The Haines 5-Year Economic Development Plan is a good one. Let’s see if we can do anything with it. The Haines Borough has paid for good plans in the past, including a downtown plan. Follow-through is the hard part. That requires commitment and a ton of meetings. People lose interest. The economic plan holds no big surprises. It’s a good…
The state Division of Parks, which had about $600,000 in hand for improving the bear-people situation along the Chilkoot River, just received another $1.5 million for its project. That should be good news, but it could be the opposite, depending on what Parks does with the dough. The Chilkoot desperately needs a fix. Condemned by some longtime visitors as a…
An apparent breather in the University of Alaska’s plans for a huge timber sale in the Chilkat Valley is an opportunity the Haines Borough shouldn’t pass up. Officials with the university’s land office say they’re taking another six months before moving ahead with a contract to cut up to 150 million board feet of trees here in the next 10…
The Haines Borough Assembly is being asked to gamble with $30,000 in public money. The request is coming from the borough staff. This is what’s going on. Public library supporters are seeking up to $2 million in private grants for expansion of the facility, and they’ve been told by the Alaska-based Rasmuson Foundation – the presumed provider of the $2…
The voters in the rural areas of the Haines Borough have spoken, and they’re not interested in on-call service by the townsite police department, even at the relatively low starting price of $70,000. Does this mean residents in outlying areas don’t want police, or that they don’t want to pay for it? It’s difficult to know, but a good rule…
Let’s have a round of applause for the Chilkoot Indian Association. While no one was paying much attention, the Haines-based tribe did as much for public recreation as has been done in a decade or more. The CIA recently completed two miles of trails and boardwalk that snakes through the wetlands across the Old Haines Highway from the Haines School.…
Should the Haines Borough build a new assembly chambers attached to the public library? That’s the question that’s before the Haines Borough Assembly during its next two meetings. If you have an opinion, get hold of an assembly member or show up at the assembly meetings Nov. 6 and Dec. 4. On a 3-3 tied vote broken by an affirmative…
You have to give Lisa Murkowski credit. No, not for voting against the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh. That was a no-brainer. But for the stellar performance she gave making her decision appear difficult. Notify the Academy for a Best Supporting Actress nomination. Murkowski, to all the world, agonized about this decision. Fretted over it. Lost sleep. Put her seat in…
Christy Tengs Fowler wants to be done with the Pioneer Bar and Bamboo Room. Many people think the Haines Borough shouldn’t be awarding grants to nonprofits using tax dollars. Here’s an idea. A generous benefactor or the Haines Borough buys the bar-restaurant and gives it to an existing or new nonprofit. That nonprofit takes over the business, with proceeds after…
“The Sinking of the Princess Sophia” hits some high notes for drama in Haines, including timeliness, a tight, locally produced script, strong casting and clever use of the Chilkat Center’s new, multi-media effects. The trajectory of the play-and-slide-show tableau borrows generously from Ken Coates and Bill Morrison’s 1991 classic, “The Sinking of the Princess Sophia: Taking the North Down with…