Sorted by date Results 4147 - 4171 of 7980
There was a power outage across the city last Thursday afternoon beginning a little after 4:20 p.m. The Wrangell Volunteer Fire Department was called out to the municipal light and power building shortly after the lights went out, with what appeared to be smoke coming out of the building. There was no fire, however, and power was restored to the city around 5 p.m. Wrangell Municipal Light and Power Director Rod Rhoades explained that a radiator fan motor seized up, which caused the 2.5 megawatt...
The Wrangell School Board held a special meeting on Wednesday, Sept. 9, to continue their discussion of a formal reprimand and improvement plan for the superintendent. Late last August, Superintendent Debbe Lancaster and several district staff members went on a trip to Juneau to purchase supplies to prepare the district for the upcoming school year. This was in violation of a district travel ban during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as done without board approval. The planned use of CARES Act...
Around 7 p.m. Monday evening, Sept. 14, the City and Borough of Wrangell announced that the community's 20th case of COVID-19 was confirmed. The latest case was identified in a routine testing program, according to a press release from the city. The patient is asymptomatic and in isolation. Contact tracing is ongoing. This case is currently the only active one in Wrangell, according to the press release. The other 19 have recovered. Of all the cases, 13 have been Wrangell locals. The other seven...
The lawsuit by Wrangell resident Kipha Valvoda, against several current and former members of the city government, was removed from the trial schedule on Aug. 10. Valvoda's lawsuit contends, as reported in an Oct. 17, 2019 article in the Sentinel, that the city has used discriminatory hiring practices that kept him out of work. His complaint, which was filed in April of 2019, is seeking $700,000 in compensation. Defendants in his lawsuit include former Mayor David Jack, current Mayor Steve...
Wrangell's planning and zoning commission met last Thursday evening, Sept. 10, to review various final and preliminary plats. They also discussed current plans for the Institute Property, and what their recommendations should be. There were five plat reviews on the agenda, two final plats and three preliminary plats. All but one of them met approval by the commission. A final plat review of the D&D Ellis Subdivision was deferred during the meeting. This subdivision would repeat Lot 8, Block...
Moose season opened Tuesday, Sept. 15 and according to Alaska hunting regulations for the area, the season will run until Oct. 15. Wrangell, Petersburg, the surrounding islands and nearby stretch of mainland are covered under RM038. According to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game website, this hunt is available to nonresidents and residents alike, with the proper permits. Before going out hunting, those wanting to bag a moose should be aware of the regulations in place. According to the...
Southeast Beasts, Wrangell's running group, will be hosting a Forest Fun Run this Saturday, beginning at 1 p.m. The 5k run will be around the nature trail loop at Volunteer Park, beginning and ending at the covered basketball court. According to the Facebook event page for the run, there will be prizes for the first and last place finishers, as well as other door prizes. The run will also serve as a fundraiser for Southeast Beast's youth athletic shoe account at Angerman's Inc. Lucy Robinson,...
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...