The Klukwan School’s parent district, the Chatham School District, is sharing its newest superintendent with a state-run boarding school as of July 1. David Langford will explore options to share services and costs between the state-run high school on Japonski Island near Sitka, and the rural school district that encompasses Klukwan, Angoon, Gustavus and Tenakee […]
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Posted inEducation, Local News, Transportation
Haines schools to lease buses for student transportation this year
After months of wrangling and a controversial decision to drop busing for the year, the Haines board of education voted to lease up to three buses and take on the responsibility of transporting students to and from school this year. The vote came after Superintendent Lilly Boron presented a transportation plan to the board during […]
Posted inArts & Culture, Local News
With local apprentices, three totem pole replications for Noow Hit are underway
The smell of red cedar lingers in a repurposed shop where Haida carver Sgwaayaans TJ Young, and local Lingít artists Rob Martin and James G̱ooch Éesh Hart worked for more than a week. Three red cedar logs are on blocks in the space. The trio work hard on the largest of them — a 31-foot […]
Posted inEnvironment, Gatherer's Notebook
Cold, wet season sends plants for a loop
The Chilkat Valley has seen months of out-of-sorts weather: with heavy rainfall and unseasonable cold, before a recent dry spell. With the tail end of the growing season approaching, gardeners say the unpredictability has brought changes to the harvest. The odd weather began in earnest towards the end of April and into May, which together […]
Posted inLocal News
Cemetery caretakers, Takshanuk in dispute over Sawmill Road parcel
A boundary conflict between neighbors on Sawmill Road exploded into the open last week, threatening the future of a community composting facility, and, some say, the future of the borough-owned Jones Point Cemetery. The composting facility, built by local non-profit Takshanuk Watershed Council (Takshanuk), sits on land diagonally across Sawmill Road from the nearest headstones […]
Posted inLocal News
Lutheran volunteers visit Haines for the third year
A Minnesota Lutheran volunteer group that first came to Haines in 2023 to aid in landslide recovery returned this month for its third, and potentially final year in town. The group’s work, largely wood processing this year, has evolved since it started. In the immediate aftermath of the slide, Anchorage Lutheran organization Alaska Mission for […]
Posted inLocal News, Public Safety
New reporting standards, not record temps, prompt first-ever heat advisory
Haines holds the record for the hottest temperature ever reported to the National Weather Service in Southeast Alaska. On July 31, 1976, a gauge in town clocked a scorching 98 degrees. Friday was the first day of the region’s first-ever heat advisory, but downtown was breezy, with temperatures in the high 60s to low-70s for […]
Posted inPublic Safety, Local News
Canadian blazes make for hazy days
Smoke from Canadian wildfires is being blown into the Chilkat Valley, at times cloaking the area with a haze, and it’s likely to get worse later this week. The Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation put out an air quality advisory on Wednesday that is set to remain in place until Friday afternoon. The greatest impact […]
Posted inDuly Noted
Duly Noted: A bear hunt, a new VPSO, the Firewood Ministry, bear proof trashcans, a hike with the library
John and Barb Nettelton went for a drive out the road and came home with a black bear. They spotted the bear around 17 Mile Haines highway. John took the shot and the bear ran about 100 feet before it fell, but not in the direction of the truck. They were fortunate to have a […]
Posted inLocal News, Klukwan, Public Safety
Chilkat Valley communities prepare for future landslides
Klukwan researchers and emergency planners have been responding to the village’s landslide risk with efforts to develop an early warning system and prevent damage to the village from a slide area and debris fan near Mile 23 of the Haines Highway. Chilkat Indian Village Landslides Hazards Program consultant Jess Kayser Forster, geologist and landslide researcher […]