The state Division of Forestry office in Haines would close under a proposal being considered by the Alaska Legislature’s House Finance Committee. The measure would end the Division of Forestry’s resource management program and close all of the division’s offices in Southeast. The Haines office manages the 286,000 acres of the Haines State Forest. […]
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Posted inNews
Town rolls out welcome mat for skiers
Up to 100 skiers, snowboarders, media representatives, sponsors and event organizers arrive in Haines next week for the Freeride World Tour, and the town is gearing up. Haines Borough tourism director Leslie Ross said many of the event organizers and media will begin to arrive Saturday, with the rest of the group – including competitors – […]
Posted inNews
Again, preschool seeking new home
The Chilkat Valley Preschool’s plans to buy part of a building on Willard Street have fallen through due to zoning issues, preschool administrator Renee Hoffman said this week. The preschool, housed in the Haines Borough’s Human Resources Building, intended to move into about two-thirds of the building owned by Sue Folletti, buying those sections of […]
Posted inNews
Noise, cop studies get assembly’s OK
The Haines Borough Assembly approved a major spending package Tuesday, including $41,300 to study helicopter noise, $22,000 to study the police department and $100,000 for planning toward Lutak Dock improvements. The assembly voted 5-1 to approve the package, with assembly member Ron Jackson opposed. Mayor Jan Hill broke the tie in favor of including the noise study in the spending package, […]
Posted inNews
Nonprofits: Tax change a squeeze
Leaders of local nonprofits say proposed changes to how their organizations apply and qualify for property tax exemptions would put financial and administrative strain on them, jeopardizing their effectiveness and ability to operate in the community. The Haines Borough Assembly introduced an ordinance Tuesday that would change how the municipality grants community purpose exemptions to nonprofits. The […]
Posted inLetters to the Editor
Fish tax should pay for seine, troll floats
I read with interest your Dec. 16, 2014 article on the raw fish tax the Haines Borough receives, mostly from the purse seine catches. I enthusiastically support Bill Thomas’ statements about some of that money being spent on harbors for the fishermen, but more specifically for the fishermen who produce the bulk of that tax, the purse […]
Posted inNews
Museum is village’s only capital request
The village of Klukwan has only one capital request to the Alaska Legislature this year: $750,000 for help paying for completion of the Jilkaat Kwaan Heritage Center. Heritage center director Lani Hotch said the requested appropriation is half the $1.5 million the project must raise to reach a “tipping point” of 75 percent of total funding. Reaching […]
Posted inNews, Public Safety
State’s safest town? Police tout rating
The Haines Borough Police Department this week touted a ranking of the municipality as the “safest town in Alaska,” posting a “Five Safest Cities” badge to its Facebook page. SafeWise, a private company that allows users to compare home security systems, developed a list of the top five safest cities in Alaska with populations above 2,000. The […]
Posted inNews
Highway schools at crossroads
Haines Borough Manager David Sosa directed Mosquito Lake School advocates in December to describe the future of the school in relation to Klukwan School, an elementary and high school located less than five miles away inside the boundaries of the Chilkat Indian village. “If we have a situation where we have two struggling schools, that is not […]
Posted inNews
Should workers get to assess manager?
With Haines Borough Manager David Sosa’s one-year anniversary approaching, so too is his first performance evaluation. On Wednesday, assembly members will meet to discuss the procedure for evaluating him. Historically, only assembly members have assessed the manager, using evaluation forms and holding discussions in executive session. Employees, who work in the same building as the manager on […]