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When I was a kid, I suppose my role models were mostly professional athletes. Sports was everything (no offense to school or my parents or Boy Scouts leader). Though I never was very good at any of them, particularly sports or school or being an obedient kid. I managed just one scouting merit badge — in stamp collecting. I did much better imagining myself as the star pitcher, throwing the ball against the side of the house every evening as if it were the perfect strikeout pitch in the big game — until my dad yelled at me to stop thumping the...
Another school year is almost done and, once again, I’m truly impressed by the caliber of young people Wrangell produces. For the past two years, I’ve interviewed the students of the senior class for their graduation projects. Each story revealed unique characters who were all equally prepared to walk into adulthood, albeit by different paths. I have a list of five standard questions I ask in the senior project stories: What’s your name? What’s your project? What are your plans post-high school? What will you miss about high school? What wo...
Ketchikan, her close community neighbors and all of Southeast Alaska are in danger. We are at risk of losing our Alaska Marine Highway System ferry run to Prince Rupert, British Columbia, permanently. Ferry service to Prince Rupert is vital. It is the only way we can reach the mainland quickly at a reasonable cost. Prince Rupert is less than a seven-hour trip from Ketchikan versus a 44-hour trip to Bellingham, Washington. The one-way fare to Prince Rupert is approximately $400 for a Subaru, driver, one passenger and a dog, while the fare for...
The Alaska House has debated the state budget and, as the representative for southern Southeast, helping to create the budget is one of my main duties. There were some amendments in the House Finance Committee that are encouraging: We increased funding to Head Start, public radio, the multi-state WWAMI medical program to accommodate 10 more Alaska students, dive fisheries assessments, and community-based grants through the Division of Senior and Disabilities Services. My biggest issue with the current budget is that there is a significant defic...
No question about it, Wrangell loves its Fourth of July celebration. Residents, families and visitors all gather downtown to watch and participate in the games and races, enjoy the food and, hopefully, some summer sunshine, though that is the least predictable of the festivities. Putting on the days of the Fourth is not cheap for the chamber of commerce. The celebration totals somewhere around $115,000 for fireworks, event expenses, insurance, prize money, running the royalty fundraising raffle and everything else that everyone enjoys every...
There is no wisdom in the state House majority’s decision to put Permanent Fund dividends ahead of the public education budget. Paying for larger PFDs before schools is not the way to build a better state, to keep families from leaving, to entice new residents and businesses to move here, to educate children. It does nothing to address the fact that more people have left Alaska than moved here in each of the past 10 years. It’s as if the legislators want a new state motto: “Give me liberty, or give me death, but give me my dividend eithe...
The lack of respect and hypocrisy in the Biden administration’s application of its policy of environmental justice toward Alaska’s Natives was on full display when on March 14 Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland withdrew from the 2019 land exchange in the Izembek National Wildlife Refuge that the department had agreed to with the King Cove Corp. and Agdaagux and Belkofski tribes. This land exchange was intended to provide the people of King Cove with the opportunity to seek permits to construct an 11-mile gravel road to medevac people fro...
Will Carol Beecher, who was appointed to serve as director of the Alaska Division of Elections, comply with Alaska state statutes in the future? The relevant statute clearly states that the elections director must be nonpartisan and may not make political contributions. The Sentinel reported Feb. 22 that Beecher made recent contributions to the campaigns of Republican candidates including Donald Trump, Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy and Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom. Four months later, Dahlstrom appointed Beecher as director of the Alaska Division of...
There isn’t another business in this town, bar none, that looks out for its citizenry the way River’s Mouth does. That is the most important thing I have to say, so I’ll repeat it, and hold that thought. But first let us take a peek at this endearing little place on Earth that we call home. In Wrangell, as residents we fall into one of those two categories: buyers and/or sellers. We are all in this together. We are all trying to survive in this day and age while inflation is eating us alive and the almighty dollar buys nothing. Enter the solut...
I want to give a special thank you to Dawn Angerman and everyone else at the Elks Lodge for the ham donations to Wrangell veterans. Thank you for honoring us who served in the Armed Forces of the United States. Bill Donavan...
Borough officials and elected assembly members are right: Wrangell’s municipally owned-and-operated utilities and services need to pay their own way. Not happy news for residents — but it’s honest news. For far too long, Wrangell has been overly dependent on federal and state gifts to pay for needed repairs and rebuilds while looking to avoid rate increases. Those are not answers, they’re examples of hopeful denial, and the borough is making the right moves to change direction. The assembly has approved rate increases effective July 1 for elect...
Some people let their dogs run loose, while others walk their dogs but don’t bother to pick up the piles. Regardless of which one was the culprit, the recent dog poop deposit at the museum totem is a new low for a highly visible problem. The discovery comes as the snow melts and residents discover dog piles anywhere and everywhere. The Muskeg Meadows Golf Course, which is posted but frequently ignored as a dog-free area, recently reminded the community: “Our grounds crew has been picking up buckets and buckets of dog poo as we get ready to ope...
Three-term Nikiski Rep. Ben Carpenter is right, the state needs a sustainable, long-term fiscal plan. Give him credit for raising the issue. Talk of a balanced fiscal plan has lingered since 1990 — before several of today’s legislators were even born. The discussion about diversifying Alaska’s economy has lasted even longer, ever since the first oil started flowing from Prudhoe Bay in 1977 and we tried using the riches to expand the state’s economy and job opportunities beyond crude. But unless new business activity produces oil, any new indust...
Keeping voter rolls accurate is a good thing. Even more so in recent years as far too many candidates question election results for their own political gains and far too many citizens have climbed on the bandwagon of doubt and suspicion. Why then would the new director of the Alaska Division of Elections hesitate to support a decade-old nationwide cooperative effort among states to keep voter registration lists accurate and up to date? Alaska has been a member of ERIC, which stands for Electronic Registration Information Center, since 2016....
It’s embarrassing that it took billions of dollars in losses for some legislators to acknowledge that the state’s fiscal house is leaking worse than a broken downspout on a Southeast Alaska roof. It’s too bad Gov. Mike Dunleavy acts like he has barely noticed the growing pool of mud at his feet. Start with the Permanent Fund, which generates investment earnings that have become the largest single source of revenue in the state budget. Last year was painful for most every investor, and Alaska was not immune to the downturn. The fund dropp...
Kudos to all who got behind ConocoPhillips’ effort to open up the Willow oil project on Alaska’s North Slope. The effort by our congressional delegation to present directly to President Joe Biden, and our record of responsible resource development over the past 40 years in Alaska’s Arctic, is a reflection on the bipartisan effectiveness of our Alaska delegation. But we are not over the goal line yet. We must be wary of the coming onslaught of outraged extreme environmental groups that will go to any means to delay and block the project. These...
Wrangell’s economy has been in decline since long before the COVID-19 pandemic erupted three years ago. But the economy — meaning jobs, businesses and families — would be a lot worse off if not for federal assistance. Oppose federal spending if you want, but the $30 million or so in pandemic relief aid that the U.S. Treasury poured into Wrangell the past few years for the borough, schools, businesses, individuals and the tribal government made a huge difference in people’s lives. Criticize the IRS and income taxes if it makes you feel better,...
After years of legislative debate over the size of the Permanent Fund dividend, reasonable voices are starting to grow louder, maybe even hopefully strong enough to outvote the irresponsible catcalls for an unaffordable dividend. It’s a welcome change. A bill in the House would restore dividend sanity by setting the free-money check at a percentage of the annual draw of Permanent Fund earnings, producing about a $1,300 PFD this year and growing from there. That would be about equal to the average dividend of the past decade, before the e...
Naw-Ruz? What is Naw-Ruz? Naw-Ruz (Persian language) is the Baha’i new year. It’s the first day of the Baha’i calendar year, and one of 11 holy days for adherents of the Baha’i faith. It occurs each year on the vernal equinox on or near March 21. Baha’u’llah (which means the Glory of God in the Persian language), the founder of the Baha’I faith, adopted this lunar calendar made up of 19 months of 19 days each and the use of Naw-Ruz as a holy day. This day follows the Baha’i month of fasting (a daily 12-hour fast for 19 days). Baha’u’llah’s son,...
I was a patient at the Wrangell SEARHC hospital before being medevaced to Seattle. Dr. Lynn Prysunka, the nurses, CNAs and support staff all went above and beyond what was required for my well-being. The EMTs were also very efficient and caring. Wrangell is very fortunate to have so many people who take such good care of us. Thank you so much! Jean Brown...
It took a consultant’s report for the collective management of the Alaska Marine Highway System and state Department of Transportation to realize that of 250 job applicants over the past year, just four were hired to work on the ships. At that rate, the ferry system would need close to 10,000 applicants to reach full staffing. The system has been seriously short-staffed for more than two years, losing crew to resignations and retirements faster than it could hire new workers. The crew shortage forced cutbacks in service, keeping ships tied to t...
It’s bad enough that the world stacks, dumps and burns mountains of gallon milk jugs, water bottles, package wrappers and take-out food containers every day. But after we finish our last bites, many of those plastic bits make it into the oceans, where they break down into small, fish-food-size pieces — enough to choke a seahorse. And without even a side of salsa to season the plastic chips. Technology has figured out how to put a computer on our wrists, store thousands of photographs in a smartphone and create software that can answer com...
Twice a year I have a 50-50 chance of messing up the front page of the Sentinel. This year I did just that, and possibly aided people in being late to work on Monday. Daylight saving time, otherwise known as the Biannual Menace, makes it necessary to move our clocks ahead an hour or back an hour. Spring forward; fall back. Despite the ice and chilly temperatures, it’s nearing spring and clocks should have been set forward one hour on Sunday morning, not back an hour as the graphic on the front page of last week’s paper instructed. I build tho...
The Interfaith Table of Wrangell would like to thank everyone who participated in its inaugural Gathering of Prayer last month. We are grateful for those businesses and sites across town for setting out our prayer jars. Our thanks to Jenn Miller, for her assistance in using the Wrangell Mariners’ Memorial for our gathering. Most of all, we thank the people who wrote their prayer petitions — their joys, their sorrows and their hopes — and filled our jars, trusting that we would pray faithfully for them. We were honored to lift up your praye...
State officials have known for months that delays in processing applications for food stamp benefits were denying financial assistance to thousands of eligible households — including children — who needed help to afford three meals a day. There were multiple explanations: Longstanding staffing shortages, a cyberattack on the computer system two years ago, more paperwork and income verification requirements after the state ended its pandemic emergency declaration months earlier. But children cannot swallow explanations, especially ones far pas...