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The Wrangell Borough Assembly met Tuesday evening, Aug. 27, for their regularly scheduled meeting. A work session was held prior to the meeting to discuss the potential demolition and replacement of part of Wrangell's power plant. The city recently contacted PND Engineers out of Juneau for a structural analysis of the concrete section of the power plant, according to the meeting's agenda packet. PND Engineers had performed an analysis on the building back in 2007, it was determined. According...
The Diocese of Juneau released a letter and report last Wednesday, Aug. 21, naming seven people with allegations of sexual misconduct against minors and/or vulnerable adults. The letter, signed by Bishop Andrew Bellisario, states that these seven names have been released upon the conclusion of an independent review of the diocese's personnel files from 1951 to the present. The Independent Commission which led this review was established last December, according to the letter, and was staffed by...
On the evening of Friday, August 23, 2019, the Wrangell Police Department began receiving reports of buildings and vehicles being unlawfully entered. The theft of three vehicles were also reported. Three Wrangell Police Department officers began investigations immediately, which continued through the following day. Access to surveillance systems provided by several local residents and businesses greatly aided in the investigation and identification of the suspect. A timeline of events was...
With the new school year comes a wide variety of new opportunities: To make new friends, to get better grades, to try a new sport, the list goes on. The Wrangell School District is helping provide some of these opportunities by providing new classes this year. At the high school level, students can get a jumpstart on their college careers with AP physics. Meanwhile, in Stikine Middle School, "Encore" classes are being provided to let kids explore different avenues of education. According to...
Wrangell's Economic Development Committee met for the first time in almost a year last Thursday, Aug. 22, according to EDC Chair Julie Decker. Economic Development Director Carol Rushmore said that the committee is meant to meet quarterly, but that she didn't want to call together meetings just for the sake of having meetings. With two recent developments that are likely to impact Wrangell's economy, though, a meeting was finally organized. The two main items on the evening's agenda were in regards to the Wrangell Cooperative Association's...
Wrangell's 2019-2020 school year kicked off early the morning of Tuesday, Aug. 27. The new school year will run until May 21, according to the school calendar, with winter break scheduled from Dec. 21 to Jan. 3. "It's always really exciting when the kids come back," said Technology Director Matt Gore. "Watching the excitement in their faces because of the social interactions, the learning, that's my favorite part." Being the first day of school, many first period classes in the middle school...
Thanks to several days of rainy weather, and lessening demand for water from Wrangell's seafood processors, city officials declared the Stage I water watch over. Both of the city's reservoirs are overflowing, according to a Friday, Aug. 23 Facebook post announcing the end of the water watch. Wrangell went on the water watch back in June, and briefly declared another water watch before that in March. In a Stage I water watch, community members are asked to conserve water in any way they could....
In the past year, at least four citizens from Petersburg and Wrangell have sought and gained their U.S. citizenship to be with their families and for peace of mind. Elisa Teodori originates from Italy, but moved to Petersburg after she met her husband, Tor Benson, while working in Ecuador. Laura Davies first came to the US from Canada to work as a recreation therapist in Georgia, but eventually moved to Wrangell to take a job working with Alaska Crossings and met her husband. Gilda Barkfelt...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) – Alaska’s governor has vetoed additional funding for the state’s ferry service that was placed in the budget by the Legislature, a report said. Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy vetoed $5 million Monday that was added to the Alaska Marine Highway System budget by the Legislature, CoastAlaska reported Monday. The Legislature previously cut $43 million from the ferry system’s budget. A fiscal note attached by the governor’s office called the budget item “premature’’ ahead of a $250,000 study commissioned to reshape the fer...
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) – Add salmon to the list of species affected by Alaska’s blistering summer temperatures, including the hottest July on record. Dead salmon have shown up in river systems throughout Alaska, and the mortalities are probably connected to warm water or low river water levels, said Sam Rabung, director of commercial fisheries for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. The department has not quantified past heat-related fish deaths because they tended to be sporadic and inconsistent, Rabung said. But department scientists this...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — Alaska authorities say two middle school students have been arrested after another student overheard their plans to carry out a school shooting, officials said. The Juneau Police Department arrested two 13-year-old students Thursday at Floyd Dryden Middle School after receiving a phone call from a parent of the classmate who overheard plans, the Juneau Empire reported Thursday. Police officers located the implicated students and held them in custody before school Thursday, authorities said. Following an investigation, t...
Sgt. Mario Morales visited Wrangell last week. As a recruiter for the Army National Guard, he said that he and his office partner are responsible for a wide range of Southeast Alaska, from Prince of Wales to Yakutat. He came to Wrangell because he is interested in finding recruits from small-town Alaska. A lot of Alaskan members of the National Guard come from the major cities of Southeast, like Juneau and Ketchikan. He wants to reach out to the smaller towns in the area, as well. "A lot of...
With the new school year less than a week away, parents and students were invited to the Wrangell High School commons for a short orientation. Largely led by secondary school principal David Macri, and Technology Director Matt Gore, the orientation was an opportunity for everyone to get on the same page about what to expect with the coming year. The emphasis for 2019-2020, it would seem, is on increased communication and proper care for technology. As Macri said in the orientation, this is not...
Several new hires and resignations in the school district were a big topic of discussion in the Wrangell School Board's last meeting on Monday, Aug. 19. One such hire was Tawney Crowley, who will start this year as both the new high school art teacher and middle school home economics teacher. The school board approved this hire unanimously, with minimal discussion. Crowley has spent the past year working at the Wrangell Sentinel, and also runs a side business making custom artwork that can be...
Construction of Wrangell's new hospital is on track, according to Hospital Administrator Leatha Merculieff. Construction began back in April, as land next to the AICS Clinic was cleared of trees and leveled. An official groundbreaking ceremony was held on May 30. Back in 2018, the old Wrangell Medical Center was acquired by the Southeast Alaska Regional Health Consortium. As part of this deal, SEARHC agreed to build a new hospital for the city. Designs for the new hospital will connect to the...
The Wrangell Mariners' Memorial Board will be hosting a fish fry at the future memorial site, by Heritage Harbor, this Friday at 5 p.m. The fish fry is one of the memorial's bigger fundraisers, according to Board President Jenn Miller-Yancey. The event will be pay-what-you-want for a plate of food, she said, but $20 is the suggested minimum. Besides a seafood dinner, Miller-Yancey said that attendees can also participate in a silent auction full of items that the community has donated for the...
Thanks to the generosity of several Wrangell residents, and support from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, a fundraiser for new games for the Evergreen Elementary School playground was fully funded in a 24 hour window recently. Jenn Miller-Yancey, head teacher of the elementary school, said that the school wanted to get some new yard games for the kids, with the new school year just around the corner. These games include items like giant chess, giant jenga, and a large connect-four game, am...
PETERSBURG – A call was placed to the Petersburg Fire Department at 7:40 P.M. Monday night after residents reported seeing dark, black smoke coming from the Public Works Department lot on 2nd St. Flames were coming from a shed that was filled with large, spare tires for the borough's vehicles. Nearby residents stated they also heard loud popping noises. The fire was contained by about 8 P.M., but firefighters didn't leave until around 9:30 P.M, said Assistant Fire Chief Dave Berg. The cause of...
In the August 15 court report, we incorrectly reported that Donavan Bean was found guilty of theft, burglary, and contributing to the delinquency of a minor. He was only found guilty of burglary. The charge of theft was dismissed, and the charge of contributing to the delinquency of a minor occurred last year....
A planning and zoning commission meeting, scheduled for Aug. 8, was postponed due to a lack of quorum. Of the five members of the commission, only Commissioner Kate Hein was able to attend. The others were unavailable due to unspecified personal reasons. Among the items to be covered in this meeting was a variance permit request for an “after-the-fact” permit for a reduction in the side yard setback for a residential addition by Dale Parkinson, as well as an encroachment permit request by Mike and Kim Lane for a chain link fence. Aleisha Mol...
The Wrangell School District's budget/finance committee held a brief meeting last Wednesday, Aug. 7. One of the topics covered related to infrastructure and capital improvements. Capital improvement projects, or CIP, have been an ongoing discussion for the school district as of late. CIPs generally involve improving or renovating existing infrastructure. The Wrangell School District, with their budget season recently coming to a close, has sought city support for various projects. Back in June,...
Anny Newport, locally known as the "Free Toy Fairy" by some around town, has organized a parade for this weekend. The "Wonderfulness Parade," as it is called, is a tradition that has travelled with Newport across Southeast Alaska. In a previous interview with the Wrangell Sentinel, she said that the very first parade took place on Zarembo Island in 1978. After that, it was a common occurrence in Petersburg for many years. Newport moved to Wrangell in 1998. She tried to reorganize the...
Renovations to Shoemaker Harbor are about 95 percent complete, according to Wrangell Capital Facilities Director Amber Al-Haddad. The project was originally planned to be finished in June, but renovations faced delays in getting floats built and shipped to Wrangell. Work has been ongoing despite delays, and there is light at the end of the tunnel. Electrical and water work has been finished, Al-Haddad said, and they have begun moving boats back into the harbor. "All of the main floats are in, an...
Renovations to Bennett Street and the Airport loop road, which began last May, are still ongoing. Workers with SECON have been doing a complete rehab of Bennett Street. This includes repaving the road, putting in new drains, repairing old sidewalks and constructing new ones. They have also been repaving the airport road. Another part of the project that was added at the eleventh hour, according to Project Director Ralph Vigilante, was replacing a city water line along the road. Adding this to...
As the dry weather persists though the summer, Tyee Lake water levels continue to be below the normal levels for early August. As part of the Southeast Alaska Power Agency, Tyee Lake dedicates its power to Petersburg and Wrangell, while Swan Lake produces power for Ketchikan. Water in Tyee Lake reached 1,313 feet Monday morning. The water level is lower than the norm for Tyee Lake this time of year, but it is higher than the water level this time last year, said Utility Director Karl Hagerman....