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The Forest Service has been hosting numerous public meetings across Southeast Alaska, recently, to share information on proposed changes to the Roadless Rule and to take comments from the public. One such meeting was held in Wrangell last Wednesday, Nov. 6. As readers may know, the Roadless Rule was put in place by the federal government in 2001 as a way to protect undeveloped parts of national forests. It prohibits road construction, repairs, or timber harvests inside of "inventoried roadless...
Wrangell High School hosted a special assembly on Tuesday, Nov. 12, for Veteran's Day. Wrangell veterans were escorted into the gymnasium by members of the Wrangell Wolves wrestling team. The third grade class from Evergreen Elementary opened the ceremony with the Alaska Flag Song and the Wrangell Song, which was followed by the presentation of the colors by Girl Scout Troop 26. The high school choir sang the National Anthem and student Jing O'Brien led a moment of silence. The assembly was...
Oct. 25: Tangles Ray Hilton was arraigned on charges of assault in the fourth degree, criminal trespass, and criminal mischief. A request for a court appointed lawyer was granted, and he was released on his own recognizance. A calendar call hearing was scheduled for Nov. 19. Oct. 29: Joel Franks was arraigned and given a bail hearing for charges of assault in the third degree and violating conditions of release. An omnibus hearing was scheduled for Nov. 12. A calendar call was scheduled for Jan. 21, 2020, and a viral was scheduled for Jan. 27,...
The Wrangell Port Commission met for a brief workshop to begin discussions on two topics that Harbor Master Greg Meissner said would be important for the future. One was on potentially changing the fees that Wrangell collects from cruise ships, and the other was on how he could better handle derelict boats taking up space in the harbors. A spreadsheet was given to board members, comparing the fees that different Southeast Alaskan towns earned from visiting cruise ships. These fees could vary...
The Nolan Center opened its newest exhibit on shipwrecks with much fanfare last Friday, Nov. 8. With food, wine, music, and special presentations, many people turned out for the grand opening. The exhibit, "Wrangell Remembers - Shipwrecks Close to Home, 1908-1952," features stories and artifacts of several Southeast Alaskan shipwrecks from the 20th century. Four ships are featured in this exhibit, The Star of Bengal, the S.S. Mariposa, the Princess Sophia, and the Princess Kathleen. The Star of...
The borough assembly met Tuesday night, Nov. 12, for their only scheduled meeting this month. The meeting opened with a work session on Wrangell's local contractor policy. The policy was established in 2015, according to the meeting's information packet, and the borough wanted to start the process of seeing what needed to be clarified, updated, and changed. After the work session, the assembly got into their regular meeting to cover a wide range of topics. Three that stood out were a memorandum...
The Roadless Rule is legislation from 2001 designed to keep roadless areas of the country off-limits from future development. According to the Forest Service's website, this legislation prohibits road construction, reconstruction, or timber harvesting on over 58 million acres of "inventoried roadless areas" in National Forest System lands. The Tongass National Forest, and the Chugach further north, are protected by the Roadless Rule. However, according to an Oct. 15 press release from the U.S. D...
The Wrangell Convention and Visitor Bureau met Monday, Nov. 4, to discuss potential "tourism best management practices." This is something happening in Juneau, according to Economic Development Director Carol Rushmore. The tourism best management practices are a collection of guidelines and general rules that tourism-related organizations in the city agree to abide by. It was first put together in 1997, according to the 2019 TBMP document on the city of Juneau's website, "to minimize the impacts...
The Thanksgiving basket handout, organized by Don and Bonnie Roher on behalf of the Wrangell Ministerial Association, has been a longstanding tradition in the community. Thanksgiving dinner is typically an elaborate and somewhat expensive meal to put together. In a community like Wrangell, there are many families who need a little help when the holiday season rolls around. Beginning their tradition in 2000, according to Bonnie, the Rohers and other volunteers put together baskets of...
The Wrangell Borough Assembly organized a work session to discuss a recently vacated position at the Irene Ingle Public Library. There are three primary jobs at the library: Library Director, Assistant II, and Assistant I. The "Assistant II" position was recently vacated. It was proposed to promote Sarah Scambler, then Assistant I, up to the Assistant II position. This would leave the Assistant I position open, which the library planned to post as available and search for a new hire. However,...
SEARHC, the medical provider that recently took over management of the Wrangell Medical Center and is currently overseeing construction of a new hospital, held a talk Monday, Oct. 21, on diabetes and traditional foods. The talk was lead by Kelly Lakin, a diabetes educator with SEARHC. Diabetes is a disease that occurs when one's blood sugar is too high, according to the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. Insulin is a hormone that the body produces to transfer...
As anyone who has lived in Wrangell can attest, the sea is an important part of life. Many Wrangellites make their living on the ocean, be it fishing or operating a charter boat. Even if they do not rely on it for a living, many people in town enjoy taking boats out on the water. To showcase this fact of life for Wrangell, and to bring to life part of its history, the Nolan Center will be opening a new exhibit: "Wrangell Remembers - Shipwrecks Close to Home 1908-1952." "It is very important to...
September 23: Charges of violating conditions of release against Katie Edfelt were dismissed as part of a plea agreement. Katie Edfelt plead guilty to a charge of theft. Judge Kevin Miller sentenced her to 10 days imprisonment, a $100 police training surcharge, $50 initial jail surcharge, and $30.88 in restitution. Katie Edfelt plead guilty to a charge of assault in the 4th degree. A charge of assault 2 was dismissed as part of a plea agreement. Judge Kevin Miller sentenced her to one year imprisonment, a $100 police training surcharge, and a...
The Friends of the NRA will be hosting a banquet in Wrangell this Saturday, beginning at 5 p.m., at the Nolan Center. This has been a highly attended event in previous years, with many Wrangell residents coming out for good food, auctions, and the opportunity to buy or win new guns. Greg Stephens, NRA field representative for Southern Alaska, said he believes this will be the fourth year in a row they have held a banquet in Wrangell. It has always been a sold-out event, he said, and he expects...
Wrangell Medical Center (WMC), part of the SouthEast Alaska Regional Health Consortium (SEARHC), recently received notice of the successful certification of six new Certified Nursing Assistants (CNA) from the Wrangell CNA Training Program. The six-week program, instructed by WMC Registered Nurse and state certified CNA Training Instructor Katrina Ottesen, prepped the half-dozen Wrangell locals for the state exam and an opportunity for employment at WMC. A graduation ceremony will take place in...
The Wrangell School Board, still getting settled with new members from the election on Oct. 2, held a work session on the evening of Oct. 28 to begin a review of the district's strategic plan. The strategic plan was adopted in June of 2018, and sets a series of goals for the school district to aim for through to the year 2023. There are five main goals outlined in the plan, each with their own set of strategies and actions to be taken to accomplish them. The goals are: Student Learning,...
This year’s moose season finished with a final count of 127 animals, which is a new Unit Three record, according to Petersburg Fish & Game. Last week when the season ended on Oct. 15, final preliminary numbers showed 125 moose harvested this year, but hunters had an additional five days from the end of the season to report their kills to fish and game. Since the end of the season, two more moose were reported. The additional moose were shot in the Stikine River area and another mainland location. In 2017, hunters set a unit record of 119 moose...
Running three-and-a-half hours long before even coming to an executive session, the borough assembly meeting on Oct. 22 saw a wide variety of topics covered. One of them was overseeing several appointments to various city positions. Patty Gilbert, recently re-elected to the borough assembly, was named the vice-mayor. There were two open seats on the planning and zoning commission, to which Terri Henson and April Hutchinson were appointed. Annya Ritchie was appointed to the parks and recreation a...
The Wrangell Convention and Visitor Bureau met last Thursday, Oct. 17, to look over their updated budget and to start planning for future meetings and conventions. On the agenda for the night was the selection of a new chair and vice-chair for the bureau, but as there were two unfilled seats at the time of the meeting, they decided to postpone this decision. According to the bureau's budget, provided by Economic Development Director Carol Rushmore, there is $262,000 in CPV funds budgeted for...
Donna McKay, assistant teacher at Head Start in Wrangell, was recently recognized for hitting the 30-year mark in her career. She was given a plaque last Monday, Oct. 14, in Fairbanks during an award ceremony. Head Start is an early childhood program that, according to their website, serves children from birth to five-years-old in 100 Alaskan communities. Starting her career this month 30 years ago, McKay said that she has helped to teach approximately 620 children. "By the 28th of this month...
The 2019 moose season ended with a preliminary count of 125 animals, setting a new record in unit three. Moose season began on Sept. 15 and ended Tuesday, Oct. 15. As of Wednesday afternoon, the final number of moose brought in by hunters this season was 125. Hunters have until five days after the end of the season to report their kill to fish and game officials. "It's still subject to change," said Fish and Game Area Biologist Frank Robbins. "I don't expect it to change a lot." In 2017,...
The Southeast Alaska Conservation Council is one of several groups which have been working in towns like Wrangell to raise awareness of how transboundary mining in British Columbia could affect them. Most recently, Heather Evoy visited Wrangell to discuss some of the potential downsides mining represents, especially to indigenous communities. "A big problem is that a lot of these companies operate all over the world and are known bad actors pretty much everywhere," she said. Some of the...
In last week’s signature page of the Wrangell High School music students, student Terra Hoyt was not named. She is located between Danika Smith and Jing O’Brien. In last week’s photograph of the wrestling team’s fundraiser dinner, Ethan Blatchley was misidentified as Skyler Lofftus....
PETERSBURG – Mike Payne, a local resident was part of a hunting trip last Friday when a skiff capsized in Duncan Canal around 1 A.M. that resulted in the death of Doug Larson. Payne said that Larson and Charles King were bringing the rest of their hunting buddies warm pizza when the wind and tide became too strong and pulled the skiff back to shore. Payne couldn't see the duo in the dark, but at one point he heard a yell. "We called out, but through the wind and tide they couldn't hear us or u...
The Baha'i faith will be recognizing the 200th anniversary of the birth of their founder this month. According to the Baha'i's website, Siyyid 'Alí-Muhammad was born in Iran on Oct. 20, 1819. He would later take the title "The Báb", which means "the gate" in Arabic. He served as the herald for the faith, proclaiming the coming of a new messenger from God, the Bahá'u'lláh. Kay Larson, of Wrangell's Baha'i community, explained that The Báb would be somewhat similar to John the Baptist in Chri...