Sorted by date Results 2543 - 2567 of 7954
A Ketchikan nonprofit has helped the Wrangell tribal council secure a $1 million federal grant toward domestic violence and sexual abuse prevention, and advocacy for survivors. Agnes Moran, executive director at Women in Safe Homes in Ketchikan, helped Wrangell Cooperative Association apply for the grant from Indian Health Services. The entirety of the $1 million is for Wrangell, tribal and non-tribal, at $200,000 a year over the next five years, she said May 10. The goal is to create two job...
Since the onslaught of COVID-19 two years ago, the Friends of the Museum lost more than half its membership due to various reasons and has struggled with bringing in needed donations. The nonprofit foundation that raises funds for the Wrangell Museum is working to increase membership through different means, including an upcoming membership drive. "The (Friends of the Museum), when I came aboard in 2019, had 60-plus members," said foundation president Michael Bania. "In the first year of COVID,...
It’s up to the Senate in the final days of the legislative session whether Alaskans will get a year of gasoline and diesel at the pump without the state tax of eight cents a gallon. The House by a 36-2 margin on May 4 passed the measure — which could save an average driver $30 to $50 a year in motor fuel taxes but cost the state about $35 million in lost revenues — sending it to the Senate for action in the final two weeks of the session. A week later, the Senate Transportation Committee moved the bill on May 11, sending it to its next stop,...
The borough assembly was scheduled to hold a special meeting Tuesday evening to consider an agreement for the SouthEast Alaska Regional Health Consortium to make voluntary payments on tax-exempt property it owns in town. A draft agreement had been on the agenda at the assembly’s May 10 meeting but discussion was postponed. Mayor Steve Prysunka is leading the negotiations on the borough’s side, Borough Manager Jeff Good said last Thursday. The borough had started negotiations by asking for $225,000 a year, and SEARHC offered $45,000 per year for...
Volunteers cleaned up 14 garden beds along Front Street, from the Stikine Inn down to Rayme's Bar, last Saturday to keep downtown looking nicer for tourists and residents alike. The annual cleanup came about after the beds needed more maintenance, as bushes had become overgrown and caused line-of-sight problems for motorists, said Parks and Recreation Director Kate Thomas. "Over 550 hours of labor went into (cleaning) them last year," Thomas said. "That's not the cumulative season, it was just...
SEATTLE (AP) — In a message to Alaska Airlines employees last Thursday evening, and later sent to customers, CEO Ben Minicucci said the high level of flight cancellations since April will continue throughout May but that stability should return to the schedule in June. He said the airline has been canceling about 50 of the 1,200 flights it operates every day. “This is coming at a time when flights are already full, so rebooking options are limited and many of our guests have experienced extraordinarily long (customer service) hold tim...
The largest of the state ferries, the 499-passenger Columbia, was still listed as inactive on the Transportation Department website as of Monday, with no indication it will go back to work this summer as was planned nine months ago. Last August, the department’s draft summer 2022 schedule included the ship “penciled in” to run May 11 through Sept. 14, with weekly sailings to Southeast from Bellingham, Washington, “pending crew availability.” The run would have included weekly stops in Wrangell. After months of nationwide advertising for crew,...
As the Wrangell High School class of 2022 prepares to graduate on Friday, the Sentinel asked them to reflect on the past four years and how they would advise the class of 2023. Jimmy Baggen What are your plans after graduation? My plans after high school are to go to (the University of Alaska Southeast) and enroll in the diesel power tech program. I will be there for two years, and after that I may go into the diesel mechanics field. What will you miss about high school? I won't miss much about...
Plenty of foot stomping, hand clapping and cheering punctuated the accolades bestowed on Wrangell High School students last Friday, making the auditorium a celebratory club for an hour. Eighth through 12th graders gathered along with community members for the high school’s end-of-the-year award ceremony to honor student achievements and announce senior scholarship recipients. A total of $108,300 from 19 local scholarships were awarded to seniors, said school counselor Addy Esco. An additional $682,869 from 17 outside scholarships were also a...
Summer is more than just playing outdoors for children — it can be about reading books and winning prizes, including a pool and pizza party. The Irene Ingle Public Library’s summer reading program is open to children entering kindergarten through the freshman year of high school in the fall. Almost 100 children completed the reading program last year, Margaret Villarma, library director, said last week. Children need to come into the library or call 907-874-3535 to register in advance; the reading program starts June 1 and runs through Jul...
JUNEAU (AP) — The state Senate passed legislation last Friday to formally recognize tribes in Alaska, which supporters say is an overdue step that would create opportunities for the state and tribes to work together. The measure passed 15-0 and will return to the House, which passed a similar version last year. If the House agrees to the Senate version before the Legislature’s scheduled adjournment this week, the bill will go to the governor. If the bill is enacted, its passage would likely bump from this year’s ballot a similar tribal recog...
When Kitty Angerman caught wind of the chamber of commerce logo design contest for the Fourth of July, she smelled inspiration right away. That inspiration - the scent of the Stikine River - won her the grand prize of $1,000, and her design will appear on posters, T-shirts, hat, cups and more. Angerman was the first to submit an entry into the contest, followed by 22 more. Chamber executive director Brittani Robbins said they decided to go with a contest this year rather than pay someone for a...
The Salvation Army is working with Wrangell businesses and community donations to provide free weekday lunches for 50 children again this summer. The program starts June 1 and will run through July 29, Lt. Jon Tollerud of The Salvation Army said last week. It’s open to children entering first through fifth grades. “It will be similar to what we did last year,” Tollerud said, with families needing to call to register their kids in advance: 907-874-3753. The program is limited, and he encouraged families to call soon to sign up. Children will...
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP) — A first-of-its-kind federal study of Native American boarding schools that for over a century sought to assimilate Indigenous children into white society has identified more than 400 such schools that were supported by the U.S. government and more than 50 associated burial sites, a figure that could grow as research continues. The report released May 11 by the Interior Department expands the number of schools that were known to have operated over 150 years, starting in the early 19th century and coinciding with the r...
A new Interior Department report on the legacy of boarding schools for Native Americans underscores how closely the U.S. government collaborated with churches to Christianize them as part of a project to sever them from their culture, their identities and ultimately their land. The role of churches forms a secondary part of the Federal Indian Boarding School Initiative Investigative Report, released May 11 after a yearlong review sparked by the 2021 discoveries of hundreds of potential graves at former residential schools in Canada. Most of it...
The 342-foot cruise ship Ocean Victory awaits passengers to return after coming into port at the City Dock last Thursday. It was the first official cruise ship in Wrangell for the tourist season, and the Ocean Victory's first visit to Southeast and first to Wrangell. It entered service just seven months ago. Jackson Carney, 13, uses a lull during state testing at the school -- his grades were high enough to exempt him - the morning of May 12 to sell garnets as the first cruise ship of the year,...
PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — America's commercial fishing industry fell 10% in catch volume and 15% in value during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, federal regulators said last Thursday. The 2020 haul of fish was 8.4 billion pounds, while the value of that catch was $4.8 billion, officials with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said. The early months of the pandemic posed numerous challenges for the U.S. fishing industry, which has remained economically viable despite the difficult year, NOAA officials said. “It was fis...
A retired Matanuska-Susitna Borough teacher has filed to run as a Democrat for U.S. Senate in Alaska. Pat Chesbro filed candidacy paperwork with the state Division of Elections on May 11. She would join a crowded field of 16 candidates in the Aug. 16 primary that includes the incumbent, Republican Lisa Murkowski, and Kelly Tshibaka, a Republican endorsed by former President Donald Trump. Murkowski has had a huge cash advantage in the race so far. The filing deadline is June 1. Chesbro’s campaign said she spent a career in education and is on th...
The cruise ship Radiance of the Seas struck a Sitka Sound Cruise Terminal mooring dolphin on May 9 as it was preparing to dock, limiting the facility to one berth instead of two until repairs are completed in a few weeks, terminal manager Chris McGraw said. There was no apparent damage to the 961-foot ship and no reported injuries in the mishap. A dolphin is a collection of steel pilings driven into the ocean floor and used for mooring a ship at a dock. The Coast Guard Marine Safety Detachment is investigating the accident, McGraw said. He has...
Pastor Sue Bahleda of the Island of Faith Lutheran Church and Lt. Rosie Tollerud (right) give the Blessing of the Fleet last Sunday at the Mariners' Memorial at Heritage Harbor. Girl Scouts presented the U.S. and Alaska flags, and music teacher Tasha Morse sang the Star Spangled Banner. "The blessings come not from us but the blessings are our collective wish for all of our fisher folk," Bahleda said. Tollerud began the prayer with, "Let us pour out prayer and blessing for our fleet. ... For...
Seattle-based Trident Seafoods will not open its Wrangell processing plant this summer, the third year in a row the operation has been closed. As in the past two years, the company cited weak chum salmon returns for its decision not to run the plant. Company officials did not return calls to the Sentinel last Friday or Monday. News of the plant closure was presented in Borough Manager Jeff Good’s report for Tuesday’s assembly meeting: “They have notified us that they do not intend on running this year but are hoping for next year.” “We wou...
The borough assembly on Tuesday was to consider a draft agreement for the SouthEast Alaska Regional Health Consortium to make voluntary payments of $45,000 per year for 10 years on property owned by the nonprofit health care provider in town. The borough had initially asked for $225,000 a year. SEARHC is not legally required to pay taxes — state law exempts nonprofit religious, charitable, hospital or educational organizations from municipal property taxes — and it has been in negotiations with the borough for several months for a vol...
Wrangell High School's art program is closer than ever to a $50,000 prize. Teacher Tasha Morse was notified on Monday that the shoes her class entered in the Vans Custom Culture art contest had won a spot in the national top five. Being in the top five schools, Wrangell is guaranteed at least a $15,000 prize. The $50,000 grand prize winner will be announced Friday. Morse said she received an email Monday morning which read, "We will be announcing one school each day this week that is included...
It's not uncommon for high school students to learn a second language. It's a bit rarer for them to take what they've learned and teach it to others. That's exactly what sophomore Mia Wiederspohn has been doing the past two years with the Tlingit language and by extension the culture. As a freshman, Wiederspohn, 15, began learning Tlingit from Virginia Oliver, whose Tlingit name is Xwaanlein (the frost on the beach when the glacier passes over). She teaches the language at the high school, middl...
Wrangell is moving closer to receiving at least a $4.1 million state grant to add to $11 million in federal funds for construction of a new $15.4 million water treatment plant. The House Finance Committee version of the state capital spending bill — the public works budget — includes a $5 million appropriation, while the Senate on Monday amended its version of the bill to include $4.1 million for the Wrangell project. Lawmakers will need to merge and reconcile the two versions of the capital budget in the next week. With money in both the Hou...
