The Chilkat Valley Food Hub recently won a $17,000 grant, which Erika Merklin said will go toward refrigerators, freezers and monthly preservation workshops. It’s the 50th anniversary of the Southeast Alaska Honor Music Festival and five Haines students will be part of the festivities in Petersburg. Maddox Rogers is first chair tuba and Willa Stuart […]
Posted inLocal News, Elections, Government & Elections
Election: Assembly outcomes could shift, but not likely for planning commission and school board
Updated at 6:30 p.m. Results rolled in for the boroughwide regular election Tuesday showing voters favoring a shift on the Haines assembly, though the results could flip before the counting is over. Currently in the lead on the assembly is Cheryl Stickler, with an 81 votes over the candidate with the second highest total, Mark […]
Posted inEducation, News, Arts & Culture
A new film highlights the traumas inflicted by residential schools. Alaskans say that history needs more attention.
This story contains difficult subject matter relating to Canada’s and America’s history of operating residential schools for Indigenous people. The National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition has gathered resources for self-care at this site. A new documentary, “Sugarcane,” recounts the searing, traumatic history of colonization and forced assimilation of British Columbia’s Indigenous people through a network […]
Posted inNews, Health
Alaska’s life-expectancy drop was biggest among all states in pandemic year of 2021, CDC says
Alaska had the biggest decline in average life expectancy of all U.S. states in 2021, a year when health outcomes were heavily influenced by the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a recent national report. Alaska’s life expectancy in 2021 was 74.5 years, down from the average of 76.6 years in 2020, according to the report from […]
Posted inNews, Education
New federal guidelines mandate a pay boost for Head Start staff. Can child care centers afford it?
Hundreds of Head Start program leaders from all over the nation are in Washington D.C. this week to talk to their congressional delegations. Members of the National Head Start Association from Alaska to Florida are all asking for the same thing: enough money to pay their staff. Head Start provides child care, early education and […]
Posted inCourts, News
Alaska Supreme Court says most business insurance doesn’t cover COVID-19 damages
In a first-of-its-kind ruling, the Alaska Supreme Court said Friday that the COVID-19 pandemic does not qualify as “physical loss” or “damage” under common commercial insurance policies. The decision likely means that insurance companies will not have to pay most claims related to business losses caused by COVID-19. The ruling came in response to an unusual “certified question” request […]
Posted inDuly Noted
Duly Noted: Hello and farewell
Jennifer Stimson of Fort Collins, Colorado is visiting her daughter Janine Allen in Haines for the week. Allen said the trip was somewhat impromptu but the two have been enjoying the time together and the dozens of swans currently hanging around Mosquito Lake. Students at both the Haines and Klukwan schools got the chance to […]
Posted inEducation, Boarding Schools, Klukwan
Klukwan students, community members to mark Orange Shirt Day
Students at the Klukwan School got a quick lesson on Orange Shirt Day on Tuesday as they prepared for their second day of moose camp. The day, which is commemorated on Sept. 30, is also called the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation and it recognizes the legacy of the residential school system in Canada. […]
Posted inEducation, Klukwan
Moose-taken Identity: Hunters’ illegal haul becomes school lunch lesson in Klukwan, Haines
Students in Klukwan and Haines got the chance to butcher and process moose meat this week after two sublegal moose were harvested by hunters this season. Both moose were reported to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game office in Haines which area manager Carl Koch said is the ideal outcome. “It’s always better for […]
Posted inLocal News, Elections, Haines Borough
Your questions answered: Borough Assembly
Earlier this month we asked you to help shape the Chilkat Valley News’ local election reporting by submitting questions for the candidates. We collected those questions, tossed out a few that were clearly spam, and took nine total directly to the assembly and planning commission candidates. Assembly candidates answered questions about the Lutak Dock, the […]