After four years of effort, the Alaska Legislature has passed a bill offering additional support for the underfunded organization that offers free legal help to Alaskans facing civil lawsuits. “We’re so excited,” said Maggie Humm, executive director of the Alaska Legal Services Corporation. ALSC is the state’s largest provider of free legal assistance for survivors […]
Posted inSoutheast News, Environment
Kodiak fisherman will plead guilty to stealing trees from Alaska’s Tongass National Forest
A commercial fisherman in Kodiak will plead guilty to stealing 16 yellow cedar trees from the Tongass National Forest in Southeast Alaska. Mitchell Keplinger, charged with theft of government property in April, was scheduled to appear in U.S. District Court for the District of Alaska on Wednesday for his formal arraignment. Keplinger signed a plea deal the day after […]
Posted inCommentary
Juneau Empire shuts office where 8 people worked a few years ago; now appears to be seeking 1 salesperson
The Juneau Empire last week shut down its office in the Jordan Creek Center and relocated to what’s reportedly a single-desk space at Vintage Business Park. The masthead in Saturday’s print edition lists no staff, aside from an obituaries/legal notice person based outside Juneau — and the only job opening is for a general sales […]
Posted inLocal News, Business & Commerce
Quick Shop reopens to crowds, fanfare
A little over a year and a half after it burned down, the Quick Shop is back: bigger, and better — many at the grand opening said on Friday. “The only place in town you can get beer, butter, and bullets,” is what emcee Dan Mahoney said, as he welcomed the first throng through the […]
Posted inThis Week in History
This Week in History: Puppeteers, a new crane at the Small Boat Harbor and a new fire truck
10 years ago After years of performing in makeshift tents, basements and other small venues around town, the Haines puppetry troupe Geppetto’s Junkyard is ready for the big stage. Following three successful shows at Petersburg’s Little Norway Festival last weekend, Geppetto’s Junkyard is taking “Travels in the Belly of a Whale” to the Chilkat Center […]
Posted inThank You Letters
Thank you to those who helped extinguish car fire on the highway
Kudos to the Southeast Road Builders’ fire brigade along with the all the others who responded to the fiery demise of my beloved SueBeeSue#6 along the highway just south of Klukwan. Thanks to the unknown driver of the blue pickup who I flagged down and dispatched to alert the SERB crew nearby. Thus, all the […]
Posted inLocal News, Transportation
Same fuel, new price
Fuel prices jumped Monday, up to $5.74 per gallon for gasoline and $6.53 for diesel at Haines Industrial’s pumps. At Delta Western across the street, prices are now $5.79 for gasoline and $6.58 for diesel. Prices had held steady in Haines for weeks, even as global fuel prices skyrocketed following the United States’ war on […]
Posted inLocal News
After failed Upper Lynn Canal union push, AP&T workers regroup on Prince of Wales
After a unionization effort in the Upper Lynn Canal collapsed last year, a new group of Alaska Power and Telephone employees on Prince of Wales Island has voted to unionize. It’s the third time in just over a decade that workers at the Southeast Alaska utility have tried to organize and join the International Brotherhood […]
Posted inLocal News
Trumpet student assists mayor in time of need
Haines High senior JC Davis got a knock on his front door last week. When he answered it, he found a high-profile visitor. It was the mayor, Tom Morphet, come on “bended knee,” as Morphet later described it, with $100 in hand. He needed the young Davis’ help. The trouble had started a few weeks […]
Posted inDuly Noted
Duly Noted, and Tattoo-ly noted
Ed and Yuko Hays visited Duluth, Minn. for the home birth of their granddaughter. Ariel Susan Hays was born to Mori Hays and Julia Hays on Jan. 15, 2026. She weighed 7 pounds 4 ounces at birth and was 20 inches long. The proud grandparents will get to visit her again when they attend the […]