Two former Haines High School classmates competing in Division I track say they’re achieving a childhood dream. Chandler Kemp, 20, runs indoor and outdoor track for Cornell University, as well as cross-country. Christine Hansen, 20, last fall qualified as a walk-on for Marquette University’s indoor and outdoor track teams. Hansen and Kemp graduated from high […]
Posted inNews
A BIG CELEBRATION in 1910
Writers at the Haines Pioneer Press weren’t timid about using superlatives, but the Fourth of July celebration on 1910 may have been one for the record books. A front-page story on holiday festivities recounts that 1,000 soldiers arrived in town aboard the transport ship Buford, along with several hundred crew. There were also hundreds of […]
Posted inNews, This Week in History
Control, money led to vote on creating city of Haines
Why did the settlers of the Chilkat Valley vote to create a City of Haines 100 years ago? Stories told for years by old-timers averred that the need to control stray dogs was the issue that tipped the scales toward support of a local government. In “Haines: The First Half Century,” late historian Lib Hakkinen […]
Posted inNews
TOWN, ECONOMY BOOMING AT TIME OF VOTE
The City of Haines was born amid a surge of economic growth and civic activity, according to records at the Sheldon Museum. In the years after white settlement in 1879, the community grew slowly as a Presbyterian mission and a trading post. At a meeting in 1898, residents agreed to the name Haines, and to […]
Posted inNews
Fair exhibits due late July
The deadline for entering exhibits at the Southeast Alaska State Fair is only about three weeks away. Most exhibits can be dropped off at Harriett Hall on Friday, July 23 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. or on Saturday, July 24 between 9 a.m. and 1 p.m. Exhibits may include crochet, knitting, needlework, fiber arts, […]
Posted inNews
Millhand views town 34 years later
Bob Deck left Haines in 1976 and didn’t come back until 2004. The town looked the same, but things were different. “Now there are a lot of empty buildings and there are a lot of people not doing anything, a lot of retirees. Back then, everybody worked.” Deck, 66, is spending his second summer as host at Chilkoot […]
Posted inNews, Mining
Kensington mine starts production
Miners at the Kensington are producing gold. “In terms of production, we’re just starting up, but ore is moving through the plant and we’re producing a concentrate,” Toby Ebersole, spokesman for mine owner Coeur d’Alene Mines Corp., said this week. There are 155 Coeur Alaska employees and another 100 workers employed by contractors at the […]
Posted inNews
Fourth show a blast to hail the past 100 years
A big fireworks show is set for the nation’s birthday party in Haines this weekend, enhanced to mark the 100th anniversary of municipal incorporation. Traditional Fourth of July activities – plus a few new ones – will be spread over Saturday and Sunday to avoid a conflict between God and country. The Mount Ripinsky Run, usually a morning […]
Posted inNews
Letnikof launch for Danish craft
Richard Cook says his new fishing boat feels right in the water. Cook’s is the most recent wooden vessel crafted by Haines boatbuilder Joey Jacobson, a 20-foot Danish herring boat Cook chose from a book of classic designs. The sprit-rigged sailboat has been in the works at a Letnikof shop since January. Cook, an engineer […]
Posted inNews
Mine firm increases search investment Constantine to spend $2.5 million
Constantine Metal Resources is increasing spending on exploration of the Palmer deposit this year. Company president Garfield MacVeigh said the firm would spend $2.5 million during the four-month season, up $500,000 from last year. “We’re pleased with project development and we’re happy with how things are going.” Constantine showed up here in early May and […]