2019: A year in review Part 2, July - December

Below is the second half of The Wrangell Sentinel's review of 2019, covering the months of July to December:

July

July 4 - Wrangell Police Chief Doug McCloskey was recognized for his service to the community at last week's borough assembly meeting. With his retirement at the end of June, McCloskey has closed out 38 years of police work.

July 11 - The Fourth of July was a hot and sunny day in Wrangell, but that did not stop many people from getting out and having a good time. Like all previous years, this year's fourth was the culmination of a whole week of events to celebrate Independence Day.

July 18 - Sea otters are considered by many people to be an adorable animal, an important part of the ecosystem, and also a nuisance that is threatening other marine life populations in Southeast Alaska. In Wrangell, many people have talked about the need for better population control when it comes to otters.

July 25 - The Nolan Center hosted a grand opening presentation for its most recent exhibit last Tuesday, July 16: "Muybridge in Alaska: 1868." "Muybridge in Alaska" is a collection of photographs taken by Eadweard Muybridge of Southeast Alaska in the late 1800s. These are some of the first photographs of the region ever taken, according to curator Marc Shaffer.

August

Aug. 1 - With approximately 400 members of the Inlandboatmen's Union going on strike, July 24, the Alaska Marine Highway System came to a halt. Without ferry services, many people across the state, especially in Southeast Alaska, found themselves stranded. In the communities of Wrangell and Petersburg, many people were facing disruptions to their schedules, families, and work.

Aug. 8 - The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration held an online press conference Aug. 2, to announce the release of their annual report to Congress on the state of the country's fisheries. This report, for the year 2018, looks at 479 federally managed fish stocks across the United States. Two Alaskan fish stocks were declared overfished, the blue king crab stock around the Pribilof Islands and the blue king crab stock of St. Matthew Island. No stocks in this report were in the Southeast Alaska region.

Aug. 22 - Thanks to the generosity of several Wrangell residents, and support from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, a fundraiser for new games for the Evergreen Elementary School playground was fully funded in a 24 hour window recently. Jenn Miller-Yancey, head teacher of the elementary school, said the school wanted to get some new yard games for the kids.

Aug. 29- The Diocese of Juneau released a letter and report Aug. 21, naming seven people with allegations of sexual misconduct against minors and/or vulnerable adults. The letter, signed by Bishop Andrew Bellisario, states that these seven names have been released upon the conclusion of an independent review of the diocese's personnel files from 1951 to the present. Included in the seven names listed was Michael Nash. Nash served as a priest with the Diocese of Juneau for several decades, starting at St. Paul's Church in Juneau in 1980. From 1988 to 1996 he served at St. Catherine of Siena, in Petersburg. He was dismissed from the clerical state in 2005, according to the report. Afterwards, he pursued a career in law. He was admitted into the Alaska Bar Association in 2011, and worked and lived in Wrangell for several years before passing away in a plane crash, on July 11 this year.

September

Sept. 5 - Setting up a booth behind Rayme's Bar on Sunday and Monday, Wrangell resident Maleah Wenzel spent her Labor Day weekend taking signatures for the ongoing recall effort against Governor Mike Dunleavy. Over the two days she manned her booth, she said she gathered 73 signatures.

Sept. 12 -The Wrangell Borough Assembly met Tuesday to discuss the recent announcement that the Alaska Marine Highway System would stop traveling to and from Prince Rupert on Oct. 1. Mayor Steve Prysunka, who called into the meeting via teleconference, said that he has been in contact with the offices of U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski and State Representative Dan Ortiz and has tried his best to stay on top of the situation. The reason for the closure, he explained, is that American customs officials are not allowed to carry weapons in Prince Rupert, as it is Canadian territory. The officials wanted armed security of some kind, however, but Canadian authorities were unable to provide it. Negotiations over this have gone on for about a year, Prysunka said, but it was just recently announced that the ferry would stop going there at the end of the month.

Sept. 19 - Harbor House, an assisted living facility, closed its doors on Sept. 1. According to a letter sent to employees of Harbor House, the reason for the closure was due to undisclosed health concerns of the owner, Shannon Bosdell. Bosdell said that he worked with the state directly to make sure that the closure was done within regulations, and to try and find placement for affected seniors. All residents left Harbor House on or before the closure date. According to Wrangell resident Briana Schilling, whose 90-year-old grandmother lived at Harbor House, residents received a letter in early August saying that they would need to move out by Sept. 1 at the latest.

Sept. 26 - Alyssa Allen is the Lady Wolves' new head coach and she is looking forward to the new season. Allen was the team's assistant coach for three years, under recently-retired head coach Jessica Whitaker. She has also coached middle school volleyball for two years. She played for the Lady Wolves during her high school career, as well, graduating in 2013.

October

Oct. 3 - The Wrangell Cooperative Association held an award ceremony at Wrangell High School Monday evening, Sept. 30. Tribal Administrator Esther Ashton, along with several members of the WCA board, organized the ceremony to officially give several local organizations a check from the SouthEast Alaska Regional Health Consortium's "Healthy Is Here" grant. In total, $10,600 was given to 17 organizations.

Oct. 10 - With the final votes tallied by the canvass board earlier that morning, the Wrangell Borough Assembly met Oct. 3, to confirm this year's local election. In total, there were 365 votes cast on election day, plus an additional 41 absentee ballots.The final election results followed the preliminary results in all races except one, for two open seats on the school board for three-year terms. The preliminary results said that the winners of this race were Beth Heller at 182 votes, and Cyni Crary at 175 votes. After the canvass board reviewed the absentee ballots, however, it was found that incumbent candidate David Wilson had won with 192 votes, bumping out Crary who had a total of 185.

Oct. 17 - Back in April of this year, Wrangell resident Kipha Valvoda filed a civil suit against several past and present members of the Wrangell city government. Valvoda, in several letters to the editor to the Wrangell Sentinel, has argued that the city has used discriminatory hiring practices that have kept him out of jobs. Judge Kevin Miller set a trial call for Aug. 10, 2020, with the trial scheduled for Aug. 24, 2020. The city is being represented by attorney Joseph Levesque.

Oct. 24 - Wrangell was host to the Tom Sims Invitational wrestling tournament this past weekend. Teams from all over Southeast Alaska, 11 in total, came together to officially kick off the high school wrestling season. The Wolves took second place overall, according to Assistant Coach Carney, behind Ketchikan High School. Among the smaller 1A, 2A, and 3A schools, he said, they were tied for first place.

Oct. 31 - The Wrangell School Board held a work session on the evening of Oct. 28 to begin a review of the district's strategic plan. The strategic plan was adopted in June of 2018, and sets a series of goals for the school district to aim for through to the year 2023. There are five main goals outlined in the plan, each with their own set of strategies and actions to be taken to accomplish them. The goals are: Student Learning, Stakeholder Satisfaction, Employee Development, Administrative Support Systems, and Fiscal Responsibility.

November

Nov. 7 - The Thanksgiving basket handout, organized by Don and Bonnie Roher on behalf of the Wrangell Ministerial Association, has been a longstanding tradition in the community. Beginning their tradition in 2000, according to Bonnie, the Rohers and other volunteers put together baskets of Thanksgiving dinners of varying sizes, depending on the size of the family it is going to. Don said they plan to retire this year. The ferry situation has caused them problems going south for the winter, he said. While this will be the last basket handout they will be involved in, both Don and Bonnie said they hope the tradition will continue.

Nov. 14 - The Nolan Center opened its newest exhibit on shipwrecks with much fanfare Nov. 8. With food, wine, music, and special presentations, many people turned out for the grand opening. The exhibit features stories and artifacts of several Southeast Alaskan shipwrecks from the 20th century. Four ships are featured in this exhibit, The Star of Bengal, the S.S. Mariposa, the Princess Sophia, and the Princess Kathleen.

Nov. 21 - After a nearly 29-year career, Salvation Army Majors Michael and Jennifer Bates recently announced their intentions to retire. The Bates have been the corps officers of the Salvation Army in Wrangell for the past four years, according to Michael. They have been good years, and he said they have made many friendships and are tremendously grateful for the kindness and generosity of the Wrangell community. Replacing the Bates in Wrangell is Lt. Jonathan Tollerud. Tollerud arrived in Wrangell last Thursday and delivered his first sermon in Wrangell last Sunday.

Nov. 28 - Plans are in motion to subdivide the old mill property around 6.5 mile Zimovia Highway, according to Terri Wenger with Anchor Properties. The property, currently owned by Betty Buhler, has been on the market for quite some time. On the Anchor Properties website the almost 39-acre lot is listed at $2.7 million. Wenger said that the plan is to subdivide the land into 11 lots, ranging in size from one to three acres.

December

Dec. 5 - On Nov. 27 "Friendsgiving" was

celebrated with the students and staff of Evergreen Elementary School at the Nolan Center. Each student was given the opportunity to decorate and prepare the facility for the elaborate affair and could invite a guest of their choosing. Friends and family were present to support each child's creativity as centerpieces and wall decorations were displayed.

Dec. 12 - The borough assembly took a formal stance on the Roadless Rule during their meeting on Dec. 10. The Roadless Rule is a piece of federal legislation protecting undeveloped parts of the Tongass National Rainforest. Recently, the Department of Agriculture and the Forest Service have been considering altering the Roadless Rule. Six proposed alternatives were laid out in a community meeting by the Forest Service back in November. Alternative One would keep the Roadless Rule in place and not change anything. Alternative Six, meanwhile, would be a full repeal of the Roadless Rule. After some back-and-forth among the assembly, it was voted to take a formal stance in support of Alternative Six. Assembly Member Mya DeLong was the only dissenting vote.

Dec. 19 - Governor

Mike Dunleavy's administration released a proposed budget for FY 2021 on Dec. 11. One area of the government that is seeing cuts, under the proposed budget, is the Department of Fish and Game. This cut would be made by three main eliminations from the budget: The Southeast Alaska Red King Crab assessment, state support for the Bering Sea juvenile salmon trawl survey, and the closure of the Wrangell Fish and Game office.

Dec. 26 - Danika Smith chose as her senior project to hold a clothes drive for two organizations in Juneau and Seattle. She and her family managed to gather three pallets-worth of clothing. The clothes will be shipped out via Samson Tug and Barge, which offered to transport the donated clothes free of charge. These will be going to the Glory Hall, in Juneau, and Seattle's Union Gospel Mission Hope Place Shelter.