Barb Blood missed the annual Hospice of Haines sale in May. She and her husband are relocating to Sitka after decades in Haines. She took this opportunity to give a bit more to Hospice by donating all the proceeds from her yard sale to them last weekend. Blood said that nonprofit has been so helpful […]
Posted inSoutheast News, Environment
Trump administration advances plan to reverse federal rule that limits logging in national forests
The U.S. Department of Agriculture, parent agency of the U.S. Forest Service, announced Wednesday that it is moving ahead with plans to rescind a rule that has restricted logging and construction on millions of acres of federal lands in the American West for more than two decades. U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins said in […]
Posted inNews
US House delegation visits Alaska this week, with focus on mining, timber and drilling
Ten members of the U.S. House of Representatives’ Committee on Natural Resources are making an unusual visit to Alaska this week during a break from business on Capitol Hill. The 45-person committee deals with a variety of issues pertaining to public lands in the United States, and the visit is giving eight Republicans and two […]
Posted inLocal News
Assembly Briefs: Historic preservation, meeting limits, cell towers, sales tax
Historic Preservation Committee PausedA plan to make Haines buildings eligible for federal historical preservation funds remains a controversial, and at times heated, topic.An assembly vote to designate Haines as a “certified local government” with the National Park Service, and establish a historic preservation committee, would, proponents say, be a no-risk way to bring in extra […]
Posted inLocal News
Residents seek safety at either end of blocked road between Chilkoot Estates and Hill Top subdivision
After years of traffic driving down a gravel road many had forgotten was privately owned, a set of barriers blocking access to the south end of the Chilkoot Estates subdivision was erected in late July. Complaints from a resident in an unfinished subdivision on the other side of the concrete barriers prompted a review by […]
Posted inLocal News
After controversy, lobbying firm drops out of borough search
Amid confusion and controversy, lobbying firm Holland & Hart have dropped out of the Haines Borough’s search for a new federal lobbyist. Two weeks ago, multiple assembly members said they misunderstood an ordinance that named Holland & Hart employee Kaleb Froehlich as the borough’s prospective lobbyist. After the assembly voted unanimously to hire the firm […]
Posted inThis Week in History
This Week in History: New gear for the public library, the Windy Craggy mine, new population counts
22 Years Ago: The Haines Borough Public Library will purchase up to 500 new books, 100 educational and classic film DVDs, as well as a snowblower, new computers and other items with a grant from the Rasmuson Foundation. The Anchorage-based foundation last week awarded the library $25,000 to expand the collection and buy maintenance equipment. […]
Posted inWildlife, Economy, Southeast News
Fall dungeness will get full length season
Fisheries managers cut short this summer’s Southeast Alaska commercial dungeness crab season by six days because initial harvest projections fell below the required threshold for a full season. But now, after determining that a high number of soft-shelled crabs contributed to low harvest projections, managers have opted to open fall dungeness fishing for its full […]
Posted inNews, Health
Health insurance will cost more for millions of Americans — especially rural residents
A combination of Trump administration policies will make health care coverage more expensive for people who purchase plans from health insurance marketplaces — and rural residents will be hit the hardest, according to a new analysis. Researchers from the Century Foundation say Trump administration policies — especially its refusal to ask Congress to extend Biden-era tax […]
Posted inNews, Education
As Alaska Legislature convenes education task force, lawmakers have different views of where to go
The Alaska Legislature opened an 18-month study of the state’s troubled public education system on Tuesday as lawmakers convened the first meeting of their Task Force on Education Funding, established by law this spring. Alaska’s public schools rank among the worst in the country according to national standardized testing data, and members of the bipartisan, bicameral task force have been […]