Haines police sent out a Nixle alert just after 7:30 a.m. Monday, warning people of a report of a wounded bear in the area near FAA Road. The alert also warned that residents might hear gunshots as officers responded. Haines Police Chief Josh Dryden said an FAA resident called around 7 a.m. saying they heard a […]
Posted inLocal News, Photos of the Week
Photos of the week: Glass blowing, a dead Chilkoot bear, a new owl, and a wildlife center closure
(Rashah McChesney/Chilkat Valley News) Steve Kroschel’s wildlife facility has been closed to the public since August 4 when his USDA permit to operate lapsed. Top: Steve Kroschel calls his moose Duck Moses over for a quick snack on August 6, 2024, in Mosquito Lake. Kroschel owns and operates the Kroschel Films Wildlife Center where some […]
Posted inNews, Education, State of Alaska
Alaska school districts got a one-time funding boost. It came too late for many teachers.
Laurie Duncan got her pink slip at the end of April, after her second year teaching first grade at Xóots Elementary in Sitka. She got the news during her prep period. She was three months pregnant. Nearly 20% of the teachers in Sitka were laid off this spring due to financial uncertainty. That included all […]
Posted inNews, Health
Expansion of Alaska Native Medical Center emergency department is underway
Alaska Native health officials and other dignitaries gathered Wednesday in an Anchorage ceremony where they grabbed shovels and moved bits of dirt to celebrate the start of an emergency department expansion at the Alaska Native Medical Center. The board of the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium, which manages the hospital in partnership with Southcentral Foundation, has authorized […]
Posted inNews, State of Alaska
Alaska invested millions to fix food stamp backlogs. Some users still can’t get through.
At the height of the food stamp backlog last November, pro bono attorneys and other volunteers at Alaska Legal Services got more than 600 requests in one month from Alaskans seeking a fair hearing to get their overdue food benefits. So the 97 requests that came in this July didn’t feel like anything the group […]
Posted inState of Alaska, News
Alaska elections officials plan to debut new ballot-tracking system with Aug. 20 primary
The Alaska Division of Elections is using a new tool this year in an attempt to avoid the kinds of ballot-counting problems that have occurred during previous elections. Enclosed in the bright red and green paperwork bags sent to every remote polling station is a small, black tracking device that will allow workers to trace […]
Posted inNews, Courts, Salmon
Federal appeals court ruling eliminates — for now — legal threat facing Southeast Alaska fishermen
A three-judge panel at 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has overturned a lower-court decision that could have temporarily halted troll fishing for salmon in Southeast Alaska. The appellate court decision, announced Friday, clears the way for the region’s troll fishery to continue. It had been threatened by a lawsuit from the Washington-based Wild Fish Conservancy, an […]
Posted inLetters to the Editor
Borough employees deserve recognition and respect for their work
Beginners are many, finishers are few – a quote from a book someone lent me recently. My hope for the Haines Borough is that it can finish the projects that are underway. We have made significant progress toward funding the repair of Lutak Dock, made a significant inroad to the funding to replace the dilapidated Public […]
Posted inThank You Letters
Mosquito Lake School art exhibition was a success
The Four Winds Resource Center says “thank you so much” to all the awesome, talented local artists that exhibited their art at the 2nd Annual Art Exhibition on Saturday at Mosquito Lake School. We had paintings, photographs, sculpture, fabric art, installations and children’s art from our summer Art Camp. The turnout of community art enthusiasts […]
Posted inLetters to the Editor
State Parks is failing our community and the bears
I commend the Chilkat Valley News on its sidebar explaining what a “habituated” bear is—the term is often misunderstood. To recap, habituation is a process where an animal’s or person’s response to a particular stimulus becomes neutralized over time based on past experience. Habituation is neither good nor bad, and it is an ongoing process. […]