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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...
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...