Sorted by date Results 3669 - 3693 of 7954
The borough assembly will hold a public hearing at its May 25 meeting on a proposed ordinance that would extend the closing time for retail marijuana sales to 10 p.m. from the current limit of 6 p.m. The assembly was asked during recent public testimony to consider extending the hours for marijuana sales, Borough Manager Lisa Von Bargen reported in her backup material for the ordinance, which was introduced at the May 11 assembly meeting. The borough “spoke with Wrangell’s only marijuana operator, and his suggestion is to allow operations thr...
As of last week, almost half of the 99 Wrangell applications for financial help with rent and utilities had been approved or were pending a final decision, according to the state agency running the federally funded program. The Alaska Housing Finance Corp. received about 30,000 applications for assistance from across the state for $200 million in federal pandemic relief funds available under Alaska’s state and municipal allocation. The program closed to applications March 5, and AHFC staff and its contractor have been working to verify i...
Just three days after announcing the Ketchikan king salmon derby would return after a three-year absence, organizers reversed course and said there will be no derby next month. Organizers had planned for two weekends of derby fishing — June 18-20 and June 25-27 — but the Alaska Department of Fish and Game thought that would be a bad idea, considering low king stocks in the area. The department’s sport fish division called the event organizer on May 11 with the bad news. “They expressed some concerns with the idea of basically encoura...
Ketchikan's first cruise ship of the year canceled its visit due to a spike in COVID-19 infections in the community, UnCruise Adventures director of marketing and communications Liz Galloway said last Thursday. The Wilderness Legacy, carrying 55 passengers, was scheduled to arrive early last Friday morning and stay until about 6 p.m. Ketchikan broke two pandemic records last Thursday, recording a record-high case count of 20 new infections, and marking an all-time high of 102 active cases....
The Anchorage Assembly voted last Friday to immediately revoke the city’s mask mandate. On the same day, legislative leaders voted to make mask-wearing optional at the state Capitol — and then shed their own face coverings after the vote. The decision by the Legislative Council followed new guidelines from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for people who are fully vaccinated against COVID-19. The new legislative policy recommends weekly testing for those who are not fully vaccinated and for those with COVID-19 symptoms or who...
Sitka, just as Wrangell, has been told that open-top trash containers are a fire risk aboard barges and cannot be used to send the community's garbage south. The Sitka borough assembly last week heard about the reasons and options for the policy change from the city's solid-waste contractor, but the city is pushing back on paying the bill. Last fall, Alaska Marine Lines announced it would start refusing shipments of solid waste in open containers as of June 1. Switching to closed containers and...
The Alaska House passed a version of the state operating budget Monday that would bring back the Department Fish and Game and Office of Children's Services to Wrangell, but the spending plan still needs Senate approval and the governor's signature before the two jobs could be restored. Wrangell lost its children's service caseworker several years ago to budget cuts. The commercial fisheries office closed last year. The Legislature tried last year to fund both positions, but Gov. Mike Dunleavy...
With frequent breakdowns of the Matanuska — the only state ferry scheduled to serve Wrangell through September — residents are adjusting to the uncertainty, although not always happily. Besides for canceled sailings, Mayor Steve Prysunka also is critical of ferry system management’s approach to dealing with COVID-19 cases among the crew. Crew members aboard the Matanuska tested positive for COVID on both the April 18 and 25 sailings into Ketchikan, posing a risk for others on board the ship and for communities where it stops, the mayor said....
A COVID-19 outbreak at a high school wrestling tournament in Ketchikan last month is linked to 23 infections in five communities across Southeast Alaska, including one case in Wrangell, according to health officials. Ketchikan High School hosted the regional wrestling tournament, an annual event that attracted athletes from eight other schools on April 24. In addition to cases in Ketchikan, wrestlers from Wrangell, Sitka, Mt. Edgecumbe, Craig and Klawock also tested positive for the coronavirus after returning home, according to Kacie Paxton,...
The COVID-19 pandemic has made it an unusual last year for Wrangell High School seniors, and that will culminate with a unique graduation ceremony stretched out on the city dock May 21. That assumes decent weather. The backup plan is back to the community gym, said Megan Powell, adviser to the class of 2021. The students wanted something different this year, Powell said, and that is the dock. The school submitted its COVID-19 mitigation plans to the borough manager and port director, and seating will be limited to four guests for each of the...
Plans are set for the Fourth of July royalty kickoff event May 31, while planning is underway for the four-day holiday celebration a month later - but volunteers are still needed. "The big one we really need is for someone to step up for the parade," said Kimberly Cooper, of the chamber of commerce, which leads Wrangell's annual Fourth of July activities. Volunteers also are needed for game and food booths, she said. While planning continues for July 1-4 events, Wrangell's celebration will begin...
High school students reached new heights with a university Upward Bound program. "We started out with some basic drones ... getting the basic mechanics down," said student Terra Hoyt. "Now we're doing these Mavic Minis and Mavic Pros that are kind of more on an intermediate level, and have things like camera footage and stuff like that." Using small Tello drones in the high school gym, and later bigger Mavic drones, several Wrangell High School students spent their Saturday learning the basics o...
Legislation to bring back a state tax on individual Alaskans to help pay for schools — which was abolished in 1980 as the state got rich with oil — looks destined for more homework and returning to class in committee next year. The bill moved out of the House Ways and Means Committee on May 6, moving next to the Finance Committee. But getting a tax bill through the full House and Senate before the Legislature’s May 19 adjournment deadline would be a tough assignment in any political school. The measure, as amended by the committee last week,...
The SouthEast Alaska Regional Health Consortium is encouraging everyone over the age of 12 to register for their vaccination shots. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Monday approved the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine for children 12 to 15 years old. Dr. Elliot Bruhl, SEARHC chief medical officer, said COVID-19 patients are trending younger and people under 50 years old now make up the largest group of new hospitalizations in the country. “We urge parents and guardians to be proactive in protecting themselves and their community against C...
Wrangell, just like most other investors, profited from stock market gains of the past year, adding about $1.5 million to the value of the municipal permanent fund over the past 15 months as the Dow Jones Industrial Average reached record highs. The city’s savings account was at $10.2 million as of March 31, up from $8.7 million on Jan. 31, 2020. About 55% of the permanent fund is invested in stocks and 45% in bonds. Though stock markets crashed at the start of the pandemic early last year, they have since recovered far past their value of a y...
Legislation to increase Alaska’s state motor fuel tax rate for the first time since 1970 is in a calendar crunch. It was still in the House Finance Committee as of Tuesday, with lawmakers facing a May 19 adjournment deadline. The measure would double the state tax of 8 cents to 16 cents a gallon, with the intent — but not a legally binding requirement — that the money go toward highway maintenance. The Alaska Constitution prohibits dedicated funds. The tax hike is overdue, said the bill’s sponsor, Anchorage Rep. Andy Josephson, who noted t...
The state Senate is considering House legislation that would restructure the 18-year-old ferry system advisory board, taking away the governor’s authority to appoint all of the members. House Bill 63 passed that body unanimously May 5, moving next to the Senate. The governor, however, does not believe a key provision of the legislation is legal. He had proposed his own restructuring bill that did not relinquish appointment authority for members to the board. Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s bill also would continue the provision in law that a governor can...
Hungry Beaver Pizza, Wrangell’s longest-running pizza restaurant and part of the Marine Bar, is operating at reduced hours until the owner, Patty Kautz, 78, can hire some help. Kautz said she can’t maintain her usual pace of work. For the foreseeable future, pizza will be available only during high-demand days: Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday, from 5 to 8 p.m. “I’m 78, I can’t keep doing it,” Kautz said. The pizza spot was closed for a week before it reopened last Friday. “You talked us into it,” she said on Facebook. Kautz has owned...
Advocates of restricting cruise ship traffic to Juneau have started gathering petition signatures to put three questions on the municipal election ballot Oct. 5. The initiatives would make the ballot if supporters can gather signatures of nearly 3,000 registered voters in the town of about 30,000 residents. They started collecting signatures May 3, and face a June 2 deadline to turn in their petition books at city hall. One of the amendments to the city charter would ban cruise ships in town between 7 p.m. and 7 a.m., though it would apply...
The loss of most cruise ship traffic to town will hurt Muskeg Meadows again this summer, but the golf course is open and it’s already on its third tournament of the season this weekend. Back in 2019, before the pandemic shut down cruise ship travel, a local tour operator would book golfers in advance, meet the ship and drive the visitors to Muskeg Meadows, sometimes as many as 20 a day, said Bill Messmer, who works at the course. The package would include clubs and golf cart rentals. “That was a huge day for us,” he said. The course still...
Tacoma-based Alaska Ice Seafoods, which specializes in geoducks, also markets crab under the Fathom Seafoods name, and it’s the crab and other seafood that is bringing the company to Wrangell. Alaska Ice Seafoods has asked the city to approve an assignment of Steve Thomassen’s Crab Alaska marine service center lease. Thomassen sold his business to Alaska Ice, which wants to retain the location. “We’re not saying we’re going to light the world on fire, we just want to come in and work hard, earn you guys’ business and try to support you guys,...
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control has given cruise operators a choice for returning to work: Show that at least 98% of crew and 95% of passengers are fully vaccinated for COVID-19, or run tests voyages with volunteer passengers to assess whether it is safe to get back to business. The agency issued its final technical guidelines May 5 for the trial runs. The CDC action is a step toward resuming cruises in U.S. waters, possibly by July, for the first time since March 2020. Each practice cruise — they’ll run two to seven days — must have...
ANCHORAGE (AP) – The state has agreed to settle for $85,000 with a former employee whose job application was rejected because she supported the recall of Gov. Mike Dunleavy. The out-of-court settlement was announced April 26 by the Alaska chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, which represented Keren Lowell, a former employee for the Alaska State Council on the Arts. Lowell worked for the arts council in 2019 when Dunleavy vetoed the organization’s funding, causing Lowell to lose her job. She then became involved in the effort to rec...
Miami-based Norwegian Cruise Line is threatening to keep its ships out of Florida after the governor signed legislation banning businesses from requiring that customers show proof of vaccination against COVID-19. The company says the law signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis is at odds with guidelines from federal health authorities that would let cruise ships sail in U.S. waters if nearly all passengers and crew members are vaccinated. “It is a classic state-versus-federal-government issue,” said company CEO Frank Del Rio. “Lawyers believe that feder...
JUNEAU (AP) – The U.S. Coast Guard has sunk a derelict, abandoned tugboat in 8,400 feet of open water 145 miles west of Juneau. The Coast Guard, in a news release, said the 107-foot-long, steel-hulled Lumberman was sunk May 2. Coast Guard Petty Officer 3rd Class Janessa Warschkow said crews scuttled the tugboat by opening water valves to flood the vessel, with rounds fired from the Coast Guard Cutter John McCormick to help speed up the process. The cutter had towed the Lumberman to the site where it was sunk. The Coast Guard said it c...
