Recovery and rebuilding were the watchwords of 2021 as residents navigated life in Haines among the wreckage left by the December storms and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Also in this year’s news, the borough secured a $20 million grant to repair the Lutak Dock, a new borough manager was hired, incidents of bear and human interactions, including […]
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Posted inNews
Giddings to end tenure as chief, Clay elected to seat
Al Giddings will finish his tenure as fire chief of the Haines Volunteer Fire Department (HVFD) in January, following a decision not to seek reelection. In November, the department elected longtime firefighter Brian Clay to assume the position. “It has been an honor and a privilege to a degree I can’t even explain,” Giddings said […]
Posted inNews, Education
Chatham School District superintendent found dead
Chatham School District superintendent Bruce Houck, 61, was found dead in his home Wednesday morning. Alaska State Troopers spokesperson Tim Despain said a trooper traveled to Angoon Wednesday afternoon to conduct a death investigation and determined Houck died of natural causes in his sleep. “His next of kin were located and notified,” Despain said. “No […]
Posted inDuly Noted
Duly Noted
Cari O’Daniel started this week in her new job as site manager at the Haines Senior Center. The center provides a daily lunch for seniors, currently delivered rather than in-person, due to COVID-19 restrictions. Cari said she’s looking forward to recruiting more clients for lunch and also will be working with the borough to resume in-person […]
Posted inNews, Local News, Klukwan
Klukwan residents hope teacher hire will bolster enrollment
Klukwan School advocates asked the Chatham school board last week to hire a teacher, a hire superintendent Bruce Houck has declined to make in the face of declining enrollment and severely reduced state funding. Klukwan’s enrollment fell to 7 by the October count deadline, below the minimum 10 required to receive full state funding. Houck told the […]
Posted inNews, Local News, Klukwan, School Board
Chatham school board discusses Klukwan’s future as enrollment drops
The Chatham school board met Tuesday evening to discuss the future of Klukwan School after its enrollment fell below 10 by the October count deadline, the minimum number of students to receive full state funding. Part of the Chatham School District, the Klukwan School is funded by the Chatham school board. No members of the board live in Klukwan. The Chatham district also […]
Posted inNews, Elections
Final vote tally extends lead for Huling, Schnabel
The Haines Borough Assembly tallied the last votes—from mailed and emailed ballots—for borough assembly and school board on Tuesday. The final results show that Tyler Huling won the election with 605 votes, and Debra Schnabel placed second with 594. Brenda Josephson and Richard Clement ended up with 426 and 362 votes, respectively. Seventy-two ballots were counted on Tuesday. From those, Schnabel […]
Posted inEducation, Local News
Haines teachers among lowest-paid in the state
While many policy makers and residents lament the lack of good-paying year-round jobs in the Chilkat Valley, most don’t address the fact that some of Haines’ largest employers, the school and the borough, are underpaid relative to the rest of the state and similarly-sized communities. Of the 54 school districts in Alaska, Haines teachers are […]
Posted inDuly Noted
Duly Noted
About 75 residents, including Haines Borough school board members, turned out Tuesday for the unveiling and dedication of the Skate Park art project, recently completed by the high school art club, led by art teacher Giselle Miller. The project added colorful murals and pop art stylings to ramps there, including flourishes by guest artist Jeremy Settem of Haines. Haines High senior Aubrey Cook leads […]
Posted inNews, Education
Haines School raises pay to attract subs
The Haines Borough School District Board voted to increase substitute teacher pay to $18 per hour at its Tuesday meeting after the school has found it increasingly difficult to hire subs. “It’s a problem statewide and we’re trying to see if this step helps,” superintendent Roy Getchell said. “I know places that have substantially increased their pay […]