The future of the annual, Fourth of July fireworks display was in question this week, following a 4-1 vote by the Haines Borough Assembly March 27 against taking on insurance liability for the display. Member Debra Schnabel voted to provide the coverage. Joanne Waterman was absent. Haines Chamber of Commerce president Ned Rozbicki recently told the assembly the business group is […]

Staff turnover reached the top of the Haines Borough this week, as manager Mark Earnest submitted his resignation, effective June 15. “We’re getting good at changing managers, and I don’t want it to be taken lightly,” said Daymond Hoffman of the Haines Borough Assembly. “I think we really need to find out, from Mark, what we can do better, what we can […]

The Haines Borough is seeking a federal grant to purchase and install a new dispatch console that would improve response to 911 calls. “Thank goodness I do not have to call 911 very often, and the one instance where I did have to call it, it was very frustrating, because the equipment is so old, and on […]

After considerable discussion, the Haines Borough Assembly has dropped the idea of making its harbormaster a “peace officer.” That puts the local job on similar footing with the harbor chief in Skagway, but with less authority than the same job in Juneau. Skagway harbormaster Matt O’Boyle said municipal code does not designate him as a peace officer, […]

Applications for the Haines Borough’s new permanent, full-time executive assistant to the borough manager are due 5 p.m. Monday, April 9. The Haines Borough Assembly last week approved going forward with the hire, expected to cost an estimated $81,000 annually as a permanent position with benefits. The job, vacant since July, previously was a non-benefited, temporary position. […]

The Haines Borough is planning improvements to the Haines School vocational education building, located at the corner of Old Haines Highway and Allen Road. According to the project manual, work will include interior finish, window and Americans with Disabilities Act upgrades and installation of some new siding on the approximately 900-square-foot structure. Bids were due Monday, March […]

The potential for shipping ore from the Yukon Territory through Haines is slim unless trucks can back-haul liquid natural gas from here on return trips to help power mines, according to a recent Haines Borough report. Residents Darsie Culbeck and Debra Schnabel returned from the Mineral Exploration Roundup in Vancouver with the message that liquid natural gas might help […]

Are security cameras around Haines waterfront locations a good security measure or an example of Big Brother government infringing on the privacy of residents? The question was zipping around the Internet this week, in advance of a resolution before the Haines Borough Assembly to accept a $233,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security for fencing […]

The Haines Borough Assembly on Tuesday approved hiring a full-time executive assistant to manager Mark Earnest, a position that would cost an estimated $81,000 annually. “It was a busy workload a year ago, and it’s even busier now,” Earnest said. “We just need to find a person who would fit the criteria and be a good fit, and […]

Haines Assisted Living is negotiating to buy the Thunderbird Motel as the site of a possible veterans’ home in Haines. Purchase would be funded by a $500,000 legislative appropriation secured by state Rep. Bill Thomas, R-Haines, to HAL last year for a feasibility study of a home. The appropriation also could be used to reduce HAL […]