Haines Borough manager Mark Earnest placed police chief Gary Lowe on paid administrative leave Tuesday, making Sgt. Simon Ford acting chief. The assembly voted unanimously Tuesday night to “as soon as possible, hire a hearing officer to facilitate an internal investigation into the complaints against the police chief and his abilities to perform his duties and supervise the police […]
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Posted inNews, Alaska Marine Highway System
Ferry terminal parking crackdown
Ferry system officials are planning to eliminate overnight parking at the Lutak terminal by fall, when construction activities are set to begin. The rebuilt terminal will be surrounded by a locked fence under Homeland Security regulations after planned renovations, said Haines terminal manager Fuzzy von Stauffenberg. “By fall, we’re hoping to achieve compliance because there’s going to […]
Posted inNews
Former bear monitor rejected for tour permit
The Haines Borough Assembly denied a request Tuesday from former bear monitor Shannon Donahue to begin small-scale bear-viewing tours along the Chilkoot River. The assembly split 3-3 on the decision to deny the permit proposed by Donahue. Assembly members Joanne Waterman, Steve Vick and Jerry Lapp voted to award the permit; Debra Schnabel, Dave Berry and Norm Smith were opposed. Mayor Stephanie Scott broke the tie with […]
Posted inDuly Noted
Duly Noted
Kyle Fossman is the inaugural Alaska Airlines Scholar Athlete. The University of Alaska Anchorage scholarship was initiated by Alaska Airlines as part of its sponsorship of the Alaska Airlines Center, a new 5,600-seat, on-campus arena, scheduled to open in fall 2014. The airline’s donation includes $1 million over 10 years for an endowed scholarship, as […]
Posted inNews
Nonprofit funding request process changed
The Haines Borough Assembly is changing its process for doling out funds to local nonprofits, and will be capping allocations from the general fund at $80,000 in its 2014 budget. Borough manager Mark Earnest also will decide how much money to set aside for nonprofits from several other funds, including the tourism and economic development fund, medical service area […]
Posted inDuly Noted
Duly Noted
Ellen Larson was in Haines this week, taking walks and recuperating from brain surgery to remove a non-malignant tumor that was putting pressure on her optic nerve and causing her vision to blur. She was diagnosed in late January and went under the knife Feb. 7 at Barrow Neurological Center in Phoenix, Ariz. Twelve days […]
Posted inNews
Property value hike upsets land owners
Land value assessments that increased as much as 800 percent triggered confusion and anger among Haines property owners this week. The Haines Borough sent out its 2013 property assessments March 13 and began receiving appeals as soon as the next day, according to assistant assessor Dean Olsen. No reason was provided with the mailed assessments for the […]
Posted inNews
Union: Complaint mishandled
The union representative of Haines Borough workers this week said manager Mark Earnest has been “out of line” and not compliant with procedure in dealing with an employee complaint against police chief Gary Lowe. Though he received a formal complaint against Lowe on Feb. 19, Earnest did not contact the complainant until Tuesday to provide an explanation of how the […]
Posted inNews
‘Corrective action’ for Lowe
The Haines Borough Assembly directed the manager during a March 12 special meeting to “apply corrective action” to address the assembly’s concerns about police chief Gary Lowe’s behavior during a March 5 assembly meeting. “Appropriate public comments in dealing with personnel matters” and “appreciation for a respectful relationship between law enforcement and the media” were the two […]
Posted inNews
Planners endorse downtown committee
The Haines Borough Planning Commission voted unanimously last week that the Downtown Revitalization Committee should become an ad hoc committee that acts as an advisory group to the commission. Commission chair Rob Goldberg said the Mayor would appoint seven members to the committee, including one planning commission member, one Haines Chamber of Commerce member, a representative of the Chilkoot […]