Gov. Mike Dunleavy is asking President-elect Donald Trump to immediately reverse the Biden administration’s Alaska environmental and tribal lands policies, claiming those policies hurt the state’s economy. “Your election will hail in a new era of optimism and opportunity, and Alaska stands ready to and is eager to work with you to repair this damage […]
Posted inNews, Economy
Dunleavy says he plans to reestablish state Department of Agriculture via executive order
Gov. Mike Dunleavy says he’s hoping to boost food production in the state by changing the state’s Division of Agriculture to the Department of Agriculture via an executive order he will introduce on the first day of the coming legislative session. The change, recommended last year by separate food security task forces set up by Dunleavy and […]
Posted inGovernment & Elections, News
Loch Ness ducks or “vampire grebes”? Alaska governor’s wish list for Trump comes with AI hallucinations.
Alaska Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s transition plan for Donald Trump includes a laundry list of wishes for the next four years of federal governing — namely, opening up more lands for oil and mining development, roads and logging. It also comes with something else: a pair of sinister-looking bird-like figures gracing the otherwise-idyllic wilderness scene on the report’s […]
Posted inNews, Science, Environment & Natural Resources
Alaska birds suffered biggest die-off in recorded history in ‘Blob’ heat wave, new study says
The loss of an estimated 4 million common murres during the marine heatwave known as the “Blob” was the biggest bird die-off in recorded history, and seven or eight years later, the population has not recovered, biologists report. The findings, in a newly published study led by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologist Heather Renner, show that […]
Posted inNews, Sports
Six Glacier Bear wrestlers headed to state after hosting Region V championships
More than 200 wrestlers representing 14 Southeast high school teams traveled to Haines for bragging rights and to determine who will represent their schools at this weekend’s Alaska School Activities Association Wrestling Championships in Anchorage. It was the first time in more than a decade that the Glacier Bears have hosted the Region V wrestling […]
Posted inKlukwan, Housing
Chilkat Indian Village seeks comments on plan to assess, repair local homes
Chilkat Indian Village is taking comments through December 22 on its plan to use $1 million in Housing and Urban Development funding to make homes in Klukwan and the Chilkat Valley healthier. According to CIV’s environmental review document for the project, the Tribe would work with the National Renewable Energy Lab to assess and remediate […]
Posted inLocal News
Fiction, films the most sought-after items at the Haines library in 2024
The checkouts have been tallied and the numbers are in: the most popular items at the Haines Borough Public Library this year included the movies “Greyhound” and “Oppenheimer” at 32 checkouts apiece and the kids’ book “Construction Site Friends,” borrowed 18 times. Assistant library director Matthew Jillson provided the stats on 2024 checkouts in December, […]
Posted inLocal News
Top 10 most-read stories on Chilkat Valley News website of 2024
‘We got a bonus tour:’ Cruise passengers stranded in Canada by rockslide rejoin their ships in Haines About 150 people motored into Haines just after 4 a.m. on a summer evening, in time to rejoin their Holland America and Princess cruise ships after they were separated from their ships by a massive rockslide north of […]
Posted inLocal News
2024: Chilkat Valley Index
1,643 pounds of food came out of the Victory Garden in Mosquito Lake, according to Erika Merklin. More than 700 pounds of that were cauliflower, broccoli and cabbage. 3,000 pounds of fudge were purchased at Alaska Rods this year, along with 800 knives. While they had some new flavors to try out this year, including […]
Posted inEducation, Local News
Boron accepts offer of Haines superintendent job
After a series of interviews and community meetings with finalists, the Haines Board of Education has announced that Lilly Boron has accepted an offer to be the school district’s next superintendent. Boron was picked after a search process that yielded nine applications for the board; they selected two finalists and brought them into town for […]