Jack Carney pleaded guilty on July 2 to a misdemeanor charge of disorderly conduct – challenge to fight.

The 40-year-old long-time teacher and high school wrestling coach was set to go to trial next week for the misdemeanor charge of fourth-degree assault, but changed his plea to guilty of the lesser charge. The case is now closed.

At his change of plea hearing, Superior Court Judge Amanda Browning sentenced Carney to three days in jail, which were suspended, and 12 months of probation. Plus, a $100 jail surcharge, which was suspended, and a $100 police training surcharge.

He’ll pay restitution. The state has 90 days to file the amount with the court.

The sentencing follows an incident at Raymie’s bar on March 15. Police say Carney approached the victim, who was talking with Carney’s wife, and pushed him, causing him to hit the wall and fall to the floor. The victim later received medical care for a sprained wrist.

Carney completed an anger management course at the end of May. He is prohibited from contacting the victim during his probation.

Carney has been teaching in Wrangell for 14 years. He’s been with Wrangell’s wrestling program for over a decade, becoming head coach four years ago. He was named Alaska Assistant Coach of the Year in 2020, an award given by the National Wrestling Coaches Association.

The school district did not return a request for comment on Monday.

The post Wrangell teacher and coach sentenced for bar confrontation appeared first on KSTK.

Boomchain Loucks has been named as the 2025-2026 Gatorade Alaska Boys Track and Field Player of the Year, becoming the first athlete from Wrangell to capture the honor.

The national program recognizes high school athletes in 12 sports across all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Established in 1985, the award is based on athletic achievement, academic performance and character demonstrated through community service and leadership.

Wrangell cross-country assistant coach Laura Davies led the extensive nomination process for Boomchain. The achievement is more noteworthy because Wrangell does not have a school-funded track and field program, requiring Loucks to rely heavily on self-discipline and seasonal cross-country training.

“I think the cool thing is that it speaks to Boomchain’s drive when it’s a sport that requires you to show up and push yourself every single day and put in all that work,” Davies said.

Loucks’ historic high school career culminated during the final weekend of May at the state track and field championships in Anchorage. He swept three distance events: The 3,200-meter, 1,600-meter  and 800-meter.

“My freshman year I made goals in health class to be a state champ and get Gatorade cross-country athlete of the year,” Loucks said. “Unfortunately, I did not receive it for cross country in any of those four years. So, to get it for track means so much because it was my last chance to receive those honors.”

“Being from such a small school and beating all the big schools was pretty nice,” he said. “Wrangell’s had some very great athletes throughout the years, so to be the first one to get this means a lot.”

The post Loucks Earns Statewide Honor appeared first on KSTK.

Leilani Combs will move next month from Ballard, Washington, to Wrangell to start work as a reporter. The Sentinel and KSTK have agreed to share the news reports — and the costs — of the new position on the Sentinel staff.

Combs will report on the community, with her work appearing in the Sentinel and on the air at the radio station.

She worked last year as a reporter for the Honolulu Civil Beat in Hawaii, after graduating with a master’s degree in 2025 from Columbia Journalism School in New York City.

She earned her bachelor’s degree in marine biology at the University of Washington in 2023.

“As both the Sentinel and KSTK are struggling financially, it just makes sense to share a reporter to better serve the community,” said Larry Persily, who has owned the newspaper since January 2021.

“Bringing on Combs to the Sentinel staff in this shared role will improve what both news operations can provide for Wrangell readers and listeners and online viewers.”

KSTK General Manager Cindy Sweat said she is pleased to join in a news partnership with the Sentinel. The collaboration will help ease the financial challenges both organizations have been facing, “while ensuring that Wrangell residents continue to receive quality local reporting and community information.”

The radio has been without a reporter since Colette Czarnecki left in May.

Combs expects to arrive in Wrangell in early August with her dog, her bike and an eagerness for the outdoors.

The post Wrangell Sentinel and KSTK Radio Join in News Partnership appeared first on KSTK.

The borough assembly has approved a $6.33 million contract with Sitka-based McG Constructors for major renovations across the three school buildings and swimming pool roof.

Work is expected to start late summer, with completion by August 2027.

The project covers a lot of roof work — plus additional project options that were included in the contract because the bid came in low enough that the borough could afford to add the extra repairs.

The additions include replacing the elementary school gymnasium flooring, siding replacement, upgrading the high school commons windows and exterior walls, reconstructing a concrete apron and sidewalk on Reid Street, and replacing the metal and flat sections of the swimming pool roof.

“All in all we got some really good numbers,” Capital Projects Director Amber Al-Haddad said of the bids.

Funding for the work will come from a $6.5 million grant from the Alaska Department of Education in 2024, paired with more than $4 million from voter-approved bonds in 2022.

Federal funds will also assist, with a $694,000 community development block grant specifically designated for the middle school roof.

The school district contributed $90,000 for the gym floor, while $1 million from the borough’s reserves of federal Secure Rural Schools money will cover the pool roof.

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The borough’s Permanent Fund savings account earned about $3 million on its investments over the past 12 months, growing from $11.5 million a year ago to an estimated fiscal-year close of more than $14.5 million on July 1.

That’s on top of the $2 million the account earned over the two previous years.

“The last three or four years have been really, really good,” Borough Manager Mason Villarma told the assembly at a budget workshop.

Wrangell residents voted in 1997 to create the savings account, setting aside a portion of one-time money the community received from Congress, designated to help Southeast Alaska communities recover and rebuild after the loss of the timber industry.

The savings account started with $5 million, which has been invested in stocks and bonds over the past 30 years.

During the 2010s, the assembly withdrew $250,000 a year from the fund’s earnings to help with the budget for public services. But there were no withdrawals between fiscal years 2021 and 2026, allowing the fund to grow even larger.

The assembly agreed with the manager’s recommendation to withdraw $425,000 from earnings this year to help cover debt payments on the new water treatment plant that went into service in 2025 and to replace some of the borough’s oldest vehicles in its maintenance and capital projects fleets.

Municipal code allows the assembly to withdraw each year up to a “maximum sustainable distribution rate,” calculated as the long term expected return of the fund less inflation and expenses. That’s $425,000 for this year.

Anything more than the sustainable draw would require a vote of the public.

The post Borough Investment Account update! appeared first on KSTK.

Downtown street closures will start Thursday, July 2nd, and extend through Saturday, July 4th, to accommodate Fourth of July events.

The back parking lot at the Nolan Center will be closed for the dog show from 1 to 4:30 p.m. Thursday. At 4:30 p.m., it will open for volunteers and the public at the Race Boat Show and Shine, which will be held at the south end of Campbell Drive.

Fourth of July events organizer Joan Sargent reminds the public not to use the IGA store parking lot, so that the business can keep it available for customers.

The south end of Campbell Drive in front of the Nolan Center will be closed for the Race Boat Show and Shine from 4:30 to 7 p.m. Thursday.

On Friday, the turnaround in front of the City Dock will be closed from 8 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. to accommodate all of the events in the area.

Lynch Street will be closed from 6:30 to 10 p.m. Friday for KSTK’s wiener toss and cleanup.

On Saturday, access to the City Dock will be closed for the day, starting at 6 a.m., so that crews can set up for the evening fireworks show and for crews setting up for the logging show.

“Walk-in access to businesses on the turnaround is OK,” Sargent said.

Parking will not be allowed after 6 a.m. Saturday past the intersection of Campbell Drive and Front Street, and past the Campbell Drive and Brueger Street intersection, to accommodate the Fourth activities in the area.

The post 4th of July Road Closures appeared first on KSTK.

The Wrangell school district has applied for a major state grant that would pay for the headsets and software for a new virtual learning program to help students train for healthcare careers. 

The district is in the running for a Rural Health Transformation Program grant at $600,000.

The initiative is titled “Grow Our Own: VR-Enabled K-12 Healthcare Certification Pipeline for Rural Alaska.”

Schools Superintendent Joshua Garrett, who submitted the grant proposal with school board approval, said the technology would give students a new opportunity.

The Alaska Department of Health last month selected health clinics, hospitals, tribes, local governments, school districts and other entities to apply for a share of the $272 million in federal funding Alaska received this year through the Rural Health Transformation Program.

Congress created the nationwide $50 billion Rural Health Transformation Program last year.

After sifting through nearly 1,800 proposals, Alaska state officials narrowed down the potential projects to a list of just over 400 that will undergo further consideration this month. Wrangell made that first cut.

The Wrangell proposal program is primarily designed to assist students who want to become certified nursing assistants or pursue other high-demand healthcare careers.

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A documentary on Wrangell and the people who live here is set to premiere on July 5 at the Nolan Center.

“Walk Gently on This Land” was created by three filmmakers and inspired by the unique stories the community has to tell.

Former Wrangell Sentinel reporter Sam Pausman and a couple of his filmmaking friends traveled to town last year to interview people, gather stories and shoot the video for their 20-minute documentary.

The trio narrowed down the scope of the film to covering four pillars of life in Wrangell: timber, fishing, Tlingit culture and education.

The film profiles the four sectors, featuring the Herman family who bought Canoe Lagoon Oysters in 2020 and moved up from Arizona to run it; sawmill operator Mike Allen Jr.; educator Barb Neyman; and cultural bearers and revivers Mike Hoyt and Esther Aaltseén Reese.

The premiere is set for 1 p.m. July 5 at the Nolan Center. Admission is free. A question-and-answer session with the filmmakers will follow the screening.

The post Walk Gently on this Land to premier July 5th in Wrangell appeared first on KSTK.

Road Conditions/Construction and Logging Activity:

• Middle ridge road is closed until repairs can be completed next year.
• The mainline, McCormick creek road, FS#6265, is washed out and impassable at mile post 13, just past the highbush lake road.
• The Highbush lake road, FS#50040, has a slide across it but is passable to high clearance vehicles.
• Forest Service Road FS #6265 (mainline Road to Earl West and Fools) is closed for construction at the Earl West Bridge – mile marker 12.  The Wrangell Cooperative Association is resurfacing the bridge.  
• Highbush Lake and Earl West Cove will both be inaccessible until construction is completed.
• The Nemo loop road, FS #6267, has a slide across it but is passable to high clearance vehicles. 
• Contracts are in the works, but repairs will not happen until much later in the year.

Anan Wildlife Observatory:  

• The livestream cameras are up! Tune into Explore.org to watch the bears!
•  So far, the cameras have picked up a few bears, fingers crossed the cameras capture more than just a live stream….
•  The Anan Rangers  have seen some black bears and a few brown bears around the lagoon and beach.
• Anan Wildlife Observatory permit season starts July 5th.  There are still permits available for most days on recreation.gov if you have your own boat/floatplane to get there.  
• If there are no more permits available on recreation.gov for the day you are interested in, 4 permits each day are available through weekly lotteries.
•  All lottery requests must be made in person at the Wrangell Ranger District office. Weekly requests will be collected by Mondays at 4:30 and awarded on Tuesdays by noon.  

The request schedule for this week is as follows:

• For those who will need to purchase transportation to Anan, please contact an authorized guide directly for both passage and permits.

Recreational Reminders:

• The recreation crew repaired the Yunshookuh loop campground road last week.
• Áax’w Sáani (Little Lakes) cabin construction has begun. Expect short traffic delays on FS road# 6277. 
• The WCA crew is working on recreation sites and trails out the road on Wrangell Island, getting the site ready for the summer season. 
• This week the USFS Interpreter Crew will be working with Parks and Recreation Summer Crew for some fun in the sun.
• Forest Explorers is this Tuesday at the Nature Trail  and Reading with a Ranger is this Thursday at the Library! Kids are invited for some fun summer nature activities and crafts.
• The Rangers hope you have a great day outside! 

This announcement is courtesy of KSTK and your Wrangell Ranger District.

The post Rec & Road Report – Week of June 22 – 28 appeared first on KSTK.

    This year marks a time of transition for the annual Fourth of July logging show, with new leadership and a mix of old and new events.

And a new name.

Instead of the Chuck Oliver Logging Show, it will be known as the Wrangell Fourth of July Logging Show.

Adrienne McLaughlin, whose grandfather was Chuck Oliver, said trees add new rings which reflect growth and changing times while building around a central core.

“Grandpa Chuck’s spirit will always be a part of the story, but it’s time to enlarge the story,” McLaughlin said.

She will serve as this year’s emcee.

McLaughlin has pushed to have the games better reflect the critical role of women in logging camps. The long-standing rolling pin toss was not representative of all the work that women did in the camps, she said. So there will be a new event.

“We really work hard to keep the logging games as an expression of Wrangell history,” said Tom Roland, who served as co-chair with Randy Oliver since 2019 and took on sole leadership this year when Oliver stepped back.

The Wrangell Fourth of July Logging Show will begin at 1 p.m. on July 4 in front of the City Dock. 

The post 4th of July Logging Show appeared first on KSTK.