Sorted by date Results 4016 - 4040 of 7954
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) – The results of Alaska’s general election were certified Monday, the Division of Elections announced. Certification followed a review of ballots, voter registers and other materials by a bipartisan board. Certification initially was targeted for Nov. 25. Nationally, state-by-state certification of results has generated interest as President Donald Trump and some supporters have sought to sow doubt about the outcome of his race, won by Democrat Joe Biden. Alaska was among the states Trump won. In a tight Anchorage Hous...
Former Wrangell Sentinel owner Larry Persily has agreed to buy the weekly newspaper from Petersburg couple Ron and Anne Loesch, who have owned it for 17 years. Depending on the schedule for the closing agreement and transition details, Persily will take over Jan. 1 or Feb. 1. "My wife and I started in Alaska journalism with the Sentinel in 1976, and it just feels right to buy the paper at this time and help build on its 118-year history," Persily said. Sentinel staffers Caleb Vierkant and Trish...
Monday evening, Nov. 30, the City and Borough of Wrangell announced the community's 25th confirmed case of COVID-19. According to their press release, the case is a Wrangell resident. They are reportedly asymptomatic and are in isolation. The press release goes on to say that this case is non-travel related. This makes 25 total cases of COVID-19 for Wrangell. Of these, 15 have now been found in locals and eight in non-locals. Two cases were announced in Wrangell residents, who were not in town...
Due to stormy weather Wrangell saw through the night and morning of Monday and Tuesday, according to Wrangell Municipal Light & Power, some trees fell onto power lines out Zimovia Highway and caused some outages on Dec. 1. A Facebook post from the City and Borough of Wrangell announced that power was lost between 9-mile and 13-mile of the highway. Rod Rhoades, WLM&P director, said that they received reports of two fallen trees out the road, at 11.5-mile and 11.75-mile. Rhoades said he had crews...
It was a short meeting for the Wrangell School Board last Monday evening, only about 10 minutes. There was a single item on their agenda that evening: A proposal from the Association of Alaska School Boards to conduct Wrangell School District's search for a new superintendent, for the amount of $10,500. This was discussed in a previous school board meeting, on Nov. 16, but the board decided to defer action until Nov. 30. This was partially because board members wanted more time to consider the...
As the Christmas season draws closer, Wrangell Salvation Army is once again preparing for their red kettle fundraiser. The Salvation Army's red kettles date back to the 19th century, according to the organization's website. In 1891, Salvation Army Captain Joseph McFee created the tradition, using a kettle to raise money for the poor in San Francisco. Today it is one of the group's most well-known fundraisers. Last year, according to Lt. Jon Tollerud, the Wrangell Salvation Army raised just over...
The Wrangell Borough Assembly held a workshop Tuesday evening, Dec. 1, for discussion and possible direction on their recently passed mask mandate and ongoing closure of city buildings. The mask mandate, requiring everyone in Wrangell to wear a face mask or face shield when in public, was adopted in an emergency meeting on Nov. 12. The city also decided to close city buildings to the public. These measures were passed in response to the ongoing spread of COVID-19 across the state. Both of these...
Midnight Madness, Wrangell’s annual welcoming of the Christmas season, is scheduled to take place this Friday, Dec. 4. Stephanie Cook, with the chamber of commerce, said that people can expect many of the usual traditions of Midnight Madness, but with some changes in response to COVID-19. “We are going to be doing the tree lighting at 6 p.m., and we’ll do the count-off from 10 to 0, and the tree will light up,” She said. “We are asking people to mask up and social distance if they’re going to be coming downtown to watch the tree lighting, j...
Two Petersburg residents are facing charges after accusing a Petersburg Police Department officer of sexual misconduct. James R. Vick and Julie C. Ruhle claimed that Officer Louis Waechter allegedly touched Ruhle inappropriately while arresting her on charges of driving under the influence on Sept. 28, but body cam footage of the interaction does not support the claim, according to the court complaint. Vick and Ruhle now face a misdemeanor class A charge for knowingly giving false information to...
The 2021 preseason terminal run forecast for Stikine River large Chinook salmon is 9,900 fish. The forecast is below the lower end of the Escapement Goal Range (EGR) of 14,000 to 28,000 fish. The 2020 terminal run size was 11,750 large Chinook salmon with an escapement of 10,670 fish. The 2021 preseason terminal run forecast for Taku River large Chinook salmon is 10,300 fish. The forecast is below the lower end of the EGR of 19,000 to 36,000 fish. The 2020 terminal run size was 15,980 large Chinook salmon with an escapement of 15,590 fish....
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) – A group of four nonprofit organizations in Alaska’s capital have been awarded a grant of more than $860,000 to counter homelessness amid the coronavirus pandemic. The Juneau Empire reported Friday that the grant from the Alaska Housing Financial Corporation will be shared by the Juneau groups following their joint application to the corporation. The award is part of a federal coronavirus recovery fund emergency solutions grant to help prevent those affected by the pandemic from experiencing homelessness. The Glory Hal...
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) – A lab in Alaska failed to report over 1,600 positive coronavirus tests to the state health department in the past month, according to a state official. Dr. Louisa Castrodale, an epidemiologist with the state, said Friday that Beechtree Labs did not report 1,636 positive test results out of 13,169 tests conducted, most of which were done in the last two weeks. Beechtree is a new commercial lab based out of Anchorage. The announcement is a sign that climbing daily case counts reported by the state reflect only a part o...
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) – The first shipment of a COVID-19 vaccine could arrive in Alaska within a few weeks, state health officials said. Early batches of vaccine will be prioritized for essential workers in health care, assisted living and emergency medical settings, The Anchorage Daily News reported Monday. Vaccines initially will be issued in limited quantities and likely will not be available to the general public until March or April. The state continues to work on plans to distribute supplies after the vaccines become broadly a...
Wrangell’s Christmas tree lighting ceremony has been postponed due to bad weather and ongoing efforts by the city’s electrical department to keep power running, according to the Wrangell Chamber of Commerce. In a Facebook post on Thursday, Dec. 3, the chamber announced that the annual tradition was being pushed back, potentially to Dec. 11. However, the post went on to say that Midnight Madness is still moving forward tomorrow evening, Dec. 4. Many businesses will still be open late for shopping and sales. “As I am sure many of you have notic...
The City and Borough of Wrangell announced this afternoon, Dec. 5, a new confirmed case of COVID-19. The case, a Wrangell resident, is reportedly symptomatic and in isolation. At this time, according to the city’s press release, no further details are available. This is the 26th case of COVID-19 to affect the Wrangell community. Currently, there are only two active cases in Wrangell. The other 24 are considered recovered. 16 cases have been in locals, and eight in non-locals. Two cases have affected Wrangell residents while they were out of t...
Last Thursday, Nov. 19, Wrangell secondary school students with the BASE student group participated in the Great American Smokeout by going around town cleaning up cigarette butts. In less than an hour, according to SEARHC Health Educator Tammi Meissner, the students managed to pick up 2.8 pounds of cigarette butts outside of bars and along Front Street. Back in 2019, according to past reporting in the Sentinel, Wrangell High School students cleaned up over 13 pounds of cigarette butts. In...
The Wrangell Borough Assembly held a special meeting last Thursday night, Nov. 19, to discuss the Public Safety Building and its needed repairs. The Public Safety Building houses Wrangell's court, police department, fire department, and DMV. It was first built in 1987, and is in need of renovation in many areas. One such area was the main topic of discussion in the meeting: The need for a wall shoring project. A few months ago, structural instability was discovered in the Public Safety...
As of last Wednesday, Nov. 18, all absentee and early ballots have been counted for District 36. According to unofficial results for the Nov. 3 election, there were 3,748 absentee ballots cast this election, as well as 10 early votes and 458 questioned ballots. "All the eligible ballots have been counted," Tiffany Montemayor, with the Alaska Division of Elections, said. "Every district, every precinct." District 36 covers the communities of Wrangell, Ketchikan, Metlakatla, and others....
Wrangell Parks and Recreation has learned a lot about adaptability this past year, P&R Director Kate Thomas said. With the COVID-19 pandemic, she said that things could change quickly and her department would need to change their operations to meet them. As the year is coming to a close, Thomas said they are looking at their options for winter programming. In a previous meeting on Nov. 11 the Parks and Rec Advisory Board decided to maintain a moratorium on travel for youth programming through...
While this holiday season may look different with the COVID-19 pandemic, several Wrangell traditions are still going strong. The public will still be able to participate in the annual Christmas Tree Lane, though there will be some changes. The Dove Tree ceremony is still moving forward, as well. Christmas Tree Lane is a yearly fundraiser for the Hospice of Wrangell. People and organizations across the city donate uniquely decorated Christmas Trees, and then others can place bids on them to take...
The Wrangell Planning and Zoning commission met Monday afternoon, to hold a work session on potential zoning of the former Institute Property. The former Wrangell Institute was located on land near Shoemaker Harbor. After the Institute closed down, the city has been trying to work out what to do with the property. It has been zoned “holding” since 2011, according to previous reporting in the Sentinel, and a master plan for renovation was developed in 2017. However, not much progress has been made since then. The city has been working to get...
The commercial Dungeness crab fishery in Registration Area A (Southeast) will close in most areas by regulation at 11:59 p.m. on Monday, November 30, consistent with 5 AAC 32.110. Districts 1 and 2, and Section 13-B outside of the Sitka Sound Special Use Area [5 AAC 32.150(10)] will remain open until February 28, 2021. For those areas that close at 11:59 p.m. on November 30, all Dungeness pots must be removed from the water except that pots may be stored on the grounds with all pot doors secured fully open and all bait and bait containers...
Monday evening, Nov. 30, the City and Borough of Wrangell announced the community’s 25th confirmed case of COVID-19. According to their press release, the case is a Wrangell resident. They are reportedly asymptomatic and are in isolation. The press release goes on to say that this case is non-travel related. This makes 25 total cases of COVID-19 for Wrangell. Of these, 15 have now been found in locals and eight in non-locals. Two cases were announced in Wrangell residents, who were not in town at the time. Only one case is currently active. T...
Last week, on Nov. 10, the borough assembly met for a work session on the topic of electric meter upgrades. According to a memo from Electrical Superintendent Rod Rhoades, Wrangell Municipal Light & Power's metering system has been deemed obsolete by their software and hardware provider, ITRON. Their current metering system was developed in 1994, according to the memo, and ITRON has decided the continued use of this system, MV-RS, is no longer smart or cost effective. This means, Rhoades wrote,...
Last Thursday morning, Nov. 12, many Alaskans received an emergency alert on their phones from Governor Mike Dunleavy. The message contained a link to a video of Dunleavy, in which he addressed the rapid spread of COVID-19 across the state. Effective immediately, he said, all state employees were to work from home if possible, and face masks and social distancing were mandatory at state work sites. On Nov. 16 he also issued a new 30-day COVID-19 disaster declaration. In his address, the governor...
