A white paper on the Lutak Dock A special meeting last week that Haines Borough Manager Alekka Fullerton said “fractured our community” did not need to happen, she said Tuesday during the body’s regular meeting. Last week’s meeting was called primarily to take a vote on sending a document to the federal agency providing Lutak […]
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Posted inLocal News
Rate hike rejected, residents to be refunded for portion of electricity increases
The state’s utility regulators struck down a 69.92% electricity rate increase proposed by the Upper Lynn Canal’s electric utility. Alaska Power Company, the region’s lone electricity supplier, first sought a rate increase from the Regulatory Commission of Alaska a year and a half ago to pay for a costly replacement of an underwater transmission cable […]
Posted inLocal News
Dock meeting leaves Lutak Dock project in limbo
The Lutak Dock redesign project is in limbo after a meeting borough manager Alekka Fullerton described as a “huge step back.” Borough staff say they’re ready to submit a “white paper,” a document that explains to the federal agency funding much of the project what the new dock design, selected in April, will entail. As […]
Posted inLocal News
Chilkoot campground closed indefinitely
One of the most widely used campgrounds in the Chilkat Valley is closed. The Alaska Division of Parks, part of the Department of Natural Resources, has decided not to open the Chilkoot Lake State Recreation Area campground this summer “[It’s] kind of an alarming development,” said borough mayor Tom Morphet during Tuesday evening’s assembly meeting. […]
Posted inLetters to the Editor
Pass the plastic bag ban
In 2019, sixth-graders at Haines School asked the Haines Borough Assembly to pass a law prohibiting use of a certain type of plastic shopping bags (HDPE) that are not biodegradable, can’t be composted and are prone to cracking. These bags break down in our environment, are ingested by fish and seafood and accumulate in our […]
Posted inLocal News
New bald eagle stamp unveiled in Haines
A crowd gathered Friday for the ceremonial unveiling of a new U.S. Postal Service stamp designed to celebrate the country’s 250th birthday. The stamps, illustrated by David Sibley, show the eagle from hatchling to adulthood. And, as American Bald Eagle Foundation Director Aaron Cleveland told the crowd, they are a conservation success story. The bird […]
Chilkat Valley Newsletter Friday May 15
A Haines graduate is helping test what could become a new direction for Alaska’s fishing fleet: hybrid-electric commercial boats. Chandler Kemp, now an engineering professor at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, helped design a hybrid propulsion system for the F/V Mirage, a Sitka longliner believed to be the first commercial fishing vessel in the country […]
Posted inLocal News, Haines Borough
Assembly briefs: A new direction on the budget, a Lutak Inlet tour and a cop on call
Next year’s budget Assembly members held a public hearing on next year’s budget and, while they did vote to add $1,000 to support volunteer recruitment and retention by the Haines Volunteer Fire Department, the majority of the discussion was centered on a proposal to potentially cut staff. Assembly member Eben Sargent kicked off the discussion […]
Posted inLocal News
Borough receives a million dollars for childcare, hasn’t decided how to spend it.
The Haines Borough has been awarded a million dollars in federal money for childcare, but some say spending restrictions may prevent it from addressing the most pressing childcare needs. The funding has been specifically granted for an “early childhood education building,” according to an April 28 letter to the borough from the United States Department […]