All six Haines assembly candidates are sick of debating helicopter skiing. Keeping basic infrastructure up to snuff iscc a big worry, along with the big piccture of Haines’ future. Then there’s the borough’s $500,000 deficit. The six candidates outlined problems and concerns, but were light on specific fix-it proposals at a Wednesday forum at the […]
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Posted inLetters to the Editor
Other newspapers are run by politicians
Who ruled that newspaper publishers can’t hold public office and continue to operate their newspapers? Lew Williams, Jr. was Mayor of Petersburg while he published the Petersburg Press from 1956-1966. His son Lew III is currently in his third term as Ketchikan’s Mayor and he and sister Tena Williams publish the Ketchikan Daily News. Council news and opinions are […]
Posted inNews, Haines Borough
Borough offers forestry office, car
Haines Borough Manager Bill Seward this week offered office “space, utilities and transportation” for five years to the state’s Division of Forestry in response to plans to close the Haines forestry office. Seward made the offer Tuesday in a meeting with state forester Chris Maisch attended by Mayor Jan Hill, facilities director Brad Ryan, assemblyman Ron Jackson […]
Posted inElections, News
Race for borough assembly swells to 6 candidates
Three new candidates will vie for two open seats on the Haines Borough Assembly alongside incumbent Diana Lapham and challengers Judy Erekson and Heather Lende, who already filed. Chilkat Valley News publisher Tom Morphet, commercial fisherman Ryan Cook and Moose Horn Laundry owner Leonard Dubber filed their candidacy paperwork with the borough before Friday’s 5 p.m. deadline […]
Posted inNews
Assembly holds off on nonprofit funding
The Haines Borough Assembly stalled appropriations for local nonprofits Tuesday, delaying discussion of any funding for three months. The group also adopted new rules for making changes to commercial heli-ski maps used by tour operators. Assembly member Margaret Friedenauer urged the group to officially designate $32,500 in assembly appropriations in the general fund, $15,000 in the medical […]
Posted inNews
Turner wins award for supporting town
The Haines Borough Assembly meeting on Tuesday kicked off with an exceptional amount of back-patting, including the presentation of a new award created by police chief Heath Scott. Scott, who started on the job July 18, gave the first “Exceptional Service in Support of the Community Award” to Don Turner. “I know I’m the new guy, but […]
Posted inNews
Assembly comment time mulled
Audience members who ask questions and voice concerns during the public comment period at the beginning of Haines Borough Assembly meetings could soon be hearing responses from elected leaders. Traditionally, members of the public are invited to comment, but assembly members do not immediately reply. During a July 27 meeting, for example, Don Highsmith asked questions about […]
Posted inNews, Elections
Few turn out for assembly training day
A new program aimed at training residents contemplating a run for Haines Borough Assembly drew little interest this week, with three members of the public attending the Monday session led by Mayor Jan Hill and clerk Julie Cozzi. Leonard Dubber, Judy Erekson and Debra Schnabel turned out. Erekson said in an interview after the meeting she was “fairly committed” to running for […]
Posted inNews
Borough worker raises OK’d: $351K
The Haines Borough will spend an additional $351,600 on its employees over the course of the next three years following the assembly’s ratification of a new labor contract Tuesday. That’s on top of the $4.12 million the borough is currently spending on its employees’ wages, health insurance and other miscellaneous expenses like retirement, according to chief fiscal […]
Posted inNews
Buzz-in entry at borough defeated
On a 4-2 vote, the Haines Borough Assembly on Tuesday rejected Bill Seward’s proposal to install a buzz-in security door at the administration building. Assembly members Diana Lapham and Mike Case voted against the motion, saying they didn’t want to “micromanage” Seward. In a recorded interview with the CVN last week, Seward detailed plans to redesign the […]