The mining season in the Porcupine district started early this year. Teen-age miner Parker Schnabel, whose family’s Big Nugget Mine has been featured on the Discovery Channel series “Gold Rush,” said his crews started in January and cleared about seven miles of Porcupine Road to prepare a new area for mining. Opening the road that […]
Posted inNews
Haines skis Buckwheat
Eighteen Haines skiers participated in the 26th annual Buckwheat Ski Classic Saturday afternoon at Log Cabin, B.C. Cross-country ski coach Liam Cassidy led the Haines contingent as the only resident to finish the 50-kilometer Nordic event. Cassidy finished 13th of 17 in 4:10:20. Chip Lende was top Haines finisher in the 25K race, finishing 20th […]
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HFR launches new scholarship
Haines Friends of Recycling is launching the Bill Aronson Memorial Scholarship for study or training in energy-efficient construction or renewable energy design and installation. The new scholarship is named after Bill Aronson, a longtime HFR volunteer who died last May. His wife, Melissa Aronson, is HFR’s chair. Melissa Aronson said the organization has $2,500 in […]
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Motel closure stings tour effort
Haines Borough Tourism Director Tanya Carlson said recent closure of the downtown’s Thunderbird Motel will create a pinch in available housing, particularly for winter events like November’s Alaska Bald Eagle Festival. “I’m sad. Those 20 rooms are typically full during the eagle festival. That’s a big percentage of all our rooms at that time of […]
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Cash-strapped Christian station KRSA may go off air after April
Operators of the Christian radio station serving Haines say they’ll turn off the signal at the end of April if there’s not a major change in management or a surge in financial support. Petersburg-based KRSA is seeking community pledges and new managers to help stay afloat, said Ed May, acting general manager. The station needs […]
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Dryer fire washed out by passerby
Summer worker Peter McDonald didn’t have enough dirty clothes for a wash, but he stopped at the Moose Horn Laundry anyway after arriving back in town on the ferry Monday afternoon. It was a lucky decision for laundromat owners Jan and Leonard Dubber. McDonald squelched a dryer fire Jan said could have been costly. “By […]
Posted inNews, Public Safety
Coordinates put avalanche inside heli-ski zone
Coordinates provided to Alaska State Troopers last week by Alaska Heliskiing put the site of the company’s March 13 fatal accident five miles southwest of the Tsirku River’s “Devil’s Elbow,” inside the Haines Borough’s helicopter skiing boundaries. Commercial pilot Paul Swanstrom, who flew in the area last week, said he spotted a slide there that […]
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Earnest to leave June 15
Staff turnover reached the top of the Haines Borough this week, as manager Mark Earnest submitted his resignation, effective June 15. “We’re getting good at changing managers, and I don’t want it to be taken lightly,” said Daymond Hoffman of the Haines Borough Assembly. “I think we really need to find out, from Mark, what we can do better, what we can […]
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Connelly Lake gets 1st permit
Characterizing concerns about the Connelly Lake project as either premature or not applicable, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on March 19 issued Goat Lake Hydro, Inc. a preliminary permit for the proposed hydroelectric project. Goat Lake Hydro is a subsidiary of electric and phone utility Alaska Power and Telephone. Much of the opposition to the project is […]
Posted inLetters to the Editor
Conference rejuvenated gardeners
The garden conference was a success, bringing together speakers and gardeners in Haines March 16-18. Enthusiasm for learning about past and present agriculture and gardening in the Chilkat Valley and neighboring Skagway was shared. Bob Henderson’s talk Friday evening was attended by 55 people, impressed with his knowledge, research and personal history. The Chilkat Valley […]