Sorted by date Results 51 - 75 of 302
WRANGELL — The United States Forest Service is developing a new initiative for the Wrangell and Petersburg districts, encompassing state and private lands in addition to those managed federally. Tongass National Forest supervisor Earl Stewart last month issued a call for participation to the general public, seeking input on the Central Tongass Landscape Level Analysis. The announcement explains the purpose of the CTLLA will be to in a single analysis and decision plan a spatially large project for both districts, at the same time increasing t...
WRANGELL — On its regional meeting’s concluding day last week the Board of Fisheries agreed to draft a letter to federal authorities, encouraging them to support efforts to curb seafood predation by marine mammals. During its 13-day meeting in Sitka, the board reviewed regulatory proposals for both finfish and shellfish for Southeast Alaska and Yakutat. Starting with shellfish on January 11, 155 different items relating to the region’s crab, shrimp and dive fisheries saw comment from both Department of Fish and Game managers and user group...
WRANGELL — Following a clean bill of health from contaminants testing of dredge material at Shoemaker Bay, the harbor restoration project looks to be continuing on schedule. Department of Transportation and Public Facilities match grant funding in the amount of $5,000,000 was approved for the project in this year’s budget, enabling replacement of the harbor’s aging float network. The wooden float structure is in a deteriorated state, with one of its five finger piers currently unusable. Wrangell Harbor Department’s plan will be to replace...
After deliberation on Saturday the Alaska Board of Fisheries rejected a proposal to scrap the Southeast Alaska management plan for Dungeness crab fisheries. The BoF is currently convened in Sitka for its meeting on the region’s shellfish and finfish regulation change proposals. It meets every three years, the last one being held in Wrangell in January 2015. Starting its shellfish meeting on January 11, members took testimony for 155 different proposals related to crab, shrimp and other miscellaneous shellfish. A late comer to this year’s sla...
WRANGELL – Radio station KSTK is now awaiting decision by the Federal Communications Commission on whether to approve a proposed acquisition by CoastAlaska, a regional service headquartered in Juneau. Applications to transfer the station's four licenses were filed with the FCC in early December, with a public comment period ending last week. If approved, Wrangell Radio Group, whose board administers the local station, would transfer KSTK's physical assets along with its licensed channels to C...
WRANGELL - A Wrangell store owner was surprised to discover her shop had been entered during the night last week, with some items stolen. Located on the back side of the Churchill Building, Silver Liningz Boutique had apparently been broken into sometime during the evening of January 3. One of the town's newer businesses, the shop deals mainly in women's apparel, decorative coffee mugs and exotic scents. Store owner Terie Loomis had recently been working through her year-end inventory, so had a...
WRANGELL - Before the 30th Alaska Legislature meets for its second regular session next Tuesday, Sen. Bert Stedman (R-Sitka) stopped in Wrangell last week to meet with constituents. Visiting with the city manager and staff on January 4, Stedman's visit came on the heels of meetings with officials in Petersburg and was to be followed by a trip to Ketchikan. "Before every session I try to come down and run through the district, talking to city hall, finding out what's going on with the city...
WRANGELL — The board of Wrangell’s public radio station last month approved a deal which would transfer its ownership to a regional corporation. Following a decision by its governing board to do so in November, Wrangell Radio Group (WRG) on December 11 filed an application with the Federal Communications Commission to transfer its four channels to CoastAlaska in Juneau. Among the four would be KSTK, a source for news and entertainment on the island since the noncommercial station was first built in 1977. CoastAlaska is a nonprofit cor...
Action plans for the emergency management of Chinook salmon in Southeast Alaskan rivers have been drafted ahead of next month's Board of Fisheries meeting in Sitka. The board, which reviews regulatory oversight of fisheries across the state, planned to meet on January 11 to discuss shellfish and finfish proposals for the coming year. But added to its plate will be a trio of action plans drawn up by the Department of Fish and Game designating king salmon populations in several rivers as stocks...
WRANGELL - A preseason forecast for next year's king salmon return to the Stikine River has come up worryingly short, boding ill for local fisheries. Released last week by Alaska Department of Fish and Game, the preseason terminal run size forecast for the Stikine River was at only 6,900 fish, less than half the lower threshold of the stock's escapement goal range. The Stikine EGR is between 14,000 and 28,000 Chinook salmon, and such a low forecast does not allow for an allowable catch under tre...
WRANGELL — The regional forest supervisor with the United States Forest Service issued a final decision on the Wrangell Island timber sale project on Monday. Addressing a number of objections to the project as it was proposed last year, the scope of the sale approved by the Tongass National Forest supervisor’s office in Ketchikan will be but a fraction of what it had been. Among five alternatives presented, it was Alternative 2 which the USFS opted for. Of the plans, it had the greatest amounts of acreage and timber deemed to be sus...
WRANGELL — At its regular meeting Tuesday, the Borough Assembly approved moving ahead with seeking a consultant on the hospital’s future, while members also learned city computers had been targeted by a hacking attack. A letter recommending hiring a consultant had been submitted to the city by the Wrangell Medical Center governing board last month. Currently the hospital is a municipal service, but recent cash flow troubles and sizable costs for a replacement facility have had administrators and elected officials alike considering other alter...
WRANGELL — A final decision on the Wrangell Island timber sale is expected out next week, wrapping up years of deliberation and planning. Citing objections to the economics and ecological impacts of its preferred plan, the United States Forest Service has indicated it will be reducing total harvest for the proposed sale on Wrangell Island to around 428 acres, or 5- to 7-million board feet (mmbf) of timber. These would be sold piecemeal over the course of several years. Of five alternatives put forward, Alternative 2 had proposed around 55....
Sports fans and other television viewers subscribing to General Communication Inc. have likely noticed that its FOX programming has been absent for most of the month. Since November 8 the telecommunications provider has been unable to show FOX in Southeast Alaska due to a contract row with television station KJUD. Based in Juneau, the television station is an ABC affiliate owned by Vision Alaska LLC, and in addition to FOX, carries programming for the CW network. In a media release GCI...
Legislators wrapped up their fourth special session called for the year last week, passing a crime reform bill but failing to take up any new revenue measures. Passing both chambers, Senate Bill 54 revises the criminal justice reform package passed under SB 91 in 2016. The latest bill is based on recommendations by the Alaska Criminal Justice Commission, including tightening up penalties for Class C felonies and repeat thefts, violations of release and sex trafficking offenses. "There was...
WRANGELL — The learning experience for Wrangell students continues to get more technological, with new devices and programs hitting local schools this year. Technology director Matt Gore gave the Sentinel a run-through of some of these developments Tuesday. It started with “tech time in the morning,” an informal zero-hour period where students are encouraged to undertake various technological projects. For instance, that morning found senior JD Barratt soldering together components for a lighting setup, while Kellan Eagle put together the fra...
WRANGELL - Until further notice is given, the clerical offices and courtroom at the Wrangell Public Safety Building have been closed down temporarily. The closure began Monday morning, with the Alaska Court System citing air quality concerns for staff using the premises. The space is rented from the city, which maintains the entire facility and surrounding property. "We've got some water issues that need to be addressed," explained Neil Nesheim, area court administrator for the First District...
WRANGELL — Following talks earlier this month with the city, the hospital board drafted a letter requesting that it move forward with finding a third party partnership. At their November 15 meeting, Wrangell Medical Center governing board members discussed the pros and potential cons of partnering up with another organization. A major reason for considering the move is seeking out project support for construction of a new medical facility, an elusive goal for much of the past decade. Among the board’s more immediate concerns is maint...
WRANGELL — Wrangell’s mayor chose the community’s new voting and alternate member on next year’s Southeast Alaska Power Agency board. Based in Ketchikan, the regional power provider services that community, Wrangell and Petersburg. The three member utilities pool production from their hydroelectric facilities and collectively purchase power from the agency through 25-year power sales agreements, with the current agreement extending through 2034. Decisions guiding the agency is overseen by a governing board consisting of five voting directo...
One of the state’s public ferries will help collect data on ocean acidification during its regular route. The news was announced last week by Alaska Coastal Rainforest Center at University of Alaska Southeast, which has partnered with the Alaska Marine Highway System, British Columbia’s Hakai Institute, Alaska Ocean Observing System and other federal agencies on the project. The vessel chosen for the data collection study is the M/V Columbia, which at 418 feet and a gross tonnage of 3,946 is the ferry system’s largest. On its route betwe...
A wide-ranging recall of fire extinguishers produced by Kidde has been issued, after a device failure led to a death and multiple injuries. Announced last week by the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission in conjunction with its Canadian counterpart, the recall involves 134 different models of extinguisher manufactured domestically and in Mexico between January 1, 1973, and August 15, 2017. The extinguishers were sold in red, white and silver, and are either ABC- or BC-rated. In all,...
WRANGELL – Wrangell delegates returned from last month's annual conference for the Alaska Federation of Natives at Anchorage's Dena'ina Center. AFN is the largest statewide Native organization in Alaska, representing 151 federally recognized tribes, 150 village corporations, 12 regional corporations, and various nonprofit and tribal consortiums. Its annual October conference, this year held between the 19th and 21st, provides AFN membership the opportunity to put forward resolutions as well a...
Preliminary harvest and value figures for the 2017 commercial salmon fishery indicate the season was a step up above the previous year's disastrous harvest. The Alaska Department of Fish and Game reported a 66.7-percent increase in exvessel value between the two years, with 224.6 million wild salmon worth around $678.8 million brought in by the state's fishing fleet. Chum salmon saw the biggest boon of the year, breaking records with 25.2 million fish, worth about $128.3 million. The haul...
A statewide assessment of grade schoolers taken this spring has suggested education has some room for improvement. The Performance Evaluation for Alaska’s Schools (PEAKS) exam was administered for the first time to students between third and 10th grade, testing for proficiency in mathematics, English language arts and science. Mirroring standards used in the widely-used National Assessment of Educational Progress, PEAKS provides a snapshot of student performance in relation to grade-level standards. Overall, schools across the state did not a...
WRANGELL — Cash flow problems have again been ailing Wrangell Medical Center, with the public hospital putting forward a request for $250,000 to the city on Tuesday. At its own board meeting on October 18, WMC’s chief financial officer, Doran Hammett, explained the situation. Cash on hand had by the end of September dropped to $311,069, down from $838,604 at the start of the fiscal year on July 1. It costs around $28,000 a day to operate the hospital, meaning WMC had only around 11 days’ worth available for its payroll and other expendi...
