The Way We Were

Sept. 11, 1924

In spite of the distraction at the opening of school while alterations in the buildings are still going on, pupils and teachers have settled down to a business in a way that indicates a year of real program ahead. The staff of the Stikine Messenger, the high school publication, was elected by the student body Monday. George Case was elected editor-in-chief. It has been decided to change the publication from an open news sheet to a monthly publication of the magazine type. It will be attractively bound in such a way as to compare favorably with the better class of monthly magazines being put out by other schools. It is planned that the subscription price will be $1 per year or 15 cents per single copy.

Sept. 9, 1949

The biggest fishing season in eight years came to an end last night as the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced no further extensions would be granted. A four-day extension was granted last Saturday. Trap operators, however, have 36 hours to remove fish from their traps, which brings the deadline for completion to 6 a.m. Saturday. A. R. Brueger, operator of the local cannery, said he expects about 125,000 cases of tall cans will have been packed here by the time the cannery shuts down. Last year’s pack was 60,000 cases. Canned salmon is being stored in every available nook and cranny in town, with the Fire Hall long since being loaded to the ceiling. Brueger has chartered several boats and is taking the pack out as fast as possible but said it would take probably two months to get the entire pack removed to Anacortes, Washington.

Sept. 13, 1974

Wrangell will have direct, long-distance telephone dialing by the close of 1975, RCA Alaska Communications officials told the chamber of commerce last week. Chamber members learned of the plans during a briefing by RCA on a $6 million microwave network earmarked for Southeast Alaska. The microwave system will also greatly increase reliability and capacity of long-distance calls, members were told. Included in the network would be one antenna in Wrangell, earmarked for a parcel of land in Dewey Heights. A public hearing on a conditional-use permit requested by RCA to build the tower in the residential area is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Sept. 23 before the city planning commission.

Sept. 9, 1999

Following an earlier workshop with the city council, the school board held a special meeting on Aug. 24 to deal with budget issues. The board adopted a resolution to replace all budget cuts that were made in the spring of the year with the exception of the superintendent’s travel, and authorized the superintendent to add $20,000 to $30,000 from the class-size reduction grant to hire a full-time reading teacher for the 1999-2000 school year. The future of this position will be contingent upon grant funding. The board also approved authorizing the superintendent to hire two additional full-time aides for the 1999-2000 school year only, at an approximate cost of $41,000, including benefits.