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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...
After four breakdowns of the state ferry Matanuska in a little over two months, the Department of Transportation is considering its options to ensure more reliable service as the heavier summer travel season approaches. "In light of the mechanical issues on the Matanuska, we are evaluating and considering alternatives to improve system reliability,” department spokesman Sam Dapcevich said April 29. The department provided no further information. “Will get back to you on this question,” Dapcevich said. The Alaska Marine Highway System’s five op...
The Wrangell Chamber of Commerce is making plans for the community’s 66th king salmon derby to open June 15. It’s not exactly the 66th annual, since the derby was canceled 2018-2020 due to weak runs, but after that three-year wait the 66th derby could finally happen. The chamber is planning for a shorter derby this year, ending June 30, to make way for the community’s Fourth of July celebration and to ease into the event, which in the past ran an entire month, said Kimberly Cooper, of the chamber. “More details are on the way,” she said last Fr...
Rich with oil dollars, the Alaska Legislature in 1980 abolished the state’s annual $10-per-person tax that went to help support schools. More 41 years later, with North Slope oil production at its lowest level since the giant Prudhoe Bay field went online, and the state facing chronic budget gaps, a House committee this week is holding hearings to bring back the tax. The proposed tax would bring in an estimated $65 million a year, less than 10% of annual state budget deficits in recent years, but it’s a start, said Anchorage Rep. Ivy Spo...
Watershed-protection advocates told Alaska lawmakers that the three transboundary rivers crossing from Canada into Southeast need more protection from the risks created by mining operations in British Columbia, including more data on water quality. Tracking and ensuring the health of the waterways and their salmon runs, including the Stikine River, requires more monitoring over a wider area for more years, research scientist Chris Sergeant testified at the House Fisheries Committee on April 27. “The good news … is they’re still thriving watersh...
A few volunteers and city parks and recreation staff have started the work, but the big push to clean up, restore and replant downtown garden beds -and generally spruce up Front Street - is this weekend. The work project stretches down Front Street from the Stikine Inn to Rayme's Bar, said Kate Thomas, parks director. "I am not going to turn down help, ever." Volunteers can sign up and pick up tools, supplies and assignments at the downtown pavilion 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday, and 9 a.m. to 3 p.m....
The police department wants to get public feedback before its officers start wearing body cameras. The borough assembly took a first look at a draft policy for using the sound and video recording devices at its meeting April 27. The policy is under review by the borough attorney before it can go out for public comment. “This is kind of a document in motion,” Police Chief Tom Radke told the assembly. “We’re looking forward to community input. I think the community really needs to be involved in this process as we roll it out.” Radke reviewed...
Wrangell Sentinel reporter/photographer Caleb Vierkant won second place for best sports photo in the 2020 Alaska Press Club competition. The photo in the March 5, 2020, Sentinel, “Wolves host Haines for last home games of the season,” features the basketball team cheering and high-fiving Hank Voltz as he walks onto the court. Voltz, a now-graduated senior, has a heart condition that kept him from playing. He served as team manager but was brought onto the court for the opening of the final home game of his career. Voltz went on to score the...
Lucy Moline-Robinson is organizing her “finale” fun run for Southeast Beasts May 22. Robinson has been organizing events for Wrangell’s running group since 2012, she said, and it is time for her to step away from the work. “It’s been a wonderful time and I’ve enjoyed it, but I’d just like to take a break,” she said. “It’s a lot of work and a lot of effort. … I am looking for folks to organize the main runs, because I think they have some value in our community.” The main events put on by Southeast Beasts are the Thanksgiving Turkey Tro...
The producers of Magnetic North, a series of historical documentaries on interesting and important Alaskans, is calling on Wrangell for photos or home movies of the community and Ed Rasmuson, who managed the town’s only bank branch 1965 to 1967. Rasmuson may be best known as chairman of the Rasmuson Foundation, the largest philanthropic organization in the state, with almost $700 million in assets as of Dec. 31. Before that, though, he was in the “family business” of banking, said producer Marla Williams. His grandparents took over the then-fai...
HONOLULU - A crew returned from the northernmost islands in the Hawaiian archipelago last month with a boatload of marine plastic and abandoned fishing nets that threaten to entangle endangered Hawaiian monk seals and other animals on the uninhabited beaches stretching more than 1,300 miles north of Honolulu. The cleanup effort in Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument lasted three weeks and the crew picked up more than 47 tons of "ghost nets" and other marine plastics such as buoys, crates,...