July 1971

Non-reserved vehicles have 3-day wait now for ferry

Southbound vehicle traffic on the Alaska Ferry System has built up to a point where there is now a three-day wait for passage for vehicles without reservations, local ferry officials said Tuesday.

They emphasized, however, that those vehicles with reservations will leave on the day scheduled.

Ferries are booked solid southbound for the next six weeks. However, some vehicles on “stand-by” –without reservations–are put aboard each trip in spaces left by vehicles which did not show up for their reservations.

July 1996

Anybody want a chum salmon? That’s what local gillnetters have been asking as the packers’ price for chum continues to dip. This week, the lowly dogs were fetching only 8 or 12 cents a pound, an average of about a dollar for a 10-pound salmon.

Even after imposing rock bottom purchase prices, processors are limiting their purchases of chums.

Desperate fishermen unable to sell extra chum have resorted to giving salmon away at the docks to keep themselves inside a law that prohibits destroying or throwing away fish. Others are using them as halibut bait. Rumors of chum dumping on the fishing grounds, in violation of the law, are rampant.

Gillnet skipper Mike Saunders has created a local “salmonburger” using chums and just enough sockeye to lend some color. Saunders is selling about 70 pounds of his secret recipe burger each week to two local restaurants, where it’s receiving generally favorable reviews.

July 2011

Recall effort initiated

A local citizens’ group on July 15 filed applications for recall of Haines Borough Assembly members Daymond HoffmanSteve Vick and Joanne Waterman.

The Haines Recall Committee officially filed the paperwork with the Alaska Public Offices Commission and the borough to initiate the recall effort. Resident Jim Shook is named as chairman.

Assembly members Jerry Lapp and Scott Rossman are exempt from recall efforts because according to Alaska State Statute, a recall petition cannot be filed against any official with fewer than 180 days before the end of their term. Lapp’s and Rossman’s assembly seats are up for election in October.