It’s the fourth year of the Chilkat Valley’s annual spring art festival and organizers are hoping a new grant will help them grow the festival event further. The Alaska Arts Confluence is still raising the funds it needs to match and receive a $4,500 Alaska State Council on the Arts grant. Board members said they’re […]
Posted inLetters to the Editor
An apology for my involvement in a landlord-tenant dispute
Since I wrote my piece comparing a lease to sharecropping, I have received quite a bit of feedback. I regret getting involved in a dispute between two parties who were not seeking resolution but dissolution of their business relationship. I was unaware of the tenant’s past-due rent, and I should have reached out to the […]
Posted inLocal News, Salmon
After a decade, the Chilkat king salmon sport fishery is open
Haines’ king salmon sport fishery is once more open to anglers, even as state fish forecasters project a smaller run of Chilkat kings this year. For nearly a decade, sport fishing for king salmon has been shut down in the Upper Lynn Canal — a response to historically low returns. From 2011 to 2018, the […]
Posted inLetters to the Editor
Candy-fueled Easter is an unhealthy, inappropriate and wasted opportunity
Using Haines School for a privately funded “Easter” celebration wherein thousands of pieces of candy are distributed to children, is unhealthy, wasteful and inappropriate — but exemplifies our health crisis. Instead of maladaptive festivals of refinement and glucose-spiking junk, schools, churches and donors (and community organizations generally) might consider serving and offering heartfelt gratitude and […]
Posted inLocal News
Assembly Briefs: Smith writes big check, assembly considers major changes
Severance tax fails A flurry of final votes on major legislation, all coinciding at Tuesday’s meeting, came at somewhat of an inconvenient time. As has become familiar in recent weeks, the assembly requires four votes — a majority of the full body — to pass legislation. That remains the case even with assembly members missing, […]
Posted inDuly Noted
Duly Noted: Traveling musicians, a butterfly tree, transporting eagles and more
For the third year, Holly Davis has organized a butterfly migration at the Haines library. She said kids build a “butterfly tree” using children’s book illustrator Eric Carle’s style of painting vibrant textures using brushes and sponges. Then, they cut the butterflies for the tree. She was helped by Ava Stanford, Lolly Minor, and Maren […]
Posted inObituaries
Longtime Haines Firefighter, church leader dies in Fairbanks
Gerald “Jerry” Blood Aug. 22, 1944 – March 22, 2026 Gerald “Jerry” Everett Blood, beloved husband of Barbara Blood and devoted father and grandfather, passed into the Lord’s presence surrounded by his family Sunday, March 22, 2026, in Fairbanks after a 10-year battle with chronic lymphoma and heart disease. He was born on August 22, […]
Posted inBlotter
Blotter: April 6 – April 11
Monday, April 6 Caller on Piedad Road reported a stolen car battery. An officer responded. A caller on Deishu Drive reported a person trespassing on their property. Officers responded. Tuesday, April 7 A caller on the 800 block of Main Street reported a moose in the area. A caller in the 400 block of Main […]
Posted inSoutheast News
Alaska Forest Service facility slated for closure amid federal restructuring
Two weeks after the Trump administration announced a U.S. Forest Service “restructuring” that would close regional offices and most of the agency’s research facilities, impacts to Alaska – home to the two largest U.S. national forests – remain unclear. The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced on March 31 that the Forest Service’s national headquarters will move to Utah and […]
Posted inSoutheast News
Sitkans seeking results from SEARHC session
In the annual public meeting with SEARHC officials on April 6, Sitka residents listed what they see as systemic issues with the Native-owned health care nonprofit that provides medical and hospital services for all of Sitka and serves 25 other Southeast communities. Sitkans expressed concerns and ideas on how the Southeast Alaska Regional Health Consortium could improve its communications, […]