In spring of 1989, following the published plans of Geddes Resources to open North America’s largest open-pit copper mine 100 miles up the road from Haines, resident Jim Stanford organized a public meeting. Stanford said his meeting would be an objective discussion of the mine proposal. As Geddes officials themselves hadn’t yet come to town to explain their plans, the…
I am missing John and Ray these days. I am missing them like the grandfathers I never knew, or like a crochety uncle I did know. I am missing their visits to the newspaper office, with letters-to-the-editor in hand, or with musings on some local issue, or with questions about a meeting they missed or with a private opinion they…
During a recent visit to my hometown, I awoke on Halloween disappointed to find no toilet paper draped from our trees and none of our car windows streaked with soap. Mischief Night apparently is dead. Many adults, I’m sure, are glad for its passing but their relief is mistaken. It’s a worrisome sign when so much of our younger generation…
What happens when a Trump supporter angers another Trump supporter? Nothing much. This herd is spooked, stampeding and losing numbers. No sense tripping up a fellow traveler. I witnessed the following spectacle Saturday afternoon at the public library in Media, Pa., and it says everything you need to know about Trump’s following. A crowd gathered in the library basement for…
The most important thing you need to know about tourism in Haines is that the town markets itself independently. We pay 1 percent of sales tax toward a program we direct to bring the kinds and numbers of visitors we want. Want more Canadian visitors? We can advertise in Whitehorse newspapers. Want more cruise ships? We can send a delegation…
“And Jesus went into the temple of God, and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the money changers, and the seats of them that sold doves, and said unto them, it is written, my house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of…
If you like Haines the way it is, you have an investment in tourism and in the 1 percent sales tax that funds our local program. Tourism happens in Haines on a small and varied scale, and that’s no mistake. It’s the result of 35 years of stops and starts, ideas, ventures, failures and corrections that’s largely been led by…
When I ran for borough assembly in 2016, I opposed a plan developed by a borough-appointed Solid Waste Working Group for a government takeover of garbage services locally. I’m still opposed to that plan because I believe it’s too expensive – up to 1 percent of sales tax or $628,000 annually, along with tipping fees – and it’s unnecessary. When…
If you have a beef with the Haines Borough government, it’s time to push your point. This is what elections are about. In fall of 2016, the Haines chapter of the Alaska Miners’ Association was concerned about the state’s consideration of Tier 3 protections, possibly including placing those protections on the Chilkat River. So the miners held a local meeting…
There’s a fundamental problem with our form of local government: Residents don’t understand who’s in charge. Consider this statement Haines Borough Assembly candidate Gabe Thomas made to KHNS this week: “I think the Assembly’s main responsibility is to set the budget. It’s not to direct the manager in any other way, besides give her the budget, let her review the…