Sorted by date Results 3763 - 3787 of 7954
While Alaska legislators await federal rules for how the state can spend the almost $1.2 billion in federal pandemic relief funds headed this way, communities are waiting to see their allocations from a separate pot of federal aid - and ready to push the state to share some of its money. In addition to the general relief funding going to the state, Alaska communities will receive a share of a separate $231 million municipal allocation under the American Rescue Plan signed into law last month....
While they have not been able to meet in person due to the pandemic, the Head Start preschool program is still working to make sure Wrangell's kids get the help they need. Besides hosting their program virtually, Head Start has been putting together food boxes since November. "The parents are pretty happy with it,"said Sandy Churchill, with Head Start. "Plus, it's a good way to stay in contact with our parents." Head Start pus together food boxes for 15 kids each week, Churchill said. They...
The borough assembly will consider the purchase of a trash baler so that it can stop shipping the community's garbage out of town in open-top containers. The purchase, estimated at $600,000, will be on the agenda for the April 13 assembly meeting, Borough Manager Lisa Von Bargen said Tuesday. A baler would cut and mash and compress the trash into dense blocks, about 50 cubic feet in size, based on the model the city is considering. The baler project has been ongoing for some time, but the need...
Back when the North Slope was pumping 2 million barrels of crude a day at its peak in 1988, and even for years after, oil provided upward of 90% of state general fund revenues in good years. But that was then, and now oil generates maybe 25% of the state's unrestricted dollars. The king of the budget hill is the Alaska Permanent Fund. The annual draw on the fund to help pay for public services and the dividend will provide about two-thirds of the state's unrestricted general revenues this year....
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has issued new operating guidance for cruise lines, with at least one company just three days later submitting its plan to possibly resume sailings in July. An industry group, however, strongly criticized the instructions. The new federal guidance does not change the reality for Alaska that Canada has not lifted or amended its ban on cruise ships. Without a change in Canada, or a temporary waiver from U.S. law requiring a stop in a Canadian port for...
The Wrangell Police Department is warning the public about phone calls from scammers pretending to be with the Social Security Administration. The callers tell people the government has a warrant for their arrest. Police departments statewide reported a rash of such calls last week, including departments in Juneau, Anchorage, Homer and Unalaska. While some scammers claimed to represent the Social Security Administration, others said they were with the U.S. Marshals Service. Wrangell police said...
The Chugach Ranger, the last wooden boat in the U.S. Forest Service fleet, was relocated to its new home beside the Nolan Center on March 31. The city museum and visitor center has been advocating the past several years to move the boat into a permanent historical display outside the center. However, the protective tarp covering the boat could stay there awhile, Cyni Crary, Nolan Center director, said Monday. Relocating the boat is just the first phase of turning it into a museum exhibit, she sa...
Beginning April 24, Alaskans should start getting used to dialing the 907 area code when calling in state. For the next six months, callers can dial the old way - with just seven digits - or the new way - with 10 digits - but only the 10-digit dialing will work starting Oct. 24. Using the 907 area code on all calls in Alaska as of April 24 will be good practice for when the federally mandated switch to 10-digit dialing takes effect in the fall, even for local calls, said phone service providers...
The Wrangell community group BRAVE, Building Respect and Valuing Everyone, is handing out materials at the elementary school and around town this week to increase awareness that April is Child Abuse Prevention Month. With support from the Alaska Children's Trust, a statewide organization that focuses on the well-being of children and families, BRAVE is distributing coloring books, growth charts, stickers, coffee sleeves, pinwheels and parental guides. BRAVE was founded in 2017 with the mission s...
ANCHORAGE (AP) - The island community of St. Paul, in the middle of the Bering Sea, has issued an emergency stay-at-home ordinance after its first case of the coronavirus. An essential worker tested positive on the island, the Anchorage Daily News reported April 1. It is the first reported coronavirus case in St. Paul since the pandemic began. The city’s hunker-down order will last from April 1 until April 15 and was approved by the St. Paul City Council on March 31. All of St. Paul’s residents besides those in essential government, bus...
JUNEAU (AP) - A plan to upgrade the Gustavus airport faces criticism from residents as contractors plan to begin work on the $20 million federally funded project this month. Residents and organizations such as the Gustavus PFAS Action Coalition want more state accountability after toxic chemicals were found at the airport in 2018, Alaska public radio reported Monday. The contaminants are known as PFAS, a group of toxic chemicals found in firefighting foam that used to be required at airports and U.S. Defense Department sites. They are also...
ANCHORAGE (AP) - Five people had to ski through a heavy Alaska snowstorm to a mountain chalet after abandoning their airplanes on a glacier on North America’s tallest peak, where they were stranded for the weekend, officials said Monday. The five landed Friday in three separate small airplanes — a Cessna 180 and two Piper PA18s — on Ruth Glacier on Denali, said Maureen Gualtieri, a spokesperson for Denali National Park and Preserve. A fast-moving storm prevented them from flying off the glacier, and they spent Friday night in their airpl...
ANCHORAGE (AP) - The Anchorage School District have implemented weekly coronavirus tests for high school hockey players after at least 64 students tested positive for the virus or were told to quarantine because they were a close contact to someone who had the coronavirus. The Anchorage district said all of the cases can be linked to two recent competitive hockey tournaments. “Unfortunately, we’ve gotten to the point where we have enough positive cases related to hockey that we are having to take extra precautions to keep schools open and kee...
With the announcement of three new cases Thursday evening, and one new case Friday morning, Wrangell now has six active cases of COVID-19. One of the new cases was someone at Evergreen Elementary School. “Based upon the information we have at this time, there will be no building closure,” the school district posted to Facebook on Thursday evening. The first COVID-19 case was reported by the city about 3:45 p.m. Thursday. The city said the individual was a local resident, and a close contact of a previous case. The individual has been in qua...
City officials reported three more COVID-19 cases late Wednesday afternoon, bringing to 12 the total number of new cases in town in the past seven days. "Wrangell is experiencing a COVID outbreak," said the statement issued by Wrangell's emergency operations center. "There is confirmation of community spread of the virus. We need everyone’s help to stop this outbreak." The three reported coronavirus cases Wednesday are local residents and are in isolation. The outbreak started last Thursday, with more cases reported Friday, Sunday, Monday and T...
Wrangell assembly members do not like the idea of a state sales tax, even if may be the only tax that state lawmakers are willing to consider. Despite their objection, members agreed they should stay engaged in the issue, particularly as the Alaska Municipal League discusses state revenue options and talks with communities about how a state sales tax could work. AML Director Nils Andreassen explained the situation at a borough assembly workshop March 23. Given the political reality in Alaska, a...
Alaska state transportation officials are contemplating sinking a ferry to save money. The Department of Transportation has considered turning the Malaspina into an artificial reef. The ship is one of the two large sister ships, along with the Matanuska, that helped start the Alaska Marine Highway System almost 60 years ago. The Malaspina has been tied up in Ketchikan since December 2019, when it was taken out of service to cut the budget. The department has said it could cost $18 million for...
ANCHORAGE (AP) - Some Alaska Costco shoppers said they've had their groceries stolen by ravens in the store parking lot. Matt Lewallen said he was packing his groceries into his car in the parking lot of an Anchorage Costco when ravens swooped in to steal a short rib from his cart, the Anchorage Daily News reported March 26. "I literally took 10 steps away and turned around, two ravens came down and instantly grabbed one out of the package, ripped it off and flew off with it," Lewallen said....
"I think it was '52 that we got married, I met her just before," Elmer Mork said about his wife Patricia. "She was the 1950 queen, Fourth of July Queen. The first one. I'm kind of lucky to find a queen." Elmer and Patricia Mork met back in the 1950s at a dance, Elmer said. He caught her eye and said she would like to meet him, and asked him to dance. The rest is history. "My older sister taught me how to do the jitterbug thing," he said. Elmer, 91, and Patricia, 87, have been married about 70...
The one-shot COVID-19 vaccine produced by Johnson & Johnson recently became available in the Southeast Alaska Regional Health Consortium's network and is now in Wrangell. Carly Allen, clinic manager with SEARHC in Wrangell, said the community has received a very limited supply of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. Both this and the Moderna vaccine are currently available in Wrangell. She said SEARHC intends to begin administering the Johnson & Johnson shots next week. "SEARHC is excited to add...
The borough assembly could decide to adopt a new definition for harbor liveaboards at its April 13 meeting, clarifying that the residential user fee would not be charged if people don't overnight aboard the vessel at least 60 days a year. The assembly also has backed away from a January proposal to raise the fee from $85 to $117 a month. The assembly considered the latest version of the liveaboard ordinance at its March 23 meeting, scheduling a public hearing and possible final action April 13....
State House and Senate committees continue to work on competing bills that would change the membership of the state ferry system advisory board. The Senate Transportation Committee on Tuesday heard the governor's bill, while the House State Affairs Committee considered legislation Tuesday offered by House Speaker Louise Stutes, of Kodiak. Gov. Mike Dunleavy's proposal would allow every governor to change out the board's membership, while Stutes' legislation attempts to protect almost half the...
The 58-year-old Matanuska, the oldest operating vessel in the state ferry fleet, has had troubles operating the past two months. The Alaska Marine Highway System took it out of service last week to fix a mechanical problem, canceling port calls Saturday through Thursday this week and expecting that repairs would be completed and the ship ready to resume its weekly run out of Bellingham, Washington, this Friday. The 23-year-old Kennicott stepped in to provide service. The Matanuska expected to...
High school wrestling season will kick off for Wrangell this Friday and Saturday, as the Wolves head to Juneau for their first meet of the year. Wrangell did not compete in any 2020 season, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but Assistant Coach Jack Carney said the team is eager to hit the mat once again. This year will be unique in that it will feature two wrestling seasons in 2021: One now and a second in the fall. Team Captain Rowen Wiederspohn said he is excited by the opportunity. "If somebody w...
The state Transportation Department is asking for public comments on its plan to reduce the hazards along a stretch of Wrangell's Zimovia Highway frequently hit by rocks coming down from the hillside. A rockfall last August at 8-mile Zimovia Highway "drew our attention" to the stretch of roadway, state Transportation Department officials said last week. Talking with the department's Wrangell crew, they learned there had been 36 rockfalls between 2007 and 2019 along just a few miles of the...
