The Haines Borough Assembly met Tuesday for the first time with newly elected members Gabe Thomas, Paul Rogers and Zephyr Sincerny. The assembly discussed residents’ concerns regarding increased bear activity in town, the requested relocation of a sauna that’s been five years in the making and assembly member Sean Maidy’s effort to launch a special election. Haines […]
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Posted inMining
Mining committee considers who gets to vote
The Haines Economic Development Corporation discussed the makeup and voting status of members of the Chilkat Valley Mining Forum Committee at its Oct. 18 meeting. Members will review the committee’s organizational documents before offering a recommendation at its next meeting on Nov. 14. HEDC recently added a member to a seat on the committee, which […]
Posted inLetters to the Editor
End the tourism fund restrictions
With each retail dollar spent in Haines, a penny goes into a special Haines Borough fund for “tourism promotion and economic development” (TPED). As commerce grows and prices rise, year to year, the revenue generated by the TPED 1 percent sales tax also increases. In recent years, this means over $600,000 gets deposited into this borough fund […]
Posted inNews
Excursion Inlet part of Hoonah’s borough bid
The City of Hoonah is attempting to form its own borough, and hopes to include Excursion Inlet, currently a part of the Haines Borough and a significant source of tax income. “The rationale is the people of Hoonah have been in the Glacier Bay area for thousands of years,” Hoonah city administrator Dennis Gray Junior said. “The Haines […]
Posted inNews, Public Safety
Haines Avalanche Center to hold free regular classes
Temperatures have begun to dip below freezing, stirring winter recreators and, with them, the Haines Avalanche Center’s announcement for regular avalanche awareness classes. Beginning Nov. 14, free courses will be offered every other Thursday from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the public library. “In past years, we’ve done them sporadically throughout the winter, but this […]
Posted inNews
KHNS annual member meeting update
The KHNS board updated members last month on changes during the past year and expectations for the upcoming year. Sixty-one members attended the public radio station’s annual meeting in Haines and Skagway. In July, KHNS shifted programming and reduced staff to adjust to a total loss of state funding. Program director Marley Horner detailed the […]
Posted inNews, Haines Borough
Sales tax revenue steadily increases
The Haines Borough generated $3.6 million in sales tax revenue for fiscal year 2019, a period spanning July 1, 2018, to June 30, 2019. The total is up 11 percent from last fiscal year, and $400,000 higher than borough predictions, according to data released last week. “There were more sales than we anticipated,” said borough chief financial […]
Posted inNews
Bear mauls local hunter
Around 7 p.m. on Oct. 3, Casey Bradford, 21, and his father Scott Bradford, 55, were moose hunting near Wells Bridge at 25 Mile when a brown bear mauled the young hunter from behind. The bear tore muscle in the back of Casey Bradford’s thigh, where it initially latched on, and damaged nerves when it […]
Posted inNews, Elections
Election seats Thomas, Rogers and Sincerny
Voters Tuesday elected Gabe Thomas and Paul Rogers to serve on the Haines Borough Assembly, according to unofficial results. The third highest in-person vote getter, Zephyr Sincerny, may fill a third vacant seat for a one-year term. On Oct. 8, the seated assembly will tally 72 additional absentee, unverified and special ballot votes to verify counts, […]
Posted inNews
Increased traffic stops, rising DUIs
In the month of September, the Haines Borough Police Department has pulled over more than twice as many drivers as its monthly average of for the last six months. Since April, monthly stops ranged from between six to eight in April, May and June, to about 11 in July and 18 in September. “There is no directive […]