Saturday afternoon hit many of the notes of a holiday celebration: crowds filling spaces downtown blooming with early summer wildflowers, live music, flags, and spectators cheering a parade down Main Street. Mayor Tom Morphet even had his trumpet out. Passers-by wouldn’t have been remiss to think they had wandered into last month’s graduation celebration. Only […]
Posted inSoutheast News
Search May Identify Historic Sitka Grave
On the salmonberry-covered hill of Marine Street, where the Holy Trinity Church used to be, Reverend Herman Belt of St. Michael’s Cathedral and Bob Sam, longtime cemetery caretaker, are hoping to have discovered the gravesite of Saint Yakov Netsvetov, the first Aleutian-Russian priest who served in Sitka during his final year of life. The site […]
Posted inLocal News
Haines gears up for bike relay
The annual Kluane Chilkat International Bike Relay, a 148.4-mile race between Haines Junction and Haines, arrives in town Saturday afternoon. The event draws racers from as far away as Fairbanks and Seattle and allows riders to compete solo or in relay teams of up to eight riders. After an early morning start in Haines Junction, […]
Posted inLocal News, Public Safety
Canadian blazes make for hazy days
Smoke from Canadian wildfires is being blown into the Chilkat Valley, at times cloaking the area with a haze, and it’s likely to get worse later this week. The Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation put out an air quality advisory on Wednesday that is set to remain in place until Friday afternoon. The greatest impact […]
Posted inNews
Flooding washes out Dalton Highway, main overland link to Prudhoe Bay oil fields
A stretch of the Dalton Highway near the Saginavirktok River was washed out by flood waters on Saturday, leading to an 80-foot-wide gap in the only road leading to Prudhoe Bay. As a result, the highway is closed between Milepost 305 and 356. The Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities, which said the washout was […]
Posted inTransportation, Southeast News
Advisory board recommends ending Matanuska’s career
The public advisory board for the Alaska Marine Highway System recommends the state call an end to the Matanuska’s 53-year career in the fleet. The final decision to sell the unseaworthy ferry rests with the governor and his Department of Transportation commissioner. “There is currently no set timeline for action,” said Sam Dapcevich, the department’s […]
Posted inThank You Letters
Woman’s Club taking the the 4th off
We are sad to inform the community that the Haines Woman’s Club will not be able to run their 4th of July Pie and Root Beer Float sale this year. Due to the illness of some members and others who have resigned from the club, we do not have enough people to run the booth. […]
Posted inThank You Letters
Thank you to compassionate paramedics
This note is very belated but nonetheless, very heartfelt. The family of the late Beverly Leak would like to express their sincere appreciation for the ambulance crew who came out to transport our Mom back to the fire house and then to the airport for transport to Juneau. They were very, very kind and compassionate. […]
Posted inLetters to the Editor
Bear-resistant trash can distribution a success
Our campaign to get bear-resistant trash cans into the community has been a resounding success. A team of volunteers last week distributed 139 cans to residents looking to keep bears out of their refuse. A mighty thanks to Defenders of Wildlife for providing the cans and shipment to Seattle, a $53,000 value, at zero cost […]
Posted inArts & Culture, Local News
Local environmental writer, organizer, shifts focus to creative communication
Haines writer Shannon Donahue just returned to town after a monthlong stay at the Storyknife writers’ retreat in Homer. During that time, Donahue was awarded the Evangeline Atwood fellowship, which came with a $1,000 stipend. She also published a Chilkat Valley-based lyric poem in the latest edition of the quarterly Catamaran Literary Reader. Donahue talked […]