Stacey Spencer (High School Special Education) I’m originally from Trinidad and Tobago — South Trinidad — and I came to the United States in 2001. I started off at Tuskegee University, and then I went to Grambling State University in Louisiana, and then I moved to Dallas to teach math and special education. On my […]
Posted inEconomy, News
New work rules could deny food stamps to thousands of veterans
NEW YORK — After a year in the U.S. Navy, Loceny Kamara said he was discharged in 2023, because while on base he had developed mental health issues, including severe anxiety and nightmares, and had fallen into alcoholism. Kamara, 23, went to rehab and managed to get sober for some time while living with family […]
Posted inLocal News
AmeriCorps is under siege. What happens in the communities it serves?
SILVER SPRING, Md. — Daniel Zare worked one-on-one as an AmeriCorps member with students going through rough times in school, lightening teachers’ workload in the classroom. At AmeriCorps Project CHANGE, based in Silver Spring’s Sligo Middle School, Zare was one of several in his group who tracked adolescents’ emotional and social wellbeing over months using […]
Posted inSoutheast News, Environment & Natural Resources
Alaska Science Forum: If a mountain fell in a wilderness
By Ned Rozell Camped on an island in Southeast Alaska a few mornings ago, Sasha Calvey heard a commotion outside her tent. “(On Aug. 10) at 5:45 a.m., I woke to a loud roar of rushing water,” the 25-year-old kayaker and outdoor educator said. “Then there was this massive tidal surge just inches away from […]
Posted inLocal News, Salmon
Sockeye, commercial season, remain slow
Sockeye counts in the Upper Lynn Canal are down, and the run is yet to arrive in full force. As the weeks tick by and numbers stay low, some fishermen are worried the full run might not materialize at all. Efforts to count the annual run are generally separated into two components. The first is […]
Posted inLocal News
Assembly Briefs: Lutak Dock, manager hire, and sales tax
Lutak Dock The Lutak Dock rebuild has once again reached a crossroads, with the assembly deciding whether to go on the hunt for more money to resuscitate the project, or to change tack altogether. The trouble began—or began again—at the end of last month, when a promising dock redesign fell through. The borough and contractor […]
Posted inEducation, Local News
Haines schools to lease buses for student transportation this year
After months of wrangling and a controversial decision to drop busing for the year, the Haines school board voted to lease up to three buses and take on the responsibility of transporting students to and from school this year. The vote came after Superintendent Lilly Boron presented a transportation plan to the board during a […]
Posted inLocal News
“When this is gone, it’ll never get built again.” Assembly, planners meet at Mosquito Lake School
Assembly members and planning commissioners headed out the road Monday evening for a special joint meeting at the former Mosquito Lake School, which has been proposed to be sold out of borough control. The meeting turned out members of the public in high numbers, not unlike meetings on other hot-button issues this year. But for […]
Posted inDuly Noted
Duly Noted: Heists, opera, local food, strong men
The Upper Lynn Canal Local Foods Challenge is celebrating a third year, and includes Skagway this year. The community potluck in Haines and Skagway was held Sunday at the Klondike in the fairgrounds. Some of the culinary highlights were a tromboncino squash with homegrown herbs, a salmon lasagna, smoked coho salmon dip and a brown […]
Posted inLetters to the Editor
Letter to the Editor: Ask the borough government to charge fair costs on federal grants to solve our budget woes
In a letter to the Borough Assembly (August 12, 2025), I requested that they apply what is known as the “de minimus” indirect cost rate, or IDC, to all federal grants for which we apply and/or are awarded. This has not been standard practice in the Haines Borough, and yet, as someone who manages and […]