The Way We Were

April 3, 1924

The regular monthly meeting of the PTA will be held in the high school building Thursday evening, April 10, at 8 o’clock. A number of interesting questions will come before the meeting for discussion. Dr. O. H. Whaley will give an address on oral hygiene for children. The address will be followed by a declamation contest for grade school pupils. The contestants will be judged on delivery, poise, voice and selection. The declamations will be interspersed by songs by grade school girls who have been taught by Miss Hinselan.

April 8, 1949

The Wrangell town council at its meeting at City Hall last night asked the city clerk to draw up as soon as possible three ordinances for a special election. One will be to vote on whether or not to incorporate the harbor into the city limits; one on changing the date of municipal elections from October, set by the Legislature, back to April; and a third to vote on a 2 percent sales tax. The clerk was instructed to draw up the ordinances as soon as possible so that fishermen could vote before going out on the grounds.

April 10, 1974

The soaring cost of fuel will cause Wrangell’s electric rates to rise more than 40 percent effective July 1, the city council was informed last week. City Manager Herb McNabb told council members at a work session that the municipality will have no choice but to pass on the boost in its fuel oil price to the consumer. On July 1, a city contract with Mobil Oil for diesel fuel will expire. Under the pact, the city has been buying fuel to run its diesel electrical generators at 13.5 cents a gallon. McNabb said that under the anticipated price increase, he will have to have $136,000 additional a year to pay for fuel to run the diesels. The boost will be reflected on utility bills sent out by the city in early August. Mayor Don House commented, “We’ve been extremely lucky to hold the rates as low as we have been by comparison to other towns that have diesel-powered electrical plants.”

April 8, 1999

It’s not exactly a facelift and you may not notice when its lines no longer sag, but the Tyee power project will be undergoing major renovation this summer. Whitewater Engineering, in a joint venture with Alaska Power and Telephone, is beginning the project of building new foundations for additional towers carrying the power lines from Woronkofski Island. These new intermediate towers will reduce the weight load on the line and keep them from sagging. Last year the northern section on the project, Petersburg to Woronkofski, was repaired by another company. The project will not affect power to Wrangell. Tyee Lake, up Bradfield Canal on the mainland, provides hydroelectric power to Wrangell and Petersburg.