On Tuesday, the Haines Borough Assembly rejected an ordinance that would have given the borough the ability to enforce its recommended 14-day quarantine requirement. At a meeting on March 24, the assembly passed a resolution requiring people entering the borough to quarantine for 14 days with exemptions for workers traveling to support critical infrastructure. To have their […]
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Posted inNews
Haines asks state for autonomy in COVID-19 response
Haines Borough has asked the governor’s administration for a waiver allowing the community to set more restrictive social-distancing measures to promote community safety. At a town hall meeting Tuesday, borough manager and Emergency Operations Center incident commander Debra Schnabel said the borough has taken this step in response to concerns raised by community members about workers from […]
Posted inNews
Borough manager proposes minor cuts in draft budget
On April 1, Haines Borough manager Debra Schnabel released a draft budget containing only modest cuts despite a projected decrease in revenue resulting from COVID-19. Some of the more significant cuts Schnabel proposed in her draft budget include: pay freezes for non-union positions, furlough for all employees, a borough-wide freeze on travel, transfer of the Community Youth Development Program […]
Posted inNews, Haines Borough
Should the public library stop foyer pickup?
The Haines Borough Public Library resumed offering pickup service this week after closing March 25, but that may end Tuesday when the assembly will vote on a draft resolution to stop the exchange of any materials, even pickups. Library director Carolynn Goolsby closed the library last month. “I told people to stay home because of the (borough’s) […]
Posted inNews, Public Safety
Police tell residents to stay home as state mandates ‘social distancing’
Governor Mike Dunleavy’s self-quarantine mandate hit home for Bob Lix, 89, this week after the Haines Police department called and told him, and his family, not to leave his apartment. Police also told Ian Seward and out-of-towner Tyler Young to self-quarantine. Young traveled to Haines from Oregon on Wednesday, March 25 to purchase Seward’s 38-foot wooden troller […]
Posted inLetters to the Editor
Outside workers not ‘essential’
I encourage residents to contact Haines Borough Assembly members, Mayor Jan Hill and manager Debra Schnabel and urge them not to exempt from 14-day quarantine workers arriving from outside our community to work on elective construction projects like the harbor expansion. The existing harbor works fine for now. Expanding the harbor is a project we’ve delayed for decades. There’s no good public […]
Posted inNews
Residents question quarantine enforcement at town hall meeting
At a virtual town hall meeting Tuesday night, Emergency Operations Center members and medical and emergency services staff fielded questions from Haines residents related to COVID-19 and social-distancing measures in the community. Many questions focused on the potential for people entering the community to circumvent quarantine requirements, especially construction crews, who will be exempt. Haines […]
Posted inNews, Haines Borough
Haines assembly issues ‘shelter in place’ order
At a meeting on Tuesday, the Haines Borough Assembly passed a series of resolutions and ordinances to mitigate the threat COVID-19 poses for public health and the local economy. The measures include issuing a “shelter in place” order, requiring that people entering the community quarantine for 14 days, extending last week’s emergency declaration and appropriating emergency funds […]
Posted inNews
Heliski companies shut down despite banner snow season
Heliskiing operators are suspending their seasons during one of the better snow years in a decade to help slow the spread of coronavirus in Haines. “It’s the heliski operator’s dream forecast,” Alaska Heliskiing owner Sean Brownell said last week of recent conditions and forecasts of sunny days intermixed with snow. “To wrap things up when it’s so […]
Posted inNews
Haines Borough issues disaster declaration
Haines Borough Mayor Jan Hill issued a declaration of emergency Tuesday as the state and nation adapt to a torrent of recommendations, mandates and information regarding the COVID-19 pandemic. The declaration, outlined in code, qualifies the borough to receive financial assistance from the federal government, borough manager Debra Schnabel said. Schnabel has been meeting twice daily with public officials and […]