Sorted by date Results 3963 - 3987 of 7954
The Wrangell Borough Assembly unanimously voted Tuesday evening to extend the borough's COVID-19 emergency declaration through March to ensure the community remains eligible for any financial assistance. The assembly also voted to extend its resolution allowing the suspension of in-person assembly meetings until it can make accommodations for social distancing. The assembly declaration retroactively extends through March an emergency ordinance that had expired Dec. 31, which was a continuation...
A few minutes before 1:30 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 9, an 87-year-old driver pressed the gas pedal instead of the brake on his truck and launched from the parking lot into the water of Heritage Harbor. The driver was helped from the truck and did not appear seriously injured, said Police Chief Tom Radke. The chief said it was his understanding that the driver hit the wrong pedal. A medical incident may have led to the accident, but Radke said the exact cause was uncertain. The vehicle pushed through a...
The Women in Safe Homes (WISH) domestic violence shelter in Ketchikan serves Wrangell families too, and its board seat designated for a Wrangell member will be up at the nonprofit organization's annual meeting in February. Kay Larson has served two terms representing Wrangell on the WISH board, and she is asking if anyone else in the community would want to serve in the seat. WISH has operated a 24-hour shelter for domestic violence victims and their families since 1980, said WISH Executive Dire...
While the season's schedule is still tentative amid the challenges created by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Wrangell Wolves are preparing for a new season of basketball. This will be Coach Cody Angerman's fourth season leading the high school boys team. The upcoming season will be unique in a variety of ways, he said, but his goals for the team are the same as always. "I have this same kind of mentality coming into every season," he said. "I just want to make sure that we're the best team possible...
July July 2: With recent national attention on racial bias and police brutality, the community met via web conference June 29 for an evening town hall meeting to discuss policing practices in Wrangell. The meeting provided an opportunity for residents to ask questions of Chief Tom Radke and to share their opinions on the Wrangell Police Department. Those who spoke in the meeting, by and large, expressed support for the police and their current practices. July 9: The cities of Wrangell,...
The city received an application to recall Mayor Steve Prysunka early this week from a group unhappy with Wrangell's face mask requirement. But the filing was premature, said Borough Clerk Kim Lane, who returned the application. State law says a recall application may not be filed during the office holder's first 120 days on the job. That date will not come until early February for the mayor. Lane said the city has its own statute, as well, which copies the 120 days from the state. Don...
The Southeast Alaska Regional Health Consortium will host a training program for certified nursing assistants in Wrangell, starting next week. While the program has existed in Wrangell in the past, it is still a relatively new program under SEARHC leadership. This will be the third CNA training program offered by the Wrangell Medical Center. Issabella Crowley was one of six people who completed the first SEARHC CNA program in Wrangell in 2019. She has worked as a CNA with the hospital for a...
SEATTLE (AP) - Alaska Airlines has banned more than a dozen passengers from all future travel with the company after they refused to wear masks and caused chaos during a flight from the nation’s capital to Seattle. The airline said the 14 passengers were rowdy and argumentative on a Jan. 7 flight from Dulles International Airport, outside Washington, D.C., to Seattle. The flight departed the suburban-Virginia airport the day after pro-Trump rioters stormed and damaged the U.S. Capitol. “Last night, a number of passengers onboard Alaska Air...
ANCHORAGE (AP) - The usual transportation difficulties in rural Alaska have presented unique obstacles for the distribution of COVID-19 vaccines, officials said. Dozens of remote villages lack hospitals and road connections, while ultracold freezers required for storage of specific varieties of the vaccine are essentially nonexistent, Alaska Public Media reported. Tribal health care providers responded by mobilizing a massive effort delivering thousands of doses to remote areas. Providers airlifted vaccine to villages using a fleet of...
Between state budget cuts, a mainline vessel engine breakdown, a halt to port calls in Prince Rupert, B.C., and COVID-19 travel restrictions, the Alaska Marine Highway System has struggled the past year to provide service to Wrangell and the rest of Southeast. Under the governor's proposed budget for the state fiscal year that starts July 1, the ferry system would have even less money to provide service. "Woefully inadequate," Ketchikan Rep. Dan Ortiz, who also represents Wrangell, described...
After two decades at the Wrangell court, Deputy Magistrate Leanna Nash will retire Jan. 30. Nash first accepted a position in the court back in 1999, she said. Twenty-two years later, she felt that it was finally time to step away, spend more time with family and enjoy life. "I have a grandchild I want to spend more time with," she said. "I'm going to be babysitting her part-time. I don't want to work until I'm ill or die. I want to be able to still enjoy life while I still have some life in...
While many are thankful 2020 has come to an end, it does not necessarily mean an end to 2020's problems. Wrangell, like many other communities around the world, has struggled through the COVID-19 pandemic and economic uncertainties. With the start of the new year, city officials, businesses and other community members are looking toward 2021 with cautious optimism. "I think it's going to be a very mixed bag, to be quite honest with you," said city Economic Development Director Carol Rushmore....
Early last week, Wrangell Municipal Light & Power repaired an issue involving one of its newer diesel generators. Light & Power Director Rod Rhoades said a computer controlling the generator's output was refusing to detect the generator in question. It was a difficult problem for them to figure out, he said, but was relatively easy to fix with just a simple wire replacement. Rhoades said all of the city's generators are expected to work together, matching their voltage and frequency to meet...
The aluminum can recycling bins next to Wrangell IGA are under new management. Kim Wickman, with the Wrangell Cooperative Association's IGAP department, said the Wrangell Swim Club will handle the can recycling moving forward. The club is hoping to use the recycling for fundraising, she said, though no major goals have been outlined at this time. Aluminum can recycling has been used by a variety of Wrangell sports teams to fundraise, Wickman said. Before the swim club, the Amateur Athletic...
January Jan. 2: Along with the lights, trees and carolers, the Salvation Army's red Christmas kettles are a common sight during the holiday season. Lt. Jon Tollerud, Wrangell's new corps officer, said the red kettles brought in $10,469. Jan. 9: The Nolan Center celebrated the new year Dec. 31 with a murder mystery party. As this new year marks a new decade, a return to the '20s, the party had a 1920s theme to it. With jazz music, themed costumes and masks, partygoers had the chance to return to...
Wrangell Public Schools reopened their doors Tuesday at the end of winter break, sitting down students back in the classroom. "I love school," said second grader Hailey Bartlett as she stood outside Evergreen Elementary, waiting for the doors to open. Third grader Quinton Davies also said he is excited to be back at Evergreen. Kindergartener Jackson Gellatle said "homework" is the most enjoyable part of school for him. Students are not the only ones who are happy to be back at school. Special...
Wally Smith, 83, a retired industrial arts teacher in Anchorage, donated $1,000 to Haines disaster relief efforts last month because he “had a kindness to repay to those who were kind to me” during a trip to the Southeast community in 1964. Smith was responding to the Dec. 2 mudslide that killed two people, damaged homes and stunned the Lynn Canal community. Back in 1964, Smith was on his way to the Haines ferry terminal bound for the Lower 48, where he would attend graduate school in Colorado. While driving through Canada, a fellow tea...
WASHINGTON (AP) – U.S. Rep. Don Young of Alaska issued a call for bipartisanship among his congressional colleagues while giving the oath of office to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Jan. 3. As the longest-serving member, Young, a Republican, is dean of the House and has the responsibility of swearing in the speaker. Pelosi, a California Democrat, was reelected to the role she’s held since January 2019. Young used the occasion as an opportunity to try to bring together the political parties that have become more deeply divided during Donald Tru...
WASHINGTON (AP) - President Donald Trump vetoed a bill Jan. 1 that would have gradually ended the use of large-mesh drift gillnets deployed exclusively in federal waters off the coast of California, saying such legislation would increase reliance on imported seafood and worsen a multibillion-dollar seafood trade deficit. Trump also said in his veto message to the Senate that the legislation sponsored by Sens. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., and Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., “will not achieve its purported conservation benefits.” Feinstein iss...
JUNEAU (AP) - The Alaska Legislature has required all lawmakers and staff to wear masks during the upcoming session in a bid to stop the coronavirus from spreading. The Legislative Council passed the mandate 11-1 in a virtual meeting the last week of December that determined the rules and guidelines for the session beginning Jan. 19 in Juneau. Only Palmer Republican Rep. DeLena Johnson voted against the policy. Lawmakers and staffers who refuse to have their temperature taken or answer health screening questions will not be allowed to enter...
A few minutes before 1:30 p.m. Saturday, an 87-year-old driver pressed the gas pedal instead of the brake on his truck and launched from the parking lot into the water of Heritage Harbor. The driver was helped from the truck and did not appear seriously injured, said Police Chief Tom Radke. The chief said it was his understanding that the driver hit the wrong pedal, and a medical incident may have led to the accident, but the exact cause was uncertain Saturday afternoon. The vehicle pushed through a barrier of boulders between the parking lot... Full story
Over the past few days, people have been hard at work in and around the WCA carving shed on Front Street, constructing smokehouses. These smokehouses are part of the cooperative association's COVID-19 pandemic response, according to Tribal Administrator Esther Reese. They are using a portion of their CARES Act funding they received for this and other projects, Reese said, to promote food self-sufficiency and a return to a traditional lifestyle among tribal citizens. About 70 smokehouses are...
The year has come to a close, and a new one looms. Many are likely happy to see 2020 go, just as many are also likely eager to see what 2021 has to offer. In either case, this Friday afternoon offers a chance to celebrate in Wrangell fashion; with the annual Polar Bear Plunge. The event will take place at Shoemaker, at 1 p.m. The plunge has been a local tradition for over 20 years now. It had humble beginnings, long ago in the year 2000. In an interview with the Sentinel, Clay Hammer said that...
Groundwork for the Wrangell Mariners' Memorial has come to a halt for winter, but progress has still been made recently. Jenn Miller-Yancey, with the Mariners' Memorial board, reported that work is being done for the memorial's walls, where plaques will one day be hung to commemorate Wrangell sailors who have passed away. "There will be four walls within the memorial, three walls meant to hold plaques that are 26 feet long, curved and vary in height from 42 inches to 8 feet," Miller-Yancey wrote...
Construction of the new Wrangell Medical Center, ongoing since a groundbreaking ceremony in May of 2019, is nearing completion. According to a Dec. 22 press release from the Southeast Alaska Regional Health Consortium, the project has reached 95 percent completion. "WMC staff are excited to begin caring for patients in the new facility," said SEARHC Vice President and WMC Hospital Administrator Leatha Merculieff in the press release. "Select staff have already relocated to completed...
