The planning commission denied a controversial application for glassblowing tours at Viking Cove last Thursday after a wave of public comment from Mud Bay residents. The tours would have brought visitors to the glass-blowing studio of resident Bill Chetney, where operation was planned to be contracted out to Cyclops Cycles owners Andrew and Natassja Letchworth, […]
Posted inArts & Culture, Local News
Journalist-turned-poet to give reading at The Bookstore
A longtime journalist and storyteller Kara Briggs is headed to the Chilkat Valley this week and will stop by The Bookstore to read selections from her new book, “Rivers in My Veins.” Briggs, who lives on the Tulalip Reservation in Washington State, is a Sauk-Suiattle tribal citizen and descendant of the Yakama Nation, who uses […]
Posted inArts & Culture, Local News
A Q&A with a visiting ventriloquist
Entertainer Michael Harrison headed to the Chilkat Valley for an evening of comedy and ventriloquism in mid-May. Harrison was performing aboard a cruise ship before his time in Haines, so he was not able to take a phone call regarding his show, but he took the time to respond to a few questions via email […]
Posted inLocal News, Government & Elections
Alaska gives food stamp recipients’ personal information to federal officials
Following a request by the federal government, the state of Alaska has turned over the personal information of roughly 70,000 Alaskans enrolled in the federally funded Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, commonly known as food stamps. As first reported by NPR, the federal government normally collects information to determine a SNAP applicant’s financial eligibility for the program. The new […]
Posted inThis Week in History
This Week in History: Restricting public comment, a friendship pole, board cutting criticism
10 years ago Proposal to eliminate comment period dies An ordinance that would have cut the second public comment period at Haines Borough Assembly meetings has died. Assembly member Mike Case proposed the ordinance with Mayor Jan Hill’s endorsement. Before it could be introduced on April 14 at the assembly level, it was pulled from […]
Posted inDuly Noted
Duly Noted: Auctions, DDF, debris cleanup, cat survival stories, and more
A gifted mystery quilter has donated a cactus flower quilt to be auctioned off at Gomi’s Garden. The quilt can be seen at the Park Stage at the fairgrounds. The silent auction will be accepting bids until May 18. Sabine Churchill says that the current bid is $325. The winning bid will be matched by […]
Posted inLocal News, Mining
The Palmer Project just changed hands. Its new owner is already looking to sell
Critics of a mining project that’s long stirred political debate in the Southeast Alaska town of Haines are celebrating an announcement that the development is on the market — just months after its owner acquired it. A small, Vancouver-based company, American Pacific Mining Corp., assumed full ownership of the Palmer Project late last year. At […]
Posted inLocal News
Freeride World Tour could be an economic boon, but Haines’s sponsorship is unique
With the short-blanket nature of budgeting made even shorter by lost federal funding, borough officials have engaged in cost-cutting conversations as marginal as whether the pool showers can be colder. But in the middle of all that, the borough assembly unanimously endorsed a $75,000 payment to the Freeride World Tour, a private corporation recently acquired […]
Posted inArts & Culture
New mystery showcases characters, scenes of 1980s salmon troll fishery
Southeast Alaska’s picturesque peaks and larger-than-life characters have made their way into stories for centuries. Don Stuart’s latest novel “Secret Places” is one of the latest to try to capture the region and its people, this time through the lens of commercial fishing. The novel about a fisherman gone missing is set in the 1980s, […]
Posted inLocal News, Public Safety
New wildlife trooper arrives in the Chilkat Valley
After more than six months, the Upper Lynn Canal has a new wildlife trooper. Trooper Josh Whitby, a Pennsylvania transplant, moved to the Chilkat Valley and started in his new role in May. He talked with editor Rashah McChesney about what drew him to Haines, why he got into wildlife law enforcement and what he’s […]