Nov. 9, 1970
Wendy Bills, 1964 Haines High graduate, is presently in the Micronesian Islands training native nurses in modern psychiatric methods.
Wendy is on three months leave from the Hawaii State Mental Hospital where she has been in charge of the younger age group (6-18 years).
She is currently working out of Saipan, where she reports through her mother Mrs. Barbara Bills of Haines that it is much hotter than Hawaii ever thought of being.
Although she is working in an area where Americans are often looked upon somewhat unkindly, Wendy reports that she has enjoyed working with the natives and that they have accepted her as a friend.
An example of some of the new problems she has to cope with: Many natives in Micronesia believe that mental illness is caused by “evil spirits” and sufferers are often locked up. Nevertheless, Wendy is enjoying her challenging job.
Nov. 3, 1994
Haines residents offered conditional support for a proposed Chilkoot hydroelectric project Tuesday but insisted that power lines from the remote site be buried.
About 20 turned out for the public hearing held by Haines Light and Power as part of its permitting process by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
“I commend the idea of using less fossil fuel. But you’re talking about a 100-year project. Let’s do it right,” Thom Ely told HL&P officials. “If you can afford to put in a project of this size, you can afford to put in underground lines.”
Residents cited aesthetics, concern for eagle populations and preservation of old-growth timber in lobbying against above-ground power lines.
Nov. 5, 2009
A Haines sailor aboard a U.S. merchant vessel attacked off the coast of Africa Monday said pirates were not cowed by the appearance of a gun on deck and made several attempts to attach a hooked ladder to the ship’s gunwales.
“The ship had too much freeboard for their ladder to reach the railing and after several failed attempts they slowed their skiff down and ran a parallel course with the bridge. They opened fire (with) approximately a 15-to-20 round burst, hitting the lifeboat and various places on the bridge,” Garrett Phillips wrote in an email to family members here.
Phillips, 23, an able-bodied seaman, was one of 21 Americans crewing the freighter Overseas Harriette when it was attacked by 12 pirates on two skiffs about 360 miles of Mombasa, Kenya. His account, he wrote, came from conversations with the ship’s captain and crew, as he had mustered below decks with other sailors during most of the 30-minute incident.