chief Gene Meek said March 27. Police arrested Calvillo on March 23 — a day after the alleged crime — after stopping him just past where Front Street changes into Shakes Street. The victim reported to police on March 22 that Cal...
The Alaska Legislature is considering a roughly $200 million draw from savings to address a deficit for the fiscal year that ends June 30. That would still leave lawmakers with an additional gap of several hundred million dollars in the budget year that starts July 1. Declining oil revenue has helped balloon the state’s deficit. That’s due to lower-than-expected oil prices and an increase in oil company expense deductions for investments in new fields. In total, the Legislature is facing a roughly $680 million deficit over two fiscal years base...
It was always going to be tough for City Hall to follow up a fiscal year that brought in over $50 million in federal and state funding, but 2025 hasn't exactly gotten off to a rip-roaring financial start. Congress' failure to reauthorize funding for the Secure Rural Schools program means that the borough is beginning to build next year's budget in a $800,000 hole after losing the federal aid; the pending launch of Sitka's new haul-out boatyard could take business away from Wrangell's economy; an...
Alaskans have until 11:59 p.m. Monday, March 31, to file for this year’s Permanent Fund dividend, whether they file online or mail a paper application to the PFD office. But if they mail the application, it absolutely positively must be postmarked by March 31. Anything dropped in the mail after that date will be rejected. Last year’s dividend was $1,702, though this year’s amount — which will be set by legislators during the budget-writing process this spring — likely will be at least several hundred dollars less. The state is facing a combine... Full story
Starting next week, SEARHC patients will be able to schedule appointments, message their medical team, renew prescriptions, check lab results and more, all through a new online portal. The online service is optional, and there is no charge. “We’re really excited about the MySEARHC portal,” said Dr. Cate Buley, SEARHC’s chief medical officer. “It’s really a step up.” It will be available to patients in every Southeast community served by SEARHC. Outreach to publicize the new service will start Saturday, March 29, Buley said. Everyone who has a c...
Petersburg is going through the same problem that Wrangell confronted last September: Its sewage outfall line is broken. Petersburg officials discovered that the diffuser section at the end of the outfall pipe, which disperses treated effluent from the wastewater treatment plant into Frederick Sound, had become detached from the line. The outfall pipe extends about 800 feet offshore, reaching a depth of 60 feet, to disburse the sewage into the larger waterbody with strong currents. It’s not known when the line was damaged. “At some point in the...
“There’s nothing off the list,” Superintendent Bill Burr said about potential cuts to the school district’s 2025-2026 budget. From exploring what life would be like as a satellite site of the Petersburg school district to eliminating teacher positions, Burr said the district is exploring everything and anything. The draft budget presented to the school board last month showed a $1 million shortfall between projected revenue ($5.05 million) and proposed expenses ($6.1 million). Covering that gap — without a significant boost in state funding ...
The Salvation Army has cut back from opening its food pantry every week to every other week until it can restock the shelves with enough donated food to meet demand. “I feel that in the past couple of months, we’ve been receiving less donations,” said Capt. Belle Green. The Tuesday pantry serves an average of 25 to 30 households a week, she said. The two grocery stores in town, City Market and IGA, are the biggest donors to the food pantry shelves and “have been unbelievably supportive” in donating, she said. Individuals, food drives at the sc...
It may not seem like it, but it’s springtime, and for the third year in a row Parks and Recreation is organizing an adopt-a-garden program to maintain and beautify Wrangell’s downtown botanical offerings. “Spring has sprung!” recreation coordinator Devyn Johnson said. “Beds are going to need to be cleaned up and taken care of.” Parks and Rec is actively seeking volunteers for the program and the department hopes to begin working as soon as possible, weather permitting. Last year there were 10 groups and individuals who volunteered to keep up Wr...
The borough assembly on March 11 approved moving ahead with Mason Villarma’s request to buy two borough-owned industrial lots at the corner of Etolin and Pine streets. The vote to sell the land to the borough manager was 6-1. Villarma plans to clear both lots and eventually build a 40-by-60-foot building on each of the lots — “one for personal storage and one for a fabrication business venture,” he wrote in his request to the borough. “It might be boat storage or container storage until I can save up enough to build a shop,” Villarma sa...