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WRANGELL — A fire destroyed the Allen mill site on Tuesday, July 30, leaving Mike Allen’s business venture a smoking heap of twisted metal and burnt lumber – and saw the largest response from the Wrangell Volunteer Fire Department in recent memory. According to WVFD Fire Chief Tim Buness the fire began in the early afternoon and saw a quick response given the distance to the fire from the Zimovia substation and the Fire Hall. “We received the call at 2:08 p.m. and twelve minutes later the fir...
The final showdown of play at the 2013 Region II All-Stars Little League tournament in Wrangell culminated on Thursday night as the home team took on – and came close to beating – perennial rival Petersburg. For two innings the Wrangell team either led or were tied with their competition from the north, though the team stayed in until the very end, losing only by a 3-1 score in the sixth inning. Petersburg scored first on a stolen base by Stone Morgan. Dillon Rooney scored the first and onl... Full story
WRANGELL — Youth baseball came to Wrangell in a big way last weekend as the 2013 All-Stars tournament for Southeast Alaska kicked off at the diamonds near the Nature Trail. The competition featured teams from Wrangell, Petersburg, Ketchikan, Sitka, Prince of Wales Island and Juneau. Coach Glenn Smith said hosting the tournament in Wrangell was good for the nearly 100 players, visiting families, and the local community. “One of the things I like about the tournament being here in Wrangell is tha... Full story
A Canadian parliamentarian has submitted a bill in the legislature of British Columbia seeking to protect the Stikine, Nass and Skeena rivers Nathan Cullen, Minister of Parliament for the Skeena-Bulkley Valley of Northwestern B.C. has introduced a member’s bill that he says will put the protection back into what he calls a government-gutted Canadian Navigable Waters Protection Act. Cullen said he submitted the bill believing that the Conservative government of Canada has removed what he calls “9...
In a victory for the Native cultures of Interior Alaska, a U.S. Senate committee voted last week to rename the tallest peak in North America, Mount McKinley, to its original Koyukon-Athabaskan name of “Denali.” The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee approved the bill by voice vote on Tuesday, June 18, allowing the proposed legislation to go to a vote before the full body of the Senate. Senate Bill 155 would officially rename the mountain, stating, “The mountain located … in the Sta...
wrangell — The former general manager of Thomas Bay Power Authority is asking the utility’s Board of Commissioners for a severance package that was denied upon termination earlier this year– and has retained legal counsel in order to do so. The Commission terminated Paul Southland as the head of TBPA on April 26 after Commissioner Dave Galla moved to relieve him of his duties. That motion passed 5-2 among the commissioners, with members John Jensen and Robert Larson voting no. Southland, who said at the time he planned on returning to work...
WRANGELL — For many Natives in Southeast Alaska the use of natural herbs and plants is as essential today as it was to their ancestors in years past – and whether they are used to alleviate pain, or help as a dietary supplement, the wild medicine of Wrangell’s forests and wilds are abundant. One of the most common plants in Wrangell’s pantheon is yarrow. It grows nearly everywhere on the island and is identifiable by its feathery leaves and fine-tooth hairs along the stem. It is also identifiabl...
WRANGELL — The Lady Wolves hosted the Petersburg Valkyries softball team for one last pair of games for the 2013 season – and saw their neighbors to the north walk away with two victories, each in the double digits. The first inning of Sunday’s double-header against Petersburg started out with the Lady Vikings holding an 8-4 lead – and saw a pair of runs from Sarah Tate. Each team only scored two runs apiece in the second inning, with Ruby Brock and Raven Hansen scoring for Petersburg, and Dar...
Members of the Thomas Bay Power Authority Commission met for their regular meeting on Wednesday, May 15 to discuss possible conflicts of interest within the organization. TBPA Commissioner and Petersburg Municipal Power and Light Superintendent Joe Nelson brought commission policies to light in regard to these conflicts. “Our commission policy states that no one on the commission can hold a direct interest in a contract of a business providing service for us,” Nelson read. “In the past when we had Pac Wing and Sunrise flying for us, the commi...
WRANGELL — The Thomas Bay Power Authority commissioners met in executive session on Friday, May 3 to discuss the issue of former TBPA general manager Paul Southland’s severance package. In a 5-1 vote, with commissioner Warren Edgely voting to pay Southland and member Dave Galla abstaining, the group decided to reverse course on a memorandum directing the city to provide a post-termination severance package. Southland was terminated by the commission late last month in a 5-2 vote, with commission president John Jensen and commissioner Rob...
The Thomas Bay Power Authority Commission met in a special meeting last Friday to discuss another counter offer by Mick Nicholls to the commission for the position of TBPA General Manager. Nicholls, who is still acting as foreman until today, said he is looking forward to taking the reins at the TBPA office. “My plan is to make sure that Tyee continues to run in a very efficient manner,” Nicholls said. “I believe that the GM’s job should be centered toward the plant and not toward the public....
The sea otter population in Southeast has more than doubled over the last decade. Those are the findings of an estimate conducted by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which are accepting 90 days of public comment on its revised stock assessment for the furry creature. The agency estimates there are more than 25,000 sea otters in Southeast, compared to more than 10,500 in 2003. The animals were reintroduced to Southeast in the 1960s after the Russian fur trade wiped them out early in the last century. The population is growing at about a...
Michael J. Nicholls, who oversees the operation and maintenance of the Tyee Hydroelectric Project as the site’s foreman was offered the position of Thomas Bay Power Authority General Manager on Monday, April 15 – an offer Nicholls initially declined, then sending a counteroffer of his own. “The TBPA board finally made me an offer on Monday, April 15 which was so ludicrous it insulted me,” Nicholls wrote in an email to the Sentinel. “The offer would require me to take a 15-percent cut in pay, l...
The Thomas Bay Power Authority commissioners undertook a lengthy discussion over who will be hired to take the reins of the utility for Wrangell and Petersburg during a special meeting held March 4 in Wrangell. A motion by commissioner Dave Galla to keep current manager Paul Southland on as the full-time leader of the utility for at least a year failed by a 4-3 vote, with commissioners Robert Larson, Joe Nelson, Clay Hammer and president John Jensen voting against the motion. TBPA operations foreman Mick Nicholls was then nominated by commissio...
The Sealaska board of directors announced last week that Richard Rinehart, Jr. has been selected to fill an open seat on the 13-member board. Rinehart fills a board term that will end at the Sealaska annual meeting in 2013. Clarence Jackson, Sr. of Kake previously held the seat. After the passing of Director Jackson in January, Sealaska followed a process to fill the vacant seat that allowed for open submissions from shareholders. The Sealaska Nominations Committee met several times to review...
Alaska’s Board of Game took a step toward a potential wolf control program on Gravina Island recently when it directed the state to prepare an “operational plan” for the board to consider in March. Meeting earlier this month in Sitka, the board accepted the feasibility studies completed by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game regarding the potential for wolf control programs on Gravina Island and in limited areas near Petersburg to help boost deer populations. “We believe that this is a project that the department could accomplish and be...
Verizon is on its way to Southeast Alaska – just not for the foreseeable future in Wrangell or Petersburg. According to company spokesman Scott Charlston, the move to bring cell and data service to rural Alaska is in its first phase and that network facilities are currently in Juneau only. “It’s no secret that we have towers in Juneau and we can’t hide that,” Charlston said. “But, we are not poised to go into some of the more rural areas at this point. Wrangell and Petersburg would be in that. There might be something in phase two, but I have...
There will no change in Alaska Airlines’ status as the provider of Essential Air Service for Southeast Alaska communities after the U.S. Department of Transportation issued an order in February continuing the EAS through 2015 – and Alaska Airlines will retain the designation as the provider of the service. “On February 11, we issued an order re-selecting Alaska Airlines to provide Essential Air Service in five communities in Southeast Alaska,” said USDOT spokesperson Bill Moseley. “That o... Full story
During the March 5-6 meeting of the SEAPA Board of Directors, the reports of operations manager Steve Henson and special projects director Eric Wolfe highlighted a number of projects and new information related to the Tyee Lake Hydroelectric project. An analysis of a Petersburg electrical tower that is sloughing is a topic of importance in the report. “Petersburg Municipal Power and Light discovered a bank that was sloughing near the outside set of anchors on Tower 76-1M on Mitkof Island. There are two anchors per pole of the three pole s...
WRANGELL — The City and Borough of Wrangell is working with a Denver-based consultancy firm to determine the cost of eliminating PERS employees at Thomas Bay Power Authority via a “termination study” that will show the cost of eliminating seven positions at the organization – a move recommended in a Southeast Alaska Power Agency commissioned report issued last year by D. Hittle and Associates. According to Borough Finance Director Jeff Jabusch, the city undertook the study to assist SEAPA. “Last fall, the SEAPA folks requested permissio...
The Petersburg Borough Assembly is poised to reconsider action it took at their most recent regular meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 19 in a vote that denied Thomas Bay Power Authority General Manager Paul Southland the ability to extend his budgetary spending for office manager Rhonda Christian’s position. The Assembly voted 4-3 during that meeting to deny Southland the option to increase his spending under his 2013 budget for the purpose of insuring Christian’s husband. Christian, who recently got married, insured her spouse under the city’s Blue...
WRANGELL — After carbon testing, a skull found on Government Slough last year has been found to be more that 1,000 years old – and is of Native Alaskan heritage. The skull, which was discovered by Wrangellite Vena Stough while hunting near the slough on Oct. 5, was first turned over to the Wrangell Police Department, who then handed it over to the Tongass National Forest supervisor’s office in Petersburg. According to U.S. Forest Service District Ranger Bob Dalrymple, the testing showed a range...
WRANGELL — After more than a year of legal and administrative actions regarding Dr. Greg Salard’s credentialing at Wrangell Medical Center, the Wrangell Medical Center Board of Trustees has granted the physician unrestricted privileges at the hospital for the next two years. The notification came, Salard said, in the form of a letter signed by the board and delivered to him on Tuesday, Feb. 26. A group of former board members, most of whom were recalled last year, acted as a “fair hearing committee” and made the decision to deny Salard privile...
Community and utility leaders from Petersburg, Wrangell, Juneau, Angoon and Ketchikan gathered last week to discuss energy resources in a round table forum. The common denominator for most of these leaders was a way to reduce the need for diesel power or get off of this expensive power altogether. Southeast Conference Energy Coordinator Robert Venables facilitated the event and laid out several key findings from the Southeast Alaska Integrated Resource Plan that he thought necessary for consideration. “The current situation facing the S... Full story
