Sorted by date Results 2959 - 2983 of 7954
Wrangell's generating plant has an eight-megawatt line out the door but needs to go up to 12 megawatts if it wants to fully serve the power needs of the community during shortages, according to the head of the utility department. This need, while known for a couple of years, was starkly illuminated by two back-to-back events, said Superintendent Rod Rhoades at Wrangell Municipal Light & Power. The first was a Nov. 30 windstorm that severed the Southeast Alaska Power Agency's feeder lines in...
Since first beginning to collect sales tax on online orders sold by out-of-town merchants such as Amazon in 2020, the borough continues to see an increase in revenues. In fiscal year 2021, which ended last June 30, the borough collected $180,000 in sales tax from what are called remote sellers, said Mason Villarma, the borough’s finance director. The finance department projects $200,000 in such sales tax revenues for fiscal year 2022, which ends June 30. At $200,000, the revenues would be about 7% of Wrangell’s total sales tax collections thi...
It’s taken a while to turn decades of Sentinel pages into digital images, easily accessible for online searches, but the state and Wrangell libraries are about halfway there. Issues of the Wrangell Sentinel from its founding in 1902 through 1956 are now available in free online databases, where users can look through the pages. The websites allow people to search the pages by keywords, such as looking for any news stories about their family members. The Irene Ingle Public Library has Sentinels — and its predecessors The Stikeen River Journal (1...
The U.S. Forest Service is hiring. Tory Houser, acting district ranger, is looking to hire for four positions at the Wrangell Ranger District. A recreation manager, a wilderness and recreation technician, an Anan Wildlife Observatory crew manager, and a fisheries biologist. The recreation manager is a permanent position. “That's the person who will go and maintain cabins and campsites and help with trails and help us get a lot of those projects done,” Houser said. The biologist will be working on fish streams and habitat, and work with the Wra...
Patrons of the Irene Ingle Public Library will now have more time to peruse the aisles, take advantage of the free Wi-Fi and checkout their favorite books. Thanks to a grant through the American Rescue Plan Act, last year's federal pandemic aid spending bill, the library is extending its hours to six days a week. The funds have also made it possible to hire a third person to help with the pages of responsibilities. Library Director Margaret Villarma said the $14,040 grant is through the...
Bull kelp is found up and down the Pacific Coast, can grow as long as 100 feet, and is edible in products like salsa and hot sauce. It's also part of the future for Sealaska Corp., which in 2020 bought a stake in a Southeast-grown company, Barnacle Foods, that sells kelp products across the country. Sealaska Chair Joe Nelson, who is Tlingit, grew up hunting and fishing in Yakutat. He'd harvested seaweed. But not kelp - this was a foreign object to him. "Like, literally from 'Aliens,' the...
JUNEAU (AP) — Parts of Southeast Alaska are receiving assistance from the state after getting up to six feet of snow. Gov. Mike Dunleavy on Jan. 13 issued a disaster declaration for the Yakutat, Juneau, Haines and Skagway areas, his office said in a statement. The declaration activates emergency response options and a disaster recovery program, including possibly financial help, for those affected by the storm. For a four-day stretch ending Jan. 11, up to six feet of snow fell in parts of the disaster area. That was followed by warmer temperatu...
Issabella and Tawney Crowley welcomed their first child - and the first baby born to a Wrangell family in 2022 - last week. Ryleigh Rowan Crowley was born at 3:30 a.m. on Jan. 4 at the PeaceHealth Ketchikan Medical Center. She weighed in at 8 pounds, 1 ounce. Issabella, 27, said they left for Ketchikan on Dec. 17 since the Wrangell Medical Center doesn't have the capability to deliver babies. Tawney was induced on Jan. 3 and gave birth 14 hours later. "Baby made her appearance rather quickly...
It took nearly two decades, but Larissa Siekawitch is now an American citizen. On Jan. 4, Siekawitch took a test in Anchorage that lasted an hour and included an interview, reading, writing and answering 100 questions. The process ended with an oath and a certificate. "But now I'm a U.S. citizen," she said. "I was so relieved. It's very sad that my husband did not see this. He applied three times for my documents. It was lost, it was something else, it was delayed." In 2000, Siekawitch was a vet...
The borough assembly voted unanimously Tuesday to approve an electricity rate hike that will increase the kilowatt-hour charge by 7.5% to 9% for most residential and business customers in Wrangell. The rate increase 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 rate by a quarter-of-a-cent per kilowatt-hour, from 6.8 cents per kWh to 7.05 cents. The borough’s increase in retail r...
COVID-19 cases in Wrangell are surging at their fastest rate of the nearly 2-year-old pandemic, with 67 new infections since Christmas weekend, as of Tuesday evening’s borough report. Of those, 37 cases were recorded between Friday and Tuesday. The post-holidays surge is certain to break Wrangell’s single-month record, when the community tallied 66 infections in November. The borough’s Tuesday COVID update made particular note of New Year’s Eve parties, advising anyone who attended a social gathering and is experiencing any symptoms to contact...
With this week's warmer weather, the snow shovels may get set aside but the higher temperatures and rain can create their own set of winter problems. Last week's single-digit temperatures gave way to 30-plus degrees by Sunday and 44 by Monday afternoon. Heavy snow on Saturday totaled nine inches before transitioning into rain on Sunday. Such rapid changes in weather can be detrimental to anything carrying the weight of wet snow and efforts to drain off the mess. "The impacts of what could...
The assembly could decide this week on a new borough manager. The three finalists were scheduled for interviews at a special assembly meeting Wednesday afternoon, and assembly members could take action in public after talking with the candidates in private. The finalists scheduled for interviews were Jeff Good, who has been working as interim borough manager since Nov. 1; Alexandra Angerman, CARES Act coordinator at Wrangell Cooperative Association; and Kim D. Zimmerman, a retired U.S. Army lieutenant colonel who serves as borough manager of Le...
Alaska Airlines said last week it would trim its flight schedule by about 10% for the rest of January as it deals with “unprecedented” numbers of employees calling in sick during the COVID-19 surge. Service to Wrangell — Flight 65 northbound in the morning and Flight 64 southbound in the afternoon — are not on the list for service reductions, Tim Thompson, company spokesman in Anchorage, said Jan. 6. “Intra-Alaska service is not part of the current schedule reduction,” Thompson said. Though continued staff shortages could affect future scheduli...
After about 10 candidates applied for the position of business manager with Wrangell Public Schools, a hiring committee chose Tammy Stromberg, of Anchorage, to fill the job. Citing the scarcity of qualified applicants, Schools Superintendent Bill Burr said Stromberg, a certified public accountant, will work full-time remotely. About half the applicants that applied would need to have worked remotely if hired. "We ideally would have liked to have a business manager in the office full-time in...
The governor has issued a disaster declaration for Wrangell after a windstorm took down power poles and disrupted services on Nov. 30, though it appears most of what the borough has requested is not eligible for state aid. The borough estimated its total costs related to the storm at $1.06 million. Of that, $255,372 was for public works, utility and police overtime, contractors, equipment and damages to structures; and $807,500 would go toward “critical future needs,” such as several backup generators for the water treatment plant, com...
A schoolwide art program at Evergreen Elementary began at the beginning of the 2021-2022 school year by drawing out confidence in the student body. Developed over the summer by Tawney Crowley, the social-emotional learning model helps kids from kindergarten through fifth grade express themselves, even if it's a struggle. "Between Jenn Miller-Yancey and I, we both since the summer knew we wanted to do more than just arts and crafts," Crowley said. "We definitely shared this vision that everybody...
A second federal grant of $450,000 has given the borough enough money to start work and complete the long-planned extension of the popular Mt. Dewey Trail. Construction likely will begin this year, according to Parks and Recreation Director Kate Thomas. The project’s estimated completion date is August, according to a timeline presented to the borough assembly last month by Amber Al-Haddad, capital facilities director. The trail extension project, which would link the existing trail to Airport Road, as well as connect the Volunteer Park Loop Tr...
ANCHORAGE (AP) — The longest-serving magistrate in Alaska is no longer on the bench after writing letters to the editor critical of the Republican party. Former Seward Magistrate George Peck wrote four letters to the editor of the Anchorage Daily News, the latest in December which claimed the Republican party “is actively trying to steer the U.S. into an authoritarian kleptocracy.” The other letters written since 2019 have been critical of former President Donald Trump and Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy, both Republicans, and the GOP, the Ancho...
Ed Rasmuson, a banker and philanthropist who led Alaska's largest philanthropic organization, died Jan. 4 at age 81. He managed the Wrangell branch of the National Bank of Alaska in the late 1960s. Rasmuson was diagnosed with brain cancer about a year ago and entered hospice care three days before Christmas. His oldest daughter, state Sen. Natasha von Imhof, said he died in the company of family in Anchorage. The family said a memorial service will be held sometime in the spring. Rasmuson...
In order to stay compliant with shipping requirements, Wrangell Public Works began using a trash baler last October. The machine also could save money for the borough. Because open-top trash containers with lose garbage are being phased out by Alaska Marine Lines due to fire risk, Public Works needed a compactor/baler to compress Wrangell’s garbage for loading into closed containers for the barge ride out of town. The baler, which was purchased in late spring of 2021 for $347,600, condenses trash into a smaller volume, a 50-cubic-foot, t...
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...
