Sorted by date Results 4374 - 4398 of 7954
A Wrangell home caught fire last week, and firefighters suspect a candle is to blame. The fire occurred around 3:45 p.m. last Thursday. The residence, home to Jim "Bear" Jenkins and his son Josh Jenkins, is located on Second Street, next door to the Irene Ingle Public Library. The Wrangell Volunteer Fire Department responded to the call quickly, and had the fire put out shortly after 4 p.m. Nobody was home when the fire began however, the Jenkins' dog, Rowdy, was inside at the time....
Members of the Wrangell Borough Assembly and the Wrangell School District met Tuesday evening, March 10, to hold a work session on the district's newest budget. Both the borough and school district are going through their budget season. As the district is part of the borough, the borough regularly makes a contribution to the budget, and said budget comes before the borough for approval before being sent up to the state; both parties regularly collaborate on the project. This upcoming budget for...
As any resident of Southeast Alaska knows, rain is a common occurrence. This is no different for Wrangell. One Wrangell resident, Bill Messmer, has made a hobby out of tracking the amount of rainfall the island receives. He has now collected 35 years of data, showing trends and changes to rainfall Wrangell has seen. "Originally I worked for the Forest Service, and there was people that lived in different parts of Wrangell, and we had rain gauges out and there was a variety of varying...
The City and Borough of Wrangell (CBW), the SouthEast Alaska Regional Health Consortium (SEARHC) and local leadership met last Wednesday in the first weekly meeting to collaborate and prepare a local response to the 2019 novel coronavirus (COVID-19). The team, consisting of CBW, SEARHC, Wrangell Medical Center (WMC), Wrangell Volunteer Fire Dept., Emergency Medical Services (EMS), Wrangell Police Dept. and local port officials, is closely monitoring information of a potential outbreak in...
Wrangell School District's policy committee met last Thursday afternoon, March 5, to review policies regarding the district's budget practices and disposal procedures. On the budget policy, many of the items reviewed in the workshop were in regards to simple formatting of the policy. The policy outlines, in short, that the superintendent is expected to prepare a budget plan for the school board in a timely manner during budget season, and that school staff and the public shall have...
The Wrangell Port Commission continued its discussion of increasing the fees they gather from visiting cruise ships last week, March 5. This has been an ongoing topic of discussion for the commission for several months now. Harbor Master Greg Meissner has iterated in several meetings that the city needed more money for a variety of reasons. As things stood now, he said, the port is barely profitable. During their previous discussion back in February, he said they only bring in about $8,000 to...
The Sentinel was provided incorrect information from the United States District Court for the District of Alaska last week that led to the misspelling of a name in a story on page three of the March 5 issue of the Wrangell Sentinel. Christopher Manske’s name was incorrectly spelled as Christopher Mankse....
PETERSBURG – Lloyd Bennett, 51, was indicted by a Grand Jury on Tuesday on one count of misconduct involving a controlled substance in the third degree, which is a class B felony. On Monday, United States Postal Inspector Kevin Horne intercepted a priority mail package that was addressed to Bennett, according to a complaint filed at the Petersburg Courthouse. Inside the package, Horne found about 85 grams of methamphetamine. Later that day, the package was delivered to the Petersburg Post Of...
PETERSBURG - The local Alaska Wildlife Trooper post held an open house on Saturday to welcome the community to their new location on Haugen Dr. and to introduce Petersburg's new wildlife trooper. Curtis Vik transferred to Petersburg from Eagle Rover, following Cody Litster's promotion to sergeant. Vik first joined the state troopers in 2002. Since then, he has worked with the Alaska Bureau of Investigation in Palmer tackling property crimes and major crimes. Then from 2010 to recently, he...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) – Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy, seeking to assert calm concerning the new coronavirus threat, said Monday he sees the fall in oil prices as a ``momentary issue’’ that with the stock market will work itself out. The virus has affected global energy prices, with North Slope oil prices around $45 a barrel at the end of last week. The state, which has struggled with a long-running deficit, relies on oil revenue and earnings from its oil-wealth fund, the Alaska Permanent Fund, to help pay for government. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp....
The Alaska School Activities Association announced on Wednesday that Alaska's state high school basketball and cheer championships have been postponed until further notice due to concerns over the COVID-19 virus, according to a statement from ASAA. The decision on whether or not to cancel the basketball and cheer championships will be made sometime in the future, according to the statement. The State of Alaska has also issued an advisory to those planning on attending ASAA regional basketball...
Alaska Crossings, the behavioral health program, is gearing up for another season of helping kids in need. The program is geared towards teenagers who have struggles in their home life, or at school or in their wider communities. These kids go out on outdoor expeditions with Crossings guides, all over the Tongass National Forest, where they can learn important life skills like teamwork, self confidence, and stress management, among others. "Alaska Crossings believes in helping youth make...
The Wrangell Borough Assembly met Tuesday, Feb. 25, to have a follow-up work session on staffing issues at the Irene Ingle Public Library and the Nolan Center. As covered in a Feb. 13 article of the Sentinel, the assembly has been considering how best to resolve staffing questions at both facilities while also keeping everything as affordable as possible. During their last workshop, the assembly considered a number of options for an empty assistant position at the library. The Nolan Center has...
Feb. 18: Theodosia James was arraigned on a probation/parole violation. A calendar call was scheduled for April 21. Michael Maleski was arraigned on charges of driving with a cancelled/suspended license and driving without insurance. For the lack of insurance, he was ordered to pay a fine of $500 and a $20 police training surcharge. For driving with a cancelled/suspended license, he was ordered to pay a fine of $150 and a $20 police training surcharge. The fine will be reduced to $50 if proof of license is filed by June 30. Scott Hall was...
PETERSBURG - Christopher Manske was arrested on Feb. 26, and is now being held in federal custody in Juneau facing charges of burglary of a post office and mail theft. According to the United States District Court for the District of Alaska, paperwork regarding his indictment has not been submitted as of Tuesday afternoon. Sometime between the late evening of Feb. 21 and the following morning, an individual broke into the Petersburg Post Office and stole about 16 parcels, according to the compla...
The Tlingit and Haida Regional Housing Authority held a workshop at the Nolan Center last week, to cover a variety of topics. The group brought together members of Wrangell's native community, and the wider public, to share information about the census, financial planning, and preventative home maintenance. Esther Ashton, tribal administrator for the Wrangell Cooperative Association, led the discussion on the census. It is very important for the native community to respond to the census this...
The Wrangell School Board held a work session Monday night to discuss next year's budget. The district is currently undergoing its budget season, looking at the financial year for 2021. The current draft of the FY 2021 budget has the school district operating at a loss. Total revenues are estimated at a little less than $5.7 million, while expenses are around $6.5 million. The largest costs for the district include $2.7 million for "instruction,'' about $831,000 for "operations and maintenance...
While Alaska has yet to see any confirmed cases of the 2019 novel coronavirus, now known as COVID-19, the SouthEast Alaska Regional Health Consortium (SEARHC) is closely monitoring information being provided by the Alaska Department of Health and Social Services (ADHSS), the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), and other state, federal and global health organizations as they work to monitor, contain, and mitigate the impact of the virus. "SEARHC's top priority is the safety of our patients and...
PETERSBURG – Sen. Bert Stedman told the community while attending the Petersburg Chamber of Commerce banquet on Saturday that the future of the Alaska Marine Highway System depends on how negotiations go with Gov. Mike Dunleavy. Stedman said that legislators will discuss the AMHS and present possible scenarios to the governor when Dunleavy releases his operating budget; however, without enough votes to override the governor's anticipated vetoes, negotiations won't be too aggressive. "If you don'...
The shutdown of ferry service in Southeast Alaska has impacted many aspects of day-to-day life in communities across the region. In previous reporting by the Wrangell Sentinel and Petersburg Pilot, peoples' travel plans have been disrupted, businesses have been impacted, and cultural events like Celebration 2020 could potentially see decreased turnout. Another aspect of Southeast communities that is facing disruption from the lack of ferries are school districts. The schools of Wrangell and...
The Alaska House Finance Committee received public testimony from people across the state on Friday and Saturday, Feb. 21 and 22. The state is currently in its budget season again, and the finance committee held the meeting to hear what the public felt was important. Several members from Wrangell called in from the local Legislative Information Office to give their perspective on the community's needs moving forward. Among the items Wrangellites voiced support for were the need for ferry...
The Wrangell Mariners' Memorial project is moving along at a good pace, according to Brennon Eagle. The memorial has been a long-running project for the community, beginning back in the early 2000s. According to the memorial committee's website, Wrangell High School seniors worked to identify a suitable location and design for the memorial, meant to recognize Wrangellites who lose their lives at sea. The Wrangell Mariners' Memorial Committee achieved tax-exempt status as a nonprofit in 2017....
Wrangell's Baha'i community will be hosting a party at Evergreen Elementary school this Friday at 6 p.m., to celebrate Ayyam-i-Ha and is open to the Wrangell community. The Baha'i faith operates with a calendar of 19 months, made up of 19 days each. This means the Baha'i calendar has a total of 361 days in it. To keep their calendar aligned with the Gregorian calendar, Baha'is celebrate several "intercalary days." This year, being a leap year, has five intercalary days for the Baha'i...
The Wrangell School Board adopted some revisions to the FY 2020 budget at their Monday night meeting. The district's budget, originally, set revenues at a little less than $5.5 million, and expenditures at around $6.1 million. With the revisions however, revenues have been bumped up to around $5.7 million. The first revision to the budget adds the Wrangell borough's contribution. The revised budget takes into account a contribution of $610,329 from the City and Borough of Wrangell....
The Wrangell Chamber of Commerce held its annual dinner last Saturday evening. Community members from all over town came to the dinner, including several out-of-town guests such as Representative Dan Ortiz and Senator Bert Stedman. Like last year, the dinner served as an opportunity for the community to come together for a good meal and to participate in a number of auctions and raffles. The dinner also served as an opportunity to recognize people and organizations that really stood out over...
