In the Sentinel 100, 75, 50 and 25 years ago.
September 24, 1914: The waters here are teeming with silver herring and a new opportunity is extended to Wrangell to get busy and catch them and have a supply for the halibut fleet. There are several of the large boats here now and once it is known that the bait can be secured here many more will make Wrangell a regular calling place on their way to the fishing banks. The fishermen state that Wrangell is the only place in the country where they can get fresh bait in any quantity. Why can’t we get in and keep these boats here? We have the goods so let’s give them the service and add a long list of the halibut boats to our regular callers.
September 22, 1939: Olaf Hansen, who with his brother, Alf, comprise the firm of the Hansen Bros. Boat Shop, located in Wrangell harbor, announces that lumber that just arrived has been set aside to season for the building this winter of a new V-bottom fishing boat for Heine Heinbockle. The Hansen brothers this week finished overhauling the Wrangell Packing Company seiner George W. The Betty, also owned by the Wrangell Packing Co. will be pulled on the ways next week for numerous repairs including a new horseshoe and poop deck. The ARB No. 7, seine boat for the A.R. Brueger Company, will be hauled up soon to have a new keel installed. With the gillnetting season in the Stikine district closing at 6 a.m. tomorrow morning, local boats are preparing for fall fishing which opens October 1st. The war strife of European nations has had a tendency to increase the market for canned food commodities and present indications pointed to a good market for chums.
September 25, 1964: Petersburg’s city government joined with the Wrangell city government here Wednesday evening in a historic meeting to discuss the possibility of a tie-in with a projected hydroelectric development planned by British Columbia on the Iskut River near the Alaska-Canada border. The conference was set in motion last week and the report project was in the making and could service low-cost power into the Wrangell-Petersburg area. Gov. William A. Egan urged immediate action by the two cities to cooperate resulting in the Wednesday meeting. With filings closed Tuesday, eight candidate petitions had been filed at the City Hall for the City Council in the October 6 election and one for the School Board. There were five for the three year term and three for two years.
September 21, 1989: Mill workers face about 30 days of employment unless government environmental officials ease their concerns and allow Wrangell Forest Products to fire up a wood-waste incinerator at least temporarily, a spokesman for the mill management company says. Win Smith of Wrangell Forest Products called on Wrangellites to express their views and attempt to sway officials with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and state Department of Environmental Conservation. During a special Chamber of Commerce meeting Tuesday, Smith said the mill has until Sept. 30 to remove wood wastes from upland fill at 5.5 Mile Zimovia Highway or face $500-a-day penalties. In addition, he said, the mill’s disposal of wood wastes in the downtown fill area can continue until about Oct. 22, when the area will have no more capacity. Unless some action is taken by the state environmental agency to allow a barge-mounted incinerator to operate - and quickly - the mill faces closure when the downtown area is filled. “If I can’t address the long term, I’m out of business, ladies and gentlemen, and that’s what we’re addressing with our employees,” he said. Smith called actions by the environmental officials “ransom and blackmail” and called on local business leaders to help out. “We’ve done our job and we’ve done our homework well,” he said. “Are we being blackmailed or held for ransom? Is industry in Alaska going to be held for ransom? It’s not just the forest products industry, either. I see some fishermen here.” Bill Privett made a motion that the chamber contact officials with the environmental agencies, voicing the community’s support for the incinerator project “to keep our town alive.” The motion passed without opposition, Smith was reacting to concerns raised recently by both the federal Environmental Protection Agency and state Department of Environmental Conservation. The EPA is opposing the mill’s request to expand the sort yard with 114,00 cubic yards of wood waste in two areas totaling 6 acres next to the existing 6 Mile location. At the same time, the state DEC is raising concerns over the mill’s plan to bring its barge-mounted incinerator to Wrangell and fire it up to burn wood wastes.
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