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A commission tasked with making recommendations for state legislative pay advanced a proposal Jan. 4 to raise the annual salary for Alaska lawmakers from $50,400 to $64,000, but also to significantly reduce and place limits on the daily allowance for living expenses that lawmakers receive when they are in session in Juneau. The State Officer Compensation Commission, on a 3-1 vote, called for capping the allowance known as per diem at $100 a day and making the allowance reimbursement-based. Currently, lawmakers who do not live in Juneau are...
It was a rough week for the cruise line industry and travelers. Hundreds of passengers who embarked on an 11-day cruise from Miami were returned to port on Jan. 4 after less than two days at sea because several dozen crew members got infected with COVID-19. The pandemic also prompted a last-minute cancellation of another cruise that was scheduled to depart Jan. 4. Norwegian Cruise Line said it was canceling sailings on eight of its ships in the U.S. and abroad to protect the health and safety of guests, crew members and communities. The next...
Darian Burley's Magnolia Beauty Bar serves comfort and grooming care with a lush pedicure massage chair, salon chair and mirror, a nail care table, and hair care items for sale. Burley offers haircuts for men, women and children, hair coloring and highlights, and pedicures and manicures at her Front Street shop. She said she's usually on the job from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Burley said she likes to keep the salon open late for people who come in after work. There is no typical day at her salon,...
JUNEAU (AP) — Authorities have located the mother of a baby found abandoned in a cardboard box in frigid conditions in Fairbanks last week. A unit within the state troopers that handles major cases identified and located the mother on Jan. 4, and she was taken to a hospital for evaluation and medical care, troopers said in a statement Jan. 5. Troopers spokesperson Tim DeSpain said by email that she is a teenager. “The mother is cooperative and at this time, her well-being and medical treatment is the priority,” DeSpain said. The state...
FAIRBANKS (AP) — It’s not just people who are a bit irritated by the deep snow this winter in Alaska. A wildlife official in Alaska told Fairbanks television station KTVF-TV that the deep snowfall and strong winds that have been prevalent across the state this winter have prompted moose to act more aggressively toward humans. “The December snowfall was really high,” said Tony Hollis, Fairbanks area wildlife biologist for the Department of Fish and Game. “This deep snow has caused moose to not want to be out in the snow. They want to be out on...
BETHEL (AP) — A school that is in danger of being lost to river erosion because of climate change is at the top of the state’s list for the construction of a new school building. The Alaska Department of Education put the school in the Southwest village of Napakiak, population just under 400, at the top of its priority list for replacement for the upcoming fiscal year. However, being No. 1 on the list doesn’t ensure the community will get the funding for a new school. “Of course, that’s completely up to the Legislature,” said Tim Mearig, fac...
An Alaskan who threatened to kill the state's two U.S. senators in a series of profanity-laced voice messages left at their offices in Washington, D.C., has pleaded guilty to making the threats in exchange for having other charges dropped. Jay Allen Johnson, 65, entered his guilty pleas on Jan. 3 in federal court in Fairbanks to two counts of threatening to kill a U.S. official. U.S. District Judge Ralph Beistline accepted Johnson’s pleas and set sentencing for April 8. Johnson, who has been in custody since his arrest Oct. 4, has asked for a...
The Canadian government on Jan. 5 announced an agreement in principle with the country's First Nations to compensate Indigenous children and their families who were harmed by discrimination and underfunding of Canada's child welfare system in the Yukon Territory. Approximately C$20 billion will be used to pay compensation to victims, while the other C$20 billion will be spent on reforming the system over five years. The settlement is worth about $31.5 billion U.S. After final details are negotiated, the settlement agreements and distribution pl...
Four students have sued to force the state to maintain a designated fund that provides university scholarships, challenging a decision by the administration of Gov. Mike Dunleavy that emptied Alaska’s $410 million higher education trust fund last year. The change in policy from previous governors eliminated a source of reliable funding for college financial aid, forcing the scholarships to rely on legislative appropriations from the state general fund, same as any other state expense. The Alaska Higher Education Investment Fund provided f...
Former Petersburg Pilot employee Orin Pierson has purchased the newspaper from Ron and Anne Loesch, who have owned the operation since the mid-1970s. Pierson took over ownership on Jan. 1. The Loesches also owned the Wrangell Sentinel for 17 years before they sold it to Larry Persily on Jan. 1, 2021. Pierson worked for the Pilot between August 2006 and June 2016 when he left to work for KFSK radio for nearly five years. He returned to the Pilot on Oct. 1 of last year as general manager. “Orin worked for us for 10 years, so he certainly knows h...
Posted Wednesday afternoon, Jan. 12 Alaska Crossings, a program that helps at-risk teens and takes them on guided wilderness expeditions throughout Southeast, is closing its Wrangell base of operations and moving to Sitka. Crossings has been based in Wrangell since it was founded in 2001. The SouthEast Alaska Regional Health Consortium took over the program in 2017. SEARHC announced in a press release Wednesday it would permanently shut down Crossings in Wrangell. “SEARHC made the extremely difficult decision to permanently close Crossings i...
For about 20 years on New Year's Day, some of the bravest in the community gather to prove their mettle by wading into the frigid water of Shoemaker Harbor for the aptly named Polar Plunge. This year was no different. On Jan. 1, about 54 people of all ages walked into waist-deep water and then submerged up to their necks. The goal was to reach one minute. Most made it, some gave up soon after getting in. "I did it last year. It wasn't that bad. I had a wetsuit on, but all my friends said I was...
Ratepayers will have a chance to weigh in next Tuesday on the borough’s proposed increase in electricity rates for residential and commercial customers. If approved, the rate hike would increase the kilowatt-hour charge by 7.5% to 9% for most residential and business customers in Wrangell. The move comes after the Southeast Alaska Power Agency, which provides Tyee Lake hydroelectric power to Wrangell, Petersburg and Ketchikan, notified the borough in early December that it would increase its wholesale power rates by a quarter of a cent per kilo...
With the Matanuska out of service longer than expected for more repair work, and the state uncertain whether it can bring an idled ferry out of a cost-saving lay-up, the Alaska Marine Highway System is seeking bids from private vessel operators to possibly provide additional winter runs to several Southeast communities, including Wrangell. The state issued the hurried bid notice on Dec. 31, with proposals due by 2 p.m. Friday. The state also is advertising for a contractor to help it recruit and hire for the ferry system, which is short on...
Wrangell has been selected for the initial start-up of Tidal Network, a newly formed enterprise of the Central Council of the Tlingit & Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska that will bring wireless broadband internet service to underserved areas. The new service could start in Wrangell by late spring. The Central Council plans eventually to extend the new service throughout much of Southeast. The focus is to reach homes and businesses that lack access to reliable internet service, Chris Cropley, a network architect with the Central Council, said last...
The state has decided to stop offering walk-up COVID-19 testing at Alaska’s larger airports, and to stop paying for similar free testing operations in communities statewide, including Wrangell, effective Jan. 31. The SouthEast Alaska Regional Health Consortium will shut down its walk-up, no-appointment-needed free testing operation in Wrangell on Jan. 31 but will continue offering testing by appointment. The change in testing comes as Wrangell is seeing the start of a post-holidays surge in infections, with 14 new cases among residents reported...
High winds, deep snow, below-zero temperatures, frozen pipes, canceled flights and ice-covered everything - it was not a merry Christmas or a happy new year for many Alaskans. Ketchikan endured its coldest-ever Christmas, and the next day, too, shivering to a low of zero degrees on both days, breaking a 57-year-old record for Christmas Day. It was cold enough to freeze saltwater in shoreline areas of Bar Harbor, City Float, Mud Bight and Ward Cove. The 350 residents of Hydaburg, on the...
Anchorage public schools opened the new year with face mask requirements still in place, after the school board reversed a decision by the superintendent that would have made masks optional. Schools Superintendent Deena Bishop decided in mid-December to drop the masking requirement for when students and staff returned to class on Monday, but the Anchorage School Board on Dec. 20 voted 5-1 to reverse the decision. Face masks will be required in the state’s largest school district until at least Jan. 15, when the board will review the policy. B...
Citing COVID-19 concerns and weather-related transportation worries, the state has postponed the 12-day Alaska Board of Fisheries meeting that was scheduled to have started Tuesday at the civic center in Ketchikan. The meeting to consider more than 150 proposed changes to state management regulations for finfish and shellfish in Southeast Alaska and Yakutat already had been postponed from January 2021 because of COVID-19 issues. Last Friday, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game announced that the 2022 meeting would proceed in Ketchikan with...
The 58-year-old state ferry Matanuska needs additional time in a Ketchikan shipyard for steel decking replacement and other repairs, forcing cancellation of more sailings to Southeast communities and leaving Wrangell without any service between Jan. 11 and Feb. 4. The Alaska Marine Highway System on Dec. 27 announced that the Matanuska’s return to service — previously set for early December, then reset to Jan. 17 — has been delayed for a third time. The latest return date is Jan. 31. The ship has been out of service since early October for a...
Internet service provided by GCI was knocked out when Wrangell was pummeled by a gusty storm on Nov. 30, and three weeks later residents were still reporting outages. Technicians were able to restore service to customers by Dec. 3, but there were complaints as recently as Dec. 22 that the service comes and goes. Residents took to the Wrangell Community Group on Facebook to ask if others were experiencing outages — and to complain. Some were seeing disruptions every day, sometimes up to five hours with no service. “It’s my understanding that...
There were about 1,000 stories in the Wrangell Sentinel last year, covering state and local budgets, the ailing state ferry system, ongoing pandemic and more — including a new owner for the Sentinel. On Jan. 1, Larry Persily bought the newspaper — for the third time over the past 45 years — with a promise to return the operation to Wrangell, expand the paper and its staff, and focus on more local news. “We plan to add more news from around Southeast and the state, but not at the expense of crowding out news of Wrangell. It’s not one or the ot...
The borough assembly has selected an almost quarter-million-dollar recreation center project for Wrangell’s application to a competitive, federally funded COVID-19 aid grant program, while it has also adopted its projects wish list for consideration by the Legislature this year. The assembly at its Dec. 21 meeting approved upgrades to the heating and ventilation systems and carpet replacement at the recreation center as its selected project for a federal COVID aid community development grant program. The estimated $225,000 rec center work w...
Alaska’s economic development districts are in the running to win $50 million in federal money to grow the state’s seaweed and shellfish farming industry – known collectively as mariculture. The U.S. Economic Development Administration announced last month that the proposed Alaska mariculture project is among 60 finalists for a Build Back Better Regional Challenge grant. Advocates say the money could help with the state's goal of building a $100 million industry by 2040. More kelp and oyster farms have been popping up along Alaska’s shoreli...
State Sen. Bert Stedman, who represents Sitka and central and southern Southeast, including Wrangell, is in his 20th year in the Senate, serving much of that time as co-chair of the budget-writing Finance Committee. As lawmakers prepare to resume work Jan. 18 in Juneau, Stedman said Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s proposed budget appears to be balanced — and not balanced — at the same time. “It’s balanced, but not when you compare recurring revenues to recurring expenditures,” Stedman said. “We’ve got to unwind that. The structural deficit is goin...
