One week after an avalanche claimed the lives of a heli-ski client and guide, key details of the March 13 accident are missing, including its precise location. Alaska State Trooper Josh Bentz said Wednesday he has asked Alaska Heliskiing four or five times for the coordinates of the accident, information he needs to complete his […]

To avoid “awkward” requests for Haines Borough letters to support outside funding for local organizations, Mayor Stephanie Scott said she would now seek assembly approval before responding to those inquiries. Scott at an assembly meeting last month said the borough supported state funding for American Legion, Chilkat Valley Preschool, Haines Senior Center and Takshanuk Watershed Council projects to meet a […]

Haines Assisted Living is negotiating to buy the Thunderbird Motel as the site of a possible veterans’ home in Haines. Purchase would be funded by a $500,000 legislative appropriation secured by state Rep. Bill Thomas, R-Haines, to HAL last year for a feasibility study of a home. The appropriation also could be used to reduce HAL […]

The Haines Borough Assembly last week approved an ordinance for spot checks of global positioning system data to monitor compliance with helicopter skiing regulations. Assemblymen Daymond Hoffman and Norm Smith were opposed in the 4-2 vote. As introduced in January, the ordinance would have required regular reporting of GPS data, but kept it confidential unless required in an investigation or court […]

A Haines Borough contingent won’t be making the trip to Washington, D.C., this spring. “There are so many things that need to be tended to here in the borough, and I feel an absence from the borough should only be undertaken if it’s absolutely required,” said Mayor Stephanie Scott. She sought assembly approval last week to cancel the annual […]

A “roundtable” discussion with Sen. Lisa Murkowski at the American Bald Eagle Foundation was canceled last month due to weather that prevented her travel. Haines Borough Mayor Stephanie Scott this week said the visit might be re-scheduled for spring or summer. The event, open to the public, was to cover topics such as school funding, borough maintenance conditions, the federal […]

The Haines Borough Assembly voted 5-1 on Tuesday to uphold a planning commission decision denying Southeast Alaska Backcountry Adventures a permit to use its 26 Mile property as a heliport. In a split 3-3 vote in January, the borough planning commission rejected a conditional use permit for a heliport at .6 Mile Chilkat Lake Road. SEABA appealed the decision to the assembly […]

Commercial fishermen are hoping to enlist broad community support in an effort to reverse a perceived decline in the area’s wild salmon runs, starting with an upcoming meeting with Alaska Department of Fish and Game officials from Juneau. Haines Borough leaders, who sought the meeting and have designated money for research, have joined what area gillnetters […]

Under a proposed ordinance up for adoption Tuesday, global positioning system data for helicopter skiing submitted to the Haines Borough is public information, but it’s unclear how often that information would be collected. The assembly last week amended the ordinance that would have made the data confidential, unless required in an official investigation or court proceeding. Members […]