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Vandalism of houses of worship and other religious sites is now a felony, under a bill that was signed into law on Sept. 3 by Gov. Mike Dunleavy. The measure, House Bill 238, was signed in a ceremony at the Lubavitch Jewish Center of Alaska, a campus in Anchorage that is home to an Orthodox Jewish congregation, a preschool and a museum devoted to Alaska’s Jewish history. It was also the site of recent antisemitic vandalism, part of a national trend of increasing attacks on Jews and Jewish institutions. Anchorage Rep. Andy Josephson, the b...
GCI notified Sitka customers by text message Sept. 16 that it had successfully restored cell phone and internet services which had been disrupted for more than two weeks by a fiber optic cable break on the bottom of Salisbury Sound. The break in the cable on Aug. 29 shut down GCI’s internet service and also affected texting and phone service. Company spokesman Josh Edge said Sept. 16 the cause of the break still wasn’t known. The undersea cable repair ship was headed back to its homeport of Victoria, British Columbia. The repair work started Se...
An Alaska law prohibiting anyone other than a licensed physician from performing abortions violates the state constitution’s equal protection and privacy guarantees, a state Superior Court judge ruled. There is “no medical reason” why abortions cannot be provided by advanced practice clinicians, such as nurse practitioners and physician assistants, said the Sept. 4 ruling issued by Superior Court Judge Josie Garton. Limiting abortion services to state-licensed physicians violates the equal protection guarantee because other pregn...
Alaska Airlines closed its $1 billion purchase of Hawaiian Airlines on Sept. 18, a day after the federal government removed the last major regulatory obstacle to the deal. Alaska will also assume about $900 million in Hawaiian debt. Alaska says it will keep Hawaiian as a separate brand, eliminating the need to repaint planes. To win approval from the Transportation Department, the airlines agreed to maintain current levels of service on key routes within Hawaii and between the island state and the U.S. mainland where they don't face much...
More Alaskans will be eligible for food stamps and access to health care for school-age children and young adults will increase under a new state law. Gov. Mike Dunleavy sponsored the original legislation, whose goal was to expand the services covered by Medicaid to include things like workforce development and food security. The bill takes advantage of a federal waiver that allows states to consider the underlying causes of ill health in granting benefits. The legislation was amended to include a proposal from Anchorage Rep. Genevieve Mina...
Gov. Mike Dunleavy has vetoed a bill that would have made birth control more accessible to Alaska women. House Bill 17 would have allowed women to get a year’s worth of prescription birth control at once. Currently, most insurance providers in Alaska cover only up to 90 days’ worth of birth control pills at a time. At least 24 states and Washington, D.C., have adopted laws enshrining the 12-month rule. Proponents say it is particularly important for rural women who may not be able to visit a pharmacy every 90 days, and for victims of dom...
After much public scrutiny, the school board voted against accepting an Environmental Protection Agency grant that would fund the purchase on an electric school bus. The board voted 3-2 against the purchase at a special meeting Sept. 9. The district had selected Georgia-based manufacturer Blue Bird for the electric vehicle, which would have arrived in town next year. The bus’s $423,000 price tag exceeded the $378,000 in federal grant money, meaning the school district would have had to dip into its reserve fund to cover the remaining $...
State health officials have recorded 234 cases this year of whooping cough — also known as pertussis — through Sept. 9, more than were reported over the past seven years combined. About three-quarters of this year’s cases came in the past three months. Of the statewide total, SEARHC reports 11 in Southeast from June through early September, Lyndsey Y. Schaefer, communications director for the health care provider, said in an emailed statement Sept. 12. Privacy rules prevent SEARHC from disclosing the communities with whooping cough cases...
A contractor using a remote-operated underwater camera was able to locate and video the community’s damaged wastewater outfall line on Sept. 11, with the borough hoping to put together a game plan this week to repair the damaged pipe. The six- or seven-foot section of damaged 12-inch-diameter plastic pipe is in 77 feet of water, about 1,500 feet from shore, said Tom Wetor, the borough’s Public Works director. Before a boat hooked the pipe when it was pulling up its anchor on Aug. 30, the outfall pipe carried flow from the wastewater tre...
After staging several musicals since the Nolan Center resurrected Wrangell’s community theater in 2022, this fall’s production is a romantic comedy about a man from a rich family who gets engaged to a woman from a very different family. “It’s high-energy hilarious,” co-director Kristen DeBord said of “You Can’t Take It With You.” Rehearsals are underway three days a week, with the cast and other volunteers working toward performances at the Nolan Center on Nov. 1 and 2, and maybe Nov. 3 if advance ticket sales are strong enough, said co...
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has awarded a $15 million grant to the Central Council of the Tlingit & Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska to expand composting operations in five Southeast Alaska communities — and Wrangell could be one of them. The intent of the grant is to reduce organic waste in landfills, reduce greenhouse gas methane emissions generated from decaying garbage and promote local food production, said Brandi Tolsma, an environmental specialist with Tlingit & Haida in Juneau. The tribal council plans to expand its c...
Three young humpback whales were found dead off the west coast of Prince of Wales Island in just two weeks at the end of August. One subadult female was found on Aug. 22 in waters south of El Capitan, while a subadult female and a young male were found in waters near Craig on Aug. 30 and Sept. 2, respectively. On Aug. 30, longtime Craig resident whale-watcher Kathy Peavey heard about one of the whales, the subadult female that was found dead in Squam Bay north of Craig, from Michelle Dutro, an Alaska State Sea Grant fellow who helps monitor...
As Alaskans from different organizations convened at the University of Alaska Anchorage to brainstorm ways to reverse the state’s continuing population outmigration, a leading state economist delivered some bad news. Dan Robinson, research chief at the Alaska Department of Labor, revealed that the latest data shows that Alaska has now had 12 consecutive years with more residents leaving than arriving. That is unprecedented, he said. “This is not normal for us. It hasn’t happened before,” Robinson said on Sept. 5 at the start of the two-day...
Wrangell’s moose season opened last week. The one-month window runs from Sept. 15 through Oct. 15. Those hunting on Wrangell, neighboring islands and the mainland are permitted to harvest one bull this fall. There are no regulation changes from last hunting season, and Frank Robbins, Petersburg-Wrangell area biologist with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, said he has not seen any notable changes to the health of the central Southeast herd. Last year’s Petersburg-Wrangell area harvest was a record 141 moose, exceeding the previous hig...
After 58 years in Wrangell, nine years on the assembly and two separate stints as vice mayor, David Powell decided now is the time to run for Wrangell's highest elected position. And while he is up against incumbent Patty Gilbert, Powell wants it known that he is not running against Gilbert in a typical fashion. When asked why voters should check the box next to his name on Oct. 1, he hesitated to give a response - not because he wasn't sure why people should vote for him - but because he...
Mayor Patty Gilbert ran for the office in 2022 with two goals in mind: economic development and improvements to the community's infrastructure. As she looks to win reelection this year, her goals haven't changed. Before becoming mayor, she served on the city council and borough assembly for 14 years. She also served on the school board between 2020 and 2022. A lifelong teacher with a classroom career spanning across six decades, Gilbert is confident she can continue to move Wrangell forward in...
Bob Dalrymple likes what the borough has managed to get done the past few years, particularly its focus on maintenance of public facilities and developing new capital projects, such as winning a federal grant to rebuild the downtown harbor floats. "I'd like to keep up with that momentum," said Dalrymple, who is running unopposed for a second three-year term on the assembly. "There are some real challenges coming up." He lists among the challenges finding a way to dispose of the former hospital...
Jim DeBord is running unopposed for election to a second consecutive three-year term on the borough assembly. He declined a Sentinel request for an interview. In addition to winning election to the assembly in 2021, DeBord served a one-year term 2018-2019....
If she wins a second term as school board member, Angela Allen said she wants to go after specific grants, encourage homeschooling parents to enroll their children in the public school system, and open the doors for communication between parents and the school board. She is up against fellow incumbent Brittani Robbins and newcomer Dan Powers. The seats will go to the two candidates with the most votes in the Oct. 1 municipal election. Terms will run through 2027. Allen moved to Wrangell for her...
Brittani Robbins is running for a three-year term on the school board in a contested election against fellow incumbent Angela Allen and newcomer Dan Powers. The top vote-getters will win the two seats. In addition to serving on the school board since 2021, Robbins also serves on the borough assembly, a seat she won in 2022. She has worked as executive director for Wrangell's chamber of commerce and served as chair of the school district's budget and finance committee. A graduate of the Wrangell...
Dan Powers does a little bit of everything. In the mornings he drives the school bus. During the day he owns and operates a local tour service called Experience Wrangell. Some days he is managing his rental properties and other days he is playing gigs alongside his wife and longtime musical partner Shelley Powers. And in the evenings, well, Powers has seven kids (and one on the way), so things can get unpredictable. But now, he just wants to make the peace. "I'm a peacemaker," he said before...
The Alaska Supreme Court on Sept. 12 affirmed the U.S. House candidacy of Eric Hafner, a Democrat imprisoned in New York state on a 20-year felony sentence. The court, in a split 4-1 decision, upheld Anchorage Superior Court Judge Ian Wheeles’ decision to dismiss a lawsuit by the Alaska Democratic Party that had challenged Hafner’s eligibility. The decision means Hafner will appear on the November U.S. House ballot alongside incumbent Democrat Rep. Mary Peltola, Republican challenger Nick Begich, and Alaskan Independence Party challenger Joh...
Alaska’s governor has vetoed a bill intended to clarify the rental car tax collection process for Alaskans who put up their vehicles for rent on Turo and similar car-sharing applications. The Alaska Department of Revenue has said that Turo is subject to the state’s 10% sales tax on rental cars, the same as Avis, Hertz and other companies that own and rent cars. But Turo has argued that users, not the company itself, are liable for collecting the tax. The state unsuccessfully sued Turo six years ago in an attempt to find out how much tax rev...
Though not yet final, the initial draft of the 2025 cruise ship schedule estimates around 40,000 passengers could arrive on cruise ships next year, an increase from just over 20,000 in 2024. Most notably, the number of larger ships (vessels that hold over 1,000 passengers) is expected to about triple. This summer, the largest ships made three port calls in Wrangell: the Nieuw Amsterdam once in May and the Queen Elizabeth twice in July. Both ships have capacity for just over 2,000 passengers....
Alaskans still making ornaments to hang on the Capitol Christmas Tree now have a little more time. The original submission deadline of Sept. 16 has been extended two weeks to Sept. 30. "Sept. 16 ... that was the deadline we were given about a year ago when we started planning this," said Claire Froelich, interpretation and education specialist with the U.S. Forest Service in Wrangell. "But because we are now working with Alaska Airlines, our shipping is going to take less time, so now we have...