Four recommendations from the Government Affairs and Services Committee to reform public advisory commissions were advanced for public hearing at the assembly’s regular meeting on Tuesday. Most controversially, a proposal that would give the borough more responsibility over the operations of the Library Advisory Board was advanced for a public hearing on Sept. 26, the […]
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Posted inNews
Planning commission candidate profiles
For the first time in Haines’ history, the planning commission will be elected by the people instead of appointed by the Mayor. Residents voted on the ballot proposition for an elected planning commission during a special election in June, where it passed 445 to 248, a 64% margin. Despite concerns that not enough people will run […]
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Artist James Hart grows into new space as part of Tlingit art revival
At his small art studio on a recent weekday afternoon, 33-year-old Haines artist James Hart was hard at work perfecting a curve on a single pencil line on a piece of tracing paper. Nobody else was in view in Dalton City, where he just rented a studio space. He had only his dog and Bluetooth […]
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Borough defends tax assessments after appeals
More than 200 people have appealed the borough’s new property assessments after some tax bills were hiked by hundreds of dollars under a new computer-assisted mass appraisal system that the borough says is more objective and equitable. The 221 appeals are the most since 2013, when more than 400 were submitted. The new assessments have […]
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Haines challenges Census Count, with millions on the line
The Haines Borough is challenging the U.S. government’s official count of its population, saying the Census Bureau undercounted the town’s population by about 20%. The money threatens millions of dollars of federal funding over the next decade. The 2020 Census reported Haines’ population as 2080, down from 2,508 10 years earlier. That immediately raised red flags for […]
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Gas, insurance, labor: Here’s why Haines flights are so expensive
When Haines resident Greg Podsiki was diagnosed with bladder cancer in 2020, doctors told him he would need to go to Juneau for five laparoscopic surgeries under anesthesia and another half dozen intrusive follow ups. Luckily, doctors caught Podsiki’s cancer in time, but he faced a different sort of challenge: paying for it. Podsiki ultimately […]
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Property tax assessments increase
Property assessments went up by an average of 17% this year as the borough works to implement a new mass appraisal system—borough manager Annette Kreitzer said staff are working on a budget proposal to lower the mill rate in an effort to partially offset a tax hike. The new assessments are closer to market value, […]
Posted inLetters
Choose local over centralized
Though everything connects to everything else, I have neither the language skills nor mental capacity to speak conclusively about the connection between the covid event with its single untested drug solution, the recent failure of two banks in three days, and the grocery distributor taking zero responsibility for sending a customer seven pallets more than […]
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About 2,500 milk half-pint cartons remain at Olerud’s
Grocery store owner Sarah Swinton bolted upright in bed at midnight and said, “Oh, crap.” She thought about the follow-up phone call from a food supplier earlier that day, checking to confirm that her order was accurate. By the time she realized her error, 1,320 gallons of milk were on a barge heading to Olerud’s […]
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Residents wait months for food stamps
In the hardest months of winter, thousands of Alaskans are waiting for food stamps as overdue applications going back half a year pile up. The state has only processed applications from September, state health department commissioner Heidi Hedberg said. There are still 900 food stamp applications that remain from October, and no estimate for how […]