The Haines Borough school board on June 29 approved a $4.8 million general fund budget for the coming year that includes borrowing at least $152,000 from savings. The document does not include the cost of a contract settlement with teachers expected to come later this summer. Teachers have said they want changes to the district’s salary schedule and […]
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Posted inNews
Borough adopts worker technology policy
The Haines Borough is instituting a new technology policy applying to Internet and email use, mobile devices and personal social media accounts. The administration developed the policy and a training PowerPoint presentation for all borough employees and elected officials, manager David Sosa said. Employees will sign a policy acknowledgement form to be included in their personnel files. […]
Posted inNews
Residents revel; sun caps 4th festivities
“The Slayers,” a team of teenagers, upended perennial champion Kevin Shove’s squad in the Mad Raft Race and Chandler Kemp cruised to victory in the Mount Ripinsky Run during sun-drenched Fourth of July festivities in Haines Saturday. Hundreds of residents turned out at Tlingit park for games and refreshments. The line of youths waiting to serve as […]
Posted inNews
What’s in the water?
The Haines Borough weathered an E. coli scare last week, but there are other contaminants of concern in the town’s water. Like many rural Alaskan communities, the borough is struggling to control levels of potentially toxic byproducts in its water. The byproducts form when organic matter in water from Lily Lake and the Piedad spring mixes with […]
Posted inNews, Police
Public scrutinizes minor offense law
An ordinance establishing a minor offenses fee schedule has residents asking why many of the laws are even on the books, and why Haines Borough employees other than police officers should be authorized to enforce them. According to manager David Sosa, an Alaska Supreme Court ruling that became effective in April 2013 mandated that municipalities have a […]
Posted inLetters to the Editor
Reporter’s story buys harbor more time
Kudos to Karen Garcia and the CVN for setting the record straight on funding issues related to the harbor expansion project. It is remarkable that no one from the Haines Borough called the state to verify whether funds might in fact be lost or that a July 2017 drop-dead date actually existed for spending the appropriation. Baseless […]
Posted inNews
No penalty for Jewell breaking contract
The Haines Borough school board considered but chose not to pursue a penalty against departing superintendent Ginger Jewell for breaking a three-year contract after only one year on the job, board chair Anne Marie Palmieri said this week. “I think we can go our separate ways with grace,” Palmieri said this week. Jewell’s contract binds her to standards […]
Posted inNews
Cruise ships get half-price fees
The Haines Borough Assembly on Tuesday agreed to waive 50 percent of docking fees for every new and existing cruise ship that visits the Port Chilkoot Dock during the 2017-2019 seasons. The assembly voted 5-1 to approve the resolution granting the fee waivers, with assembly member Ron Jackson opposed. Though assembly members tossed out vague potential changes […]
Posted inNews
Staff will align code, policy on agenda
The Haines Borough Assembly voted Tuesday to have manager David Sosa and clerk Julie Cozzi ensure code and policy are aligned when it comes to how items get on the assembly’s agenda. The vote follows a recent presentation by resident Mike Denker to the Government Affairs and Services Committee, where Denker argued code and policy are in […]
Posted inNews
Exchange will feature modern-day trade goods: ‘Zamboni’ and sockeye
In what’s being described as a locally flavored cultural exchange, Haines is set to receive a Zamboni-like ice-grooming machine from Haines Junction, Y.T., in a trade for a haul of fresh sockeye fillets. Under plans being made in the two towns, the swap will culminate in a Yukon salmon feed on Canada Day July 1 […]