Less than a week after the only state ferry currently serving Haines returned to service, it was broken down again. On March 27, the state Department of Transportation (DOT) cancelled Matanuska sailings through April 2 after efforts to replace a broken crab nut on the vessel’s starboard engine led technicians to discover two defective power-pack […]
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Posted inNews, Alaska Marine Highway System
Assembly to consider supporting improved Juneau access
The Haines Borough Assembly plans to take up a resolution in support of a ferry terminal at Cascade Point, 30 miles north of Juneau’s Auke Bay terminal, at its next regular meeting April 13. “As we’ve seen with our winter ferry service the last couple of years, there’s a lot of drawbacks to the current ferry system,” Mayor Douglas […]
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Why don’t geologists give straight answers?
There’s an old joke among rock experts. Ask a geologist what’s two plus two, they’ll likely answer “somewhere between three and five and close to four,” said local geologist Cindy Buxton who gave an “Introduction to Haines Geology” via Zoom on Thursday, March 25. “It’s not because we can’t add,” Buxton said. “It’s because the […]
Posted inNews, Alaska Marine Highway System
Matanuska breaks down for second time in 2021
The Matanuska ferry, the only Alaska Marine Highway vessel currently serving Haines, is once again experiencing mechanical difficulties, prompting the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities (DOT) to cancel sailings for the third time in just over a year. “I was on vacation for a month in Florida. I was very careful to line […]
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Upper Lynn Canal saw 16-20% decline in bear population in 2020
The Upper Lynn Canal Fish and Game Advisory Committee voted in support of the reduced brown bear harvest limit the Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADFG) announced last week. The new, seven-bear limit is designed to help regrow the population after Game Management Unit 1D, which includes Haines and Skagway, experienced an estimated 16-20% population decline […]
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State denies Virg-Ins assistance for home destroyed in landslide
Steve and Sarah Virg-In’s home was one of the five in Haines that the state has categorized destroyed as a result of the Dec. 2 flooding and landslides. Despite losing the house they owned for 32 years, the Virg-Ins were denied individual assistance from the State of Alaska. He has appealed the state’s decision. On […]
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ADFG reduces bear harvest limit
By Ceri Godinez The Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADFG) has reduced the harvest limit for the spring 2021 brown bear hunt to five, including no more than two females. In past years, the combined limit for spring and fall bears hunts has been 16 in Game Management Unit 1D, which includes Haines and […]
Posted inDuly Noted
Duly Noted
Lauren Rutland is the new Haines Dolphins swim coach. She and husband Ryan Rutland moved to Haines from outside Saginaw, Texas, with their three dogs, two cats and two children, Carson, 5, and Archer, 4. Ryan was recently hired as a Haines Borough Police Department officer. Before moving to Haines, Lauren was doing graphic design work in Texas, and taught swim teams […]
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Beach Road resident returns to his home
Learns to adapt to life without electricity Phil Pink, 71, did not sign up to live off the grid when he moved from Florida to his cabin at the end of Beach Road, but for the past two months he’s been hauling drinking water, gasoline for his generator and propane for his backup heat. Despite […]
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Lynn Canal gillnetters face another year of conservative management restrictions
The Haines gillnet fleet will, once again, see a conservative set of management restrictions for the 2021 season, according to a Feb. 8 press release from the Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADFG). In 2020, upper Lynn Canal fishing was restricted to two days per week in the Eldred Rock Lighthouse area. In southern Lynn Canal, fishing […]