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The Wrangell School board unanimously approved of a new calendar for the next school year, during a special meeting on Aug. 3. The primary difference between this new calendar and last year is a later start date. The 2020-2021 school calendar will have students' first day of school on Sept. 8. Last year's calendar had students returning to class on Aug. 27, 2019. The extra days before students begin the year will be inservice days and teacher work days, according to the calendar, followed by Lab...
Four individuals died in a car crash that occurred late Monday night or early Tuesday morning on Mitkof Island when their SUV drove off the roadway near the 27 mile marker of Mitkof Highway at a high rate of speed, according to a press release from the Alaska Department of Public Safety. Two of the passengers were Wrangell citizens Siguard Decker, 21, and Helen Decker, 19, according to the ADPS press release. Another passenger was identified as 29-year-old Ian Martin of Petersburg, according to...
A new case of COVID-19 was announced Friday afternoon, July 31. According to a press release from the city, this case was a close contact from a previous case that was announced last week. The press release also states that the new case is a local resident. This brings the total number of cases in Wrangell up to 13. Only four are currently considered active.... Full story
Two new cases of COVID-19 were announced in Wrangell today, Aug. 1. This brings the total number of cases Wrangell has seen up to 15, and the number of active cases up to 6. The first case was announced in a press release from the city early this morning, at 8:27 a.m. This individual is a Wrangell local, and according to the press release is a close contact of a previous case that was announced last week. The second case was announced later in the afternoon, around 1:05 p.m. Just like the previous case, this person is a Wrangell local and a... Full story
The Nolan Center hosted the annual Bearfest symposium last Thursday afternoon, July 23. The symposium brings together experts each year to give lectures on a variety of bear-themed topics. This year's symposium guest was Dr. Lance Craighead, who spoke about the history of bears themselves. Other local experts spoke about the Anan bear observatory, as well. The history of bears, as animals, stretches back millions of years. Craighead said that all bears come from a common ancestor, which...
Three new cases of COVID-19 were announced in Wrangell over a period of four days this past week. This has brought the total number of cases of the virus in town up to 12. The first case in this string, case no. 10, was announced Friday, July 24. During the initial announcement, it was not known if this case was from a local or a nonresident. This information was updated the next day, July 25, with the announcement of case no. 11. Both cases 10 and 11 were confirmed to be Wrangell residents, as...
The Wrangell Borough Assembly was planning to hold a work session and meeting Tuesday evening, July 28. However, it was unexpectedly cancelled earlier that afternoon. Borough Manager Lisa Von Bargen explained that there was a sudden tragedy involving the family of an assembly member. The originally planned meeting was going to cover a work session regarding the Wrangell Institute Property, followed by a regular assembly meeting. On the agenda for the meeting was a discussion of a potential mask...
The Wrangell Ranger District is beginning the planning process for a restoration of the Roosevelt Harbor area. The harbor, located on Zarembo Island west of Wrangell, is graded inadequately and has poor drainage. According to a document provided by District Ranger Clint Kolarich, this leaves the site and the harbor itself vulnerable to pollutants and erosion. A rough outline of the plan is to add base surface material to the existing grade of the existing Forest Service administrative site, to...
With the resignation of David Macri late last school year, and a brief run by Jack Carney as interim principal, Wrangell's secondary schools were left without a principal. The position is now filled, however. This next school year, local teacher Bob Davis will serve as the assistant principal/lead teacher of Wrangell High School and Stikine Middle School. Davis has served as a teacher in the Wrangell School District since 1994, he said. He has taught English and history over the years mostly in...
At 12:27 P.M. on Saturday, power went out in parts of Petersburg. Three minutes later, downtown Wrangell was also left in the dark, leaving Petersburg and Wrangell officials to think that the two incidents were related. "The issues in both communities seem too close together to be considered a coincidence, but no one has been able to explain why the cutout failure in Petersburg caused a feeder in Wrangell to drop out," said Petersburg Utility Director Karl Hagerman in a statement to the...
The Wrangell Public School District held a virtual town hall meeting on Thursday, July 16, where school officials answered submitted questions from families regarding the SMART Start reopening plan for the upcoming school year. The nearly two hour long meeting at one point had 72 participants. Board President Aaron Angerman, who moderated the town hall meeting, asked school officials the submitted questions from the public. Although a plan for how the school district will operate under COVID-19...
"Concern" is a common theme in the COVID-19 pandemic. People are concerned about their health, their jobs, getting their kids back into school, and the economic prospects of their community, among other things. Wrangell resident Kassee Schlotzhauer wants to help ensure that getting enough to eat is not one such concern, through Wrangell's Subsistence Giving Project. "My family and me, we like to subsistence hunt, fish, gather for our family for the winters," she said. "This last year I started...
Progress has been made on the new Wrangell Medical Center, according to a press release from SEARHC. Thanks to increases in crew sizes, and new trades coming onto the project, the project has gained momentum. "WMC staff and SEARHC leadership are excited to hear that the project is currently ahead of schedule," said SEARHC Vice President and WMC Hospital Administrator Leatha Merculieff in the press release. "Dawson Construction has worked hard to mitigate any delays due to the implementation of C...
The tenth case of COVID-19 in Wrangell was confirmed by city officials this afternoon. According to a press release from the City and Borough of Wrangell, the city's unified command was made aware of the new case today, July 24. Of the ten total cases, only two are now considered active. The other eight are considered recovered, according to the press release. What is unique about this most recent case, however, is that city officials are not certain as to the patient's residency. "At this time, we do not know whether this confirmed case is a... Full story
While many traditional events in Wrangell have been altered or cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the public still gets to enjoy Bearfest this summer. Bearfest is an annual event in Wrangell, drawing in people near and far to celebrate one of Alaska's most well-known animals: Bears. The week-long celebration kicked off yesterday, July 22, with an art workshop at the Nolan Center and an afternoon of native storytelling at the totem park. While the celebration will not be as big as usual...
The Wrangell Borough Assembly met Tuesday evening for a special meeting, to consider CARES Act funding for the school district. Wrangell, and many other communities, recently received special funds through the CARES Act to help respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. Wrangell has used these funds, or plans to use them, for items like the purchase of a new ambulance, to cover wages for first responders, and to help pay for an alternate isolation site, among other planned expenses. As the Wrangell...
Declarations of candidacy for Wrangell's election will be opening in the near future. A July 9 Facebook post on the city's page listed open positions interested candidates may consider. The position of mayor will be up for grabs this year, a two-year term. There are also three seats open on the borough assembly. Two seats are for three-year terms, while another one is for a two-year unexpired term. There is one spot available on the Wrangell School Board, for a three-year term. Lastly, there...
The City and Borough of Wrangell announced in a press release dated 11:45 a.m. Saturday, July 25, that there was another confirmed case of COVID-19 on the island. The case is symptomatic, according to a press release, and the patient is a Wrangell local. The press release also reported that the previous case before this one was also a Wrangell resident. “Health officials have found evidence of community transmission in Wrangell,” the press release reads. “Community transmission happens when there are confirmed cases of COVID-19 and there is no... Full story
The City and Borough of Wrangell announced the twelfth case of COVID-19 in Wrangell on Monday afternoon, July 27. This is the fourth case considered to be active in the community, the others are considered recovered. This case, according to the city's press release, is a close contact from another case announced late last week. "This new case is a close contact of Friday's confirmed case and is also a local resident," the press release reads. "Health officials have found evidence of community... Full story
PETERSBURG- Four individuals died in a car crash that occurred late Monday night or early Tuesday morning on Mitkof Island when their SUV drove off the roadway near the 27 mile marker of Mitkof Highway at a high rate of speed, according to a press release from the Alaska Department of Public Safety. Two of the passengers were Wrangell citizens Siguard Decker, 21, and Helen Decker, 19, according to the ADPS press release. Another passenger was identified as 29-year-old Ian Martin of Petersburg,... Full story
Members of the Policy Committee for the Wrangell School District met last Thursday afternoon to discuss various policies for school board consideration. Among several items on the agenda were two policies covering the topics of professional boundaries between staff and students, and freedom of speech amongst the student body. Board Policy 5141.42, Professional Boundaries of Staff with Students, as it reads, is meant to protect children from inappropriate conduct by staff, volunteers, and other...
The Wrangell Parks and Recreation Advisory Board met Monday, June 29. During the meeting, the board reviewed the department's new budget for FY 2021, and also took a look at some tentative plans for summer programming. The borough assembly adopted the FY 2021 budget for Wrangell in their assembly meeting on Tuesday, June 23. The entire budget is aiming to break even, according to Borough Manager Lisa Von Bargen, with expenses and revenues set at approximately $16 million. The Parks and Rec...
The Wrangell Public School District will be hosting an online town hall meeting to discuss the reopening plan for fall 2020, tonight at 6 p.m.. Superintendent Debbe Lancaster said that a meeting was tentatively set for July 16 during a policy committee meeting on July 9. The date was confirmed in an email from Kim Powell, with the school district, on July 13. The school district hosted a series of meetings between school staff, administration, and community members on the SMART Start reopening....
The Central Council of Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes is once again distributing back-to-school backpacks across multiple Southeast Alaskan communities this year. Applications for the backpacks are due this Friday, July 17. The backpack distribution is a common occurrence in Wrangell, and in other Southeast communities. However, students can also expect to find new laptops in their bags this year, instead of school supplies. Julie Chapman, program coordinator with the Central Council, said...
The Wrangell Convention and Visitor Bureau met last Thursday, to workshop their goals for a rebranding project. As part of a large to-do list recently approved by the borough assembly, the CVB is seeking to use CARES Act funding to improve Wrangell's brand and draw in more tourists. As this was just a workshop, no official action was taken. However, the bureau generally agreed that Wrangell's brand should be focused on Wrangell as a community. "I think our brand should be community-focused,"...
