Lutak Dock Lutak Dock has been a week-after-week topic for the assembly this year, particularly with looming mediation in the borough’s dispute with contractor Turnagain Marine. That process was supposed to begin this month, but the borough has now changed course. Interim borough manager Alekka Fullerton announced Tuesday night that the borough and Turnagain have […]
Posted inLocal News
Haines man finds long lost father in Scotland
Stephen Winn died on Monday in Nairn, a small beach town in Scotland. From Nairn, a social worker placed a call to another small, rainy town, half a world away, to notify Winn’s son, Mike Thompson, of Haines. Thompson said he was glad to hear that his father passed peacefully and without pain; Winn had […]
Posted inLocal News
Borough code says assembly members should be offered health insurance, many did not know
There are many reasons people are drawn to serve on the borough assembly, but the pay is not one of them. With just a small stipend, it’s generally understood the position is public service, and not a job with a living wage. However, it’s possible assembly members are entitled to more than they are currently […]
Posted inLocal News, Economy
The Bottom Line: Christmas trees, Preschool reopens and new owners for The Bookstore
Community Waste Solutions Community Waste Solutions has launched two new projects at the landfill. One is a new plastic grinder that manager Craig Franke said serves the dual purposes. First, it reduces the amount of space plastic takes up, therefore extending the life of the landfill. The grinder could be used to support efforts by […]
Posted inCentral Council of the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska, Local News
Citing federal uncertainty, 2 major tribal groups rejoin Alaska Federation of Natives
Uncertainty over federal resources under the Trump administration contributed to a decision by two large tribal entities to rejoin the Alaska Federation of Natives. The federation, the state’s largest Native organization, said Tuesday that it welcomed back the Central Council of the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska, based in Juneau and representing more than 35,000 […]
Posted inNews, Alaska Legislature
Alaska governor’s staff warns executive branch away from state Capitol in session’s last days
The day before the Alaska Senate was scheduled to vote on the multibillion-dollar state operating budget, members of the Senate’s Finance Committee met to consider a last-minute amendment. There was one problem — no one from the Office of Management and Budget showed up. That office is the executive branch’s financial agency, and its absence […]
Posted inSoutheast News, Salmon
Conservation group’s lawsuit seeks to speed listing of Alaska king salmon under Endangered Species Act
A Washington state-based conservation group filed a lawsuit this week in an effort to speed up the federal government’s review of a proposal to list king salmon as threatened or endangered across the Gulf of Alaska. The Wild Fish Conservancy filed its lawsuit Thursday in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., saying that the National Marine Fisheries […]
Posted inEducation, Local News
Loss of IMLS funding squeezes Chilkat Valley libraries and museums
Chilkat Valley museums and libraries are feeling the squeeze after a mid-March executive order from President Donald Trump dismantled several agencies including the Institute of Museum and Library Services. The institute is the primary source of federal funding for public libraries. According to IMLS grant data, since 1998 Chilkat Valley community institutions, including the Sheldon […]
Posted inEducation, Local News
Haines school district leaders say they face financial crisis without funding boost
Haines superintendent Roy Getchell and the district school board made a plea for more funding at a joint assembly and school board meeting Tuesday night, saying that the district’s finances were at a “make or break point” for the upcoming year. The interim borough manager’s proposed budget for the upcoming year includes a $270,000 increase […]
Posted inLocal News, Tourism
Live on a ‘craggy isle.’ Eldred Rock lighthouse again opens for volunteers
For the second year, the Eldred Rock Lighthouse Preservation Organization is looking for volunteers to do historic preservation work at one of Alaska’s oldest lighthouses. Sue York, the nonprofit’s executive director, said it’s all part of a plan that began in 2020, when the organization leased the 120-year-old lighthouse from the Coast Guard. They’re working toward […]