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I congratulate the Permanent Fund trustees for adopting Resolution 23-01 at their April 12 meeting to limit additional investment in the in-state investment program in which Barings and McKinley Capital Management have each been given $100 million to place in Alaska investments. The decision appears to have been made in part because of the dismal rate of return received from the in-state investments by the two managers. The decision was also made to see whether the poor performance improves over time. I fully support the trustees’ decisions not...
Wrangell Sentinel publisher Larry Persily’s reaction to former President Donald Trump’s latest indictment was as predictable as the rain in Wrangell. He always seems to have something negative to say about Trump, but when past accusations proved to be false, he never set the record straight. The last line from his June 14 opinion piece, “Their defense is as offensive as the crime,” looks like a Freudian slip. It says, “No reason to keep an open mind when politics rule the day,” which explains a lot. Being a fan of freedom, democracy a...
It’s impossible to miss the shortage of workers across Alaska, and certainly in Wrangell. Whether it’s the help wanted signs and advertisements, the social media posts or the cutback in hours and service, the staff shortages are obvious. And it’s making life harder for many people, such as the Wrangell Senior Center stopping in-person hot lunches and cutting down on rides until it can get back to full staffing. No doubt there are a lot of reasons why more people don’t apply for the multitude of private- and public-sector job openings, includi...
The reactions by Alaska’s top elected leaders to former President Donald Trump’s indictment last week say a lot about what they think of the public. Two out of the three — our governor and junior U.S. senator — must think the public is politically motivated above all else, unable to consider the facts and unwilling to believe that the former president could ever do anything wrong. I’ll add “gullible” to the list because, sadly, the two apparently think the public is gullible enough to believe their accusations, which sound like they were min...
The biggest headline in the borough’s draft budget for the fiscal year that starts July 1 is the proposed 24% reduction in the property tax rate, though a substantial drop had been expected. This year’s comprehensive assessment review of every piece of property in Wrangell resulted in a significant boost in taxable value for most homes and businesses. Borough officials had said the intent was fairness — assessing all property by the same standards — not raising revenue. The proposed cut to the tax rate follows through on that pledge. Aside f...
People are growing increasingly cynical about government: How money is spent, how hiring decisions are made, and how it seems there are few consequences for actions that hurt the public. Yet too many elected leaders continue making bad decisions that add to the cynicism. Such as Gov. Mike Dunleavy appointing to the University of Alaska Board of Regents his former chief of staff whose poor judgment — and illegal actions, according to a judge — cost the state at least half-a-million dollars. Tuckerman Babcock, a longtime political adviser to the...
On a recent Sunday, as I was heading to the store, my phone rang. I don’t get many calls these days unless it’s somebody trying to sell me something. To my surprise, the caller ID showed the name of someone I hadn’t seen in years. Was it coincidence and this was just a spam call? I took a risk and answered, and I’m glad I did. “Hey, is this Marc? It’s Darryl.” At first, I was worried something happened to his older brother or younger sister, who I call my adopted older brother and younger sister. But, as it turns out, Darryl was calling to ca...
Every homeowner, car and boat owner knows that maintenance is expensive. It’s also necessary. Particularly so in Alaska, where the weather is unkind to most everything except solid rock, and even that can erode away given enough time. Maintenance is a smart investment. It preserves the value of the property, whether stationary or motorized, and keeping up with repairs is the best way to avoid even more expensive rebuilds, restoration and replacement later. It’s especially true for borough property, which is why it’s heartening to see borou...
Remember what your parents, teachers and truant officer said: You are judged by the company you keep. Too bad Gov. Mike Dunleavy and his attorneys general didn’t think more about that before signing on to multiple lawsuits against the federal government, led by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. Yes, that guy, the one who was impeached by the Texas House of Representatives on a lopsided 121-23 vote last week for 20 counts of bribery, abuse of public trust and other charges going back several years. Donald Trump blamed “radical left Democrats” f...
For 41 years, Alaskans have benefitted from Permanent Fund dividends. More recently, the fund also has been the biggest source of money to pay for state public services. Permanent Fund managers have long known it could one day have less available to spend than is needed. They now say that day could be coming uncomfortably soon, in perhaps just three years. Since last July, it’s been a bad year for fund income as it’s defined by state law. And that’s raising the possibility that the amount the state can spend from the fund could hit zero witho...
Thank you to Johnson’s Building Supply and Smitty’s Floor Installation for spring upgrades to the golf course clubhouse. – Muskeg Meadows...
The Legislature earned a passing grade for approving a substantial increase in state funding for public schools — the first since 2017. Think of it as a small gold star for effort, but they still will need to retake the class next year. Rather than permanently raise the per-student funding formula in state statute, lawmakers voted for a one-time boost in funding for the 2023-2024 school year. Helpful, but it does not solve the perennial problem of inadequate funding for public schools. The 15% increase is good for only one year and does not c...
The Alaska Legislature is no different than a typical American household – torn between spending every last dollar from their paycheck on immediate wants or saving some for the inevitable future needs. When the wants win out, money often is short for the needs that come later. That pretty much sums up this year’s political battle over the amount of the Permanent Fund dividend. The bipartisan Senate favored an affordable PFD that would not require drawing from savings; the House Republican-led majority wanted to take hundreds of millions of dol...
There are large calendar pages tacked to a wall in the Sentinel office. May through September list the cruise ships scheduled to stop in Wrangell on specified days. We keep them there for easy reference. However, we don’t really need the pages to know when there’s a cruise ship in town. Remember that scene in Pixar’s “Finding Nemo” where the horrible little kid comes up to the fishbowl and starts tapping violently on the glass? Many businesses along Front Street may have had that same feeling when cruise ship passengers disembark and start fil...
You are seen! Many times, we wander through life or even just the day and feel like no one is there or no one cares. We even do things at times to get noticed. We want the adoration or appreciation of others. And yet, sometimes it is unfulfilling. Not because we aren’t strong enough, funny enough or any of that, but because we lack a true understanding of our own value. You are enough! The one who created all has already said that. If He who began a good work in you, desires you and wants you as close to Him as possible, you are enough. 1 Peter...
I just wanted to give a big shout-out for all the recent awards the Sentinel staff received at the annual Alaska Press Club contest. I won’t try to name them all. Wrangell should be very proud of Larry Persily and the entire crew at the newspaper. I am now living in Anchorage since the sawmill shut down, but I still get the Sentinel every week. Larry is one of the most sought after advisers up here regarding oil, gas and Alaska’s budget. We Alaskans can’t afford to lose his voice, or Sen. Bert Stedman’s either. The Wrangell Sentinel receive...
We would like to thank City Market, Wrangell IGA, First Bank, Marlene Merritt, Cheri Wickman and SEARHC for their contributions to the Wrangell Community Cleanup. – Paula Rak and WCA IGAP...
The honesty of the younger generation reminds us of what is important in life. It should prompt everyone to pay attention to what teenagers say. It will be their community and their world, so their opinions matter. Wrangell High School seniors are certainly not unanimous in their favorite subjects, the value of homework or what they want to do next year. Yet, it’s clear that a lot of them think about the weighty issues facing the nation and the world, judging from their answers to a Sentinel pre-graduation questionnaire. Leroy Wynne wants to s...
Elected officials, ballot initiative supporters and opponents, campaign managers and anyone else who writes, texts or tweets outlandish claims and promises should be required to stay after the election and write on the blackboard (remember those) 100 times: “I will not make stuff up.” After they have a chance to rest their arm, they need to go back to the board — OK, a whiteboard and a Sharpie works, too — and write 100 more times: “I am sorry for promising too much.” It’s gotten way too easy for anyone trying to win over the public to pro...
Thank you to everyone who took the time to complete my 2023 Legislative Budget Survey. It was a straightforward questionnaire: Do you support decreasing the Permanent Fund dividend to balance the state budget? If yes, by how much? If no, what cuts and new revenue should we implement to cover the nearly $600 million deficit? A few weeks ago, House Minority Leader Calvin Schrage said, “If you were to ask legislators how you solve this, you’ll get a different answer from each and every one of them.” And that seems to ring true for District 1 as...
The support from our governor and some legislators for levying a statewide sales tax on all Alaskans defies logic. Nor does it even make horse sense. As the Legislature enters its final days, the governor says he supports a $2,700 Permanent Fund dividend. Some in the Senate propose a $1,300 dividend. If the $2,700 dividend were to be approved by the Legislature it would create an estimated $600 million budget deficit. That is about what the governor would need to raise from a sales tax to fund his higher dividend. That tax would come from the...
Virtually that is, not literally. But maybe someday for real Oleh Shevchenko, the boss of Northern Sky Studio, a software development company based in Kharkiv, Ukraine, and his team recently created a computer-generated Wrangell airport add-on for Microsoft Flight Simulator. The graphics are so good you expect to see someone you know in the terminal and then spot your house from the air as you take off. No one on the development team has ever been to Wrangell, but Shevchenko said he and his co-workers are big fans of Alaska and Hawaii. “I h...
The great tax debate in Alaska sounds similar to the age-old question of whether it is less painful to yank off the bandage quickly or peel it off slowly and gently. I have found that it just doesn’t matter all that much how I pull off the bandage. Neither way is pleasant, especially when there is scab underneath. It’s the same for taxes in tax-free Alaska: None of the options are pleasant; all will hurt at first; there are a lot of political scars and scabs that will break open no matter what tax is adopted, an income tax or a sales tax. Regar...
Large cruise ship tourism is ruining Juneau. We will see up to six large ships at least one day a week this year. We expect 1.7 million tourists plus crew. In addition to that, smaller ships and air travel will bring in even more tourists. My neighborhood is inundated with vehicular traffic. Walkers stream by and gawk at me working in my yard. Helicopters buzz overhead. My advice to Wrangell and Petersburg is to put the brakes on now before your nice towns are gone six months of the year. Kim Metcalfe Juneau...
After nearly 40 years and two generations of Hardings having a dream, building and operating that dream, the Sourdough Lodge now has a new generation of owners, the John and Zach Taylor families of Wrangell. We enjoyed every minute of our journey. To our loving families, old friends, our new friends and the community of Wrangell, Darlene and I want to say a heartfelt thank you for your continuous support and for all the wonderful memories during those years which we will share for the rest of our lives and hopefully you as well. In addition,...
