Let’s get some things straight about the “aqueous storage” ordinance before the Haines Borough Assembly. The ordinance is all about Constantine Minerals Resources’ development of a mine near 40 Mile. That was its origin and its motivation, and that’s perfectly okay. It’s unclear that the State of Alaska can adequately protect the Klehini River from mine pollution, as the state…
Cutting through downtown on a summer evening walk a few years ago, I heard giggling from above. Looking up, I spied what appeared to be two teenagers perched in a makeshift treehouse about 15 feet up a big spruce tree between the Senior Village and the health clinic along First Avenue. The couple had built or discovered a nest of…
A mystery of consumer economics is that a new handle for a garden shovel in Haines costs $23, more than twice the $10 cost of a new shovel. Admittedly, a $10 shovel doesn’t come with a lifetime guarantee. Its blade is stamped out of cheap sheet metal, not forged from quality steel. Its bulky handle likely hides a core of…
What is it when tears well up and leak from us during moments of great emotion? And why are we so uncomfortable with this natural, biological function? I recently had cause to cry a lot, sometimes in public, and I was surprised by the reaction of those around me. An adult crying evokes a response in strangers that can be…
Nearly 40 years ago I stood in a factory parking lot in South Milwaukee, listening to presidential candidate Ronald Reagan address a crowd. Religious radicals in Iran held 52 Americans hostage, and the nation was frustrated and angry thanks in part to a TV show titled: “The Hostage Crisis,” which covered the story daily, even when there was no…
Family tragedies drew me back to Media, Pa., my hometown, for two months. My time out was an education in areas ranging from depression, suicide, and grieving to hospital care, probate and freeway driving. Little of it was fun and most of it was like flossing, a necessary bother. A sizable part of my time was spent navigating family politics,…
Resident and arts advocate Carol Tuynman has been talking up James Corner Field Operations’ credentials for months, telling us that the company would have a vision for our waterfront that would inspire us. The landscape design company’s presentation in Haines Wednesday night did not disappoint. Presenter Tatiana Choulika did not come with pictures or drawings of a renovated Portage Cove.…
Editor’s note: To date, this website has been solely dedicated to my own writing and thinking. But if this medium – the Internet – is good for anything, it must be about supporting free expression and protecting dissenting views. The following opinion piece was written by Libby Bakalar, an elections attorney for the State of Alaska who on her own…
There’s good news for organizers of fun runs and other recreation events held along state highways. The Haines Borough has agreed to serve as a sponsor of events, in order to fulfill an insurance requirement that has diminished the number of athletic events in town. This new policy promises to encourage more recreational activities here. For years, fun runs were…
To change the course of events, you have to organize and raise a little hell. They don’t teach that in high school civics class, but they should. History’s great men – Jesus Christ, Martin Luther King, Jr., Gandhi – were not beloved in their lifetimes. They were pot-stirrers maligned by authorities and resented by the masses for agitating and challenging…