Sorted by date Results 3069 - 3093 of 7954
Sitka-based Alaskan Dream Cruises has entered the rankings of the best small-ship cruise lines in the world, as voted by the readership of a popular travel magazine. Travel+Leisure, with about 4.8 million readers, announced Alaskan Dream Cruises as one of the Top 10 small-ship cruise lines, from a survey conducted between Jan. 11 and May 10. Alaskan Dream Cruises placed 10th, and posted the award on Facebook. Alaskan Dream Cruises’ six vessels each carry between 10 and 76 passengers and make frequent summer stops in Wrangell. It’s the fir...
JUNEAU (AP) — The Matanuska-Susitna Borough is suing the Alaska Redistricting Board over recently drawn legislative boundaries that it says dilutes the votes of borough residents. The lawsuit was filed Dec. 2, said Stacey Stone, borough attorney. It is the first lawsuit filed against the new boundaries for state House and Senate seats. The redistricting board adopted its maps Nov. 10, triggering a 30-day period in which challenges could be filed. The board was charged with rewriting Alaska’s political boundaries following the 2020 census. Unles...
Former Alaska Senate President Cathy Giessel plans to run for the state Senate next year. Giessel, an Anchorage Republican, announced her plans Dec. 1 in the newsletter she has regularly distributed since leaving office earlier this year. Giessel lost her primary last year to Republican Roger Holland, who went on to win the seat. Holland based much of his campaign on a pledge that Alaskans should receive a significantly larger Permanent Fund dividend along with retroactive payments, costing a total of several billion dollars, to make good on...
PORTLAND, Maine (AP) - The warming of the planet is taking a deadly toll on seabirds that are suffering population declines from starvation, inability to reproduce, heat waves and extreme weather. Climate-related losses have hit albatrosses off the Hawaiian islands, northern gannets near the British Isles and puffins off the Maine coast. Some birds are less able to build nests and raise young as sea levels rise, while others are unable to find fish to eat as the ocean heats up, researchers have...
Longtime Sitka troller James Moore has won recognition for his work in developing salmon hatcheries in Southeast, promoting a troll-fleet logbook program, and many other activities supporting Southeast fisheries. After five decades as a salmon troller in Southeast waters, advocating for the fishery all the while, Moore has been honored by the Alaska Trollers Association as a Friend of the Fleet. Moore attributed the accolade in part to his work in establishing the Chichagof-Baranof Aquaculture...
Jeff Wright's long road to recovery led him from addiction and a heart attack in his 50s to hiking trails around Sitka and competing in the New York City Marathon. A lifelong Sitkan, Wright, who is 60, said he ran the 26.2 mile race on Nov. 7 to demonstrate that it's possible to recover from a variety of health issues. He hopes his example inspires those recovering from heart attacks or addiction. "Being in recovery and showing people that you can do it coming back from a heart attack," he said....
SALEM, Ore. (AP) - The U.S. Senate has unanimously approved the nomination of Charles "Chuck" Sams III as National Park Service director, which will make him the first Native American to lead the agency. The National Park Service oversees more than 131,000 square miles of parks, monuments, battlefields and other landmarks. It employs about 20,000 people in permanent, temporary and seasonal jobs, according to its website. In Alaska, the agency oversees 15 national parks, preserves, monuments and...
ANCHORAGE (AP) — Dozens of West Point graduates have demanded that Rep. David Eastman, who represents Wasilla in the Alaska Legislature, resign from office over his ties to a right-wing extremist group, saying his affiliation has betrayed the values of the U.S. Military Academy that he attended. A letter signed by 69 fellow West Point graduates was published in the Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman and called on Eastman to resign after his membership in the Oath Keepers became public, with another name added after publication. Eastman had p...
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A cruise ship that carried at least 17 passengers and crew members with breakthrough COVID-19 infections when it docked in New Orleans has set sail again with new passengers. Nine crew members and eight passengers were infected when the Norwegian Breakaway arrived last Sunday, a Louisiana Department of Health spokeswoman said Monday. None of the individuals had any symptoms, and only fully vaccinated people are allowed on board, Norwegian Cruise Line said. The cruise line said all passengers who boarded the Norwegian B...
Wrangell marked two milestones in the fight against COVID-19 in November: The first death attributed to the highly infectious disease in the community, and a record number of new infections. The borough on Monday reported the death. To protect the individual and family privacy, neither the borough nor the state releases the name, specific age or day of death of the person, though the state reported the individual was a Wrangell man in his 60s. The state health department website only lists the death as occurring sometime in the past 30 days....
If something interested Ira Merrill, he would throw his all into it. He would order books to absorb and learn, just to master a subject before moving onto the next thing. As it was in all things that caught Merrill's attention, so it was especially in art. By the time of his death two years ago, at age 83, Merrill had created thousands of pieces of artwork which can still be found throughout Wrangell and beyond. Born in 1936, he had already lived an adventurous life by the time he reached...
An unexpected, strong weather system sent high winds tearing through Wrangell, snapping three Southeast Alaska Power Agency poles which blocked the highway at City Park and knocked out power to most of Wrangell for much of Tuesday afternoon into the evening. A peak wind gust of 54 mph out of the southwest was detected on Zarembo Island at 1:55 p.m., said Wes Adkins, a lead meteorologist at the National Weather Service Juneau Forecast Office. The U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management operate a remote, automated weather system on...
The 19th annual Dove Tree Ceremony is a way to remember loved ones during the holiday season. Participants wrote the names of their loved ones on paper doves, one name per dove, and placed the names on the boughs of a tree set up in the lobby of the Nolan Center, using loops of ribbon. Ahead of hanging the paper doves, Alice Rooney, president of the nonprofit Hospice of Wrangell, which put on the event in-person this year after last year's was virtual, started the ceremony Sunday by expressing...
A tree will light up. Santa will greet children. Hot food and drinks and gathering community members will warm the body and soul. Although it’s dubbed Midnight Madness, Friday’s event will feature something for everyone, in addition to special holiday sales at Wrangell businesses. The holiday bazaar will run from 4 to 9 p.m. at the Nolan Center, with about 25 vendors in attendance, selling various products. Santa Claus will make an appearance from 4 to 5:45 p.m. and then again from 6:30 to 9 p.m. in a giant snow globe. “This year, in order...
Wrangell’s yearly Christmas home and business decorating contest is on. The chamber of commerce with Wrangell Real Estate is offering $1,300 in prize money. The same cash prizes will be awarded for both categories. First place nets $300, second place gets $200, third place wins $100 and honorable mention receives $50. Judging will take place Dec. 21. Contact the Wrangell chamber if you’d like to participate. You can reach out on Facebook or Instagram by searching username “wrangellchamber,” call 907-874-3901, or email info@wr...
The Wrangell Senior Center is in need of food donations, especially subsistence foods. In particular, the center is seeking turkeys and hams, plus fish, deer meat, moose meat and liver. Moose or deer is preferred, but cow liver is fine too, because one of the center’s menu items is liver and onions. Donations will be collected through Jan. 31. Site Manager Solvay Gillen said all the donations benefit the seniors, and people in town also can donate other food items, such as produce and seafood, if they’d like. Donations can be dropped off at...
The Wrangell Senior Center is receiving a loaner bus from Juneau, equipped to handle transporting passengers in winter weather. The loaner bus arrived early Thanksgiving morning on the Kennicott ferry, part of the Catholic Community Service fleet. “It’s one of the newer ones,” said Solvay Gillen, site manager. “It has all the bells and whistles: A chairlift, four-wheel-drive.” Catholic Community Service operates the Wrangell Senior Center. April Huber, nutrition and transportation regional coordinator at Southeast Senior Services, a division...
Lisa Torgramsen has been crafting fabrics since she learned how to make her own clothes at the age of 12. At the age of 24 she added quilting to her repertoire, and she continued to build her skill for 42 years. In May, Torgramsen opened Fishwife Quilts, a shop that centers on all things quilting - from selling supplies and custom creations to teaching others everything she's learned in decades of practicing the artform. She was inspired by her grandmother to learn quilting in the 1970s, so she...
A doctor who served as chief of staff at the Wrangell hospital eight years ago awaits possible life imprisonment for raping an underage female relative in Louisiana more than 16 years ago. Greg Salard faces a possible sentence without parole or probation after a Louisiana jury convicted him of rape, according to the Caddo Parish district attorney’s office. Salard, 60, of Mountain View, Arkansas, was found guilty on Nov. 19 by a six-man, six-woman jury after deliberations that lasted less than 45 minutes, according to the district attorney’s off...
Tom Gillen Sr. and Glenda Gillen met at a teen dance one weekend in Ketchikan. It was either the end of 1957, or the beginning of 1958, he said. He remembered when they married - that was 1959. Their life in Wrangell has lasted a lot longer than the dance. The couple has been married 62 years and have five children: Three boys, two girls; 13 grandchildren; "I've got 27 great-grandchildren," Glenda said. "Twenty-eight," corrected Tom. "Twenty-eight great-grandchildren," Glenda amended. "I missed...
JUNEAU (AP) — A conservative Republican freshman state legislator announced plans Monday to run for governor, joining a field that includes Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy, former independent Gov. Bill Walker and former Anchorage Democratic state lawmaker Les Gara. Rep. Christopher Kurka, of Wasilla, announced his plans in a video on social media in which he levied criticisms at Dunleavy. “The dirty little secret of Juneau and Washington, D.C., is that while most conservative officials talk tough about Republican ideals, very few have the int...
While Thanksgiving has passed and Christmas looms on the horizon, the ghost of Thanksgiving lurks in the fridge. But there's nothing to fear. Wrangell is populated with creative types who are happy to share their tasty ideas on what to do with those lingering leftovers. Diane Hillyer Ivy-Dahlin said her family's favorite leftovers tradition is turkey enchiladas. This recipe can be frozen after preparing, then reheated. "You can use chicken too, but it's just a great flavor with turkey," she...
ANCHORAGE (AP) — A man charged with threatening the lives of Alaska’s two U.S. senators has pleaded not guilty, and the judge decided that he will remain in custody. Jason Weiner, an attorney for Jay Allen Johnson, entered the plea on his client’s behalf during Johnson’s arraignment in U.S. District Court in Fairbanks on Nov. 22. Johnson at the hearing greeted U.S. Magistrate Judge Scott Oravec by saying: “Good morning, Happy Thanksgiving, and I’m sorry I’m here today.” Johnson, from the small Interior community of Delta Junction, was i...
The state says it will stop paying extended unemployment benefits because the jobless rate has declined, ending a third program of enhanced or extended financial aid for Alaskans jobless during the pandemic. The Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development announced the state’s extended benefits period will end Dec. 11, Anchorage television station KTUU reported. The extension — which has been in place since May 2020 — provided Alaskans the opportunity for additional weeks of unemployment benefits, which range from $56 to $370 a week...
In the Nov. 24 Sentinel, Megan Powell’s last day as secretary of Wrangell High School was incorrectly reported. Her final day at the school will be Dec. 17....
