Haines will see more cruise ship passengers this year and next as new cruise lines and ships dock in town. Haines Borough Tourism Director Carolann Wooton said two new cruise lines – Un-Cruise and Windstar Cruises – will stop in Haines 47 times this season, accounting for close to half of 107 total port calls. Un-Cruise […]
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Posted inLetters to the Editor
Let landowners use their land
While serving on the Haines Assembly, I pushed hard for economic development and property owners’ rights. The University of Alaska timber sale will be a huge economic gain for Haines and is a ‘use by right’ within General Use zoning. Timber harvest offers many advantages to nature, not just economics. So much of our local […]
Posted inNews, Haines Borough
Assembly again rejects state money for policing
The Haines Borough Assembly this week rejected for the second time an offer from the state Department of Public Safety to take $25,000 in exchange for accepting police responsibility across the borough. Borough manager Debra Schnabel reintroduced the contract that would require the borough to fund borough-wide policing for the one-time payment. “From my perspective it seems less and […]
Posted inNews, Haines Borough
Assembly again rejects state money for policing
The Haines Borough Assembly this week rejected for the second time an offer from the state Department of Public Safety to take $25,000 in exchange for accepting police responsibility across the borough. Borough manager Debra Schnabel reintroduced the contract that would require the borough to fund borough-wide policing for the one-time payment. “From my perspective it seems less and […]
Posted inNews
Former Haines students come forward alleging sexual abuse by Karl Ward
Four Haines High School alumni came forward this week detailing sexual abuse by former Boy Scout leader, school principal and superintendent Karl Ward, who died 21 years ago. Craig Loomis, Robert Brouillette, Nick Kokotovich and Roger Schnabel allege that Ward fondled them or acted inappropriately toward them while they were visiting at his home. The […]
Posted inNews, Timber
Timber sale troubles assembly; meeting planned
The Haines Borough Assembly is scheduling a public meeting to solicit input on how the borough should respond to the University of Alaska’s timber sale notice. The University announced last week it’s entering into a negotiated sale to harvest roughly 100 million board feet of timber over a 10-year period from its 13,426 acres—the bulk of its […]
Posted inNews
Planner to draft resource extraction ordinance
The Haines Borough Planning Commission is nearing a consensus on the resource extraction definition, but some members don’t think it’s ready to go to the assembly. At a workshop last week, the commission reviewed three options for revisions to the resource extraction code, the culmination of nearly a year of work. Option one amended the definition and […]
Posted inNews, Timber
University aims to sell timber on 13,000 acres
The University of Alaska is entering into a negotiated sale to harvest 13,426 acres of timber from university-owned parcels across the Haines Borough. The University Board of Regents approved the timber sale this week. The sale consists of roughly 100 million board feet of Sitka spruce, western hemlock, cottonwood and birch with an estimated revenue of […]
Posted inNews
Do political whims hamper commercial tour permits?
The Haines Borough Assembly voted last week to approve an ATV tour permit for Alaska Excursions after a process pregnant with controversy. One assembly member voted to support the tour, even though he was against it, because he feared the borough would be sued should it deny the permit. But if the borough can be sued for […]
Posted inNews
Borough prepares for Chilkoot corridor squeeze
Alaska State Parks ranger Travis Russell said he’ll crack down on parking violations along the Chilkoot River corridor this summer in hopes of changing visitor behavior during peak bear and tourist season. The Haines Borough Tourism Advisory Board recommended last week that the borough hire an employee to assist Parks personnel. The assembly had asked the group […]