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The Wrangell Convention and Visitor Bureau met last Thursday, May 28. The main topic that day was an ongoing discussion of how the bureau can improve Wrangell's social media presence. To promote local businesses and encourage tourists to come to Wrangell, the CVB is interested in using social media to achieve these goals. Lucy Robinson, with the Parks and Rec Department, was invited into the meeting to talk about important aspects of social media marketing they need to keep in mind. "Lucy has of...
The Wrangell Parks and Rec Department hosted a workshop last Wednesday, May 27, to discuss their plans to reopen. The main Parks and Rec facility, housing the gym and swimming pool, closed on March 13 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Now that the state has been moving to reopen, the department is putting plans in place to do the same. Parks and Rec Director Kate Thomas explained in a presentation that they would be doing a soft opening, in line with state guidelines from phases three and...
Prior to their budget workshop on Tuesday evening the Wrangell Borough Assembly held an emergency meeting to pass an ordinance establishing quarantine requirements for out of state travelers. Emergency Ordinance No. 978, according to the agenda packet for the meeting, requires that travelers from outside of Alaska, or outside of the United States, quarantine for two weeks when they come to Wrangell. However, this quarantine can be bypassed if the traveler in question has proof of a negative...
On Wednesday, May 27, members of the Wrangell Unified Command met via videoconference to consolidate pandemic information and response from respective local organizations. Wrangell Medical Center (WMC) leadership commented on expansion of testing for select community organizations, while the City and Borough of Wrangell (CBW) Manager announced new cleaning supply stock and the potential purchase of an ambulance with CARES Act funding. Representatives from Emergency Medical Services (EMS),...
May 12: Wolfe Larsen was arraigned on charges of leaving the scene of an accident. The hearing was scheduled to continue on May 19. May 18: A minor offense trial was held between the City and Borough of Wrangell vs. Myrna Torgramsen II, on charges of a dangerous dog violation. The defendant failed to appear. A default judgment was entered, ordering Torgramsen to pay a fine of $300 and a $20 police training surcharge, as well as costs for entering and collecting on the default judgment. A felony first appearance was held for Lolita Larsen, charg...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) – Ocean Beauty Seafoods and Icicle Seafoods Inc. announced plans Friday to merge parts of their operations under a new company. The merger, set to take effect Monday, will include Ocean Beauty and Icicle shoreside plants in Alaska, according to a release. Financial terms were not released. Ocean Beauty and Icicle Seafoods each will own a 50% stake in the new company, OBI Seafoods LLC, the release states. Mark Palmer, president and CEO of Ocean Beauty, will be CEO of the new venture. John Woodruff, chief operating officer a...
In the last Wrangell School Board meeting, on May 18, several members of the public voiced concerns with how things were running in the school district. Among them were concerns that the technology department was being cut at a bad time, as well as wider concerns that the district has a hostile work environment. The Wrangell Sentinel reached out to Superintendent Debbe Lancaster to seek a response to these concerns. Lancaster said that, after discussing the matter with School Board President...
The Wrangell Borough assembly metTuesday evening, May 26, to host a workshop on the drawing-near Fourth of July. This was an initial discussion to talk about how Wrangell's famous Independence Day celebration might look this year, with the COVID-19 pandemic still ongoing. "This is obviously a fairly important topic to Wrangell, our community is known for our fantastic Fourth of July, we all look forward to it every year," Mayor Steve Prysunka said. Prysunka and Borough Manager Lisa Von Bargen...
The Wrangell Borough Assembly, between their weekly COVID-19 update and a budget workshop last Thursday, met to discuss the possibility of small cruise ships visiting town this summer. Cruise season has been a topic of some concern amongst the community. Many ships have delayed or cancelled their planned stops in Wrangell in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. A smaller cruise season means fewer tourists and will have a negative impact on Wrangell's economy. On the other hand, there are concerns...
As the COVID-19 pandemic has gone on, people have turned to technology to help stay in touch from a safe distance. The schools have been hosting lessons online, the borough assembly has been meeting via Zoom, and this coming Saturday the public is invited to see the winners of the virtual "Wrangell's Got Talent" show. The talent show has been put together by Wrangell's parks and recreation department. Lucy Robinson, with the department, said it was an idea they had to stay engaged with the...
Over Memorial Day weekend, Muskeg Meadows started up their weekend golf tournaments for another season. This first tournament of the season was sponsored by Wrangell IGA. There were 20 golfers on the first day of the tournament on Saturday. First place went to a team consisting of Kathleen Harding, Wayne Harding, Doug Nelson, and Drew Eyon. Second place went to a team consisting of Spenser Stavee, Aaron Powell, Jonathan Spitler, and Jim Brooks. Brooks had the straightest drive of the day at 38 i...
The Wrangell Borough Assembly met this week to begin their workshopping of Wrangell's budget for FY 2021. This first round of workshops looked at various city departments that are funded through the Enterprise Funds which includes the harbor, light and power, sanitation, wastewater, and water departments. There were two workshops over the past week, on May 19 and May 21. According to the meeting's agenda packet for May 19, there were several things for the assembly to keep in mind when looking...
The Wrangell Borough Assembly met Tuesday evening, May 26, for their regularly scheduled meeting. In the meeting, the assembly accepted the resignation of one of their members, Drew Larrabee. Larrabee turned in his resignation at the meeting, effective at the end of the evening, and will leave open an unexpired term on the borough assembly that lasts until this October. In his letter, he wrote that he regrets leaving his position in the middle of the budget season. However, he and his family...
More progress has been made on the Wrangell Mariners' Memorial. The memorial is an ongoing project to recognize Wrangell sailors who have been lost at sea. Jenn Miller-Yancey, with the Mariners' Memorial Board, said that the past month has been spent getting foundations for the memorial completed. She also reported that a lot of progress on the memorial's gazebo has been made. The skeleton of the gazebo is up already, and the foundations for the memorial walls are complete. The shape of the...
Though it lacked the in-person fanfare of a typical graduation, the Wrangell High School Class of 2020 officially graduated last Friday evening, May 15. A small graduation ceremony was held on May 12, with seniors receiving their diplomas. A video stream was shown publicly on the 15th including slideshows of students, speeches from the faculty and student body. A parade through town was also organized after the video aired, where people could drive by the homes of the graduating students to...
The Reopen Wrangell Task Force hosted a roundtable discussion for local businesses last Friday afternoon, May 15, in regards to state mandates and how businesses will need to operate during the COVID-19 pandemic. In the meeting, members of the task force gave brief presentations on state health mandates and safety mitigation plans. "I've been working with the local Emergency Operations Center for the last couple of months," said Jamie Roberts. "One of the duties I've been tasked with is staying...
The Wrangell Planning and Zoning Commission met last Thursday evening, May 14, to hold several public hearings on various items. The meeting opened with a discussion on the proposed relocation of a submarine cable. Communications company GCI is seeking to relocate an underwater fiber optics cable, which runs from Ketchikan to Wrangell, to a new landing location on the island. This is because the Southeast Alaska Power Agency is planning to conduct submarine electrical line work where GCI's...
The Wrangell Economic Development Committee met Tuesday afternoon, May 19, to workshop several financial assistance ideas they will be bringing before the borough assembly in the near future. With the COVID-19 pandemic ongoing, and the city expecting to receive money via the CARES Act to help with economic recovery, the committee has spent the past few meetings workshopping ways to assist people and businesses around the community. The committee had an extensive list of categories of financial a...
Graduating students of Wrangell High School, school staff, and other community members came together via web conference last week for senior awards night. During the web conference, graduating seniors were informed of scholarships they had won. "I'm excited to see who wins the awards today, and I want to remind you guys that even if you haven't applied for any scholarships yet there's still millions of dollars out there," Interim Principal Jack Carney said. "So if you don't win anything tonight...
The Wrangell School Board met via web conference last Monday, May 18 and heard of several unethical and potentially illegal things happening in the district. Another person said the district had a hostile work environment. David Macri was one of the speakers that evening. Macri was the district's former secondary school principal, before his resignation and being put on administrative leave in March of this year. Macri spoke in the meeting to say that there were several problems in the school...
A trailer at Panhandle Trailer Court caught fire last Saturday morning, May 16. The fire department received the call at approximately 10:10 a.m. The trailer's resident, Norm Canaday, was reportedly inside the building when the fire broke out. Panhandle resident Duke Aitken said he and another neighbor, Dan Flickinger, helped Canaday escape the trailer by having him jump out the back door onto a mattress. The fire was put out around 11 a.m. Fire Chief Tim Buness said that Canaday was unharmed,...
A fire was reported at Panhandle Trailer Court at approximately 10:10 a.m. Saturday, May 16. The residence belonged to Norm Canaday, according to Fire Chief Tim Buness. Panhandle resident Duke Aitken reported that he and another neighbor, Dan Flickinger, helped Canaday escape the building out the back door when the fire broke out. The fire was put out around 11 a.m. Buness said that Canaday was alright, but he was taken to the hospital for an evaluation. He also said that he was not sure if the...
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...