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 […]
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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 […]
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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 […]
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‘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 […]
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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 […]
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DA visit aims at training
Assistant District Attorney Amy Williams will travel to Haines March 27 to discuss training for the Haines Borough Police Department, Mayor Stephanie Scott said last week. Williams said the exact nature of the training and information sessions has not yet been decided. When asked whether her training or instruction would address driving under the influence arrests and the legalities surrounding […]
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Special meeting on Lowe Friday
Haines Borough Assembly members have called a special meeting to be held 5:30 p.m. Friday to discuss police chief Gary Lowe’s actions during the March 5 assembly meeting. Members Joanne Waterman, Jerry Lapp and Debra Schnabel made a written request for the special meeting Wednesday afternoon. Code requires requests from three assembly members for the scheduling of a special meeting. […]
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Manager reports on police chief
Haines Borough manager Mark Earnest reported Tuesday the results of his investigation into complaints made from within the police department against chief Gary Lowe. Earnest told the assembly he received a complaint from an employee within the department and subsequently conducted multiple interviews with officers and dispatch personnel to investigate. The interviews yielded “suggestions, ideas and concerns” […]
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Lowe: Morphet threatened me
Haines Borough Police Chief Gary Lowe this week said Chilkat Valley News editor Tom Morphet threatened him personally after a discussion about the newspaper’s access to police call logs. Lowe said he met Feb. 14 with Morphet, reporter Karen Garcia and manager Mark Earnest to discuss newspaper access to logs. Before Lowe was hired as chief, reporters had access […]
Posted inNews, Alaska Marine Highway System
Borough’s ferry plan response
The Haines Borough Assembly voted Tuesday to establish an ad-hoc, three-person committee to follow issues related to the Alaska-class ferries, following the release of draft design plans for the two shuttle ferries last week by the Alaska Department of Transportation. Borough nominees for the committee to date include assembly member Joanne Waterman, borough planning commissioner Robert Venables, and […]