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WRANGELL — Safety was the watchword of last week’s meeting of the Wrangell Public School Board, with parents and staff alike weighing in on security at Wrangell’s public schools. The crux of their concern was an incident involving a high school student on February 12, in which the student was recorded by peers during class discussing the setting off of fireworks or explosives at the school, with the intention of getting expelled. Faculty and the school administration had been alerted to the conversation by concerned students afterward. Super...
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 – 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...
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...
The Petersburg School Board on Tuesday echoed a statement by the governor of Alaska that proclaimed October 2017 as the month to recognize school principals. Mara Lutomski, who was appointed to president of the school board in a meeting Wednesday, read from Gov. Bill Walker's proclamation to make this October as principals and assistant principals month. "We encourage all Alaskan's to recognize the invaluable contributions of Alaska's principals and assistant principals," Lutomski read, " ......
August 31, 1917 – The Petersburg public schools open for the new term next Tuesday morning. Miss Burke, of Seattle to set to fill the vacancy left by Miss Murphy, of Montana. She is expected to arrive on the City of Seattle, together with Miss Kirchiem, from Tacoma. Miss Edna Miller, who has been attending the State Normal School at Bellingham for the summer term, has arrived back home on the Al-Ki. Miss Taylor, who has been here since early summer is the fourth member of the teaching corps. Arrangements as to grades to be taught by each w...
July 20, 1917 – Joseph Maddock, manager and A.G. Pritchard, president of the Glacier Fish Company expressed themselves as well pleased with the work so far accomplished on the cold-storage project at Scow Bay and the plans for its completion as arranged by Nels Nelson, the company’s northern agent. The completed work includes the dock, mess and bunk house, and shore warehouse. The freezing plant is to have capacity for 20 tons of ice per day. There will be a large storage room provided for ice and bait. July 24, 1942 – Local board headq...
June 29, 1917 – After July 3, according to a law passed at the late session of the territorial legislature, a preliminary to marriage will be the securing of a marriage license. This is to be furnished to contracting parties by the U.S. commissioer of the district in which they reside. Both parties are required to be identified by the commissioner before issuance of license. If either party is under legal age, consent of parents or guardian must also be furnished to the commissioner. The license costs $2.50, and the commissioner collects $...
WRANGELL-It was out of the workplace and into the streets for many Wrangell city staff Thursday morning, as two dozen unionized workers began a strike over prolonged contract negotiations. The City and Borough has been negotiating for a new collective bargaining agreement with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 1547 since the summer of 2014, when the previous CBA expired. The process has at times been tumultuous, with court proceedings through the fall of 2016 being... Full story
WRANGELL – The school district has begun advertising for a new principal at Evergreen Elementary School, after its board accepted the resignation of current principal Deidre Jenson on Monday. Once the school year ends, Jenson said she will be heading north this summer with her husband, Joel. “We’re heading to Deering, Alaska,” she explained. There, Jenson will be a principal and special education instructor for the Northwest Arctic School District. Two of the Jensons’ children have already graduated, while arrangements are being made for a thi...
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 – Residents of Wrangell concerned about the state’s evolving budget proposals joined those from Cordova, Nome and other rural communities in testifying on House Bill 57 over the weekend. Proposed by the House Finance Committee as part of a package of budget cuts, HB 57 proposes cutting state payments to municipalities for school construction debt. Homer Rep. vPaul Seaton (R-District 31) co-chaired the proceedings on March 4, seeking input ahead of an amendment process scheduled for Tuesday. Wrangell is among the communities that would...
The Petersburg school board met Tuesday night to discuss the loss of federal secure rural school funding due to the program seemingly ending in 2017. Board president Sarah Holmgrain said the program has not been funded on a federal level beyond this year, and the school district stands to take a significant hit for the change. In 2015, Congress re-authorized the funding through the current year; however, the discussion going forward for Petersburg will be how the district learns to live without. The school receives about $600,000 from secure...
January Public Works rolled out the borough's highly anticipated blue cart recycling program. The borough received $820,117.61 from the annual raw fish tax. Dave Zimmerman was hired as the new Tongass National Forest Petersburg District Ranger. The assembly continued discussing the reallocation of the Kake access road funding. Representative Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins took part in a budget crisis presentation at Sons of Norway Hall. The visit was the first of many by representatives throughout the...
WRANGELL – Alaska's two senators jointly welcomed a new addition to their Southeast team. Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan issued statements December 22 congratulating Chere Klein to serve at the South Southeast delegation representative office in her home town of Ketchikan. "The district office is kind of the eyes and ears of the senators when they're back in D.C.," Klein explained of the post. "Our main business is doing casework, and that's helping constituents around the district w...
Area hunters brought in a bumper harvest this fall, with 112 moose reported at the end of the month-long 2016 season on Saturday. The total ended up being the largest on record, besting the 109 harvested in 2009. That year, antler restrictions were loosened to allow the harvest of bulls with two brow tines on both antlers, allowing for better yields. Alaska Department of Fish and Game area biologist Rich Lowell noted returns on the Stikine River were well below the long-term yearly average of 26...
WRANGELL – Last week a new public cabin was added to Wrangell Ranger District’s list, with the U.S. Forest Service’s administrative camp at Deep Bay converted into a two-building recreational site. The cabin will be the district’s 23rd, and its first on Zarembo Island, located about five miles to Wrangell’s southwest. Due to its proximity and size, Zarembo is a popular destination for locals in the mood for activity, be it hunting, camping or taking the all-terrain vehicle out for a spin. The cabin is primarily accessible by two approache...
WRANGELL - The planning team for future development at Wrangell's former Institute site returned this week for a second round of public discussions. At a presentation Monday night, information gleaned from previous sessions in March had been narrowed down into three different concepts. Project lead Chris Mertl of Corvus Design was joined by architect James Bibb of NorthWind Architects and analyst Meilani Schijvens of Rain Coast Data. A surveyor with R&M Engineering joined them the following day...
WRANGELL - In an agreement reached March 24, the University of Alaska will be cooperating with Petersburg High School and the Wrangell Ranger District to conduct research at LeConte Glacier. Under the arrangement, the project will be undertaken by university researchers making third-party use of the high school's special use permit issued by USFS' Alaska regional office. The university's study will monitor the dynamics, glacial runoff and subglacial discharge of LeConte Glacier. It discharges...
A group of Petersburg High School students organized a protest last Friday and started a petition this week to modify the PHS dress code policy to allow leggings and yoga pants without the added requirement of shorts or a long shirt. More than 20 PHS girls wore yoga pants to school last Friday to protest the school's policy that requires a student to wear clothing such as shorts or skirts over yoga pants or other tight fitting leggings. "Tight-fitting leggings, leotards and spandex bottoms,... Full story
wrangell — A crowd-drawing discussion on recreation funding held by the Forest Service Tuesday evening made the council chambers at City Hall feel unusually short for space. About two dozen members of the public met with staff of the Wrangell Ranger District to share their concerns about facilities maintenance. Listing concerns from greatest to least, residents participating at the meeting identified cabins, ATV trails and the overall recreation program as their top priorities, followed by trails, berry access, subsistence and stoves. F...
Susan Erickson from Petersburg/Wrangell Insurance gave the board an update about property and casualty insurance trends concerning the school district. The district had a great year in terms of premiums, and the increase in premiums accounted for less than one percent of that budget item, Erickson said. “We stayed with Alaska Public Entities. They have been a great carrier for us for many years now, and we just signed a three year commitment to stay with them for another three years,” she said. “They are doing a great job for us provi...
January-June January Petersburg School Superintendent Lisa Stroh resigned from her position citing family medical issues as her reason for leaving although communication between borough staff and student letters indicated turmoil between Stroh and school staff. Two third and fourth grade elementary students published their own class newspapers. Former Petersburg School District Maintenance Director Tye Petersen was sentenced to 12 years in prison for Distribution, Receipt and Possession of... Full story
November 20, 1915 – The building of the board walk along the beach at Scow Bay was completed last Saturday, and Olaf Arness has notified J. C. Hays, of the road commission, that the job is ready for inspection. The walk is 5,820 feet in length. Although the specifications called for but two planks in width for part of the way, Mr. Arness used three planks the entire length of the walk, and also renewed numerous portions of the old single planking. This extra work and material cost him about $50, which he contributed, in addition to taking t...
The school board proposed policy on memorial placement on school property does a good job of justifying the reasons behind the creation of this policy. In short, the school will work with families to select appropriate memorial activities and events following the death of a student or district employee, but the school cannot become the site for permanent memorials. The District also states the circumstances upon which existing memorials will be maintained or continued. The policy is posted on the school district website and at district offices...
