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Three Wrangell High School graduates will be heading off to college a little more financially secure, thanks to the awarding of some scholarships this past week. Laura Helgeson, Kaylyn Easterly, and Jing O'Brien were chosen to receive the Alaska Pulp Corporation scholarship this year. On top of that, Helgeson has also received a scholarship from the Friends of the Wrangell Museum. Frank Roppel, part of the selection committee for the Alaska Pulp scholarship, explained that every year three...
Construction of Wrangell's new hospital is continuing, despite some impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic. According to an update supplied by Sondra Forrester, with SEARHC, the project has suffered from some small delays due to state and local travel mandates. Dawson Construction and SEARHC have worked with the city government to implement a "Coronavirus Site Response Plan" to help address community concerns. The plan was approved on April 3, and work crews began traveling back to Wrangell on April...
It was a relatively light meeting of the Wrangell Port Commission last Thursday evening, May 7. There was only one agenda item for the commission to consider, a request by GCI to relocate the landing for a submarine cable. The telecommunication company currently has a submarine cable come onto the beach next to the community garden area, near City Park. From there, according to the meeting's agenda packet, the cable hits aerial lines and goes to its hub building, and also leaves the beach area a...
Wrangell's Unified Command participated in their weekly conference call on Wednesday, May 6, to provide organizational updates on COVID-19 developments and changes in respective protocols. The City and Borough of Wrangell (CBW) mayor and manager were joined by Wrangell Medical Center (WMC) and Emergency Medical Services (EMS) leadership, as well as Tribal and Public Health representatives, to discuss Borough Assembly allocations, testing initiatives, and available community resources. Borough...
The SouthEast Alaska Regional Health Consortium (SEARHC) recently administered COVID-19 tests on all staff at Mt. Edgecumbe Medical Center (MEMC) and Wrangell Medical Center (WMC). Both hospitals utilized Metropolitan Medical Response System (MMRS) tents outside the respective facilities to safely conduct staff tests off-site. SEARHC recently received additional COVID-19 testing supply kits from the Alaska Native Medical Center in Anchorage. Along with the recent addition of rapid test kits...
The Reopen Wrangell Task Force met last Monday afternoon to discuss ways the group can help local businesses make it through the COVID-19 pandemic. This was the first "in person" meeting of the task force, held out in the lawn by City Hall. Participants stayed socially distanced and wore face masks, while other members of the group participated via web conference. During the meeting, Jamie Roberts led a discussion about current state guidelines for reopening Alaska. The state announced "Phase...
Wrangell's Economic Development Committee met last Wednesday, May 6, to hold a brainstorming session on how to best meet the needs of the community through the COVID-19 pandemic. There are several groups trying to help the community and share information, Economic Development Director Carol Rushmore said, such as the Convention and Visitor Bureau, the Reopen Wrangell Task Force, and the Emergency Operations Command. In Rushmore's mind, she said, the biggest problem facing Wrangell is the lack...
The Wrangell Borough Assembly met Tuesday evening, May 12, to adopt some amendments to the FY 2020 budget. The city recently received both its Secure Rural Schools funding, as well as a grant for COVID-19 mitigation efforts. The SRS money came in on April 28, according to the meeting's agenda packet, in the amount of $883,646.51. The SRS is a federal program that assists municipalities that have federal lands that cannot be taxed, allowing them to recoup some of the funding that is "lost" by hav...
PALMER, Alaska (AP) – An Alaska school board postponed a vote over rescinding a ban on selected English course books after taking public testimony on the issue that attracted national attention when a Grammy-winning rock group pledged to purchase the banned books for students. The Matanuska-Susitna Borough School District board heard three hours of testimony Wednesday on a proposal to rescind last month’s vote to remove five American literature classics from high school English elective courses. The board is scheduled to vote on the pro...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) – Alaska will receive $50 million in federal coronavirus aid for fisheries, the U.S. Department of Commerce has announced, about half what state officials had expected. Alaska is home to large stocks of pollock, an inexpensive fish used in fast-food sandwiches and fish sticks, and landed 58% of the nation’s seafood by volume in 2018, officials said. Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy and his administration expected the state to receive about $100 million, or one-third of the $300 million allocated to fisheries in the Cor...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) – Alaska’s state-run ferry system is not requiring that passengers and crew wear face coverings in response to COVID-19 concerns, with a spokesperson saying rider numbers are low and social distancing on board is ‘’easily attainable.’’ CoastAlaska reported the Alaska Marine Highway System said it puts the health and safety of employees and passengers first. Cloth masks are available for crew members but not mandated, the system said. State transportation department spokesperson Meadow Bailey said rider numbers are ‘’very...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) – Firefighters were able to contain an Alaska wildfire that was initially fought by campers who first spotted the blaze, the U.S. Forest Service said. Several groups were camping at Boy Scout Beach in Juneau when some of them saw the fire Saturday morning, KTOO-FM reported. “We just noticed some smoke, and it was kind of high up in the grass,’’ said Blaine Scharen, who was camping with his wife and extended family. The fire appeared to be growing out of control when Scharen and his brother-in-law went to the next campsit...
The Wrangell Borough Assembly held a special meeting Monday evening, May 4, to discuss three agenda items related to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Governor Mike Dunleavy and the Department of Health and Social Services recently announced four metrics by which they would determine if restrictions need to be eased or rolled back, to protect public health. According to the meeting's agenda packet, the four metrics are: Epidemiology, tracking disease trends and forecasts; Testing, tracking overall...
May signals the end of the school year for the Wrangell School District. For 25 students, this May signals the end of their high school careers. The COVID-19 pandemic has created several challenges and changes this year. Three students of the class of 2020 shared their opinions on this closing chapter of their lives. In general, all three students agree that the pandemic is a disappointing way to end high school, but they are understanding of the situation and grateful to the community for...
Last week's borough assembly meeting, on April 28, only had a few items on the agenda. The majority of the meeting was spent receiving comments on the COVID-19 situation from the public and some assembly members. Joan Sargent, of Island of Faith Lutheran Church, led the invocation for the meeting. Afterwards, she also shared her comments on the pandemic and the community's response to it. She wanted to share with the public that the Irene Ingle Public Library, which has been serving as a hub to...
The Wrangell Convention and Visitor Bureau met last Friday, May 1, for a work session on social media and marketing opportunities it could provide. The bureau wanted to talk about how they could promote local businesses, and Wrangell itself, via social media. As this was just a work session, no formal action was taken in the meeting. "Webinars that I've been on, ATIA's advice, it seems like most everybody is headed that direction and trying to beef up social media now, while we're all sort of...
The Reopen Wrangell Task Force, a committee of multiple community representatives working to support local businesses in reopening during the COVID-19 pandemic, met last Monday afternoon. It was a fairly long discussion, according to Economic Development Director Carol Rushmore, and the topics were pretty varied. Surveys were one topic of discussion in the meeting. The task force recently sent out a survey to businesses around town to see what their situation was during the pandemic, and what...
PETERSBURG – Southeast Alaska Power Agency is still in the process of trying to replace a damaged submarine cable that provides Petersburg with power, as complications increase due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Bob Lynn, chairman of the SEAPA board, told the Petersburg Borough Assembly at their meeting on Monday that there are concerns over whether the project can be completed this year. The damaged cable is one of four submarine cables that connects the terminals between Woronofski and Vank islands...
The Alaska Department of Fish and Game (department) announced the following information concerning the 2019/2020 Southeast Alaska commercial pot shrimp summer fishery. The following areas will reopen by emergency order at 8:00 a.m., Friday, May 15, 2020: District 4: will be open. The total Guideline Harvest Level (GHL) is 20,000 pounds, current harvest information is confidential. District 5: will be open. The total GHL is 12,000 pounds, current harvest information is confidential. District 15: (Remainder): will be open in Chilkat Inlet, and in...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) – Alaska’s largest newspaper won a Pulitzer Prize in public service Monday for its work examining law enforcement in rural communities, a feat coming less than three years after the outlet was rescued from the brink of financial collapse. This is the third such award won by the Anchorage Daily News. The award announced Monday was won in collaboration with ProPublica for “a riveting series that revealed a third of Alaska’s villages had no police protection, took authorities to task for decades of neglect, and spurred an infl...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) – Organizers of the Southeast Alaska State Fair said Friday that the summer event in Haines has been canceled this year due to COVID-19. In a statement, fair officials said it was a difficult decision but the right one to make. “For us and many across Southeast Alaska and the Yukon, the Fair is something to look forward to at the end of the summer, a moment of congregation and fun separate from the rest of the year,’’ the statement reads. “2020 has instead united us with the common goal of preserving the health and safet...
April 21: Gary Hamley was arraigned on charges of violating conditions of release. The arraignment was scheduled to continue on April 28. Theodosia James was arraigned on charges of violating conditions of release. The arraignment was scheduled to continue on April 28. Daniel Meissner was arraigned on charges of criminal trespass and violating conditions of release. He was released under his own recognizance, and is not to have contact with the alleged victim or return to their property. A calendar call was scheduled for June 16. A disposition...
Local writer Vivian Faith Prescott recently announced the publication of her newest book, Silty Water People. The book is a collection of some of her oldest poems, she said, and is a look at "the effects of assimilation" on Wrangell families and the community as a whole. The poems range from the serious, to the humorous, to the intimate. The ideas of identity and culture have always fascinated her, Prescott said. She holds a doctorate in cross cultural studies. Silty Water People, she said, is...
With Health Mandate 16, part of Governor Mike Dunleavy's plan to reopen Alaska's economy safely during the COVID-19 pandemic, communities across the state are considering what the near future may look like. Revenues have fallen for the city and businesses have had to get creative to stay open. While there is optimism to be found amongst some business owners, uncertainties loom for the economy in general. Alan Cummings, of All In Charters and Grand View B&B, said that they are looking at a rough...
The Reopen Wrangell Task Force, made up of several representatives across the community, met last Monday afternoon to discuss ways to assist Wrangell's economy through the COVID-19 pandemic. The task force recently sent out a survey to local businesses to see what their needs are. The survey became available Friday, April 24. Kate Thomas, with the Wrangell Parks and Recreation department, said they have received 27 responses. Two of them were test runs from city officials, she said, but the bulk...