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The Wrangell Ranger District of the Forest Service held a workshop at city hall last week to give the public a brief overview of the 2016 Land and Resource Management Plan. The workshop was led by Sue Jennings, forest planner for the Tongass National Forest. The Forest Plan, as it is also known, guides the Forest Service in managing natural resources in the Tongass National Forest. "The Forest Plan is basically a zoning map with management prescriptions," Jennings said. "A zoning map, as you kno...
Petersburg and Wrangell both saw an overall increase in population from 2010 through 2019, but while Petersburg's population rose between 2018 and 2019, Wrangell's population saw a drop in the same timeframe, according to data from the Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development. There were 3,203 residents living in Petersburg in 2010 and in 2019, there were 3,226, according to the ADLWD. Those figures equal to a .08 percent growth for the decade and 1.12 percent growth in the last...
In last week’s story about the Fish and Game Advisory Committee meeting, some errors were made. The committee elected several new members, but this is not the total makeup of the committee. Brennon Eagle opted to not seek re-election, not Bruce Eagle. Dave Rak was made the new secretary of the committee, not Dave Brown....
Montana State University recently released its honor roll for undergraduate students in the fall 2019 semester. According to a press release from MSU, 4,904 students made the honor roll this past semester, either in the President's List or the Dean's List. To be eligible for the honor roll, students must be enrolled in at least 12 college credit hours of classes, and maintain a high grade level. This semester, two former students of Wrangell High School made the honor roll: Kayla Hay and Ian...
As high school draws to a close for senior students, many of them start putting serious thoughts towards the future. For some, pursuing postsecondary education will be their next step. However, there is the question of how to pay for it. As many people know, higher education is expensive. To help students, and parents, better understand the ins and outs of financial aid, the University of Alaska Southeast hosted a workshop at Wrangell High School last week. "I want you to walk away, even if you'...
Wrangell's advisory committee for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game met last Thursday evening, Jan. 16, to cover several important topics. The first of which was the election of new officers to lead the committee. The committee is made up of six seats, along with two alternates. Bruce Eagle, the vice-chair of the committee, had opted to not seek re-election. Nominations for the seats, otherwise, were completely open. Many people were nominated, with Wrangell resident Mike Lockabey...
Due to the rising costs of production and numerous electronic options, Alaska Power & Telephone will stop printing phone books after the 2020 edition that is coming out in March. According to Mary Jo Quandt, vice president of customer operations with AP&T, state legislation in 2015 removed the requirement for telecom companies to produce physical phonebooks. AP&T has still been printing phone books over the past five years but now production costs are just getting too steep. "Many telecom...
The Convention and Visitor Bureau met last Thursday, Jan. 16, to continue discussing their rough draft of their tourism best management practices document. The TBMP document, as covered in previous articles, is a collection of guidelines that tourism-related businesses agree to abide by. This is meant to help minimize the impacts tourism can have on the day-to-day life of a community, as well as to help settle disagreements between tourist organizations. Wrangell has been working on making a...
Nov. 25: Andrea Marrero pled guilty to a charge of theft. Another charge of unauthorized use of an access device was dismissed by prosecution. She was sentenced to 60 days imprisonment, with 60 suspended. She was also ordered to make restitution, write a letter of apology, and to pay a $100 police training surcharge. She will be on probation for one year. Andrew Twyford pled guilty to driving with a cancelled/revoked/suspended license. Another charge of violating conditions of release was dismissed by prosecution. He was sentenced to 60 days...
The Wrangell Borough Assembly met last week, Jan. 14, to discuss the potential establishment of critical habitat areas for humpback whales in Southeast Alaska. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association is proposing these habitat areas be set up all along the Pacific coastline, from Alaska to southern California. NOAA officials held a meeting in Petersburg on Jan. 6 to discuss this proposal. According to a report by the Sentinel's sister-paper, the Petersburg Pilot, these habitat areas...
The Wrangell Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee met last week, Jan. 15, to discuss the recent series of winter activities, as well as to continue planning for the upcoming Helping Our Parks Project. Over winter break, the city and other community organizations came together to put on a series of events to give Wrangell youth stuff to do while school was not in session. According to Committee Member Haig Demerjian, the events were quite successful. "I was just reading the director's report,...
While not originally on the agenda for the night, the Wrangell School Board discussed the potential future of their contract with Etolin Bus Company during their meeting Monday, Jan. 20. The item was brought up by School Board Member Patty Gilbert, who requested an amendment to the agenda. Etolin Bus Company is contracted by the school district to deliver Wrangell's children to school in the mornings, and take them home again in the evenings. They had a three-year contract with the district,...
This past week two Wrangell residents were recognized as "patriotic employers" by the Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve program. The ESGR is a Department of Defense program, according to their website, whose goal is to promote cooperation and understanding between civilian employers and their National Guard or Reserve employees. Richard Smith, on behalf of the ESGR, came to Wrangell on Jan. 8 to present Patriot Awards to Kemberly Green of Tongass Federal Credit Union, and Jenn...
After the retirement of Doug McCloskey last summer, the Wrangell Police Department has been operating without an official police chief. That came to an end last week, as Tom Radke started his job as the city's new chief. Some community members may remember Radke from a meet-and-greet back in November, where he and other potential candidates for the police chief position came to town to meet city officials and the people of Wrangell. Radke was the borough's final selection According to his...
The Hospice of Wrangell organized a weekend of community education forums on Jan. 11 and 12, to help Wrangell residents learn how to "get their ducks in a row" before they pass away. Some of the forums included a discussion on funeral services available at the Ketchikan Mortuary, estate planning and writing a will, and a panel discussion on spiritual concerns regarding the afterlife made up of several Wrangell preachers. One of the discussions was lead by Erin Matthes of the Southeast Alaska...
The Alaska Department of Fish and Game reminds anglers that the 2020 sport shrimp permits are now available online. The 2020 Subsistence and Personal Use permits are also available online at: https://www.adfg.alaska.gov/Store/. 2019 permit holders are reminded that the 2019 permits must be returned either by reporting online at https://www.adfg.alaska.gov/Harvest/ or returning the printed permit to the nearest ADF&G office, even if you did not shrimp in 2019, before obtaining a 2020 permit....
The borough assembly and other city officials met Saturday morning, Jan. 11, to workshop future priorities for the city and to look at the upcoming budget process. A long list of state and federal legislative priorities was laid out for attendees to review and talk about. For state priorities for Wrangell, the first and foremost was the reinstatement of several state positions to the city. Over the past decade, according to the priority list, Wrangell has seen several state jobs taken away that...
The Wrangell Planning and Zoning Commission held a relatively short meeting last Thursday evening. There was only one main agenda item for the meeting, a request by Sara Gadd for a conditional use permit request. Gadd is wanting to set up a drive-through coffee shop at the corner of Bennett Street and Howell Avenue, in the industrial park. According to the meeting's agenda packet, this location should allow for a line of five cars in the drive-through without holding up traffic on Bennett...
When Alaskans are summoned for jury service, they fill out and return a questionnaire that allows court personnel to qualify, defer, or excuse them from service. After historically sending these documents in the mail, the court has switched to using email to send them. By November of 2019, courts statewide were sending these jury documents by email. Potential juror email addresses are provided by the Permanent Fund Dividend office, as is all other potential juror information. If the email is...
Christi Henthorn is a journeyman beekeeper with Wuerker Bee Apiary, of North Carolina. She describes herself on her website as a native of Wisconsin and an Alaskan transplant, currently raising bees on the east coast. She was visiting Wrangell to host a "Beekeeping 101" class for community members interested in doing so, as well as giving a talk on how to promote "healthy pollinators" in the area. "The honey bee's the poster child for promoting and saving pollinators, because everyone can...
City officials and other community members came together at city hall last week on Jan. 10 to discuss the upcoming 2020 census. The census occurs nationwide every 10 years, since the government began tracking the nation's population in 1790, according to the Census Bureau's website. The purpose of the census is to see how populations have changed state to state, to make sure that there is fair representation in Congress. According to the 2010 census, Alaska had a population of 710,231, an...
The cities of Wrangell and Petersburg both briefly lost power on Friday morning, Jan. 10. The power outage occurred a little before 11 a.m. and lasted about an hour. Both cities typically receive their electricity from a hydro plant at Tyee Lake, near Bradfield Canal. Rod Rhoades, light and power director for Wrangell, said that there was a "phase to phase fault" in the power line between the lake and the two cities. He speculated that this could mean something like a tree branch fell on the...
The Nolan Center celebrated the new year on Dec. 31, with a murder mystery party. As this new year marks a new decade, a return to the '20s, the party had a 1920s theme to it. With jazz music, people in themed costumes, and masks, party-goers had the chance to return to the previous century. The main theater of the Nolan Center was decorated to look like an old speakeasy, from the prohibition era, to fit the mood. For those who have never participated in a murdery mystery, it is a lot like a...
Below is the second half of The Wrangell Sentinel's review of 2019, covering the months of July to December: July July 4 - Wrangell Police Chief Doug McCloskey was recognized for his service to the community at last week's borough assembly meeting. With his retirement at the end of June, McCloskey has closed out 38 years of police work. July 11 - The Fourth of July was a hot and sunny day in Wrangell, but that did not stop many people from getting out and having a good time. Like all previous...
Following is the Wrangell Sentinel's news review for January through June of 2019. Next week the review will include events from July through December. January Jan. 13 - The Fairbanks Arts Association opened their 24th annual statewide poetry contest for submissions this December. Each year, the association picks a new judge for the contest. This year will be judged by Wrangell resident Vivian Faith Prescott. Prescott is the author of numerous works, including The Hide of My Tongue and The Dead...