The Way We Were

June 1, 1922

Five dollars will be paid to any person who furnishes information leading to conviction of anyone fishing in the city dam or the waters above the dam. Fishing or taking fish from the city dam has been prohibited and the parents of minor children will be held responsible for the acts of their children in the violation of this municipal law. Evidence given will be held strictly confidential and unless absolutely necessary the informant need not be present at the trial. “The city council desires to protect the health of every person using city water, and therefore will expect the cooperation of all law-abiding citizens of Wrangell to keep our water supply as pure as possible.” Boys take notice and keep away from the city dam. If you know of any one fishing at the dam, inform the mayor.

May 30, 1947

Binkleys’ Cannery, which has been operating during the gillnet season, is closing Sunday after a successful operation. They will reopen the last of June in conformity with the coho and sockeye season. By Sunday, the cannery will have put up over 1,500 cases of hand-packed king salmon. They have suspended smoking fish for the present. Twelve persons including the three members of the Binkley family are employed at the cannery, which has been putting in a day and night shift. Mr. and Mrs. Carl Bradley are associated in the business this season with the Binkleys. Almost 750 cases of king salmon have already been shipped south and the balance of the pack will go out on the next southbound vessel carrying freight.

June 2, 1972

Police this week were moving into their new quarters on the second floor of the Elks Hall. The facility, which includes four offices and a dispatch area, was built by city crews in the Elks building over the past three months. Police Chief Don Chapman said operations were officially transferred to the new quarters this week when one radio was installed there. Chapman said the fire hall will be cleared of all police equipment and available for occupancy by the fire department next week. The police department utilized the fire hall offices since the city moved from them into the new municipal building on the fill in December. That setup became a public controversy last February when more than 30 volunteer firemen went to a city council meeting and pressed the council to return the offices to the volunteer fire department, which had them originally. The council subsequently decided to lease the Elks Hall space for $350 a month for use by the police.

May 29, 1997

The city council on Tuesday night voted 5-1 to make a contribution of $1.3 million to local schools. The figure was $281,000 less than what the school district had requested. At a public hearing before the city council meeting, some 50 parents, teachers, students and administrators packed the council chambers to standing-room only, and about a dozen voiced their support for fully funding the school district’s request. There was concern that a large reduction would mean cutting programs such as band and choir, or eliminating a new position for a middle school counselor which parents said was desperately needed. Most audience members said they favored restoring the city’s 7% tax on food and utilities (eliminated last December) or raising property taxes in order to fund the school board’s $1,581,000 budget request.