Before any more lawsuits or ill will between neighbors, the Haines Borough needs to identify and acquire access to popular public trails, beaches and waterways. In the past five years, longtime users of Chilkoot River and Viking Cove faced off in court against property owners and the results were disastrous. Besides costing tens of thousands of dollars in legal fees,…
(A version of the below tribute was read at Skagway’s memorial celebration for the late Buckwheat Donahue, held Nov. 23, 2019. On the same evening, Lynn Canal Community Players in Haines dedicated the howl during its performance of “Lust for Dust” to Buckwheat, a passionate howler and generous supporter of KHNS and many local causes.) What kind of man drives…
If you operate a business that relies on visitors, you might have an issue with the Haines Borough. It’s been robbing you. Let’s start with a bit of history. Since October 1987 when it was approved by City of Haines voters, 1 percent of municipal sales tax has been dedicated to “tourism development and promotion.” The money was intended to…
The house I grew up in was built with two accessories we seldom used as intended – a dining room and a large, porcelain bathtub. So small by today’s standards that such homes aren’t even built anymore, our house had one bathroom, three tiny bedrooms, a stand-up kitchen and a living room just big enough for a modest sofa and…
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…