Biologist Tim Shields recently let the Haines Borough Planning Commission in on a little secret – there’s a pond at the airport teeming with toads. One sunny day two weeks ago, Shields pulled back some brush at the pond to expose a pile of baby toads – as many as 500 heaped up in a softball-sized mound […]
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Posted inNews
Court denies Williamson suit
A state Superior Court judge has ruled against the family of a boy who drowned at Port Chilkoot Dock in May 2010 and sued the Haines Borough for negligence. Larry and Chetra Williamson had sought $1 million, saying the municipality demonstrated gross negligence, including by not posting hazard signs at the popular swimming beach. In granting summary […]
Posted inNews, Public Safety
Motorized use at beach resurfaces
The Haines Borough Assembly will look into putting teeth into a state directive against use of motorized vehicles on Chilkat River beaches. Confusion among area residents, borough staff and law enforcement officials over the legality of riding ATVs on the beaches led Mayor Stephanie Scott to investigate the issue. Scott concluded that while commercial motorized use is prohibited, personal use of ATVs […]
Posted inNews
Personnel committee to get records issue
The Haines Borough Personnel Committee will take up the issue of whether to tighten public access to personnel records, including employee evaluations and job applications. The assembly forwarded the ordinance, which had its first public hearing Tuesday, to the personnel committee for review. If passed, the ordinance would make performance evaluations and job applications of many borough […]
Posted inNews
Why so few assembly candidates?
With only two names appearing on the fall municipal ballot for two seats open on the Haines Borough Assembly, interest in serving on the town’s main decision-making body has reached the lowest point since at least 2002, when the former City of Haines and Haines Borough merged into a single government. The paucity of assembly candidates is particularly […]
Posted inNews
School district’s numbers up
Classes started Tuesday for the Haines Borough School District, with an enrollment of about 263 students, 10 more than were projected last year, including eight more in the high school. “We’re a little above projections, but people are still coming and going,” said Lori Giddings, elementary school secretary. Enrollment of only nine students at Mosquito Lake […]
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Borough may get help on manager hire
The Haines Borough Assembly appears to be leaning toward hiring a headhunting firm to find the municipality’s next manager, but assembly members still want some details hammered out first. The assembly met Monday as a committee of the whole to discuss how to move forward with the hiring of a new manager. Manager Mark Earnest said last week he’d […]
Posted inNews
Teacher recruits have wide histories
Four teachers representing a wide diversity of life and teaching experiences have joined the staff of the Haines Borough School District for the coming year. TAMMY HAMILTON For second-grade teacher Tammy Hamilton, taking a job here feels like coming home. Hamilton grew up in Juneau and is the granddaughter of Hank and Edith Jacquot of Haines. She […]
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Tighten access to public records?
The Haines Borough Assembly last week introduced an ordinance that would restrict public access to employee evaluations and applications for borough jobs. Borough attorney Brooks Chandler drafted an ordinance at the request of manager Mark Earnest that would make performance evaluations and job applications of many borough employees confidential and inaccessible to the public. The Chilkat Valley News […]
Posted inNews, Elections
‘Corporate personhood’ issue advances
Haines Borough voters will likely get a chance to strike a blow against “corporate personhood” when they go to local polls Oct. 1. Clerk Julie Cozzi this week reported said that a petition with 291 signatures submitted to the borough Aug. 6 probably contains the required 216 valid signatures to go on the municipal ballot. […]