Trucks and service vehicles of all sizes will be in the parking lot next to Volunteer Park for the annual Touch-a-Truck event 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday.

Kids, and adults, are welcome to walk around, climb inside and take a seat in bulldozers, dump trucks, police cruisers and fire engines.

Organizers note there is a strong chance a U.S. Coast Guard helicopter will make an appearance, unless the crew is called to an emergency.

There is no admission fee for the community event.

And while trucks and sirens can be loud, Touch-a-Truck organizers have set aside a quiet hour for the second half of the event — no horns allowed from noon to 1 p.m.

This weekend’s event has expanded from past years to feature community vendors for the first time.

The post Annual Touch-a-Truck event June 20th!! appeared first on KSTK.

Wrangell Municipal Light & Power is advising residents that electricity will be more expensive during the annual maintenance shutdown of the Tyee Lake hydropower station and transmission line.

The work started yesterday (Thursday), and is expected to last about a week.

During the Tyee shutdown, the utility will burn diesel fuel to generate electricity.

Wrangell Municipal Light & Power Superintendent David McHolland said it will cost about $200,000 for diesel to run the generators during the shutdown.

The costs will be passed through to consumers on their monthly bill.

He said the extent of the cost will depend on how much power customers use during the week.

McHolland suggested residents do what they can to reduce demand for hot water and other appliances that run off electricity.

“Reducing what you can in those areas will help keep costs down,” he said.

“We want to burn as little diesel as possible,” McHolland said. “Fuel costs keep going up and we want to avoid using more than necessary.”

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John Yeager is leaving his seat on the port commission to serve on the borough assembly.

The assembly on Tuesday evening appointed Yeager to fill the remaining months of the term that opened up after Assembly Member Mike Ottesen resigned last month.

Yeager will serve until the October municipal election, when voters will decide on filing the seat for a full three-year term.

Yeager was in his 16th year on the port commission.

The assembly is now advertising for applicants to fill the vacant seat on the port commission until the October election.

Letters of interest are due at the borough clerk’s office at City Hall by 4 p.m. Friday, June 19.

The post John Yeager to fill assembly seat appeared first on KSTK.

Regular Meeting of the Wrangell Borough Assembly

6:00 pm June 9, 2026

1. CALL TO ORDER
   a. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE led by Assembly Member Mach
   b. ROLL CALL
2. CEREMONIAL MATTERS
   a. Certificate of Service – Michael Ottesen
3. PERSONS TO BE HEARD
4. AMENDMENTS TO THE AGENDA
5. CONFLICT OF INTEREST
6. CONSENT AGENDA
   a. Minutes from the May 12, 2026 Regular Assembly Meeting
   b. Minutes from the May 19, 2026 Special Assembly Meeting
   c. Presentation and Acknowledgement of the 2026 Certified Real Property Tax Roll Report
   d. Approval of Stikine Inn Beverage Dispensary License renewal (License #4618)
   e. CORRESPONDENCE: School Board minutes from the February 16th and March 16th
   meetings
   f. CORRESPONDENCE: School Board action from May 18, 2026
7. BOROUGH MANAGER’S REPORT
   a. Harbormaster Report
   b. Borough Manager’s Report (verbal at meeting)
8. BOROUGH CLERK’S REPORT
   a. Borough Clerk’s Report
9. MAYOR AND ASSEMBLY BUSINESS
10. MAYOR AND ASSEMBLY APPOINTMENTS
    a. Appointment to fill the Vacancy on the Wrangell Borough Assembly with the term ending
    October 2026
11. PUBLIC HEARING
    a. Consideration of the request from Greensparc Inc. to Lease Borough-owned property
    at the Deep-Water Port site
    b. RESOLUTION No. 06-26-2053 OF THE ASSEMBLY OF THE CITY AND BOROUGH OF
    WRANGELL, ALASKA, APPROVING A TIDELANDS LEASE TO ALASKA MARINE LINES
12. UNFINISHED BUSINESS
    a. RESOLUTION No. 06-26-2047 OF THE ASSEMBLY OF THE CITY AND BOROUGH OF
    WRANGELL, ALASKA, AUTHORIZING THE CONVEYANCE OF PUBLIC TIDELANDS, LOT2,
    BLOCK 84-A, TO RICHARD KAER FOR THE APPRAISED VALUE OF $70,700 PLUS
    ASSOCIATED FEES
13. NEW BUSINESS
    a. ORDINANCE No. 1102 OF THE ASSEMBLY OF THE CITY AND BOROUGH OF WRANGELL,
    ALASKA, REPEALING CHAPTER 3.52, PARKS AND RECREATION BOARD, OF THE
    WRANGELL MUNICIPAL CODE
    b. RESOLUTION 06-26-1958 OF THE ASSEMBLY OF THE CITY AND BOROUGH OF
    WRANGELL, ALASKA, ACCEPTING REVENUE IN THE GENERAL FUND FROM ALASKA
    PUBLIC ENTITY INSURANCE (APEI) AND RESTRICTING IT FOR THE PURPOSE OF A
    PLAYGROUND CONSTRUCTION PROJECT
    c. Approval of a Contract Award to Ketchikan Ready Mix & Quarry in the Amount of
    $1,692,200 for the McKinnon Street Rehabilitation Project
    d. RESOLUTION No. 06-26-2058 OF THE ASSEMBLY OF THE CITY AND BOROUGH OF
    WRANGELL, ALASKA, AMENDING THE FISCAL YEAR 2026 GENERAL FUND BUDGET TO
    APPROPRIATE $932,000 FROM THE GENERAL FUND RESERVES TO THE CIP FUND FOR
    THE MCKINNON STREET REHABILITATION PROJECT AND AUTHORIZING ITS
    EXPENDITURES
14. ATTORNEY’S FILE – Available for Assembly review in the Borough Clerk’s office
15. EXECUTIVE SESSION
    a. Executive Session: Borough Clerk’s annual review and contract amendment
    b. Executive Session: Borough Manager’s annual review and contract amendment
16. ADJOURNMENT

The post Wrangell Borough Assembly Meeting 6/9/2026 appeared first on KSTK.

Organizers of the July 3rd talent show are calling for acts to step up and take the stage.

“We want anything,” said Haley Reeves, who is organizing the show with Bonnie Ritchie.

Reeves added, “It has to be family friendly.”

Past years have attracted singing, dancing, juggling and musical acts, even short skits. 

“We try to keep them to around five to seven minutes, at the longest,” Reeves said.

The show is set to start around 6:30 p.m. Friday, July 3, at the Nolan Center, immediately after the coronation of Fourth of July royalty candidate Kalee Herman.

Anyone interested in performing — or looking for more information — can call Reeves at 406-262-4360 or Ritchie at 907-305-1211.

The post Talent Show is back with a BANG! appeared first on KSTK.

It’s almost time to watch the bears enjoy their time feasting on salmon at Anan Creek.

The Anan Wildlife Observatory’s bear cameras will go live on Monday, June 15.

Over the past two weeks, Wrangell students worked with the statewide high school tech program T3 Alaska and the U.S. Forest Service to get the Anan bear livestream cameras up and running. 

According to the student team, the work included seasonal maintenance of broken equipment after a harsh winter; installation of a new junction box and wiring conduit; installation of a new microphone at the lower photo blind; and beginning the installation of an underwater salmon camera.

The livestream feeds and more information about Anan are available at the Friends of Anan website: friendsofanan.org

This is the third year of the livestream bear cams at Anan, which debuted in 2024 in a cooperative effort between the students, the Forest Service and international wildlife nonprofit explore.org.

The post Friends of Anan excited for upcoming season! appeared first on KSTK.

Recreation and Road report for June 8th- June 13th. 

Road Conditions/Construction and Logging Activity:

• Middle ridge road is closed until repairs can be completed next year.
• The mainline, McCormick creek road, #6265, is washed out and impassable at mile post 13, just past the highbush lake road.
• The Highbush lake road, #50040, has a slide across it but is passable to high clearance vehicles.
• The Nemo loop road, #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.
• Please stay safe out there!

Anan Wildlife Observatory:  

• As many of you know, we had a long and harsh winter! This was no exception for Anan! There was significant trail damage found this spring. 
• Anan trail cleanup is ongoing but a lot of work has been done to make things passable on the trail. There have been a  few bears seen sporadically, only black bears so far and there was a mama with 3 cubs!  This is super exciting news! 
• T3 students have been out at Anan getting the cameras re-connected to be hopefully streaming on Explore.org soon, Stay Tuned! 
• Anan Wildlife Observatory permit season starts July 5th.There are still permits available for many days on recreation.gov if you have your own boat/floatplane to get there.  Before July 5th, no permit is needed to visit Anan.

 Recreational Reminders:

• The rec crew repaired the Yunshookuh loop campground road last week.
• Áax’w Sáani (Little Lake) cabin construction has begun. Expect short traffic delays on FS road# 6277. 
• WCA crew is working on rec site and trails out the road on wrangell island. Getting site ready for the summer season. 

This announcement is courtesy of KSTK and your Wrangell Ranger District and can be found posted online at kstk.org.  Thanks for listening.

The post Rec & Road Report for June 8 – 13 appeared first on KSTK.

Though school is out for the summer, the student gardens at Evergreen Elementary are just getting started and need tending.

Fifth-grade teacher Holly Padilla acknowledged that the growing season doesn’t necessarily fit the school calendar.

She says, “We can get started in the spring with our classes, and they do the harvest in the fall, but there’s a long summer stretch without much student participation. I’d love to find a couple of community champions.”

The gardens have a long history at the school, starting in the late 1990s as the Evergreen Agricultural Testing Site, or EATS, relying on community support and business donations. Over the years, primary oversight has passed to the greenest thumbs among teachers and staff.

Each class will get a particular part of the harvest to use in making a dish for an open house in the fall. Current plantings include strawberries, squash, tomatoes, zucchini, melons, green beans, peppers, basil, beets, potatoes, romaine lettuce, chives, garlic, rhubarb, radishes, carrots and celery.

There is also a range of flowers.

The post Elementary School Garden Needs Summer Volunteers appeared first on KSTK.

The Wrangell Museum is close to launching a new website that will provide access to an online catalog of the thousands of items in its collection, particularly items in storage and not on public display.

The new feature will be rolled out in the next month or so, according to Nolan Center Director Jeanie Arnold.

The new system — named CatalogIt — will replace the antiquated platform previously used, making it easier to search the artifacts and photos.

Much of the collection is made up of photographs, papers and other delicate items stored in drawers for their protection, so having a simple way of accessing them digitally without fear of damaging or skipping over them is important.

Once the website is up, anyone will be able to access CatalogIt to view the museum’s collection from anywhere. 

Ronan Rooney, who has brought Wrangell’s history to the masses since 2020 with his podcast and blog “Wrangell History Unlocked,” praised the move to a new online catalog.

“It’s just such a landmark step forward for the museum to have this type of information,” he said. “I think it’s going to really open people’s minds to a lot of Wrangell history and Alaska history, too.”

The post Wrangell Museum to launch new website appeared first on KSTK.

The Wrangell JOM Kaasitlaan Dancers will perform three times at Celebration 2026 in Juneau this week.

As Larry Persily reports, The dance group totals close to 60 people of all ages.

Celebration — organized by Sealaska Heritage Institute — is one of the largest cultural events in Alaska. It features traditional song and dance, a juried art show, a toddler regalia review, Indigenous fashion show, Native artists market, food contests and more.

It will run Wednesday through Saturday, June 3rd to the 6th.

Celebration will be livestreamed on Sealaska Heritage’s YouTube channel.

The Wrangell dancers are scheduled to perform at three different sites around downtown Juneau: 2:55 to 3:25 p.m. Thursday, June 4th, at Centennial Hall; 4:15 to 4:45 p.m. Friday, June 5th, at Elizabeth Peratrovich Hall; and 1:15 to 1:45 p.m. Saturday, June 6th, at the Sealaska Heritage Arts Campus.

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