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Sarah Aslam is the newest addition to the Sentinel staff, starting work as a reporter in Wrangell on Sept. 20 after almost eight years in news in Orlando, Florida, with a stint in 2016 in Seward and Anchorage. "I met Sarah when she was on vacation in Anchorage in July, and knew then she belonged in Alaska, not Florida," said Sentinel publisher Larry Persily. Aslam will cover borough government and other news in Wrangell, joining editor Marc Lutz and office manager Amber Armstrong on the...
To some it may look like a pile of dirt; to others it's a way to sustain agriculture and nurture the land. The popularity of composting is catching on, giving growers a way to keep operations affordable and sustainable, and potentially helping the borough save on landfill costs. Composting is the process of breaking down organic materials to be used in growing plants, providing needed nutrients and saving on irrigation. Composting runs hot and cold, literally. Passive or anaerobic composting,...
Aquatic farming in Alaska could be a big industry, and completely sustainable. That's according to Wrangell's Julie Decker, executive director of Alaska Fisheries Development Foundation, a nonprofit that focuses on research and development for the seafood industry. Shellfish and seaweed farming are the only types of aquatic farming permitted in Alaska. Mariculture includes saltwater farming, differing from aquaculture which "farms" in freshwater. Mariculture development, if managed properly,...
The first 100 out-of-state health care workers have started arriving in Alaska to help at medical facilities overwhelmed with record patient counts due to surging COVID-19 infections. The state health department has contracted to bring on 470 health care workers, including about 300 nurses, to help the strained workforce. Alaska is using $87 million in federal funds to cover the costs. The first health care personnel reported to the Alaska Native Medical Center in Anchorage for orientation on Tuesday. The contractor said the remaining nurses,...
The free testing station for individuals without COVID-19 symptoms but who what to get tested because they had recently traveled or just for peace of mind has moved from the airport to the hospital. “It’s more efficient here, we’re able to utilize our staff and resources,” said Alicia Gillen, COVID-19 screening manager for SEARHC, which operates the Wrangell Medical Center and ran the airport testing site. It also will be warmer at the trailer in the far corner of the hospital parking lot than outside the airport terminal as winter weather...
Mayor Steve Prysunka says it’s a priority to better understand all of the borough’s financial accounts, a job that will be easier now that Wrangell has a full-time finance director for the first time since February. Mason Villarma presented to the assembly at its meeting Tuesday night, explaining that the borough has created too many different fund accounts. “The analogy is like a hoarder in a house,” the new finance director said. “We’ve created funds every year. There are thousands of accounts. A web that is incomprehensible.” The accountin...
Wrangell business owners and managers who responded this past spring to an economic outlook survey were about in the middle among Southeast communities. While about half of those in Wrangell who answered the survey said they expected business would be down the next 12 months, the responses were much more pessimistic in Skagway, Haines, Hoonah and Ketchikan, all of which are more dependent on large cruise ships. In addition, Skagway and Haines have been hit hard by the U.S.-Canada border closure and loss of highway visitor traffic. Juneau-based...
A mass casualty exercise planned for the Wrangell Medical Center has been postponed. The volunteers needed to play victims, friends, family members and news reporters in the drill originally planned for Oct. 5 have been notified that the drill has been moved to the spring of 2022. A new date is to be determined, said Michelle Walters, operations manager at Tegria Clinical Solutions, the Seattle-based company planning the drill for the SouthEast Alaska Regional Health Consortium. Caregivers are burnt out. “All the communities have been w...
When the tide is low, the table is set. Sandy Churchill, a teacher at Tlingit & Haida Head Start in Wrangell, was referring to the ocean's banquet of sea cucumbers - known as yein in Tlingit - plus kelp, hooligans, beach grasses and fresh fish. Harvesting the banquet is difficult for about a hundred elders in Wrangell. That's why Churchill and Kassee Schlotzhauer, branch manager at Wells Fargo, organize a subsistence proxy program to help elders who can no longer subsistence harvest from the lan...
It's one thing to experience Alaska's waterways from a ferry, cruise ship or even a fishing boat, but what about a Jet Ski, sitting atop a couple hundred horsepower of a thousand-pound jet pump with handlebars? One company is doing just that, guiding tours via personal watercraft, from Seattle to Juneau with stops in Wrangell and other Southeast communities. Dangerous Waters Adventures was founded in 2018 by Steven Moll, offering thrill seekers a chance to experience the Alaska and Canada Inside...
Ever since Nancy Murkowski’s friend had a cancer scare in the early 1970s, Murkowski has made it a mission to raise funds to help fight the disease. On Aug. 20, the Waterfall Foundation, a nonprofit organization Murkowski founded more than 20 years ago, presented the WMC Foundation with a check for $10,000. In turn, the Wrangell foundation helps cancer patients and their families with travel and lodging expenses related to cancer care. Murkowski’s friend had to travel from Fairbanks to Seattle all those years ago in order to find a clinic with...
The district is in dire need of paraprofessionals at each school. Not only has it been difficult to fill the positions, retaining staff has added to the problem since people can often make more in other jobs. “Paraprofessionals are – sometimes we call them ‘aides’ – they help out with kids, particularly right now,” said Bob Davis, assistant principal for the high school and middle school. “We have a lot of intensive-needs kids. A lot of them need a lot of one-on-one help.” Intensive-needs children can have trouble with educational, em...
A plan to start testing student-athletes for COVID-19 will produce faster results and make it possible to continue scheduled home and away games while keeping kids safe, school officials said. Athletes have to test twice a week, before and after games. Results from the tests that look for genetic material from the virus in a nasal swab take two to three days, known as PCR tests. The schools are going to use an antigen test, which looks for a protein from the virus and can yield results in 15 minutes. Antigen tests for COVID-19 “are generally l...
JUNEAU (AP) — Officials are aiming to send out the first wave of Permanent Fund dividend payments to Alaska residents the week of Oct. 11, a Department of Revenue spokesperson said. The department’s Genevieve Wojtusik said in an email Sept. 22 that the first wave would include those who filed for their PFD electronically. She said the second round of payments, which would include those who filed paper applications, would go out about two weeks later. The Legislature mid-September appropriated $730.5 million for dividends this year of about $1,...
Tracking software that was going to be used this year for the school bus has been nixed. Zach Taylor, of Taylor Transportation, said the app, which would allow parents to track the school bus location in real-time, didn’t live up to the company’s expectations. The school bus operator reported in August that it would install the software, allowing parents to track the bus’s whereabouts, particularly in snowy conditions. “We are currently abandoning the system,” Taylor said of the School Bus Hub software. “It just isn’t what we thought it wa...
ANCHORAGE (AP) — Residents of Alaska’s largest city often contend with bears and moose, but state officials are warning of another wild animal that has been causing problems: river otters. The Alaska Department of Fish and Game says river otters have attacked people and pets in some of the city’s most popular outdoor areas, the Anchorage Daily News reported. Officials are asking people to be extra careful when they are around rivers, creeks and lakes along the city’s greenbelt. Earlier this month, a 9-year-old boy was taken to an emergen...
SARATOGA, Wyo. (AP) - The North Platte River in southern Wyoming has been so low in places lately that a toddler could easily wade across and thick mats of olive-green algae grow in the lazy current. Just over two years ago, workers stacked sandbags to protect homes and fishing cabins from raging brown floodwaters, the highest on record. Neither scene resembles the proper picture of a renowned trout fishing destination, one where anglers glide downstream in drift boats, flinging fly lures in...
Bob Dalrymple currently serves on the borough assembly, the second time he has been appointed to temporarily fill a vacant seat. He is running for a three-year term in Tuesday's municipal election. Dalrymple and Jim DeBord are running for the two open three-year terms. Both will win unless a write-in candidate declares by Monday and gathers more votes than either of the two names on the ballot. "My entire adult life I've been in public service," Dalrymple said. He serves on the borough's...
John Martin's first watercraft "would have been the canoe I got when I was 13." Now 72 years old, he has had "a number of boats" and a number of years on boards and councils in the community. Martin is seeking his third term on the port commission in Tuesday's municipal election. He also has served on the WCA tribal council, the hospital board, and "I did a tour on the museum board." Martin is unopposed for a three-year term on the port commission. He and Chris Buness are the only two declared...
Frank Roppel has served the past year on the port commission, but this is the first time he is running for elected office. He was appointed last year to fill a vacant seat, and has decided to seek a one-term term in Tuesday's municipal election. He is unopposed for the seat. Roppel, 84, has a lot of experience in marine transportation and docks, working more than 40 years in the Southeast timber industry, including about 20 years as an executive with Alaska Pulp Corp. until his retirement in...
Chris Buness describes herself as a "self-propelled boater" - a kayaker and canoer - but that does not diminish her interest in providing services for motorized boaters and working to attract more of them to visit Wrangell. Buness is running for a three-year term on the port commission in Tuesday's municipal election. She and incumbent John Martin are the only candidates on the ballot for the two three-year terms. "I'd love to see more folks from other communities" moor their boats in Wrangell o...
Borough Manager Lisa Von Bargen has resigned, effective Oct. 29. No reason was given in the City Hall announcement, issued shortly before 2 p.m. Wednesday. Von Bargen started as borough manager in July 2017. "The strain of the past year and a half has helped me realize I need to take a pause and focus on the needs of my family and myself. It has been a privilege to serve this community and the assembly," Von Bargen wrote in her resignation letter. “We're saddened that she's decided to leave,” Mayor Steve Prysunka said in an interview an hou...
The National Weather Service has issued a high wind warning for the Southeast due to a storm moving through this weekend. The storm will be bringing winds from 24 to 45 miles per hour, with gusts up to 75 mph from 3 p.m. Friday until 6 a.m. on Saturday, the NWS reported. “Damaging winds will blow down trees and power lines. Widespread power outages are expected. Travel will be difficult, especially for high-profile vehicles. Aviation and marine transportation will be impacted,” the report read. Though the report said the main wind gusts will be...
From building smokehouses and gardens to assisting with utility and food bills, the Wrangell Cooperative Association has been working to help its tribal citizens make it through the financial and emotional stress of the pandemic. "We took a hard look at what the WCA citizens were facing with the pandemic," said Esther Ashton, tribal administrator. That included financial needs and helping to build food self-sufficiency, she said. The eight-member elected tribal council last year considered how...
The borough expects to receive an additional $604,000 in federal pandemic relief aid through the state, and will move cautiously as it considers how best to use the money for the community’s benefit. The assembly will need to decide “what is the best long-term investment for us,” Borough Manager Lisa Von Bargen said last Friday. The administration will present recommendations to the assembly for its consideration after staff have reviewed federal guidance on spending the funds. The $604,000 is part of American Rescue Plan money directed to the...
