Sorted by date Results 677 - 701 of 8072
The Ketchikan Gateway Borough is working to recover a $625,125 electronic payment that was sent to a fake vendor account on May 3, according to Borough Manager Ruben Duran. The case is under investigation by the FBI, and a claim has been filed with the borough’s insurer, Duran said. The borough has made arrangements to pay the real vendor with a check via certified mail. Duran provided an update to the borough assembly on May 6, followed by an interview with the Ketchikan Daily News on May 8. The borough had intended to pay the contractor on th...
There’s a new way to learn Native languages: Sealaska Heritage Institute has created an online searchable dictionary with accompanying audio. The online dictionary allows users to search words and phrases in English or Lingít (Tlingit language), Xaad Kíl (Haida language) and Shm'algyack (Tsimshian language). The audio recordings allow users to listen to heritage language speakers pronouncing words and phrases. SHI launched an app for the Tlingit language in 2016, and more recently launched apps for Tsimshian and Haida. But the apps only allowed...
Lawmakers have added four Alaska Native languages to the state’s official language tally and renamed the council that advocates for their survival and revitalization. Members of the Senate approved their version of House Bill 26 with a unanimous vote on May 6. State representatives concurred with the changes on May 10, which means it goes to Gov. Mike Dunleavy next. The House passed the original bill, sponsored by Juneau Rep. Andi Story, last year with a 37-1 vote. Wasilla Republican Rep. David Eastman was the lone no vote. In addition to a...
A plan to grant special law enforcement powers to Chickaloon tribal police officers has been put on indefinite hold because state public safety officials feared it could lead to altercations between tribal officers and nontribal members, officials said May 6. The pilot plan, which was to be in place by mid-June, would have allowed Chickaloon police officers to enforce certain state laws and arrest members of the general public in a roughly 68-square-mile area near Sutton, northeast of Anchorage. It was designed to augment state trooper...
The Alaska Legislature has approved creating a task force to make policy recommendations to help the beleaguered commercial fishing industry. The Senate unanimously approved the resolution on Sunday, May 12, to establish the task force. There was only one no vote in the House, from Wasilla Rep. David Eastman. The task force is modeled off another legislative task force created more than 20 years ago to help the salmon industry. At the time, salmon fishermen were struggling with the pain of low prices and competition with farmed salmon....
With Alaska’s drug overdose deaths surging, state leaders on May 6 kicked off a new campaign to raise awareness about the dangers of the drug that caused most of them: fentanyl. The new campaign, called “One Pill Can Kill,” is national and spearheaded by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and other federal agencies. But it has special meaning in Alaska, which last year had a record-high total of overdose deaths. Preliminary numbers show that 342 Alaskans died from overdoses in 2023, a 40% increase over 2022 totals, according to the state...
The Alaska Legislature voted May 7 to remove Bob Griffin from the state school board amid bipartisan unhappiness over his perceived political actions as a board member. The vote came amid the Legislature’s annual vote on gubernatorial nominees. Legislators approved 78 of the 81 people subject to legislative confirmation during a joint session of the state House and Senate. They rejected Griffin for a second term on the board. Legislators also rejected Anchorage radio host Mike Porcaro as a new appointee to the Commercial Fisheries Entry Commiss...
On May 29, a 39-foot canoe of Wrangell paddlers will start the week-long, 150-nautical-mile journey to Juneau for Celebration, the biennial Native culture festival. This year marks the first time Wrangell will have its own canoe making the journey since 2014, signifying a return of enthusiasm for canoe culture in town. Canoes from other communities will make the journey alongside Wrangell, including Juneau, Kasaan, Metlakatla and a veterans' canoe - all beginning here. Up to seven other canoes...
Gov. Mike Dunleavy has indicated he is willing to accept a one-year increase in state money for schools as legislators work toward a $175 million addition to the funding formula before their scheduled adjournment deadline May 15. The increase would cover almost two-thirds of the projected revenue gap in the Wrangell School District operating budget for the 2024-2025 school year. Districts statewide face significant budget deficits after more than seven years without an increase in the state’s per-student funding formula. Though both the H...
The U.S. Forest Service plans to build six new cabins and a new campground in Southeast Alaska and wants to hear from the public on proposed fees for the facilities. One of the new cabins will be constructed at Little Lakes, on a former logging road about 25 miles from downtown Wrangell and near the Long Lake Trailhead. The proposed fee for the Little Lakes cabin is $75 a night, which is at the high end of the range of fees charged for use of existing cabins in the Tongass National Forest. Cabins in the Wrangell district range from $30 to $75....
Before an advanced Tlingít language class, Raven Svenson and her classmate discussed how to conjugate the verb "boil" in the context of cooking. The University of Alaska Southeast class in Juneau was headed into finals last week and students were preparing for dialogues that will test their conversational skills. Professor X̱'unei Lance Twitchell walked in and suggested the specific verb for cooking meat by boiling. He answered a few questions in English, then switched to Tlingít as he st...
"Wear sea otter, save a crab!" says Jeremiah James. James will teach a sea otter skin sewing class in Wrangell Thursday through Sunday, May 9-12, at the Wrangell Cooperative Association cultural center. The workshop, put on by Sealaska Heritage Institute, will teach about 15 students to hand sew a pattern of their choosing, including garments like hats, scarves, headbands and pillows. James, who lives in Yakutat and Juneau, got into sea otter sewing in 2011 after taking a beginner sewing class...
As the art of cedar weaving continues to grow in popularity, so does the need for a supply of cedar bark. Deborah Head of Craig will teach a class in Wrangell to harvest cedar bark sustainably, without harming the trees. The sessions will run Thursday through Saturday, May 9-11. The all-day class, put on by the Alaska Native Sisterhood, is free to the public and students can attend for one or all three days. Head is an experienced teacher and great storyteller, said Tis Peterman, and often leads groups on Prince of Wales Island to gather bark....
The Alaska Department of Transportation has contracted Hiex Construction of Haines to conduct rockfall mitigation and slope stabilization work between 5.5 and 8.5 Mile Zimovia Highway. The work will likely begin just before Memorial Day, Hiex Construction said last week. One lane will be closed during the work and flaggers will direct traffic. Both lanes will be open during the holiday weekend, the company said. The rockfall mitigation work is not related to the deadly Nov. 20 landslide, but rather is part of an ongoing project to address that...
A film festival featuring student-created documentaries about different facets of Wrangell life will be held at the Nolan Center at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, May 14. Admission is free. Middle school science teacher Laura Davies said the documentaries were created during the school year after two weeks of intense training with mentors from the nonprofit program See Stories. "(We're) aiming for about 10 (documentaries), but it depends on how many finish their films in time," she said. Based in Juneau,...
Channel Construction, which runs the scrap metal recycling operation at the former 6-Mile mill site, has resumed accepting unusable vehicles and large appliances from the public — and it’s free. The company collects scrap metal from throughout Southeast Alaska and ships it by barge for recycling out of state. It has operated at the mill site for more than a year, and recently signed a five-year lease to use the borough-owned property. The drop-off site reopened to the public on May 3 and will be open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Fridays and Sat...
State laws allowing correspondence students to use public funds at private and religious schools will remain in place through the end of June, but not after, an Anchorage Superior Court judge ordered May 2. Judge Adolf Zeman last month struck down two statutes governing Alaska’s correspondence programs, finding that they violated a state constitutional prohibition on spending public funds at private institutions. The decision affect hundreds or thousands of correspondence students across the state, depending on how the Legislature and Gov. Mike...
The SEARHC community wellness team is using a mobile kitchen to hold classes on healthy cooking in Wrangell and around Southeast. A session is available to the public at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, May 14, at the Wrangell Medical Center. Seating is limited. "It was bought to just be another resource to talk about health and wellness," department case manager Kathryn Nuckols said of the mobile kitchen. "A fun way to participate in some education (on healthy eating)." Over the past week, she has hosted...
With some coordinating help from Parks and Recreation, bike mechanic Pat Blair with Wheelhouse Bikes in Petersburg will be in Wrangell Monday through Wednesday, June 3-5. Anyone with a bicycle in need of repair needs to call Blair at 907-772-2453 in advance to schedule an appointment. Bikes should be dropped off before the scheduled time at the community center multipurpose room by entering via the ramp on the north side of the building; using the same entrance for pickup after the work is...
A neighborhood of historic Sitka houses on Katlian and Kaagwaantaan streets, the Sitka Tlingit Clan Houses, has been selected by the National Trust for Historic Preservation for inclusion in the 2024 list of America’s 11 Most Endangered Historic Places. The neighborhood was established by the Tlingit in the 1820s to trade with Russians living inside the adjacent stockaded New Archangel settlement. Russian administrators recognized their settlement was dependent on trade with the Tlingit village for survival. Scores of clan houses lined the w...
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — It was a frigid winter morning when authorities found a Native American man dead on a remote gravel road in western New Mexico. He was lying on his side, with only one sock on, his clothes were gone and his shoes tossed in the snow. There were trails of blood on both sides of his body and it appeared he had been struck in the head. Investigators retraced the man’s steps, gathering security camera footage that showed him walking near a convenience store miles away in Gallup, an economic hub in an otherwise rural area bor...
Plans to build a 12-acre tribal education campus and a 457-acre cultural immersion park in Juneau were unveiled at the 89th annual tribal assembly of the Central Council of the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska. The projects combine efforts to reclaim tribal land, expand traditional cultural and educational activities and provide support to students in a state education system that "is failing our students," said Tlingit and Haida President Richard Chalyee Éesh Peterson in his speech to...
Declaring the crisis with fentanyl and other deadly drugs its highest priority and accepting Portland as a new tribal community were among the highlights at the Central Council of the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska’s 89th annual tribal assembly in Juneau. Resolutions approved at the assembly that concluded on April 19 also included calls for a permanent increase in the state’s base funding formula for public schools and supporting non-discrimination in student sports. Among the resolutions singled out for discussion was one ref...
The Alaska Senate is moving toward a final vote on its draft state spending plan for the coming fiscal year, with senators expected this week to approve a budget that includes enough money to pay a 2024 Permanent Fund dividend estimated at $1,580. The Senate’s draft operating budget is different from one passed last month by the House which included a $2,270 proposed PFD. Senate action will trigger the creation of a conference committee charged with writing a compromise budget deal to fund state services after July 1, the start of the fiscal y...
The Alaska Marine Highway System is waiting for the prognosis after a full-body scan of the state ferry Matanuska, looking for rusted steel — the equivalent of a cancer scan of the 61-year-old ship. The Matanuska has been out of service for 18 months after it went into the shop for its annual winter overhaul, only to find a lot more “wasted” (rusted) steel in its hull, decking and other areas of the ship than expected. That prompted the scan, which has been completed. Marine architects are working up a cost estimate, said Craig Tornga, marin...