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School officials recently announced that Evergreen Elementary is one of two Alaskan schools to receive national recognition from the ESEA Distinguished Schools Recognition Program. Evergreen is being recognized for "Excellence in serving special populations of students." The other school receiving recognition is Tustumena Elementary, in the Kenai Peninsula Borough, for "exceptional student performance for two or more consecutive years." "It is an honor to recognize these two outstanding schools...
The Wrangell Port Commission met last Thursday, Dec. 5, for a relatively brief meeting. A workshop was held beforehand to continue ongoing discussions on the cruise industry in Wrangell, and potential changes to vessel classifications in the harbors. As this was a work session, no action will be taken yet on these items. The main piece of business during the meeting was a plan to change future meeting times. Port commission meetings have usually had a start time of 7 p.m. However, as the...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) – More than half of Alaska’s ferries will be out of service amid a lack of funds to repair the vessels, transportation officials said. The state Department of Transportation and Public Facilities announced this week that the Aurora and the LeConte will be pulled from service after inspections revealed required steel replacement, the Juneau Empire reported Friday. About 24 employees of the Aurora were already notified they would be relieved of duties effective Jan. 14, officials said. The Aurora is set for long-term layup mea...
For the next three months, Wrangell will be experiencing above normal precipitation levels and temperatures, according to the National Weather Service in Juneau. The Climate Prediction Center is showing a 33 to 40 percent chance of perception levels being above average both in Wrangell and throughout Southeast Alaska this winter. During the same period, Wrangell will also be seeing a 33 to 40 percent chance of warmer than normal temperatures. "Although this time period is too far out to give...
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) - Free to a good home: One newspaper. Not a single edition of a paper but the entire newspaper.Publisher Larry Persily is willing to give away The Skagway News to the right person or couple who are willing to move to Skagway, Alaska, a cruise ship town that once boasted four newspapers during the height of the Klondike Gold Rush days. "The only way this paper has a long-term future, and anything that I've ever seen that works with small town weeklies or bi-weeklies is...
I would like to update the community on my recent trip to Washington DC. It was an excellent opportunity to represent the needs and concerns of our community as well as highlight the challenges we share with all rural communities across America. I was asked to testify in front of the Senate Resource Committee about the importance of the Secure Rural Schools Program (SRS) and the Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILT) programs. Combined these programs bring in well over a million dollars of increased...
PETERSBURG – Garitt Johnston, 30, was indicted by a Grand Jury on Nov. 21 for his involvement with Eric Jennings, who had received a package with heroin, methamphetamine and gamma-hydroxybutyric acid (GHB) in it on Nov. 9. Johnston was indicted on one count of aiding or abetting the manufacturing or delivery of a schedule IA controlled substance with intent to manufacture or deliver and one count of aiding or abetting the possession with intent to manufacture or deliver any amount of a schedule IIA or IIIA controlled substance, according to t...
Mayor Steve Prysunka travelled to Washington D.C. last week to speak before the Senate Committee on Energy and National Resources. He was invited to speak on behalf of the National Association of Counties, an organization that works to advocate county priorities in federal policymaking. Prysunka spoke last Thursday, Nov. 21, on the importance of the Payment In Lieu of Taxes (PILT) Program and Secure Rural Schools (SRS) funds. "We're somewhat unique because we're actually the third largest city...
Earlier this month, on Nov. 5, several Wrangell High School cheerleaders helped SEARHC employee Tammi Meissner pick up cigarette butts on Front Street. In an email to the Sentinel, Meissner said that they managed to clean up 13.4 pounds of cigarette butts from the street and sidewalks. This was done ahead of the Great American Smokeout, which is celebrated annually on the third Thursday of November. The GASO is hosted by the American Cancer Society to promote the risks of smoking and ways to...
Plans are in motion to subdivide the old mill property around 6.5 mile Zimovia Highway, according to Terri Wenger with Anchor Properties. The property, currently owned by Betty Buhler, has been on the market for quite some time. On the Anchor Properties website the almost 39-acre lot is listed at $2.7 million. Wenger said that the plan is to subdivide the land into 11 lots, ranging in size from one to three acres. "I could be wrong, but I think that it could be possibly the biggest private land...
Some Wrangell residents may remember Tod Jones. He was a Wrangell resident for about 20 years, from the '70s to the '90s. He first moved to the area to help start a fish hatchery in the Burnett Inlet with the Alaska Aquaculture Company. Wrangell resident Brian Ashton was his former operations manager, Jones mentioned. When the hatchery closed down around 1995, Jones moved away. After leaving Wrangell, Jones said he spent four years in Israel, then came back to the United States and settled down...
Construction of the new Wrangell Medical Center remains on schedule and on budget, according to SEARHC Vice President and Hospital Administrator Leatha Merculieff. The future hospital will be about 44,500 square feet, attached to the AICS Clinic off of Wood Street, and cost about $30 million. Construction began in the spring of this year. Merculieff said that there have been some minor delays with getting trusses shipped to Wrangell, but now all major structural materials are on the island....
Past microfilms of the Stikine River Journal, the Fort Wrangell News and the Wrangell Sentinel will be digitally archived using a $8,250 grant that Wrangell Cooperative Association applied for and received from the Institute of Museum and Library Services. About 18,500 images are set to be digitized by APEX Covantage and will meet the same standards as the Alaska State Library's historical newspaper documentation program, according to Tribal Administrator Esther Ashton. Issues from the Stikine...
In last week’s edition of the Sentinel we reported that SEARHC’s CNA training program was the first at the Wrangell Medical Center. The program is new under SEARHC, but the program has existed in Wrangell before....
Rain Coast Data, on behalf of the Wrangell Convention and Visitors Bureau, recently released a document examining the economic impacts of the tourism industry on the community. "Wrangell Visitor Industry By The Numbers 2019" looks at everything from changes to the visitor industry, jobs supported by the industry, how many people visit and by what means of travel, and much more. "Wrangell is a distinct and attractive visitor destination that is growing in popularity as a small cruise ship destina...
Shoemaker Bay Harbor has been undergoing renovations since the summer of 2018. First built in 1977, according to Harbor Master Greg Meissner in a previous interview with the Sentinel, it has grown well past its life expectancy. The work has seen the installation of a new gangway and floats. The harbor was also dredged to make it a little deeper. Meissner, in an interview in August 2018, said that the plan was to rebuild Shoemaker to make it more easily accessible to wider, deeper boats. During...
PETERSBURG – A Grand Jury indicted Eric Jennings, 39, on three of the five counts set before them on Nov. 14. Jennings was indicted on misconduct involving a controlled substance in the fourth degree, tampering with physical evidence and criminal mischief in the third degree. The two other counts, misconduct involving a controlled substance in the second degree and misconduct involving a controlled substance in the third degree, were withdrawn. On Nov. 7, Kevin Home, a United States postal i...
PETERSBURG – The water level at Tyee Lake was at 1,380.6 feet as of Nov. 18, which will allow the hydro plant to produce power for over seven months should all inflows to the lake stop. As part of the Southeast Alaska Power Agency, Tyee Lake dedicates its power to Petersburg and Wrangell, while Swan Lake produces power for Ketchikan. The 1,380.6 foot water level is about even with normal water levels for this time of the year, and is above the approximately 1,300 foot water level in November 2...
The Wrangell Lady Wolves volleyball team held their first home games of the season against the Petersburg Lady Vikings last week, on Nov. 15. It was senior night, meaning that the team recognized their soon-to-be-graduating senior players between the JV and varsity games. The Lady Wolves have two senior players this year, Tasha Massin (No. 5) and Kaylyn Easterly (No. 3). Coach Alyssa Allen said that both girls are dedicated players, mentioning that they have played multiple positions on the...
After a nearly 29-year career, Salvation Army Majors Michael and Jennifer Bates recently announced their intentions to retire. The Bates have been the corps officers of the Salvation Army in Wrangell for the past four years, according to Michael. They have been good years, and he said they have made many friendships and are tremendously grateful for the kindness and generosity of the Wrangell community. Retirement was something the two of them had been discussing for about a year, he said, but...
Wrangell Public School's policy committee met last Thursday afternoon to review several proposed policies for the school district. One such policy refers to volunteers helping out around the school. According to Kim Powell, with the school district, the policy would require anyone wishing to volunteer with the school undergo a background check, if that volunteer will be interacting with students. The policy goes on to state that anyone acting as a volunteer in a classroom, media center,...
The Wrangell Planning and Zoning Commission met last Thursday evening, Nov. 14. The first thing they covered was the election of commission officers. This was not originally on the meeting's agenda, but was added at the request of Commissioner Don McConachie. Commissioner Terri Henson was re-appointed to her position as chair of the commission. McConachie was named vice-chair. One of the big items of the evening was a public hearing for a conditional use permit for a proposed warehouse by the...
Wrangell residents had the opportunity last week to meet three people who are interested in the position of Wrangell Chief of Police. The job has been open since former chief Doug McCloskey retired this summer. Eric Hurtado, Thomas Radke, and Derek Bos are all from out of state and have experience running a police department. Eric Hurtado Eric Hurtado received bachelor's and master's degrees in business administration from the University of Phoenix in 2002 and 2005, respectively. He worked as a...
What feels like dinner theater, sounds like a house concert, and looks like improv comedy? The answer will be performing at the Nolan Center tomorrow evening, Nov. 22, at 7 p.m. Parlor in the Round is a mixture of concert and comedy, according to Nolan Center Director Cyni Crary. The show has live music, skits, and audience participation that comes together for a fun evening "They are working on songs, so they will share some of their lyrics with the other artists and perform each other's...
Georgianna Buhler has resigned as the business manager for the Wrangell Public School District this past week. Buhler has worked with the school district for many years. She served on the school board from 2001 to 2010, and again from 2016 to 2018. She resigned from her seat on the school board in August of 2018 to pursue the position of business manager. "I tendered my 90 day resignation effective 2/28/2020," she wrote in an email to the Sentinel. "The Superintendent chose to enact it...