Haines Borough manager Mark Earnest is reviewing complaints from personnel within the police department about chief Gary Lowe, mayor Stephanie Scott confirmed this week. Scott said Tuesday Earnest is investigating complaints made by employees in the police department, but would not discuss the nature of the complaints. “I am aware that there are personnel complaints within the department regarding the […]
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Downtown revival effort to regroup
An upcoming meeting of the Downtown Revitalization Committee may help determine the direction of the group, which hasn’t met since June. Lenise Henderson Fontenot, who serves as volunteer chair of the informal organization, said that in the coming weeks she’ll call a committee meeting to be attended by Haines Borough Mayor Stephanie Scott and manager Mark Earnest. A date is […]
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Legislature loosens water regs
Haines Borough Mayor Stephanie Scott lamented recent action by the Alaska Legislature to loosen restrictions on cruise ship dumping in state waters. “I lobbied and lobbied and lobbied and lobbied. I’m just sick about it,” Scott said last week after the state Senate voted 15-5 for the bill that would roll back wastewater treatment requirements of the 2006 […]
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Prices push produce effort
The rising cost of local produce has prompted Whiterock Nursery to offer more edibles and to plant two months earlier in the year. The company also is investigating selling fresh greens in local grocery stores, co-owners Jack and Toni Smith said this week. Jack Smith said spending almost $7 on a six-ounce bag of spinach […]
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Assembly still grappling with nonprofit funding
How the Haines Borough should distribute money to local nonprofits has been discussed for years, and the issue continues to vex the assembly. Mayor Stephanie Scott proposed at a borough assembly meeting last month to establish an ad hoc committee to deal with the issue of doling out money to nonprofits, but the resolution failed after assembly members Norm Smith, Jerry […]
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Attorney says assembly erred
The Haines Borough’s attorney has concluded that the assembly committed a procedural error during its Jan. 22 closed-door meeting, but that no remedial action is necessary. Attorney Brooks Chandler wrote in a Feb. 5 memo to Mayor Stephanie Scott that the assembly failed to make a motion to enter into executive session to discuss manager Mark Earnest’s performance […]
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Population grows to 2,620, but may level
The Haines Borough has grown by nearly 4.5 percent in the past two years, but state demographers are saying the current population of 2,620 has likely flat-lined and will not grow substantially beyond that for the next several decades. The borough expanded from 2,508 people to 2,620 between 2010 to 2012, according to recently released population estimates […]
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Borough OKs permit for Alaska Heliskiing
Alaska Heliskiing broke state law, Haines Borough code and its own safety plan during a season that included the deaths of a client and guide, but its violations “do not rise to a level of ‘substantial noncompliance’” for revoking the company’s tour permit, clerk Julie Cozzi ruled this week. “I do not view commercial tour permits as […]
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State to crunch numbers on new ferry plan
A recent state Department of Transportation action scrapping plans for the “Alaska-class” ferry for two, smaller shuttle ferries has spawned a series of regional meetings as well as continued questions and criticism from local leaders. The revised plan stems from an effort DOT started in 2006 aimed at lengthening roads throughout the region and connecting […]
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School ventilators at end of service life
Air-exchange units in Haines High School’s relocated art room that are loud and interfering with teaching need to be replaced, according to facilities director Carlos Jimenez. Replacing the equipment may cost as much as $303,000, but Jimenez said this week he’d pursue a short-term fix including replacing motors, belts and “vibration isolators,” a less expensive […]