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Borough pursues bonds for school

Acting as a combined body, the Haines Borough Assembly and school board voted Tuesday to begin a process that could put $6.94 million in school improvements before voters in October in the form of school bonds. The group voted to spend up to $6,000 to apply through a state program that reimburses the borough up to 70 percent for […]

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Olympic torch may come back

It’s been nearly 30 years since Haines funded former resident Nadine Price’s trip to Seattle, where the college runner carried the 1984 Olympic torch for the summer games held in Los Angeles. Price, who grew up in Haines, wants to give her torch and torchbearer uniform to the Sheldon Museum. “Really, what am I doing […]

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Downtown effort to get new life?

The Downtown Revitalization Committee is one small step closer to coming back to life following years of stagnation. Last March, the planning commission voted unanimously to make the revitalization committee an ad-hoc, seven member advisory group under the wing of the commission. Since then, there have been no meetings or forward movement. However, following prompting by Mayor Stephanie […]

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Assembly considers broadcasting its meetings

Residents not inclined to venture out to observe the goings-on of their local government may soon be able to tune in to Haines Borough Assembly meetings live on their televisions. Borough staff members are investigating options for broadcasting live assembly and planning commission meetings on local cable television, interim manager Julie Cozzi said. They are also looking […]

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Permanent Fund interest unspent

For years, the Haines Borough has not used the full share of the interest it’s authorized to spend annually from the borough’s $8 million permanent fund. Whether to tap into that pool – about $1.4 million in the fund’s “earnings reserve” – likely will be a topic for borough assembly leaders as they take up the coming […]

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Staff floats budget proposals

Preliminary budget discussions between the Haines Borough Assembly and department heads Feb. 10 yielded several suggestions for the fiscal year 2015 budget, including expanding the administration building, installing security cameras at several borough facilities and restructuring the tourism director position. The four-hour meeting was informal, with each department head giving a brief rundown of budget needs and […]

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ANB/ANS honor 3 on Peratrovich Day

Haines ANB and ANS on Sunday honored residents Mike Denker, David Light and the late Brendan Larson as people whose work helped the cause of civil rights in Haines. The recognition was part of a local celebration of Elizabeth Peratrovich Day. “The things (the honorees) have done have helped advance understanding between people and cultures,” […]

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Assembly considers ‘action’ minutes

Due to a recent months-long backlog in the production of meeting minutes, Haines Borough staff is proposing the clerk be required to produce only a stripped-down account of meetings. Interim clerk Michelle Webb is recommending the clerk be required to take “action-only” minutes, which do not document discussions leading up to decisions or motions. Action minutes are […]

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Assembly retracts mining letter

The Haines Borough Assembly last week voted to send a retraction letter to a state agency after discovering a previous letter had been sent without assembly approval. The initial letter was sent to the Alaska Mental Health Trust Land Office regarding the potential leasing of nearly 100,000 acres of land near Haines to mineral exploration and production. […]