Journalist Priska Neely from Birmingham, Alabama visited friends in Haines recently. This was Neely’s first visit to Alaska. She said the highlights of the trip were kayaking on Chilkoot Lake, operating a stick-shift vehicle for the first time in five years, whale-spotting, picnicking on Battery Point Trail, and having the best nap of her life. […]
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Posted inLocal News
Chilkoot campground may reopen this summer
The indefinite closure of Haines’ popular Chilkoot campground may be coming to an end. The Alaska Division of State Parks, which administers the Chilkoot Lake campground, has kept the facility and its 32 camp sites closed this season due to what they say is understaffing. Now, state parks has advertised a new park technician position, […]
Posted inLetters to the Editor
We should be pitching in for the cost of the AP&T rate lawsuit
I was schooled to tip the dealer if dealt a win at the table. I’ve benefitted, and the dealer is acknowledged as contributing to my good fortune. The Skagway Borough recently won a court decision that saved AP&T customers in Skagway and Haines potential charges of over $4 million, the estimated cost of replacing the […]
Posted inNews, Elections
Alaska governor’s race survey: how much should companies pay in oil taxes?
Legislative discussion of Alaska’s system of oil production taxes gained increasing traction this year, as the state grapples with a structural deficit. Legislative leaders say they’ve had conversations about hiring consultants that could review the tax system, which has in the past been a key revenue source for the state. Late in this year’s legislative session, […]
Posted inLocal News
Huna Totem Corporation interested in cruise ship dock
A second company has expressed interest in operating Haines’ cruise ship dock but says it has not yet received a response from the borough. The status of the municipal facility has been hotly debated since April, when Global Ports Holding, a cruise terminal management company, expressed interest in leasing and operating the facility. Now, Huna […]
Posted inLocal News
Assembly Briefs: A new budget, movement on the Lutak Dock and the question of a new tax
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 […]
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 […]