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Wrangell's cross country team took part in its first meet of the season last Saturday afternoon. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, teams could not travel to compete against each other in person. Instead, a virtual meet was held, where teams ran in their hometowns but still competed against the other teams' times. Seven communities competed, altogether: Wrangell, Petersburg, Haines, Klawock, Craig, Metlakatla, and Unalaska. For the girls race, Liana Carney took first place for Wrangell, and seventh...
Wrangell's Economic Development Committee met last Wednesday, Sept. 9, to continue their ongoing discussions of expanding existing grant opportunities. The EDC has helped put together multiple grants for people and businesses to apply for, to help them through the COVID-19 pandemic. These include various business grants, haul-out assistance for boats, food relief, and others. Currently, according to Economic Development Director Carol Rushmore, the number of applications for these grants has...
Wrangell Public School District has opened its new year with in-person classes. The final decision between in-person and online classes was made the Thursday before the first day of school, on Sept. 3. In a school board meeting on Aug. 31, Superintendent Debbe Lancaster said Sept. 3 was the soft deadline for a final decision, upon consideration of the district's enrollment numbers and staffing needs. "Taking into account our current staffing model, student enrollment numbers, and mitigation...
During the Wrangell Borough Assembly on Tuesday evening, Sept. 8 they discussed a community risk assessment of Wrangell for COVID-19. This risk assessment was created by Wrangell's Emergency Operations Center, to help determine how at-risk the community might be to the pandemic. The assessment takes into account information like the 7-day and 14-day average case count in Wrangell, the amount of community spread of COVID-19, the average number of close contacts per case, and the number of large...
With the close of Labor Day weekend, Wrangell's coho and halibut derbies have come to an end. Results have been posted to the chamber of commerce's derby website. In the halibut derby, first place went to Steve Keller, bringing in a 176.8 pound halibut on Sept. 6. Second and third place went to Elmer Mork and Jeremy Stolley, catching halibut weighing 96.4 pounds and 63.4 pounds, respectively. While coming in third in the halibut derby, Stolley took first place in the coho derby. He brought in a...
The Wrangell Economic Development Committee met last Thursday, Sept. 3, to review grants the city is offering to individuals and businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic. They wanted to see how the community has received the grant opportunities so far, and what changes could be made to better improve them. According to Economic Development Director Carol Rushmore, as of Sept. 2 they have received 189 applications, requesting a total of $257,411 in assistance. Of these, 162 have been paid out in...
The Wrangell Port Commission held a workshop last Thursday evening, Sept. 3. During this meeting, the new harbor master for the city was introduced. Steve Miller will be taking over as harbor master in the near future. Current Harbor Master Greg Meissner will be retiring soon, according to Keeleigh Solverson with the harbor department. Meissner first announced his intentions to retire in February of this year, according to a Feb. 13 article in the Wrangell Sentinel. Meissner confirmed that he...
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) – Alaska ranks last in U.S. Census responses that do not involve census takers making personal visits, including phone, mail or online participation, officials said. The state has the lowest level of “self-response” so far during the 2020 Census, Alaska Public Media reported. It had a rate of 49.5% by computer, phone or mail as of Sept. 1, while the national rate of self-response is 63%, census officials said. Alaska’s overall response rate remains about 5% lower than in 2010. “Some people are fearful or not trusting...
Candidacy declarations for Wrangell's Oct. 6 election closed at 4 p.m. Monday, Aug. 31. A variety of positions in city leadership were open for candidates this year. However, unless there are write-in candidates, not enough candidates announced their interest to potentially fill all of the open seats in this upcoming election. Mayor Steve Prysunka will be seeking re-election to his position this year. He was elected Mayor in 2018. He is running unopposed, pending any write-in candidates...
Wrangell High School has provided the Wrangell Sentinel a very tentative schedule for sporting events this season. The COVID-19 pandemic cut the basketball season short last year, and as the pandemic is still ongoing there is much uncertainty about what sports will look like this year. Trisa Rooney, activities director for Wrangell High School, emphasized in an email to the Sentinel that the dates and locations provided were all subject to change. Nothing has been set in stone yet, she said. Cro...
Two weeks ago the Wrangell Cooperative Association provided $86,000 to the Wrangell Volunteer Fire Department which, according to Tribal Administrator Esther Reese, is to help purchase new ambulance equipment. Some of the equipment includes a PowerCot, a PowerLoad system, and a cardiac monitor. "We're really happy to be able to contribute in a tangible way to something that is meaningful in our community, and helping keep our community members and our tribal members safe," she said. The donation...
Two members of the Wrangell Police Department made a four-day trip to Ketchikan last week for some training, according to city officials. The trip raised some questions, as the city has an ongoing moratorium for employees traveling outside of Wrangell during the COVID-19 pandemic. The trip was made with the full awareness of the borough assembly, it is reported, and an exception for the travel ban exists for public safety training. Chief Tom Radke said that Officers Connor Philips and Nick Pears...
The third annual Family Resilience Fair will take place later this month, according to Kay Larson. The fair, set up by local nonprofit BRAVE, is designed to bring together different organizations across Wrangell and beyond to help families discover resources that may be available to them. This year's fair will take place on Sept. 26, from 1 to 4 p.m., at the Nolan Center. There are some limitations with the fair this year, Larson said. With the COVID-19 pandemic ongoing, those participating in...
The Wrangell School Board held a special meeting Monday evening, Aug. 31, to review updated SMART Start plans for the upcoming school year. With the first day of school scheduled for Sept. 8, and the district planning for in-person classes, the SMART start plans are meant to act as a guide for how schools will respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. Under the "medium risk" level the schools will open with, staff and students will be required to wear face masks, non-instructional gathering of more...
The community of Wrangell currently has three active cases of COVID-19, as of Tuesday, Sept. 1. The three most recent cases were discovered through routine employee testing programs, according to press releases from the City and Borough of Wrangell. All three cases have been reported to be asymptomatic, as well. This brings the total number of cases of the virus in Wrangell up to 18. The first of the currently active cases was discovered last Friday, Aug. 21. The second case came on Friday,...
The official results for the Aug. 18 primary election have been released on the Alaska Division of Elections website. The primary election gives voters the opportunity to narrow down which candidates they would like to consider in the upcoming general election, later this year. Out of Wrangell’s 1,973 registered voters, 299 votes were cast in the primary. This is a turnout of 15.15 percent, according to the state website. Statewide, turnout for the primary election was 22.7 percent. Across the state, Dan Sullivan and Al Gross received the m...
Prior to their meeting Tuesday, Aug. 25, the Wrangell Borough Assembly held a workshop to go over several Capital Improvement Projects planned for FY 2021. The city has multiple projects lined up for the near future, across several departments. Last week’s workshop was to review these projects, and their estimated costs. “You approved a handful of items that were already in play, or had critical timelines in the operating budget, and those were attached in the agenda packet,” said Borough Manager Lisa Von Bargen. “What is before you tonight...
June 16: Corey Henderson was arraigned on charges of driving under the influence. He was released on his own recognizance. His request for a court-appointed lawyer was granted. A calendar call was scheduled for Sept. 15. Gary Hamley was arraigned on charges of violating conditions of release. He was released on a $250 cash performance bond. His request for a court-appointed lawyer was granted. A calendar call was scheduled for Sept. 15. June 30: Summons were issued for Anthony Guggenbickler to appear on July 14, on charges of assault. July 1: M...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) – Residents of a remote Alaska village scrambled just before midnight to help save the life of a child, jumping into their vehicles to light up a pitch-black runway as a medical transport plane circled overhead. People were running around in pajamas to help out, said Ida Nelson, who lives near the runway in the Southwest Alaska village of Igiugig. She had just gotten out of a steam bath herself when she heard the sound of the plane, and noticed that the runway lights weren’t on. She took her ATV to the runway a few hun...
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) – Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s administration has been ordered to change the language of the ballot summary for a proposed act that seeks to raise taxes on the oil industry. The Alaska Supreme Court upheld a ruling by Superior Court Judge William Morse, who found in June that Lt. Gov. Kevin Meyer did not provide an impartial summary of the measure as required by law, the Anchorage Daily News reported. The Fair Share Act is designed to make the tax filings of the state’s major oil producers “a matter of public record....
After deliberation by school administration, the Wrangell School District will be opening the new year with in-person classes. In an announcement by Superintendent Debbe Lancaster, on Aug. 24, all three schools will be operating at the "medium risk" level of their SMART Start plan. The decision comes after consulting with local and state officials on this decision, she said. "Please keep in mind that we will strictly adhere to our mitigation plan, our district has mandated masks on all district...
The City and Borough of Wrangell announced another confirmed case of COVID-19 this afternoon, Aug. 28. Like the previous case, the newest case is asymptomatic and was identified through an employee testing program. The patient is in isolation. This brings the total number of cases in Wrangell to 17, according to the press release. Of these, only two are considered active. Six of the cases have been found in non-locals, while the other 11 were Wrangell residents. The city’s press release also reports that, according to state documents, a...
The City and Borough of Wrangell announced a new case of COVID-19 was identified today, Aug. 31. This case, like the previous case identified on Aug. 28, was found via an employee testing program. The patient is asymptomatic and is in isolation. This is the 18th case Wrangell has seen, in total. Of these, 11 cases were Wrangell locals and the other seven were non-locals. Only three cases are considered active at this time....
The Wrangell Borough Assembly met Tuesday evening, Aug. 25. During this meeting, they reviewed an FY 2019 audit of the borough. This item was postponed from their meeting on Aug. 11, to wait for a representative from the auditing firm to be available to answer questions. According to the agenda packet, the fund balance for the city's governmental funds sits at $53.65 million, and approximately $54.31 million in the enterprise funds. Of these, unrestricted funds sit at about $9.16 million and $5....
In the Aug. 13 edition of the Wrangell Sentinel, the newspaper reported on a story involving Hope Community Church of God, and the potential hiring of William Vorrasi as a new pastor. The church announced that it would not be hiring Vorrasi in an Aug. 2 Facebook post, after community backlash when people learned Vorrasi was on the sex offender registry. However, according to two church board members, this announcement was premature. Jacquie Dozier and Bonnie Stutz said that they are board...
