Sorted by date Results 151 - 175 of 302
WRANGELL – The Wrangell Borough Assembly passed on first reading several ordinances related to marijuana, including an additional excise on that cultivated on the island. Under one proposed code change, a new section would affix a $10 tax per ounce on “the sale or transfer of all marijuana from a marijuana cultivation facility … to a retail marijuana store or a marijuana product manufacturing facility.” “The cultivator pays the tax,” explained city clerk, Kim Lane. It and the other ordinances were put together by a committee made up of Lane,...
WRANGELL – This year’s annual Tent City Days celebration will start tomorrow, opening up with the dog show at 5 p.m. Celebrating the town of Wrangell’s rustic beginnings, the annual late-winter festivity was held a bit later than usual this year due to scheduling conflicts. “I ain’t competing with the Super Bowl,” event organizer Kelly Gunderson joked. Involved with the festival in past years, she took organization of the celebration off the hands of Penny Allen, who in recent years has been working to revitalize it as a local event. For ma...
Petersburg High School came out on top at the state level over the weekend, with the boys beating all other comers in the 2A Alaska ASAA/First National Bank Basketball State Championship in Anchorage. After handily taking first in the Region V Tournament the week prior, the Vikings headed into the championships with high hopes. Starting play on March 16, the Vikings were first matched up against Tikiġaq (Point Hope), a school from the North Slope. "It was a good matchup for us. They are a good,...
WRANGELL - After four decades of public service, Wrangell will bid farewell this month to its longtime finance director and recent borough manager, Jeff Jabusch. "It's going to be kind of strange, every morning getting up and not driving into this parking lot after forty years. My car will probably just come here automatically after that length," he said. Jabusch and his high school sweetheart Kay married in 1975, and after graduating from the University of Seattle, he returned to Wrangell in 19...
A bill that would rearrange how earnings from the Permanent Fund were used passed the Senate last week, with a version set next to be read by the House Finance Committee. The “Permanent Fund Protection Act” (SB 26) would arrange the Fund’s Earnings Reserve Account – from which the state’s annual dividends are paid out – so that the amount of money drawn from the earnings would be tied to a percent of market value, or POMV, approach. The bill would set up how the ERA would be tapped, and would set the POMV limit at a 5.25-percent withdraw ra...
The Vikings capped off their season in Southeast with a championship title, after winning two games at Region V in Juneau last week. Coming off the high of homecoming weekend wins over Wrangell, Petersburg was matched up with them again straight into the tournament. "We had two hard-fought games the week before," noted coach Rick Brock. The Vikings took an early lead in the March 8 game, with Stewart Conn scoring nine of the team's 12 points in the first quarter. Wrangell was held to four, but...
A team largely fielding Petersburg players took first in last week's Southeast Alaska's Shamrock Soccer Invitational in Juneau. The six-game tournament is part of the Capital City Soccer League schedule, and the one event the Petersburg group makes sure to attend each year. The league itself is set up for co-ed, adult play, and teams take to the pitch inside Juneau's Diamond Park Field House. Teams participating in the tourney are color-coded, and the group of Petersburgers played as Black. The...
The basketball season comes to a close for the Petersburg girls, after placing third last week at the Region V Tournament in Juneau. “All of our games were definitely battles,” said girls coach Dino Brock. “All three of them, we played really good defense.” That showed in the team’s opening game against Craig on March 8. Both teams’ defenses kept scores low going into the second quarter, holding each other to a 4-4 tie. The Lady Panthers’ offense finally broke through before the half, turning the tie into an 18-11 lead over Petersburg. T...
WRANGELL – For visitors this summer to Anan Wildlife Observatory, trips to the restroom will become a bit less hectic. Up to the present, the oft-visited outdoor attraction's outhouse is sited apart from the main observation area – and its protective barriers – making run-ins with Anan's bears en route to the toilet an occasional risk. At least a few people have had to wait out a passing bear from inside, which can be unpleasant in addition to an unnerving experience. The Forest Service (USFS...
The Lady Vikings finished off its regular season with a win and a loss against Wrangell at Petersburg High School. The crowd was there in full force both evenings, with both a special ceremony to recognize the outgoing senior class on Friday and Homecoming proceedings Saturday. "It was so loud in the gym," said girls coach Dino Brock. The team has three girls graduating this year, Emma Chase, Chandler Strickland and Sydney Guthrie. They were brought front and center along with their parents to...
In their last home games for the season, the Petersburg High School boys added two more wins to their standings before heading into regionals. The team hosted Wrangell for its Homecoming weekend. In Friday night's game, the Wolves started ahead, holding Petersburg to a 7-13 tail in the first quarter. "Wrangell started out playing very aggressive on the defensive end," noted Vikings coach Rick Brock. The team picked up a rhythm going into the next eight minutes, but the visitors' defense...
The Lady Vikings were beaten by the buzzer again last weekend while hosting division leaders Metlakatla High School. Petersburg started Friday shorthanded, with only eight girls in uniform. "Twenty-five seconds into it we lost Emma Chase," said their coach, Dino Brock. Chase has been a strong scorer on the team this season, and her knee injury left the team a little on the defensive. The Miss Chiefs offense was able to outpace their hosts for points through the evening, finishing with a 41-24...
The Vikings boys had their first losses of the season last week, playing a string of games on the road against a pair of formidable teams. Following up from the interdivisional play hosting 4A school Ketchikan from the previous week, on Feb. 22 Petersburg headed there for the rematch. “We struggled in the first quarter,” recounted Coach Rick Brock. Several turnovers and a couple of missed shots had the Kings ahead 16-5 as the second quarter began. Petersburg fought back, however, closing the difference through the next two quarters to a 31-...
WRAGNGEL – When Southeast Conference meets for its annual Mid-Session Summit in Juneau later this month, among the items high on its list for discussion is the structural reform of Alaska's ferry system. Southeast Alaskans have become dependent on the state's Marine Highway System since its establishment in 1959, essentially becoming their road network into and out of the region. It is a significant economic driver for the coastal communities it services as well, with an estimated impact of j...
WRANGELL – The City and Borough Assembly confirmed its selection of an interim borough manager to serve after Jeff Jabusch retires from the position March 31. He announced his plans to retire last September, putting an end to four decades of service to the city. In his stead, economic director Carol Rushmore has been named to serve as interim manager. As part of the arrangement, the Assembly agreed she will be paid an extra stipend for the months of March, April, and however long it might t...
WRANGELL – The hospital approved a response to the Wrangell Borough Assembly regarding the future of its billing services contract. At an August 23 meeting, the city’s governing body asked that Wrangell Medical Center put together an assessment of its two-year contract with TruBridge, which took over billing services for the community-owned hospital the summer of 2015. The contract offered the company 2.2 percent of the transactions it processes on behalf of the hospital, with the intention of addressing its excessive accounts receivable and...
WRANGELL – After meeting with one candidate in a closed-door session last week, the Wrangell Borough Assembly has decided to put the city manager position back out for advertisement. In the position since 2013, present manager Jeff Jabusch announced last September his plans to retire on March 31. Prior to that, he spent the better four decades as the city finance director. From a pool of 25 candidates a selection committee made up of Mayor David Jack, city staff and some Assembly members winnowed the field to four candidates. Of these, two d...
WRANGELL – A Wrangellite took part in the 44th annual March for Life, which last month made its way through the streets of Washington, D.C. Since 1974, the annual nondenominational march is held each year on or around the anniversary of the Supreme Court's Roe v. Wade decision, which held that abortion was protected under the right to privacy in the Constitution. Opponents to the court decision have since met at the National Mall on about every January 22 since, marching from there to the s...
The Vikings played a high octane, non-conference game against Ketchikan last week, pulling up a win in the final seconds. "It went extremely well," Petersburg coach Rick Brock said afterward. The 4A Kings came to town February 16, and from the start the two teams were evenly matched. By the end of the first quarter, Ketchikan was just ahead 16-15, a one-point lead it still held at the half. "It took a little bit of time adjusting to their speed," said Brock. "K-High is extremely fast. They trans...
Petersburg’s high school boys basketball team won both games playing against the Panthers last week. At Craig, on February 9 the Vikings started with a lead, using their players’ height advantage against a fast team. “We had a good, strong start to the game,” explained Petersburg coach Rick Brock. The Vikings led 23-11 at the start of the second quarter, its defense holding Craig to only 15 at the half. Meanwhile, Petersburg’s boys racked up points by the handful. Senior Stewart Conn scored 26 points in the game and classmates Wolf Brooks an...
WRANGELL – In its first meeting of the new year, the governing board for Southeast Alaska Power Agency looked ahead to political reshufflings at the state and federal levels. Meeting in Petersburg February 8, members of the board learned from SEAPA executive officer Trey Acteson a change in administrations at the federal level could be useful to the agency’s future operations. For example, only two commissioners sitting on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission – which licenses hydropower projects – remain in place since the swearing in of P...
The Lady Vikings had a pair of close games last week playing against Craig High School, but the home team came away with the victories. “We lost two good games,” girls coach Dino Brock commented. Petersburg’s girls bussed straight to their first game right on arrival on February 9, and Craig opened on the offensive. The Lady Panthers led 28-10 at the half, but the momentum shifted over to the visitors from there. Chandler Strickland scored eight points in the third quarter, sinking four for four on free throws. Petersburg locked it up in the c...
WRANGELL – A planned-for merger between two regional healthcare providers has been put on hold for two months. Alaska Island Community Services was to merge with larger organization SouthEast Alaska Regional Health Consortium (SEARHC) on February 1, but the consolidation will have to wait until April 1. The merger was formally announced last October, and heads of both organizations subsequently met with Wrangell officials in November and in January to explain the transition. AICS executive Mark Walker has said the move was needed due to g...
WRANGELL – Wrangell’s Port Commission gave its go-ahead to a tidelands purchase proposed by the Stikine Inn’s owners. Bill Goodale, who jointly manages the dockside hotel with his wife, Cheryl Goodale, appeared at the February 2 meeting to explain his proposal. He wishes to purchase from the city 25,450 square feet of submerged tidelands and 2,000 square feet of uplands to the north and west of the hotel’s current property line, with the intent of expanding and adding to the building. “We’re hoping for 30 rooms, plus retail space on the lowe...
WRANGELL – A new trooper has been selected to take the vacant Wrangell assignment, Alaska Wildlife Troopers confirmed this week. “We’ve had that position filled,” said AWT Captain Steve Hall. In October the Wrangell post was vacated with the resignation of Trooper Fred Burk. Burk had been stationed in the area about a year, following a push by locals and their legislative representation to retain the position, which had been under threat of reduction due to budget cutbacks. No trooper had been stationed in Wrangell through the spring and sum...
