Wrangell’s borough assembly unanimously approved changes to the town’s sales tax and business license laws.

The new language updates definitions and penalties for local sales tax, including a 5% penalty for unpaid taxes after one month past the reporting quarter. It also establishes a registry of local businesses through license applications, which are free.

One change met with some pushback. The borough initially proposed sales tax exemptions for churches and nonprofits for “occasional” business lasting less than three days per year. So, sales from most nonprofit auctions, bazaars, and bake sales would be exempt. But nonprofits’ sales that last more than three days in a year would not be exempt.

At the assembly meeting on May 12, resident Joan Sargent spoke against the proposed change.

“Those definitions really, really, really tighten things for essential nonprofits in our community who run on. . .a thin margin. Three days is just not enough for these people, such as KSTK, Salvation Army to make enough money to function,” she said.

Sargent helps run Wrangell’s St. Francis Animal Rescue. She said the shelter doesn’t get discounts on veterinary services, and they pay $400-$800 to treat each new animal.

After the public hearing, Borough Manager Mason Villarma suggested amending the proposed language to exempt all nonprofit fundraisers from the sales tax.

Assembly members didn’t speak about the proposed sales tax changes, but voted to support the amendment and the overall ordinance.

In a related change, the assembly unanimously approved an update to the business license law, requiring all local businesses to maintain a local license.

Villarma said the borough needs an updated registry of local businesses for accountability.

“We’ve had problems in the past of applying sales tax equitably,” he said. “And making sure that one business is remitting and another’s not is a key function of the borough.”

The business license requirement will take effect on July 1, and licenses will be valid for two years. Local businesses can get more information through the borough’s finance office.

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Though the state Legislature is not scheduled to adjourn until sometime Wednesday, House and Senate negotiators have settled on a budget that will send $1,200 to every eligible Alaskan this fall — a $1,000 Permanent Fund dividend plus a $200 energy relief payment.

As Larry Persily with the Wrangell Sentinel reports, the $200 add-on is intended to share the wealth of increased state oil tax and royalty revenues. The state treasury is benefiting from higher oil prices due to global supply constraints caused by the U.S.-Iran war.

Last year’s dividend was $1,000, with no energy relief add-on.

The budget deal, which was expected to win final approval in the House and Senate before adjournment, also includes a one-time boost in education funding that includes state aid to help school districts cover their higher heating fuel bills and extra money for school operating expenses.

The one-year increase in state funding for schools, along with every other item in the legislative budget plan, is subject to reduction or a full veto by Gov. Mike Dunleavy before the state’s new fiscal year starts on July 1.

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The Nolan Center will invite craftspeople, hobbyists and other sellers to set up tables in front of the civic center on two days this summer when large cruise ships are in port.

As the Wrangell Sentinel’s Larry Persily reports, the outdoor market days are still being determined but will be announced soon.

The outdoor market will be in addition to the Nolan Center’s usual monthly indoor market.

“These markets are designed to help local vendors capitalize on high-volume cruise ship days,” the Nolan Center announced.

“We’re not sure what the attendance will be. This is a brand-new thing,” Nolan Center Director Jeanie Arnold said.

“If these go well … we’ll probably take a look” at maybe a third day later in the summer, she said. “This is a bit of a tester program.”

The plan is that the table spaces for the outdoor markets will be available on a first-come, first-served basis, at $10 per day.

The outdoor market likely will be open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. 

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The Wrangell school district is losing two more teachers.

As the Wrangell Sentinel reports, tonight’s school board agenda includes several personnel actions, including the resignation of special education teacher Ryan Howe and first-grade teacher Michelle Clark.

The information accompanying the agenda does not provide the reasons for their resignations.

Special education teacher Mikki Angerman turned in her resignation earlier in the spring, effective at the end of this school year. She reported her family was moving out of state.

The school board meeting will start at 6:30 p.m. at Evergreen Elementary School, Room 101.

The meeting is open to the public.

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The community pool will close for repairs and summer maintenance starting Monday, May 25.

As The Wrangell Sentinel reports, reopening is planned for July 13, assuming no unforeseen delays in the work.

As people spend more time outdoors, the Parks and Recreation Department takes advantage of the lower summer attendance at its indoor facilities to undertake its maintenance chores at the pool and community center.

The weight rooms, cardio equipment, sauna and locker rooms will be open during the first couple of weeks of the pool closure, but the entire operation will close June 6-14 for maintenance, cleaning and other work projects, announced Lucy Robinson, Parks and Recreation director.

This summer’s busy work list includes “draining the pool to complete deep cleaning and repairs to the pool basin, along with pool mechanical system repair and replacement projects,” she said.

Planned work at the pool deck and basin includes an acid wash of the deck, a deep clean of the gutters, tile repair and grout work, and painting.

A new chlorination cell will be installed, the heat exchanger replaced and the heating and ventilation unit in the basement repaired, Robinson said.

Maintenance in the locker rooms will include tile repair and grouting, plus some plumbing work, locker repairs and painting.

Weight rooms and cardio equipment will be repaired, along with deep cleaning and painting updates in those areas.

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A 44-acre solar power farm in Wrangell is starting up. The local borough assembly approved the project at a meeting on May 12. The island town is partnering with a nonprofit that supplies it and two other Southeast communities with hydroelectricity.

Listen to the story:

Wrangell uses diesel-generated power every June for at least a week while the local hydropower system gets maintenance. This year, that short stint is expected to cost Wrangell about a quarter of a million dollars.

But a new solar farm could offset this cost in the future.

“This is huge for our economic development potential,” said Wrangell’s borough manager, Mason Villarma, speaking to the assembly.

The solar farm will start with a capacity of 1.5 megawatts, with plans to expand to 5 megawatts of battery power. That’s enough to keep Wrangell’s lights on during short outages.

“If there’s a bird strike on the lines, or a tree on the lines, or something like that, that fluctuation will just cause the whole grid to go down,” Villarma said.

Wrangell, like Petersburg and Ketchikan, runs mostly on hydroelectricity generated by two lakes. The system is operated by the public nonprofit Southeast Alaska Power Agency or SEAPA. The communities share a power grid of overland lines and submarine cables.

Villarma said solar energy will complement this hydropower system during periods of high demand, such as in the winter. He said it will also prepare Wrangell for economic development on the horizon, such as a new shipyard that’s expected to be the largest in the region.

“The diesel prices skyrocketed, given the war in Iran and geopolitical events, and as such, this project could fully run the town,” he said. “We wouldn’t have to burn any diesel.”

SEAPA will build and operate the solar farm, leasing the land from the City and Borough of Wrangell for $1 a year. In exchange, Wrangell will get priority for the generated power. The location is on previously logged land about six miles south of town on the upland side of Zimovia Highway.  The borough acquired the land from the Alaska Mental Health Trust Authority in March through a land swap.

The power agency has been seeking additional capacity in recent years as residential use has increased. Residents moved from diesel heating to electric heat pumps. There are also more electronics in most homes. The power agency also plans to expand its hydroelectric capacity in the next few years by adding a third turbine at Tyee Lake and a new substation near Ketchikan.

But they also wanted to pursue solar after studying other alternative energy options. They looked at wind, but in Southeast it’s either not blowing or blowing too strongly. Tidal technology is too new, and there are too many unknowns for permitting. And geothermal exploration was too costly.

SEAPA’s CEO, Robert Siedman, hosted a town hall in Wrangell this month about the solar farm.

“It’s built to support local renewable energy goals,” he said. “We want to stay renewable and stay off diesel.”

He said people often question solar power in Southeast – after all, it is a rainforest. But he said solar still works. It just works less, say, than a sunny state like Arizona. He said Wrangell’s farm will run at about 10-20% of capacity over the course of a year.

“Has anybody been out on their boat, and it’s been cloudy, and you come home with a sunburn?” he asked. “I think we all have. Solar works in the clouds. It works.”

It’s not clear exactly when the solar project will be complete.

The first phase is expected to cost $6 million. SEAPA hopes to use outside funding for most of it, including to save half through investment tax credits. That funding requires the project to be fast-tracked. Some of the construction must be completed by July 4 due to limitations in the One Big Beautiful Bill passed by Congress. The bill killed the 30% federal tax credit for residential solar projects.

The borough’s land lease term is 25 years.

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A house fire in late April claimed the lives of four pets and left one man burned. The fire broke out about eight miles outside of Wrangell on April 27th, tearing through a two-unit home. Bruce Levine was burned on his face and hands trying to save his dogs, who didn’t survive. His downstairs neighbors escaped with their dogs, but lost their two cats. KSTK’s Colette Czarnecki spoke with Levine at the trailer where he’s been staying since the fire. 

Every time something knocks me down, I get back up stronger. 

I have a lust for life. I didn’t come up here till I was 46 to live up here. That’s when my life really began. Alaska changed me as a person.

The community here is amazing, completely amazing. I have a place to stay as long as I need to, people to take care of me and will come over in just a whim. I can’t do much with my hands right now.

I am a paraprofessional at the high school, and unfortunately, I can’t return to that this school year because of the injuries to my hands, but I do definitely plan on going back in August. 

A lot of people have asked me if I’m gonna move. Why would I move out of this community? I feel such love. This is home.

I’m Bruce Levine and the two pups that I lost were Gabby, who was three quarters Rottweiler, one quarter German Shepherd, and Bubba, that was Mastiff, pit bull and Rottweiler. They helped me through my wife’s passing. I was never alone. 

I had a great day (before the fire). I had a wonderful day, and I left work at 3:30 p.m. and when I pulled up at 3:45 p.m., I wondered why all the cars were out in front of my house. And then I looked up and I saw my house was on fire.

I saw Tim and Shei, and I saw their three dogs, which they were running around the property scared. 

I then went back up and attempted to go up the stairs. And the fireman said, ‘No, you can’t do that.’ And I said, ‘Well, let’s go around the side.’

I knew there was no way to get up the stairway around the side. I did that so they would so they would not see me go up the stairway. I saw a window opportunity where there was a space that the fire was not burning, and I ran through it up onto the top deck, busted down a partition I had on the back deck, and shouldered the back door hard enough to knock it off its hinges, hoping that they would be back there and I could save them.

And when I did that, the smoke actually sucked into the house, not out, and I heard a lot of stuff. Called their names a few times. And then realized what I was hearing was crashing and banging of stuff falling off the shelves, and I knew, because of the consistency of the smoke, they had not survived.

So then I decided it was time for me to get off the deck. And there was no way for me to get off the deck other than to have them put ladders up so I could get down. 

Anyone that knows me knows what my dogs mean to me, and if I had not tried to save them, I could not live with myself ever. 

I was in that house for 19 years. We bought that house the year that we were married in 2007. 

Holly and I were married on the front deck. We had all my friends from California up here, her family from Los Angeles and from Texas and whatnot.

There were lots of parties that we had. She’s also a retired opera singer, so I brought a little culture into Wrangell.

Unfortunately, I had put together a box for clothes to go to the theater. And those were her performance clothes. Those were gowns, sequin dresses, stuff like that. Those all got lost in the fire.

But the things I remember most are the feeling of family, the feeling of happiness.

I don’t have any family up here other than Holly, but I do, because this whole island is my family. I feel closer to them than I do to my own family and especially now, they’ve taken such good care of me. I could never give back what they’ve already given me.

For the first couple days, I was still in shock and denial. I kept thinking that I had to feed the dogs.

My burns are mostly to my hands, mostly the right hand, because I put my right hand up towards my face.

I didn’t get burned by the flames, I got burned by the heat, and my face is pretty badly burned, which it’ll heal.

I got to the hospital, they took extremely good care of me. For the first couple of days, both eyes were pretty much swollen shut. I couldn’t see much.

On Wednesday, I woke up and I could see and I knew that, okay, now I can get out. I’m not one to stay in the hospital. The pain level is tolerable.  

They were more concerned with inhalation of smoke, which I didn’t have any.

These pads that I have here are pre-set with an antiseptic that will keep my skin moist so that it doesn’t start to crack and peel. Right now it gives the underlying skin a chance to grow, to come up.

I really feel like I need to see my granddaughter and my daughter. They live in Reno, so I never get to see them.  I’ll probably be gone for a few weeks or so once all insurance and everything else gets straightened out.

I want to thank everybody out there that has helped and the fire department 100%. Sorry I had to run up the stairs guys, but I had to. No question about it. Anybody that knows me knows how I feel about my dogs. The rest of the community, the support I’m feeling now is just immense. I love all you guys. You’re my family now.

The post A Wrangell man lost his home and his dogs in a house fire. He shares what it was like appeared first on KSTK.

Mikki Angerman has been working with Wrangell Public Schools for the past 15 years. And the last three, she’s been working as the middle school Special Education teacher, which she discovered is a passion of hers once she started. But recently, she made a difficult decision with her family to leave Wrangell. She sat down with KSTK’s Colette Czarnecki to talk about her journey as an educator in Wrangell, and why she’s made the decision to relocate to the Lower 48.

This conversation has been edited for clarity and brevity.

I ended up falling in love with Special Ed, and I felt like this is where I was meant to be all along. This is my third year. In order to stay in Special Ed, I had to go back and get my masters so I could actually continue to teach Special Ed in middle school and high school. And so I did. I had a good support system.

My husband Aaron always supported me as a teacher and in the classroom by doing things from putting up my bulletin board decorations to baking something for the kids the next day, or even just understanding why I’m coming home late or having to do schoolwork late.

What made you fall in love with teaching Special Ed?

It’s really gratifying. A lot of the students that I work with are battling things on a daily basis. They have challenges that maybe a lot of people don’t see on the outside, and to be able to almost teach to the whole child is rewarding, I’m a sucker for an underdog, and to see them win, or grow, or for them to see themselves win and grow, those smaller moments just seem so much bigger when you’re in Special Ed.

Will you share a memorable moment?

Oh, gosh, there’s so many.

My relationships with my students, not even like teaching them the math, or the reading or the whatever.

I have several students I’m pretty close to.

I try not to get a little emotional when I think about it, but it’s just gaining those relationships. And there was one student who, through elementary school, they had a lot of challenges with emotions and controlling their emotions and behaviorally, and it felt like they were kind of an outcast, or they weren’t part of the group. And transitioning up to middle school. (Middle school is hard enough. I don’t know if any adult would pay to go back to middle school. Middle school’s hard.)  And then working with that student, working through how to deal with their emotions, how to approach situations in a healthier way made it to where I’ve now seen that student is active in athletics. That student is part of every sport that’s offered. They’ve gained friends. Last month, that student was…I don’t want to say too much in a small town, but they were honored for the growth and progress that they have made, and they’re just on a track that’s successful and healthy.

Where are you going?

Our family is relocating to Washington, so Seattle area.

My husband is still going to be working with Tlingit and Haida and we still have family here. We wanted to be close enough to family, and so it’s kind of in the middle. We can see our older kids on the other side of the state, and then we can still come up here. It’s easy enough to visit family, and for Aaron to be able to get back and forth to his job that he still holds. 

I’ll be with Seattle Public Schools. I just have to figure out which specific school I’m going to be teaching at. But it was a difficult decision for sure.

Wrangell’s our home. We have a house here and a family here. We didn’t want to really leave.

So this came with tears. But we have to do kind of what we have to do.

Alaska in general, you know education’s going in a direction that’s not great, and our schools are shrinking and shrinking and shrinking, and so we wanted to try to not only be closer to our older kids, but also try to provide our youngest with more opportunities educationally, and arts and music and all those sorts of things. 

What are your hopes with this move and this transition?

My husband and I say we’re up for an adventure. We’ve been here for 15 years, and we’ve done the things, and I’ve been on the committees. I think we’re at the point in our lives where we are ready for a new adventure. Seattle is going to be our new adventure. So that’s kind of exciting, something different, something new. And I’m always, ‘Hey, I’m a teacher, I’m a lifelong learner.’ I’m sure I’m going to be learning some new things. I love Seattle. The culture there, it’s very welcoming, and so many different people and things, and I’m very excited to kind of be a part of that. 

Do you have any closing statements you want to say about Wrangell Public Schools?

I have obviously a soft spot, and I always will for Wrangell Public Schools. I want to see Wangell Public Schools grow and I would hope to see like more people get involved, join the school boards, join the committees.

But it takes everyone to stand up, be a voice, be involved. Don’t shut your doors. Don’t walk away. I think if enough people do that, it could be great.

The kids here…it’s gonna be hard to leave.

I try to be their advocate. I work in an area where sometimes I’m the only advocate, I care about them, and I hope that everything that I’ve shared and done with them carries with them after I’m gone. I’ll be checking in. I tell them I’m gonna be back in the summers. I’m only a plane ride away. I will always be an advocate for these kids and their families. If they ever need anything, I would 100% be there. 

The post Wrangell Public School’s Special Education teacher says farewell and reflects on why she does what she does appeared first on KSTK.

Alaska’s school funding formula creates an unusual dynamic for local governments. The money a borough contributes to its school district can actually reduce what the state gives.

Because of this uncomfortable catch, Wrangell’s borough assembly is weighing whether to give its school district an additional $150,000.

For the next fiscal year in 2027, Wrangell Public Schools has a base funding target of $4,116,973. If the borough pays over the allowable maximum of $1.9 million, the state contributes less to meet that target and the state will fine the borough. Essentially, it’s a balancing act, and the borough ends up filling in for the state. 

While some school districts in Alaska are facing teacher cuts and school consolidations, Wrangell is not in immediate crisis. But at an April 27 joint work session, the borough assembly and school board still faced a difficult question: how much should the borough contribute for the coming fiscal year? 

Chief Financial Officer Kristy Andrew said the borough can give up to $949,000 above its required maximum contribution without triggering a reduction in state funding. Beyond that threshold, the state’s share shrinks. 

“It’s the required local effort that the state offsets — any additional allowable contribution from the city is truly extra, and that’s really what helps us,” she said. “So you could give us up to $949,000 in additional revenue without any penalties from the state.” 

Compared to a year ago, the finances are looking up. Last year, Andrew projected the district would end this fiscal year with just under $54,000 in reserves. The turnaround is largely thanks to a $700 per-student funding increase from the state last year, called the Base Student Allocation. Alaska lawmakers overrode Governor Mike Dunleavy’s veto to make it happen. Enrollment gains and careful spending also helped, she said. 

One less intensive student means less state funding

Next fiscal year, the district is projecting 258 students enrolled, with six receiving intensive special education services — one fewer than this year. That reduction means $86,580 less state funding coming in. 

“Everybody remember…the adopted budget had a fund balance at the end of this year of $53,907,” Wrangell Public Schools’ Superintendent Joshua Garrett said. “Right now, we’re expecting our June 30 fund balance to be over a million dollars. That’s good. That’s really good news. That’s outstanding.”

Garrett said that a $1 million cushion helps manage risk, but it still doesn’t allow the district to plan proactively or invest in its future. He pointed out that districts across Alaska are budgeting without knowing what the BSA will be, sometimes until months after the fiscal year has already started. 

“How am I supposed to plan as a superintendent?”

On top of that uncertainty, the district is projecting a $563,508 budget deficit for next year. But the district is hoping for a one-time state funding increase of between $200,000 and $350,000, plus an additional $150,000 from the borough. 

“How am I supposed to plan as a superintendent? Because that’s a huge difference,” Garrett said. “One is, ‘Hey, we’ve got a three and a half year runway,’ or ‘We’ve got plenty, and now we can really do some things in this district.’ I don’t know any business that can run off of a $500,000 deficit year after year after year.” 

Garrett said the district is already stretched thin — staffed below minimum levels, with no room left to cut. The district cut a media literacy librarian position that they posted posted earlier this year. 

School district asks for maximum local contribution

The district is also absorbing a 2.5% increase in health insurance premiums, a 10% increase in property and liability insurance and an additional $10,000 for bussing costs the state will not cover. 

Garrett said, “We still need the state to figure out a long term solution for adequate, actually beyond adequate. How about excellent funding for schools in Alaska?” 

The minimum contribution the City and Borough of Wrangell is required to make is $956,810. The district is asking for the maximum: $1,905,988. They submitted that request May 1st, and the borough has until the end of the month to respond. 

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A house fire erupted near Wrangell Monday afternoon, approximately 8.2 miles south of town on Zimovia Highway.

Tuesday morning, one lane of the highway was intermittently open while fire crews put out hot spots and cleaned up the area.

Fire Chief Jordan Buness said U.S. Forest Service personnel spotted the fire while driving by and alerted the two downstairs tenants. They escaped with their dogs.

Resident stranded on second story deck

He said when the upstairs resident, Bruce Levine, returned home the fire was already underway.

“When he pulled up to the house… he tried to go up onto his second story porch to try to locate his dogs,” Buness said. “When he opened the door, the fire rolled out of the door and blocked his escape path downstairs.”

Buness said Levine was stranded on the second story deck due to a blocked stairwell. Fire crews deployed two ladders for rescue with the help of the local Forest Service law enforcement officer and a couple bystanders.

He said, “There was two dogs that were confirmed to still be upstairs… and two cats downstairs that did not appear to make it out of the fire.”

Buness said the department had 23 personnel on scene, with three engines, two ambulances, a rescue rig, tanker and squad van. They were dispatched at 3:37 p.m. and the first fire engine arrived on scene 12 minutes later with five crew members.

“Off the hydrant system, you start having to…shuttle water.”

He said the cause of the fire is unknown and still under investigation.

He said the fire department preemptively contacted Public Works for additional support with the Public Works water tanker.

“When you get off of the hydrant system, you start having to do what we call shuttle water,” Buness said.

The state Department of Transportation Aircraft Rescue and Firefighting truck also came out and assisted with extra water capacity.

Interconnected smoke detectors useful for multi-family housing

He said the crews were able to disconnect a household-sized propane tank and move it away from the fire.

He said the house was approximately 2,000 square feet and had an elevated bedroom, making it effectively three stories.

“All of the first floor and third floor were involved when we arrived,” Buness said.

Other damage includes a compromised main floor and a collapsed roof, making it uninhabitable. The apartment downstairs received water damage with some fire involvement in the master bedroom.

He said having interconnected smoke detectors is important to alert all occupants in the building. It could provide people with enough time to self-rescue.

Bruce Levine shared on his Facebook page that he suffered burns on 10% of his face and hands while attempting to save his dogs. KSTK reached out to Levine but has not heard back.

A GoFundMe is set up for him. Another GoFundMe is set up for the downstairs neighbors. Their cats did not make it out of the fire.

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