Sorted by date Results 3033 - 3057 of 8063
Tourism-dependent Skagway has started using one-quarter of the $2 million gift it received last year from Norwegian Cruise Line to pay out unemployment benefits to eligible residents. The first round of aid went out this month, totaling $112,500, the maximum monthly payout authorized by the borough assembly. The borough received 75 applications for December’s jobless aid, paid out in January, Borough Clerk Steve Burnham Jr. said Jan. 26. The next round of applications, for January’s unemployment, are due Feb. 7. Though the program set a max...
JUNEAU (AP) — The Alaska House tabled action Monday on a proposal to remove from all legislative committees Wasilla Rep. David Eastman, a member of the Oath Keepers far-right organization. The House Committee on Committees voted 5-2 to remove Eastman from his committee assignments, said Joe Plesha, communications director for the House's bipartisan majority. The committee meeting was not widely publicized beforehand, and Eastman expressed concern with the lack of transparency around the decision. The matter was tabled on the House floor f...
The Alaska Board of Fisheries voted 4-2 last Thursday to uphold its previous decision to convene the Southeast and Yakutat finfish and shellfish regulations meetings in Anchorage March 10 through 22 rather than in Ketchikan. Originally, the meeting — already postponed for one year due to the pandemic — was scheduled for Jan. 4-15 in Ketchikan. But on Jan. 1, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game announced the meeting was being postponed “out of an abundance of caution due to the record-breaking rise of COVID-19 cases in the United State...
The police department is putting together a plan to hire a tow truck company from Petersburg to come over in the spring and haul to the borough's impound yard vehicles that have been abandoned for too long in port and harbor parking lots, and elsewhere throughout town. The vehicles are piled up in parking lots at Heritage Harbor, Shoemaker Bay and in the right of way on Zimovia Highway, making it difficult for snowplows to do their work. Others are leaning against derelict boats next to a bed-an...
The borough assembly on Tuesday approved $1.1 million for design and engineering of a new water treatment plant, though actual construction will depend on additional funding. The project is a top priority for the borough. The assembly authorized the design and engineering contract with Anchorage-based DOWL. About 10% of the cost will come from the borough’s water fund reserves, 35% from a loan from the borough’s general fund to the water utility at zero interest for 10 years, and 55% from Wrangell’s share of federal pandemic aid under the A...
Wrangell's emergency operations center last week received 650 COVID-19 at-home test kits from the state health department, reviving its supply which had dwindled to none amid the community's record number of new infections. As of Tuesday evening, Wrangell was up to 157 new COVID-19 cases reported by the borough since Dec. 30, two and a half times the community's highest monthly count of the pandemic and representing about one of every 14 residents. The post-holidays surge represents 40% of the...
Though they say the level of funding for the state ferry system in Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s budget for the fiscal year that begins July 1 is adequate, coastal legislators don’t like that the governor wants to use one-time federal money to pay the bills, eliminating almost 95% of state funding. Their fear is that when the federal dollars from last year’s $1.2 trillion infrastructure spending plan run out, so too will adequate ferry service. “Those federal dollars were meant to augment state money, not replace it,” House Speaker Louise Stutes, o...
The kids gathered atop the sledding hill across from Evergreen Elementary, next to a small fire in which they burned face masks. They carried signs reading "Unmask Wrangell Youth!!" and "Unmask our children! Let them be kids!" They chanted, "Burn the masks!" It was part of a walkout in which children and parents frustrated over wearing masks during school hours voiced their opposition to the districtwide rule. About 14 elementary and middle school students left the grounds at 10:30 a.m. last...
The borough’s convention and visitor bureau has released its draft cruise ship schedule, painting an updated picture of how many passengers might fill the streets of Wrangell, take in the sights and charter local fishing and sightseeing guides this summer. The number is down from 21,500 visitors in 2019 but, with the potential for more than 17,000 passengers berths this summer, it would be an economically significant improvement over last year’s trickle of cruise traffic and zero passengers in 2020. The 17,000-passenger capacity would be if...
Feel like getting the royal treatment? Well, it’s going to take some hard work. Wrangell’s chamber of commerce has begun recruiting efforts for this year’s royalty competition, with winners announced during the Fourth of July festivities. The contest is a fundraiser for the chamber, which sponsors the annual July 4th activities, and for the candidates, who get to keep a share of their sales. The candidates sell as many raffle tickets as possible through door-to-door efforts or by including the tickets as part of food sales. Last year’s ticket s...
A former concessions stand in City Park is slated to be the site of a commercial-scale composter that could give second life to food scraps on a bigger scale, potentially reducing the volume of trash that Wrangell pays to ship off the island. The folks reviving the community garden have budgeted $19,500 toward the composter, which will be located at the garden on the former Lions ball field. Valerie Massie, coordinator at Wrangell Cooperative Association's Indian Environmental General...
In a break from past practice, the Alaska Department of Revenue this year will provide monthly updates to legislators whenever projected oil prices — and state revenues — move up or down more than 10%. Several legislators worry that could confuse budget deliberations this session. Revenue staff has updated the state’s twice-yearly oil-price forecasts internally but not released the numbers to the public, the department’s chief economist Dan Stickel told the Senate Finance Committee on Jan. 20. “We’ve decided to go ahead and start releasing t...
Earlier this month, a derelict tug boat, the Bee, went down in Shoemaker Bay, and five other vessels almost did, after heavy snow loads and single-digit temperatures weighted down Wrangell. The harbor department impounded the 60-foot Bee in September, Port Director Steve Miller said Friday. His staff had been checking it twice a day but "something broke on the boat that allowed some more water than our pumps could handle," he said. The boat went down on Jan. 5 after heavy snowfall earlier this...
The Alaska Board of Fisheries, which had planned to hold its Southeast and Yakutat shellfish and finfish regulations meeting in Ketchikan this month before a surge in COVID-19 cases and winter-weather travel problems forced its cancellation, has rescheduled the sessions for March 10-22 in Anchorage. The board, however, was scheduled to meet Thursday afternoon via Zoom to possibly reconsider the decision to move the meeting to Anchorage. “Given the myriad of factors to consider, the board will vote on the meeting location,” according to a boa...
Wrangell High School seniors have potentially more than $70,000 in higher education scholarships available to them from local organizations. Funds range anywhere from a one-time $100 award to $5,000 per year for four years. Though application deadlines for some are already past, many are still available for seniors looking to pursue a postsecondary education such as college or trade school. “These scholarship opportunities are vital to our students,” said counselor Addy Esco. “The world of postsecondary education and training has changed drast...
The scholarship fund created to honor the memory of Helen and Sig Decker is a little different from most. In addition to the usual requirements of being a graduating high school senior who is going on to postsecondary schooling, applicants must have worked in commercial fishing or seafood processing. It's recognition that the Deckers worked in the industry for years before they died in a car accident in Petersburg on July 28, 2020, at 19 and 21 years old, respectively. The family made...
JUNEAU (AP) — The Alaska Supreme Court has upheld a voter-approved election system that ends party primaries in the state and institutes ranked-choice voting in general elections. A brief order on Jan. 19 affirmed a lower court ruling from last year. A fuller opinion explaining the Supreme Court’s decision was expected later. The ruling comes one day after the justices heard arguments in the case. The new system, narrowly approved by voters in 2020, is unique among states and will be used for this year’s elections. It is viewed by suppo...
JUNEAU (AP) — A commission tasked with reviewing legislative pay voted Jan. 18 to raise the annual salary for Alaska lawmakers but to restrict the daily allowance lawmakers can receive. The changes will go forward unless the Legislature votes to rejects them. The Alaska State Officers Compensation Commission voted 3-1 to raise the base salary from $50,400 a year to $64,000. The recommendation would cap at $100 a day an allowance for living expenses that lawmakers could claim during regular sessions, and also require receipts for r...
JUNEAU (AP) — A federal judge on Jan. 20 sided with a former state attorney who alleged she was wrongly fired over political opinions expressed on a personal blog. U.S. District Court Judge John Sedwick ruled that Elizabeth Bakalar’s December 2018 firing violated her free speech and rights under the U.S. and state constitutions. In October, Sedwick sided with two doctors at the state’s psychiatric hospital in Anchorage who had declined to submit resignation letters and also were fired, same as Bakalar, as the new administration of Gov. Mike...
The state ferry system reports that the Kennicott’s return to service in late April will not be delayed after it collided with the Hubbard while docking in Ketchikan a couple of weeks ago. “We’re still in the investigation phase, so I’m unable to share additional details about the incident at this time,” state transportation department spokesman Sam Dapcevich said last week. The 23-year-old Kennicott bumped into the 2-year-old Hubbard while docking on Jan. 14, as the Kennicott was pulling into Ketchikan for the start of its three-mon...
The Sentinel incorrectly reported in the Jan. 20 issue that Lindsay Pomeroy worked at Alaska Crossings. Only her husband, Sebastian, worked at Crossings. She works at the elementary school....
Princess Cruises has pleaded guilty to a second violation of probation imposed in a 2017 criminal conviction for environmental crimes because it failed to establish and maintain an independent internal investigative office, the U.S. Department of Justice announced. In a statement Jan. 12, the department said Princess was ordered to pay an additional $1 million and will be required to undertake remedial measures to ensure the cruise line and its parent company, Carnival Corp., establish and maintain an independent investigative office....
SEATTLE (AP) — The British Columbia government has announced the surrender of mining rights at the headwaters of the Skagit River, just across the border from Washington state, after years of controversy over protection of one of the region’s premier salmon rivers. Under an agreement announced Jan. 19 by the office of the B.C. premier, Imperial Metals will return to the province all of its mining and related rights within an area known as the Skagit River “Donut Hole,”' The Seattle Times reported. The agreement is intended to ensure the pre...
MIAMI (AP) — Bahamian authorities say a cruise ship — owned by a failing company in Hong Kong — that was set to dock in Miami last weekend remained in the Bahamas on Monday, avoiding a U.S. judge’s order to seize the vessel over a dispute for an unpaid fuel bill. Sgt. Kareem Woods with the Royal Bahamas Police Force said the Crystal Symphony was still docked in Bimini and that authorities had no plans to seize the vessel. The arrest warrant for the 781-foot-long ship is part of a lawsuit over a delinquent $4.6 million fuel bill. The ship wa...
A Petersburg police officer hired last June was let go this month after a borough investigation into his posts to a Facebook page promoting white male supremacy, anti-government rhetoric and anti-Semitism. The Facebook page also expressed support for Ted Kaczynski, known as the Unabomber, who mailed explosives that killed and injured people in the U.S. in the late 1970s through early 1990s. Johnny Duane Pickle, using the account name J.D. Pickle, also posted a Facebook comment with a picture of a child who appears to be his son performing a...