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About 50 athletes from Petersburg High and Mitkof Middle schools traveled to Ketchikan over the weekend, participating in that community's annual May Invite. "It was a lot of fun, just having a couple of schools there," said Petersburg track and field coach Brad Taylor. In addition to students from the host school, Thorne Bay School also competed in the end-of-year meet. Looking through the posted standings, Petersburg topped many of last week's events. Its womens team concluded a strong...
WRANGELL – Troops were in town recently, decommissioning Wrangell’s National Guard armory on Bennett Street. Lt. Colonel Candis Olmstead of the state Army National Guard Public Affairs Office confirmed last week five soldiers from the 38th Troop Command, 297th Regional Support Group and Joint Forces Headquarters were in Wrangell on April 24 and 25. Additionally, on May 2 personnel from the Guard’s facilities and maintenance office were in town. Their purpose entailed the collection of materiel and disposing of unnecessary furniture and items....
WRANGELL – Topping Tuesday’s city agenda was a continued discussion of the city’s residential and commercial water rates, which have lagged well behind covering costs. In light of looming supply problems (see water plant story), significant capital investments ahead for a new plant, and prospective development at the Institute and former mill sites, every penny counts for the water enterprise fund. At the past several meetings, interim city manager Carol Rushmore presented Assembly members with an assessment of rates charged to local water...
Despite fielding a smaller roster than usual over the weekend, Petersburg High School's track and field program showed well in the Juneau Invitational at Thunder Mountain. "It went very well," remarked Coach Brad Taylor. "We had 23 kids there – we had quite a few that weren't able to compete due to the testing that was going on." The girls team placed second in the tournament, behind Sitka. Petersburg finished ahead of the meet's hosts by three points. Senior Mariah Taylor placed first in the 4...
Staff numbers have been boosted for Wrangell’s ailing water treatment plant this summer in an effort to keep up with increased demand. Sedimentation has built up over the life of the 18-year-old plant’s slow sand filtration system, an increasing weight on efficiency, which last summer resulted in an emergency shortage of treated water. Measures to curb Wrangell’s usage were taken as a result, causing some disruption to the water-intensive seafood processors’ seasonal operations. Public Works director Amber Al-Haddad explained the plant was poor...
WRANGELL – A relatively recent resident to Wrangell took a novel view of the place, in February self-publishing a fictional adventure set here. K.E. Hoover’s book West of North follows character Josh Campbell, a man who has come to Wrangell looking for a new start at life. He makes some new friendships – and new enemies – in the process, learning to live in the Alaskan wilderness. “It’s a thriller in addition to an adventure story,” Hoover explained. One of the characters is loosely based on his own father, Jack Hoover, a resident of W...
WRANGELL – The Assembly decided in executive session to approve hire of a new, permanent city manager. A contract for candidate Lisa Von Bargen was accepted, with a start date expected later this summer. Rushmore will continue to serve in that position in the interim. Negotiations on contract terms have been ongoing since Von Bargen was officially selected on April 11. Von Bargen has been the director for community and economic development in Valdez since 2001, and has worked for the city’s Chamber of Commerce and its Convention and Vis...
WRANGELL – Last weekend's 20th Annual Stikine River Birding Festival was not only a draw for birders hoping to see and learn more about the area's wildlife, but also was an opportunity for residents to learn more about them and others from around the state. Researcher Dan Ruthrauff, for instance, shared his findings studying rock sandpipers wintering in Cook Inlet. A wildlife biologist for the United States Geological Survey's Alaska Science Center, he spent several years at the inlet's icy t...
A Petersburg resident was able to meet a personal goal this month, taking part in the historic Boston Marathon. For runner Marketa Ith, it was her first time competing at the marathon in Boston. She qualified for the high profile event after completing the Los Angeles Marathon in February 2016. "I think if you are a distance runner, it's the ultimate goal," she explained. And for good reason. The Boston race is the longest-running marathon on earth, adopted shortly after the first modern...
WRANGELL – At its regularly-scheduled meeting Tuesday evening, the City and Borough Assembly revisited the water crisis that potentially looms over the coming summer. Public Works director Amber Al-Haddad reported efforts to “plunge” two of the plant’s four slow-sand filtration bays in order to clean them since last week showed promise. However, she was careful to point out that the method was still in its infancy, and only time and repetition would reveal how effective it actually is. Her plan is to plunge each of the filters in turn, repeati...
Petersburg played host to the region's budding artists at this year's Southeast Alaska Regional Art Festival, running from April 20 through the weekend. "It went well," said Ashley Lohr, Petersburg High School's art teacher. The community last hosted the festival in 2011. Thirteen high schools sent 102 students to this year's four-day event, much of which focused on honing artistic skills at an array of workshops. Eighteen 15-hour workshops were available to participating students, each of whom...
Petersburg High School's track and field students cleated up for their first meet over the weekend, participating in the Ketchikan Invitational. "We did okay," said team coach Brad Taylor. The girls team ended up winning the invitational, together earning 155 points to beat out Sitka by eight. Izabelle Ith had a successful weekend, taking first in all of her events: the 200 meters, 100-meter hurdles, 300-meter hurdles and triple jump. Kayleigh Eddy and Erin Pfundt also had good showings over...
WRANGELL – Last week Wrangell’s Indian Environmental General Assistance Program office issued an alert regarding potentially dangerous shellfish. Readings for butter clam samples taken from the south side of Zarembo Island earlier this month came back surprisingly high for saxitoxin, the root cause of paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP) in humans. The Food and Drug Administration sets a safety threshold for consuming saxitoxin at 80 micrograms (μg) per 100 grams of shellfish. The butter clams sampled at Zarembo came back at 884 μg. As a contr...
The top player and coach for Alaska's 2A boys division this year returned victorious from the post-season Senior All-Star Game in Anchorage over the weekend. Playing at the Wells Fargo Sports Complex on the UAA campus Saturday, about two dozen of the best 1A/2A players from the past season divvied up into two teams for one final game. Players are nominated by members of the Alaska Association of Basketball Coaches, and play on teams coached by this year's victors at State back in March. With the...
WRANGELL – The Borough Assembly convened in a special meeting midday Monday to change course on actions it took last week to curb water production issues this summer. Last Tuesday the Assembly approved moving forward with funding the redesign and installation of a new roughing filter system and purchasing fresh silicate for one of its four slow-sand filtration units at the water treatment plant. The intent was to address persistent clogging in the units from built up sediment, which was l...
WRANGELL – Licenses for the cultivation and retail of marijuana were approved for a Wrangell applicant earlier this month. The Marijuana Control Board gave the go-ahead to the two applications during its April 4 and 5 meeting, put forward by Kelsey Martinsen of Happy Cannabis. The licenses are conditional, pending building plan approval from the Fire Marshal and local municipality. As proposed, the shop would be a grow and retail business just between First Bank and the Diamond C Restaurant. The shop would feature a store front, with 15 grow ba...
WRANGELL – Regional economic forum Southeast Conference is seeking out data on private sector investment for its annual report on the economy. The survey is supposed to only take three minutes, asking for general information on significant private project investments one’s business or company had made between July 1, 2016 and June 30 in Southeast Alaska. All individual survey answers are completely confidential, and will be reported in aggregate only. “We do this annually so we can get a better feel for what the private investment is in the...
Petersburg was paid a visit by longstanding United States Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska) on Monday, part of a wider tour of Southeast that includes Ketchikan and Juneau. Extra chairs had to be brought into the Borough Assembly chambers to accommodate the audience, and people stood at the room's back and sides. Seated front and center, Young explained the session would be an informal way for people to give input and ask questions. "I'm here primarily to hear what's on your mind and what you'd like to...
The Alaska Department of Fish and Game released its forecast for commercial salmon harvests this year, projecting a strong run of pinks for Southeast in 2017. If panning out as projected, the news should come as a relief to the region's fishermen after a disappointing 2016 harvest. The report details last year's commercial salmon season, which had come in about 30 percent lower than forecast. Alaska fishermen caught 112,500,000 salmon in 2016, of which 52.9 million had been sockeye and 39...
The Ragnarök Rollers hosted their last bout for the month before heading to state-level play in May. Petersburg's roller derby team hosted Wrangell's Garnet Grit Betties on Saturday, the visitors' last before their summer hiatus. The high school gym bleachers were pretty well packed with spectators. Accounting for ticket sales, about 170 people turned out for the bout. "We were super surprised and excited that such a large crowd turned out," said Ola "PolkaOlka" Richards, a first-year skater...
Roller derby teams from six communities sent players, referees and sideline officials to the Fool's Gold Mash-up hosted in Wrangell on April 1. The event coincided with the town's Tent City Days celebration, which took place over the weekend. The derby bout was the main event, and Petersburg's Ragnarök Rollers fielded 11 of the 28 skaters that took part. In addition to Wrangell, players were sent from Sitka, Juneau, Ketchikan and Southeast's newest league, Prince of Wales. "It was epic," said...
WRANGELL – A Coast Guard cutter stationed in Ketchikan was due to stop in to Wrangell over the weekend for its Tent City Days celebration, but unexpectedly had to divert course and return home en route. The CGC Anthony Petit was about 31 miles away when it abruptly changed course Friday evening. “Unfortunately, just by Lincoln Rock, a member of our crew developed a serious medical condition,” explained Petty Officer 1st Class Jonathan Bauer. The ship made speedily for home, the crew member was successfully transported for emergency care, and i...
WRANGELL – A Tlingit educator and Wrangell resident returned home late last month after taking part in a community research program at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington D.C. Virginia Oliver was selected for the trip by Recovering Voices, a research initiative that supports indigenous communities in their efforts to save, document, and revitalize their languages, cultures and knowledge systems. Groups of scholars and elders are brought from around the country to the Smithsonian to exa...
WRANGELL – Wrangell’s district representative for the State Legislature teleconferenced in late last week to update constituents on what’s going on in Juneau. Rep. Dan Ortiz (I-District 36) called in to Legislative Information Office locations in Ketchikan and Wrangell to explain ongoing bills and field questions on March 23. Likely the biggest issue on Alaska’s collective mind is its budget deficit, which by various measures is set to drain billions from the state’s savings this year. With spending left as is, the Legislative Finance Div...
The Petersburg Cheer Squad finished off its season with a third-place win at State on March 22, after taking first place at Region V the week prior. "It's only our second year going back, since 2008," coach Becky Fortna said of the state-level competition. Due to the size of its squad, Petersburg High School competed in the large co-ed division, going up against three other teams. Fortna explained her cheerleaders had put on a good performance during the meet, and the time overall was...
