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A high school organization founded by students several years ago aimed at inclusivity and students helping each other has expanded its focus, and its store in the school's commons area is selling an assortment of sandwiches, beverages and other snacks during lunchtime. BASE, founded by a group of Wrangell High School students in 2019, has grown over the years from decorating the halls to providing needed food to students, arranging teacher appreciations, working with school staff to learn how to...
The state capital budget approved by the Alaska Senate last week includes $200,000 for the borough to start planning an emergency access route for when Zimovia Highway is blocked by landslides or other disasters. The route would connect the old logging road at Pats Creek on the west side of Wrangell Island to the Spur Road on the island’s east side. The borough estimates the total cost of design and construction at roughly $5 million, and requested $500,000 in state funding to start planning and design work. The Senate approved the capital proj...
The borough assembly approved a three-year collective bargaining agreement with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers on April 9, covering public works, light and power, port and harbor and maintenance jobs, totaling about 23 positions. The agreement includes amendments to some job descriptions and the wage and grade table, effective July 1. Borough Manager Mason Villarma said they wanted to make sure changes were made to reflect inflation. He also said the borough noticed that some wages weren’t competitive with other municipalit...
The borough assembly on April 9 approved Mason Villarma’s contract as borough manager. The assembly vote was unanimous. Villarma went to work as finance director in September 2021 and has been serving as both finance director and interim borough manager since November 2023 when Jeff Good stepped down as manager to accept a federal job. Villarma’s four-year contract for borough manager goes into effect May 5. During his tenure as interim borough manager, he helped see the borough through the deadly landslide Nov 20 and recovery efforts. He spoke...
An Anchorage Superior Court judge has struck down an Alaska law that allows the state to allocate cash payments to parents of homeschooled students, ruling that it violates constitutional prohibitions against spending state money on religious or private education. “This court finds that there is no workable way to construe the statutes to allow only constitutional spending,” wrote Judge Adolf Zeman, concluding that the entire law must be struck down. The April 12 decision has major and immediate implications for the more than 22,000 students en... Full story
The time of year is approaching when birds flock to the river flats, and Wrangell is once again hosting the Stikine River Birding Festival. The festival will run from April 24 to 28 and will include a variety of bird-themed events and activities free of charge. This year is a bit of a lighter year, Matt Henson, who is organizing festival planning, said. They are focusing on community-centered, family-friendly events. Rather than a couple weekends of programming that the festival has offered in years past, this year’s schedule will be more c...
After more than a quarter-century, the nation’s largest national forest is getting a new management plan. On April 22, Wrangell community members will get a chance to learn about the proposed revisions to the forest plan and share their thoughts. A forest plan can be compared to zoning, Paul Robbins Jr., public affairs staff officer for the Tongass National Forest, explained. The plan helps guide management decisions, such as focusing on what areas are managed for recreation versus other activities, rather than looking at specific trails and c...
The chamber of commerce at its annual awards dinner last weekend honored several members of the community for their service, including the fire department and emergency medical services crew, municipal electric line crew and borough employees for their response to the deadly Nov. 20 landslide that hit Wrangell. “Nowhere was the ‘I can help’ spirit more evident than in November of last year when a tragic landslide befell our community. For weeks, volunteers and first responders showed just what an amazing place Wrangell is,” said Carolin...
The Alaska House has sent to the Senate a state operating budget for the fiscal year that starts July 1 with an almost $2,300 Permanent Fund dividend that would be the single largest expenditure in the spending plan. The budget also includes $175 million in additional one-time school funding, raising the total state contribution to school district operating expenses to just over half of what House members voted to spend on this fall’s dividend. The boost in state aid for the 2024-2025 school year, if approved by the Senate and signed into l...
The Alaska House of Representatives on April 11 rejected a constitutional amendment that would have guaranteed payment of the annual Permanent Fund dividend. The final vote was 22-18, five votes short of the two-thirds majority required to advance the amendment to the Senate for further debate. If it had won legislative approval, the amendment would have gone to the public in this fall’s general election. The amendment was part of a plan created in 2021 by a bipartisan working group after the state came within a week of a government shutdown d... Full story
The South Tongass Volunteer Fire Department station in Ketchikan caught fire early morning April 9, damaging multiple fire and EMS response vehicles. When the Wrangell Fire Department heard about the damages, they responded quickly by lending an ambulance to Ketchikan, sending it out on a barge later that same day. The fire started at 2 a.m. April 9, according to information from the Ketchikan Gateway Borough, and was under control by 3:49 a.m. and extinguished by 4:30 a.m. No one was injured in the fire. The Ketchikan department lost a 20-year...
A designated wilderness area in the Tongass National Forest, the largest U.S. national forest, is now a little bit bigger, after a land purchase and transfer arranged by two conservation organizations. ‘ Five acres of land that was formerly privately owned has been added to the forest’s Kootznoowoo Wilderness area on Admiralty Island, one of the organizations, The Wilderness Land Trust, said in a news release issued on April 11. The project, a partnership with the Juneau-based Southeast Alaska Land Trust, is the latest in a series of land pur... Full story
The WCA Cultural Center filled with the sweet aroma of cedar as students sat around tables, focused on their hats in progress in front of them. They dipped the strips of red and yellow cedar into bins of water and occasionally spritzed their weaving with water to keep it from drying and cracking. Quiet chatter filled the room as they shared stories and advice. Master weaver Holly Churchill, from Ketchikan, made her way around the room, offering helpful tips and reminding students not to get...
Hundreds of high schoolers across Alaska participated in an organized walkout April 4 in protest of the Legislature’s recent failure to override Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s veto of an education funding bill. The bill would have included a historic increase in state money for public education. Outside Eagle River High School in the Anchorage School District, more than 100 students stood outside in the blustering snow for nearly a whole class period chanting “Fund our education!” and “Save our arts, save our sports!” Similar protests — all organized...
One hundred and fifty years ago, the Stikine beckoned people to its rugged landscape with the promise of wealth. This was the Cassiar gold rush of 1874, a huge moment in Wrangell history, according to Ronan Rooney, historian and creator of the podcast "Wrangell History Unlocked." Rooney's newest series "Strange Customs" tells the story of the gold rush in Wrangell in three parts. The story, however, is not just about the search for gold on the Stikine. It involves a political corruption ring in...
The community's medical equipment loan closet that has been in a number of locations over the years will likely have to look for a new home once more. With the forthcoming sale of the former hospital next to Evergreen Elementary School later this month to Georgia-based real estate developer Wayne Johnson, the Wrangell Community Loan Closet will have to move its reserve of medical equipment to a new location. Don McConachie Sr., who runs the service, talked on April 4 with borough manager Mason...
The Island of Faith Lutheran Church will host a free monthly movie for their Faith and Film Ministry at the Nolan Center over the next two and a half years, thanks to a $3,000 grant from the Alaska Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America. “We’re trying to do lots of genres, from ‘Galaxy Quest’ to ‘Magnificent Seven’ (the 1960 version),” said the church’s pastor, Sue Bahleda. The next movie will be “The Princess Bride” on Tuesday, April, 16 at 6 p.m. The concession stand will be open. Movies that have already been shown as part of th...
Kevin McCallister is the new facilities and maintenance director for the school district. He arrived with his family on March 25 and started work April 1. Outgoing maintenance director Josh Blatchley will stay on until the end of April to help with training his replacement. While McCallister is just getting started, he hasn't "really dug into the meat and potatoes of everything yet." He's already been made aware of some of the larger projects coming over the next few years, such as the...
The U.S. Forest Service is calling on Alaskans to create handmade ornaments to decorate the U.S. Capitol Christmas tree and the smaller companion trees that will represent Alaska in Washington, D.C. The trees will come from the Tongass National Forest; it’s only the second time ever that an Alaska tree has been chosen to serve as the U.S. Capitol Christmas tree. The tree will require 3,500 large ornaments made from lightweight, durable materials that should be colorful, reflective, weatherproofed for outdoor display and 12 inches in height a...
The chamber of commerce would like to put on the community’s 69th king salmon derby this year but hasn’t figured out the details, as it takes into consideration the state’s efforts to limit fishing in the area to help preserve and rebuild returns to the Stikine River system. “We’d love to have one,” chamber executive director Tommy Wells said of a king derby. The chamber is working on plans and hopes to have details soon, he said. Catch numbers in the past two king derbies confirm the weak runs and sportfishing restrictions. District 8...
Commercial trollers had a productive winter catching kings along the outside waters of Southeast, but area runs are still weak and sportfishing restrictions around Wrangell this summer are similar to recent years. District 8 in front of the Stikine River and the waters closest to town will be closed to king fishing through July 14. “The retention of king salmon is prohibited, any king salmon caught must be released immediately,” according to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. District 6 and most of District 7, encompassing the Back Cha...
Lucy Pitka McCormick's relatives cooked salmon, moose, beaver and muskrat over an earthen firepit on the banks of the Chena River, just outside Fairbanks, as they honored her life. They whipped whitefish, blueberries and lard into a traditional Alaska Native dessert, and dolloped servings onto a paper plate, setting it in the flames to feed her spirit. The family prayed as McCormick's great-grandson built a small plywood coffin that was filled with gifts and necessities for the next world, such...
Fourteen Wrangell High School students will participate in the annual three-day Southeast Regional Music Festival this week at Sitka High School. The event will feature morning and evening performances that will be livestreamed on the Sitka Fine Arts Camp YouTube channel and via links on the Music Fest website. Music teacher Tasha Morse, who will accompany her students, described the April 11-13 event as a showcase. High school music groups from across the region, including orchestral, jazz and choir, will perform in various concerts, along...
“Let me take you to one of my favorite places in Alaska that you’ve probably never heard of,” Danielle Marie Lister says in a recent Instagram video. Lister wears black bibs, a purple down jacket and thick white boots as she skips along the Haines Highway below a snow-covered mountain along with soft guitar music. The one-minute video includes shots of bald eagles on the Chilkat River, the slow waves of Portage Cove, and steam rising from a hot tub outside a yurt pressed against the Takshanuk Mountains. “I always love the contrast of the sma...
A group of Republican-led states, including Alaska, is suing the Biden administration to block a new student loan repayment plan that provides a faster path to cancellation and lower monthly payments for millions of borrowers. In a federal lawsuit filed March 28, 11 states led by Kansas argue that President Joe Biden overstepped his authority in creating the SAVE Plan, which was made available to borrowers last year and has already canceled loans for more than 150,000. It argues that the new plan is no different from Biden’s first attempt at s...