It’s late afternoon on Saturday at the Alaska Folk Festival and more than a dozen people are sitting in a small room at Juneau’s Centennial Hall. Most are holding guitars. It’s quiet, except for the occasional idle strum as people wait. Finally, Burl Sheldon strides in, sees the crowd and says “Yay!” He pulls out […]
Posted inLocal News, State of Alaska, Mining, Klukwan, News
Public comment opens for Constantine operations plan for state lands
Unless the state grants an extension, the public has until April 24 to comment on a five-year plan of operations for work related to the Palmer Project, the copper and zinc claim upstream from Haines and Klukwan. The plan would only apply to state lands on two areas — the so-called Plateau Site west of […]
Posted inEducation, Alaska Legislature, State of Alaska
Alaska judge strikes down state’s cash payments to families using correspondence school programs
An Anchorage Superior Court judge on Friday struck down an Alaska law that allows the state to distribute cash payments to the parents of homeschooled students on the grounds that it violates constitutional prohibitions against spending state money on private education. “This court finds that there is no workable way to construe the statutes to allow only […]
Posted inLocal News, Tlingit Language, News
Tlingít language learners celebrate two years of study with Ku.éex’
Last Saturday, 65 people crowded into the Alaska Native Brotherhood and Alaska Native Sisterhood Hall in Haines to share food, Tlingít language and to learn more about each other. The celebration was, essentially, a practice ku.éex’, a place where people were given clan names, and where language learners formally introduce themselves – and the […]
Posted inNews, Alaska Legislature, State of Alaska, Housing
In seismically active Alaska, plans for statewide residential building codes are on shaky ground
Sixty years after North America’s most powerful earthquake on record ripped through Alaska and 5 ½ years after a different earthquake caused costly damage to structures and roads in the Southcentral region, there are no statewide codes to protect homes against future seismic disasters. Two bills pending in the Alaska Legislature, Senate Bill 197 and […]
Posted inLocal News, Environment, Mining, Haines Borough, News
Assembly briefs: Parcel viewer could be expanded, Southeast Roadbuilders appeals permit again, ore shipping changes and a senior exemption boost
Property data in parcel viewer Assembly member Kevin Forster introduced a substitute version of an ordinance that would, among other changes, allow property owners to view assessment information through the borough’s website. The borough’s parcel viewer currently allows users to access information about properties including owner, value, and property size. Under the proposed ordinance, property […]
Posted inLocal News, Haines Borough
Assembly members get slew of ethics complaints. Here are the facts.
At least five Haines residents have submitted ethics complaints against assembly member Natalie Dawson, claiming she had a conflict of interest when she voted to request that Constantine Metals share its operations plan with the borough, among other allegations. Dawson said the complaints are “false” and rely on inaccurate information about her employer, the Alaska […]
Posted inNews, Local News, Environment, Klukwan
Frustration stews over Army’s communication for Haines Fuel Terminal clean up
The new project manager for the Haines Fuel Terminal clean-up project got stern words from community members frustrated about the Army’s communication over the past seven years at a recent meeting in Haines. The Army hadn’t updated Haines residents since 2017, yet delivered two major reports about environmental contamination to members of the local board […]
Posted inNews, Local News, Police
Snow berm dispute clouds appeals over heliport at 26 Mile
A residential dispute about snow berms near a controversial heliport this spring resulted in a trooper issuing a disorderly conduct warning and animosity heating up between neighbors. “I guarantee you it has to do with the heliport issue,” said Hans Baertle, who said his neighbor, George Campbell, blocked access to his house in a residential […]
Posted inSoutheast News, News, Local News, Business & Commerce, Sealaska Corporation, Timber
Sealaska to pay more than $19 million to shareholders in spring distribution
One of the largest regional Native corporations in the state will distribute $19.2 million to shareholders later this month. Sealaska Corp.’s approximately 26,000 shareholders will get somewhere between $250 and $982 per 100 shares depending on their status, according to a corporation announcement Friday. Shareholders are primarily Tlingít, Haida and Tsimshian who are in or […]