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Riverboats have operated on the Stikine since the gold rush days of the 1860s and 1870s. The commerce was a big part of Wrangell’s economy in those days, with a long history of family-owned businesses moving people and freight up and down the river to and from Canada for 100 years. And long before that, the river, which provided a natural passageway through the Coast Mountains, was used as a trade route by Indigenous peoples. The Tlingit and Tahltan knew the value of the river. Wrangell was a hub, with the Stikine serving as the equivalent o...
The Alaska Department of Transportation last month reinstated state ferry service to Prince Rupert, British Columbia. The relationship between Prince Rupert and Ketchikan is an important one, as they are sister cities. The ferry route brings strong economic benefits to Prince Rupert and the communities of southern Southeast Alaska. It is the fastest way to connect southern Southeast with the road system, and therefore is helpful in shipping goods. According to the McKinley Research Group, seafood companies rely on this port connection to ship...
The colonies — later to become states — figured out that the new nation would be stronger as one, uniting behind a common cause and set of laws. Sure, there were intense debates around the meeting rooms, differing factions and multiple disagreements. Thankfully, there was no social media to amplify the arguments, and politics had yet to descend into expensive circus acts of deceitful promises, unrealistic pledges and ugly campaigns. The delegates who wrote the Declaration of Independence in 1776 and the delegates who wrote the U.S. Con...
Election-year politics have a way of bringing bad ideas to the top — when they belong at the bottom of the settling pond. Yes, fuel prices are high, painfully so in many communities and particularly so for people and businesses that have no choice but to fill up the tank and drive to work or deliver for a living. But suspending the federal tax on gasoline and diesel would not accomplish much good. Same for getting rid of the state tax. The Alaska Legislature this past session, with the support of Gov. Mike Dunleavy, considered suspending the s...
By Nolan Klouda Executive director University of Alaska Center for Economic Development Anchorage Your favorite restaurant has an hour wait, even though you see empty tables. Operating hours for small businesses are reduced despite long lines. “Help wanted” signs seem to adorn every doorway. You don’t have to spend a lot of time looking at data to know that there’s a labor shortage. Workers of every stripe are just hard to find. Some employers, understandably grouchy about being short-staffed, blame widespread laziness. “Nobody wants to work f...
Legislators, the governor, members of the public — and most certainly candidates in this year’s state elections — should be paying attention to stocks, bonds, real estate and other investments. Energy prices are fueling high inflation; stock markets are tumbling steeply downhill; Russia’s war on Ukraine is disrupting most everything in the world of finance and commerce; and a growing number of economists are talking “recession.” But rather than focusing on their own savings, elected officials and candidates need to pay close attention to the fa...
The borough is making progress on its long and expensive to-do list. The decisions are not easy and several are costly. Many have been around a long time. That’s not because anyone did anything wrong. Rather, it takes time to confront hard decisions to resolve long-standing problems. And, in many cases, it takes time to find money to pay for the solutions. But the decisions are necessary and deserve the community’s support. After wrangling over multiple options, the Wrangell assembly has put up for sale the former hospital building. The borough...
Did you know that when a child goes to the emergency room at our hospital or their family suffers a house fire or a boating accident, that they can be given a beautiful, comforting teddy bear to snuggle with? These bears are provided by the Beta Sigma Phi sorority and we hope that any family who has a situation where the children could use a comforting friend, that they will ask for one of the teddy bears. The only fundraising event that Beta Sigma Phi holds to raise money for these bears is the Fourth of July pie sale. And it’s a hit every y...
The Friends of the Library recently received a $950 donation from the Juneau Community Foundation toward our ongoing effort to digitize every page of the Wrangell Sentinel, 1902 to present. The plan is to put the easily viewed images online for researchers, family members, students and all the curious people who want to look through the community’s history. The project started several years ago and received a big boost in 2019 when the Wrangell Cooperative Association contributed to the effort as it secured an $8,250 grant for the work from t...
The Alaska Department of Transportation works hard to serve the public that uses the state’s airports and roads, but it is running at half-speed with public information about the ferry system. Management needs to steer itself toward a more open channel of communication. Almost a year ago, the Alaska Marine Highway System reported the Columbia could return to work this summer after being held out of service since 2019 for repairs and to save money. “Could return” as in “would return” if the state could hire enough crew to restaff the vessel. The...
The weekend headline in Anchorage said an Alaska North Slope natural gas pipeline project “could be closer than ever, Alaska politicians say.” The first clue was “Alaska politicians say.” No offense, but pinning your hopes on what politicians say in an election year is like believing your kid really cleaned up his room like you asked. The kid will tell you what you want to hear to avoid punishment, just like a candidate will tell tall tales and exaggerate to avoid losing an election. The only difference being the politician should know better....
It costs far too much to run a political campaign in this country and, sadly, Alaska is no exception. Donors contributed more than twice as much money to candidates in the race for U.S. Senate in Alaska in 2020 than bidders were willing to pay just a few months later for the long-sought oil and gas leases on a million acres in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. That’s a commentary both on the failure of the ANWR oil-drilling dream to punch holes in the tundra and that political donors are willing to pour so much money down a campaign hole. C...
Most of the bylines you read in the Sentinel each week are names you probably recognize. Marc Lutz and Sarah Aslam work out of the newspaper office on Front Street and attend meetings and events around town. Amber Armstrong manages the community calendar and obituaries. I live mostly in Anchorage and Juneau and write about state politics, fiscal and other issues for the Sentinel, along with opinion columns and occasional reporting on Wrangell news when Marc and Sarah are booked up. But there are a lot of other writers whose work appears in the... Full story
Despite repeated claims and allegations conjured up from the thin air of political dishonesty, there has never been any proof, no charges and convictions, no indictments for voter fraud that cost Donald Trump his reelection dream in the 2020 voting. And yet, the former president and his followers continue to spew out and stir up claims that thieves will do it again in 2022. It’s called “preemptive excuses.” If they lose in this fall’s elections, it must have been stolen. Can’t be that voters picked someone else. Best to start now with the...
Former President Donald Trump, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and other elected so-called leaders say the answer to protecting innocent students and teachers from attack is to turn schools into fortresses. High perimeter fencing, every entrance door locked but one, metal detectors, cameras, hardened doors to classrooms, armed security guards. Sounds like a prison, not a school for young children to learn, play and enjoy. And after speakers at last week’s National Rifle Association annual convention in Houston condemned the evil of the Uvalde school s...
Kudos to former U.S. senator and governor Frank Murkowski for his opinion piece about the nation’s energy crisis in the May 18 Sentinel. It is refreshing to see somebody qualified to state clearly where the problems are and how they can be fixed. Meanwhile, the U.S. stock market has been losing ground or stagnating and inflation is soaring. U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg’s advice to anybody who does not like the high price of fuel is to buy an electric vehicle. To think of it, we are all kind of driving electric vehicles alr...
One of the abiding understandings of our Lutheran church is “unity, not uniformity.” It is a practice that allows each congregation flexibility within a particular framework. We celebrate a pattern of church seasons; we mark those seasons with particular colors for banners and altar cloths; we have a recommended three-year cycle of scripture readings for Sundays and a collection of hymns and an order for worship. On June 5, we celebrate Pentecost, the day God gave the whole Church the Holy Spirit. While the banners and altar cloths will all...
There were multiple positive outcomes for our ferry system this past legislative session, including a bill protecting Alaska Marine Highway System funds, the restart of the Prince Rupert route, and more ferries sailing. House Bill 322, which I had the honor of carrying on the House floor and I am particularly pleased passed, protects multiple important funds: the Higher Education Investment Fund (HEIF), and the AMHS Fund and Vessel Replacement Fund. The HIEF pays for our student state scholarships. The AMHS Fund is where revenue generated from...
A newspaper’s job is to use its pages to inform, educate, even entertain readers. That includes sharing opinions, though hopefully those opinions are more often educational than entertaining. More specifically and relevant to this year’s upcoming elections, a newspaper’s traditional role in the community it serves includes offering its informed opinions about candidates. The Sentinel this year will endorse candidates in most state and congressional races, maybe even some municipal races, which is a change from past years. Those endor...
The Legislature adjourned on time last week, a nice change from past special sessions that got in the way of summer fishing, watching baseball, eating anything off the grill (except eggplant) and sitting outdoors in the sun doing nothing. Lawmakers settled on a healthy and wealthy but not necessarily wise dividend that will put $12,800 into the hands of a family of four this fall. As expected months ago, that single issue consumed the largest amount of political negotiating in the Legislature’s final days. House and Senate members also p...
I would like to send a very heartfelt thank you to Leslie and Alan Cummings, owners of the Grand View Bed and Breakfast. When my brother, Craig, passed, I called the Grand View Bed and Breakfast to make reservations. Leslie answered. She said, “I know why you are coming home. I am so sorry for your loss. You are family. Come down, stay as long as you want, I won’t charge you.” She even gave me a car! Leslie represents the Wrangell I remember and love. -- Jane Campbell...
The amount of this year’s Alaska Permanent Fund dividend was uncertain as of the Sentinel’s printing deadline Monday evening, but it is certain that the payments will total more than $1 billion above last year’s checks, maybe a lot more, depending on final budget action by the House and Senate. No doubt a lot of families need every bit of that to pay rent, buy food and clothes, cover utilities and fuel, particularly in rural communities where there are few cash-paying jobs. Equally of little doubt, a lot of Alaskans never counted on the overs...
The community’s future depends on adequate, affordable housing, and the same for child care services. Without both, Wrangell will find it difficult to keep the businesses, jobs, school enrollment and services it has, much less grow. You could say the same for salmon returns, state and federal funds, a dependable ferry system and better weather, but all of those are outside the community’s control. Housing and child care are something Wrangell needs to confront, look for answers and even help pay to improve. Both are so basic to the wel...
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s dreams almost came true. Over the past few years, the Russian government has promoted development of the vast natural gas resources of the Russian high Arctic to Germany, Poland, and other eastern European countries. Putin planned to have them totally dependent on long-term contractual commitments for their energy needs, formerly provided by coal. Had Putin waited a few years, most of Europe would have become so dependent on Russian gas that they would effectively be held hostage. Putin would have been able t...
A heartfelt thank you to the highly professional volunteer ambulance crew and EMTs for their quick response to our call and for caringly and safely carrying me down our 27 steps for my recent trip to the hospital. And thank you soooooo much for your warm, loving care during my recent six-day stay (with pneumonia) in the hospital. To: Lillia, Christina, Connie, Lisa, Rachel, Shahmeer, Molly, Stephanie, Meghan, Katie, Georgina and Dr. Restad. Much love, Karen Morse...
