Sorted by date Results 651 - 675 of 1089
House working to add Wrangell fisheries and children's services jobs The Alaska Legislature is more than halfway through session, and I am happy to report a few successes in the legislative budget process that will benefit Wrangell residents. Last year, Wrangell officials came to me with an idea to create a social worker position that would be funded partially through the state and partially through local means. We were able to add a part-time Office of Children's Services caseworker for...
The federal money that will flow into our state from the American Rescue Plan - the latest round of pandemic aid from Washington, D.C. - is the proverbial once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for Alaskans to do good things with more than $2 billion. The total includes almost $1.2 billion that will go to the state, $357 million for schools, $230 million for local communities, a couple hundred million dollars more for housing assistance, tens of millions each for energy improvements to homes, the...
GCI, the largest telecommunications provider in the state, is closing down its call center jobs in Anchorage and moving the work to a contractor in the Philippines. It joins a growing list of U.S. companies outsourcing their customer service jobs overseas. The fact that GCI is one of many U.S. businesses to send work out of the country doesn't make it right, nor does it make it wrong. But it is another example of job and economic loss in a state that already is suffering from outmigration. More...
Recall effort not based on facts and was not positive The past year has been difficult for everyone. My family has been acutely aware of the issues surrounding COVID-19, and Lynn and I have lived every day knowing that our actions have a direct impact on our friends and neighbors. But inaction also can have consequences. We take this responsibility very seriously. As mayor, I was faced with difficult and consequential leadership decisions. Early on, an emergency order was adopted that gave authority to the city manager or mayor to make rapid, u...
Separate decisions affecting an effort to recall Wrangell's mayor and the Juneau-Douglas High School boys basketball team are similar, in that they disappointed some people, but they are not equal. The organizers of a recall effort against Mayor Stephen Prysunka made the wise decision not to fight over the legality of their recall petition, and instead to focus on the assembly seats at stake in the next municipal election. Rather than burn up time and money in litigation over the city's...
The governor will go to great lengths to avoid supporting a tax - any tax - but taxes are how people pay for public services. Instead of thinking about the public, his administration's latest ill-conceived plan is to close Division of Motor Vehicle offices in six small communities so that he can claim budget savings of $500,000 a year. Of course, what the state may save, the public would have to pay - and more. The administration has proposed contracting with private operators to provide...
Group wants to include homeschooled graduates The Wrangell High School class of 2021 will soon be graduating, with traditional festivities reduced again by the coronavirus pandemic. Wrangell has a long history of celebrating female graduates and the women who have mothered them. Beta Sigma Phi inherited the tradition from the Wrangell Civic Club years ago and plans to continue it this spring. We are planning a COVID-safe mother-daughter recognition for April to celebrate our high school...
Almost half of Wrangell residents have received at least their first COVID-19 vaccine shot. Close to 30% of all Alaskans have too, and the state has opened vaccination eligibility to everyone over the age of 16. Nationwide, more than 72 million people have received at least their first shot. And while the number of people testing positive for the virus is on a welcome decline across most of the country, it's too soon to totally let up on being careful. Petersburg reported more than 100 infection...
Journalism schools teach reporters to quote accurately; to add "he said" or "she said" at the end of every statement; to fully report what people say at public events and in interviews. All of that would apply if people were always responsible and always truthful. Sadly, people are not always truthful or responsible - and it is getting worse (much worse) in politics. Far too many people spout whatever gets them attention; whatever aligns with their views and nothing else; whatever wins them supp...
Survey respondents favor higher oil taxes, not income or sales tax Thank you to everyone who has taken the Commonwealth North budget survey. I decided to use their comprehensive budget survey in lieu of a survey directly from my office this year. I received the results for District 36, updated last week, and most people prefer a limited approach to the Permanent Fund dividend: 42% prefer to "pay out the same amount" as last year, which was $992, and 25% said "suspend dividends until the state...
Sure, the Sentinel's main job is to report the news. But we also want to serve as the community bulletin board. Think of the newspaper as a weekly posting, delivered for everyone to see - even better, you don't need to stand in the wind and rain to read the sheet. The problem is, our bulletin board has empty space, and that doesn't do anyone any good. We need your events to fill up the board. We could hand out hundreds of pushpins to stick event notices to the pages of the Sentinel each week....
Alaska is in a fiscal mess and Gov. Mike Dunleavy is making it worse. The state has spent almost all of its easily accessible savings. Budget cuts have hit hard at essentials such as the ferry system, university and some social service programs. Our credit rating is at risk. And yet the governor acts like next year or the year after is soon enough to figure it out. Calm and thoughtful is good, irresponsible is bad. Dunleavy's plan is to spend from the Permanent Fund until a better idea comes...
Legislature trying to help tourism economy I am working hard to encourage and protect our visitor industry and the economic potential of the upcoming tourism season despite the hurdles we have faced due to COVID-19. The visitor industry is vital to our economy. According to the Alaska Travel Industry Association, not including the outlier years from COVID-19, the visitor industry generates $4.5 billion in economic activity. In 2019, 52,000 Alaskans depended on tourism for their income. Revenues...
Murkowski has failed as a faithful defender of conservative values To The Editor: Referring to Larry Persily's opinion column, "Sen. Murkowski did her job" (Wrangell Sentinel, Feb.18), I agree we should be civil and respect the opinions of others. Yes, bullying has no place in a civilized society with democratic aspirations as well, even under one-party rule promoting censorship and the cancel culture. OK, so Ms. Murkowski did her job, but has she represented faithfully the values of her fellow...
In the past 17 years and at a cost of almost $200 million, the Alaska Marine Highway System took ownership of two ferries it could not afford to run and two that it could not run everywhere they are needed. That is painful. The state is selling the two it can't afford to keep fueled, while spending millions to add new doors so that the other two ships can call on smaller communities in Southeast. Even then, it will take additional millions of dollars in remodeling before one of the two can...
Though it's a little far afield from life in Wrangell, there is a life lesson in the controversy over President Joe Biden's choice to run the federal Office of Management and Budget. A lesson to keep your thumbs at your side, unless you're hitchhiking. The nominee, Neera Tanden, is in jeopardy of losing Senate confirmation because of tweets she sent while in a previous job as chief executive officer at the left-leaning think tank Center for American Progress. The tweets were nasty, political...
A state Senate committee is scheduled this week to hear a 13-page bill to rewrite (tighten) parts of Alaska's election code dealing with voter registration, absentee voting, mail-in ballots, and requiring a toll-free hotline number stuck on every voting machine in the state so that people can call in their suspicions. A kindly interpretation of the legislative motive behind the bill would be that it is necessary to reassure Alaskans that every election for every office, from local to state, is...
The 18 or so Wrangell middle school and high school students who belong to BASE - Building a Supportive Environment - are the role models I never paid attention to when I was their age long ago (1960s). They got together on their own because they saw their classmates dealing with stress, pressures, mental health issues, and even drab hallways, which senior Jade Balansag described as "boring corridors of nothingness." Senior Jacob Dow did his research and learned that surroundings can make a big...
The Republican Party must soon make some major policy decisions or it will become a split party with two factions - one a single-person party cult and the other a Republican Party based on principles such as small government, free markets, low taxes and individual freedom. I have been around the political system for a long while, and at the end of the day it's a numbers game. You either have the votes or you don't. If you have control, you can set the agenda and usually prevail. If you splinter...
Schools ready to help students in need Due to COVID-19, the level of depression and anxiety our teens are experiencing has skyrocketed. Hospitals across the country - including Juneau - are seeing huge increases in youth attempting suicide and other types of self-destructive behavior. Social services are being overwhelmed. For instance, the state Office of Children's Services supervisor for all of Southeast Alaska recently told me that the number of child-welfare referrals they are receiving...
The state housing corporation started up its new, federally funded assistance program for renters this week. Up to $200 million is available to help tenants across Alaska who are behind on their rent or utilities, and/or need help with the rent for this month and even far into 2021. In addition to a maximum income level - a Wrangell applicant's total household income either last year or this year cannot exceed $57,120 - the other major eligibility requirement is that the household must show it...
Maybe you did not like her vote to convict former President Donald Trump in the Senate impeachment trial. Maybe you wanted her to stick with most Republicans who cast their ballot to acquit because you believe the evidence was weak, or that Trump never intended to ignite a riot at the Capitol last month, or that Congress cannot impeach a former president. Maybe you think the senator, now in her 20th year, isn't conservative enough for your Republican tastes, and you believe she has grown too...
BRAVE fundraiser was a success To the editor: The overall mission of the BRAVE coalition is to help build and strengthen healthy relationships in Wrangell. The group is reforming after limited activity during the pandemic. We are grateful to all who took part in the rummage sale, our first-ever fundraiser, held Feb. 13. As a volunteer organization, the purpose is to raise awareness about issues of interpersonal violence, become trauma-informed, and offer educational programs to prevent injury...
It is going to be another rough year for Southeast Alaska communities. The closure of Canadian waters to cruise ships on their way to and from Alaska is going to mean a lot fewer visitors to towns up and down the Panhandle. Wrangell is among them. But some visitors will still come to Wrangell this summer, whether by smaller cruise ship, air travel or the state ferries. And the Sentinel wants to do everything it can to make that number as large as possible, promoting the community as a...
It wasn't supposed to happen. This summer was expected to be better for Wrangell, for the rest of Southeast and for the entire state of Alaska. It was supposed to be the summer of recovery, or at least the start of it. Not a full recovery to the 2019 level of visitor traffic, but full of hope and at least busier charter boats, stores, hotels and bed-and-breakfasts. Then Canada decided it wasn't safe enough to open its waters to cruise ships - not with COVID infection rates still so high. That...