For 24 hours a day, seven days a week since November 2000, NASA and its international partners have sustained a continuous human presence in low-Earth orbit, including at least one American – a streak that will soon reach 25 years. When viewed in the history of spaceflight, the International Space Station is perhaps one of humanity’s […]
Posted inHealth, Economy, News
Nutrition program for women, infants and children to stay afloat through end of month
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Agriculture is infusing $300 million into a key federal nutrition program to keep it running through October, while a government shutdown continues without an apparent end point. USDA’s Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children — known as WIC — has relied on short-term funds amid the […]
Posted inNews, Public Safety
One dead, dozens rescued and roughly 1,000 displaced in western Alaska communities hit by ex-typhoon
Search and rescue efforts continued into Monday in the Kuskokwim River delta in the aftermath of devastating storm surge and hurricane-force winds brought by the remnants of Typhoon Halong. The storm tore homes from their foundations and sent them floating away. One woman was found dead in Kwigillingok on Monday, according to Alaska State Troopers. […]
Posted inLocal News
State again seeks comments on Washington company’s proposed log transfer facility in Lutak Inlet
The comment deadline is looming on a land-use permit application submitted by a Chehalis, Washington company proposing to build a log transfer facility in Lutak Inlet. NSEA Timber, Inc., plans to build the facility to transfer logs from a timber sale in the Haines-area, and seeks to use about 12 acres of surface and 17 […]
Posted inNews, Education
Alaska education officials walk back proposal to restrict local governments’ funding for schools
Officials with the Alaska Department of Education and Early Development have walked back a proposal to limit local governments’ funding for public schools, instead asking the State Board of Education to take no action on the item this week. The State Board of Education was set to vote this week on a controversial measure that many school […]
Posted inHaines Borough, Local News
Assembly to consider cutting ties with Lutak dock contractor
The borough assembly on Tuesday is set to decide whether to cut ties with Lutak Dock contractor Turnagain Marine. Turnagain was hired in 2022 to design and rebuild the dock, but construction has not gone forward as planned – the cause of which is the subject of a dispute between the borough and the contractor. […]
Posted inNews, Environment
Hybrid solar-diesel power is less expensive than diesel alone in parts of rural Alaska, study shows
A new study published by the Belfer Center of the Harvard Kennedy School has concluded that solar power plants are now cost-competitive with diesel for many rural Alaska communities, even if solar is only usable during part of the year. “The conclusion was that they were pretty darn competitive,” said Henry Lee, the study’s co-author and director […]
Posted inLocal News
State information session recalls decades of Juneau Road debate
Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s administration this year revitalized a long-running proposal for a road up the Lynn Canal, pitched as a way to better connect the state capital in Juneau to the surrounding region. The proposal has, over the span of multiple decades, proved extremely resilient. It has returned again and again in the wake […]
Posted inLocal News
Disputed Jones Point Cemetery parcel now being developed
Volunteers on behalf of the borough this month cleared new land at Jones Point Cemetery, across Sawmill Road from the main burial grounds. The stretch of land was the subject of a controversy earlier this year when neighboring non-profit Takshanuk Watershed Council applied for a borough easement for use of a driveway running through the […]