New Mayor Douglas Olerud finalized appointments to the Haines Borough Assembly’s standing committees. The assembly adopted these appointments at a meeting Tuesday. The assembly has four standing committees that meet on a monthly basis—the Personnel Committee, the Commerce Committee, the Finance Committee and the Government Affairs and Services (GAS) Committee. Each consists of a chair and two additional members. […]
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Posted inNews
The earliest the border could open is Nov. 21
The pandemic-induced U.S.-Canada border closure has been extended another month, until Nov. 21, at least. The border has been closed to non-essential travel since March 21, which has restricted a number of normal activities for Chilkat Valley residents including skiing, snowmachining, moose hunting in the Interior and cross-border tourism. Haines tourism director Steven Auch said […]
Posted inDuly Noted
Duly Noted
“Of Bears and Ballots,” a new book by local author Heather Lende, made the Pacific Northwest Independent Bestsellers List. The list is compiled from the top titles sold in independent bookstores around the region, and Lende’s book was listed as No. 14 in the hardcover non-fiction division for July 5. Amanda Painter and Kaitlyn Tolin […]
Posted inNews
Residents felt the heat in 2019
Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s deep budget cut proposals and the ensuing battle for ferries, education, community assistance, public radio and a slew of other services dominated headlines this year. The town celebrated the Haines Glacier Bears cross country team after it won the state championship in October. The debate over borough-wide policing persisted another year. The […]
Posted inNews
Local groups protest Ring of Fire management plan
The Bureau of Land Management may expand allotted helicopter landings on the 320,000 acres of mountain terrain in the Chilkat Valley from 300 to 11,000 annual landings (5,500 in the Haines), though local protesters believe that might negatively affect mountain goat habitat. In October, BLM released its final environmental impact statement for the Haines amendment […]
Posted inLocal News, Haines Borough
Borough Briefs
Quarterly sales tax collections down Sales tax collections submitted to the Haines Borough for the first quarter of 2019 are down 3.6 percent, or $17,000, from the same quarter last year. Borough manager Debra Schnabel said the reasons for the dip are a poor heliskiing season, costing the borough about $8,000, and the borough assembly’s decision to no longer […]
Posted inNews
Craney article printed in West Hungary
The University of West Hungary published a textbook last month which included an article by local artist Katie Craney. She wrote about artists’ unique ability to see and communicate climate change. Craney, a decade-long Southeast transplant from Wisconsin, said the northern hemispheres’ rapidly changing climate has been both blatant and inextricable in her work. She […]
Posted inNews, Climate
‘Snow Drought’ bodes ill for ski season
For the past three seasons, drought conditions have marred the heliski industry, which depends on adequate snowfall. Snowfall in Southeast is 50 to 80 percent lower than average, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and the problem of abnormally low snowpack has become so pronounced that the National Drought Mitigation Center coined a new […]
Posted inNews
2018 required residents to face difficult truths
The surfacing of what many residents described as a decades-long open secret shook the town this year: allegations from multiple men of sexual abuse by former school official Karl Ward. Craig Loomis, the first man to speak publicly, was contacted by several others who had similar experiences after he implored those affected to reach out […]
Posted inNews
Should ‘public safety’ be nixed from tourism code?
The Tourism Advisory Board discussed staff-recommended revisions to the borough’s business licensing code Tuesday that would eliminate references to protecting public safety and welfare, disallow the transfer of commercial tour permits and eliminate an automatic allowance of 25 percent growth to tour operators. The borough’s Title 5 code addresses not only business licensing but tour […]