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Clinic to hold meetings to discuss grant compliance
Skagway’s health clinic must respond to the grant program which provides roughly one third of its funding. As KHNS reporter Melinda Munson explains, the clinic needs to update its bylaws to meet the grant requirements. The Dahl Memorial Clinic Board of...
US Army visits Haines with updates on Tank Farm contamination site
Representatives from the U.S. Army are visiting Haines this week to meet with local specialists regarding a contaminated site cleanup located near the ferry terminal. A public meeting on Thursday evening (4/4) will discuss the latest findings and next steps in the...
Rock ‘n Rust is here to stay in Haines
Haines has a shy new band made up of brave old-timers. Rusty Fingers is their name. The group is geared toward people who at some point put down an instrument, but want to pick it back up again. As KHNS’s Jenn Shelton reports, the secular string group meets on...
Haines preschoolers brush a dragon
Chilkat Valley Preschool is teaming up with Haines Dental to teach the kids about oral hygiene. The school is participating in an early education pilot program with the local SEARHC clinic. And, on Friday two dental professionals–and a dragon–visited the school to...
Traitor Joe’s grand opening in Haines
Traitor Joe’s, a Texas-based grocery chain known for discount prices on eclectic cowboy foods, is opening today in Haines. In a news release on Friday, the company announced the surprise grand opening of its first Alaska store. It’s a business endeavor it managed to...
Hather Scholarship to benefit Skagway graduates
A couple that served Skagway in their golden years is continuing to give to the community through a scholarship program. A new scholarship is available to graduating seniors, and those who already graduated from Skagway School. The excitement was palpable as John...
Property assessments to rise for Skagway Historic District
In April, higher tax assessments for Skagway property owners of commercial historic district properties will begin arriving. The municipality said it delayed the action as long as it could. The Municipality of Skagway notified commercial property owners in the...
Haines Assembly votes unanimously to support head tax for cruise ship passengers
The Haines Borough Assembly voted unanimously on Tuesday to charge a new $9 head tax for cruise ship passengers. The resolution, which still has to be voted into law and would not go into effect until 2025, would go towards port development and other services tied to...
Haines women return home black and blue, and with a silver trophy, from the Gold Medal Basketball Tournament
A team of eight Haines women, seven of them mothers of little ones, earned their way to the championship game last week in Juneau’s Lions Club Gold Medal Basketball Tournament. The team came from behind, bruised but unbeaten, to compete in a David vs. Goliath...
Skagway Assembly votes to spend more money to complete Ore Dock on time, upholds P&Z
The latest Skagway assembly meeting included appeals not to move a building, to spend more money on Ore Dock and to save cottonwood trees. The March 21 Skagway Borough Assembly meeting included a board of appeals which upheld the original Planning and Zoning...
Newscasts
March 8, 2024
Skagway’s Dahl Memorial Clinic Board of Directors approved dental contracts, meaning residents can look forward to monthly services. And... Skagway celebrated the shoulder season by showing some shoulder, and a whole lot more. The town’s homegrown burlesque company...
March 6, 2024
The Lady Panthers will compete at the basketball state championship. As KHNS’s Melinda Munson reports, with a strong defense and accurate shooting skills, hopes are high for the Skagway School team. And, Haines wrestlers traveled to Fairbanks over the weekend for the...
March 05, 2024
School administrators, firefighters and nurses gathered last month for a Stop-the-Bleed class in Haines. Participants practiced lifesaving wound care skills, and discussed how the separate agencies would cooperate in case of a mass casualty incident in rural Alaska. ...
March 04, 2024
Employees of the Southeast Alaska Regional Health Consortium in Sitka have threatened to organize, following a recent rollback of their benefits. Over 150 staff members – including doctors, nurses, and technicians – signed a letter on February 15 protesting unilateral...
March 01, 2024
Skagway School will send a veteran contender to the state’s Poetry Out Loud finals in early March. Freshman Mina Yee will compete for the second time, with a one in eight chance of winning. KHNS reporter Melinda Munson interviewed the performer.
February 29, 2024
The Haines Borough has suffered a decade-long drought of Girl Scouts, which ended this winter when three local moms started a new troop. Their Daisies are poised to let a truckload of Girl Scout cookies rain down on the valley this March.
February 28, 2024
Lutak Dock conversations dominated Tuesday’s Haines Borough Assembly meeting. Last week the U.S. Department of Transportation, Maritime Administration delivered a review of the project. It gave the borough two options on how to move the project forward. Both...
February 27, 2024
Even though Haines has a population of just under 2,000, it has a hospice program to help care for the dying in town]. Hospice of Haines hosted a winter series called Taking Care. It included over a dozen events – Movie Nights, TaiChi for caregivers, Forest Healing...
Newscast February 23, 2024
Skagway’s Planning and Zoning Commission spent 2.5 hours across two meetings creating recommendations for the assembly to increase housing inventory. Residents voiced concerns about the process. AND A board member from Haines Huts and Trails participated in...
February 22, 2024
Sportfishermen and women have been lucky this February, catching king salmon in and around Portage Cove near downtown Haines. The chinook “shore huggers” are not part of a salmon run, but instead hang out locally as part of a historical winter rearing. The older,...
February 21, 2024
Housing dominated much of Skagway’s last assembly meeting as three members were appointed to the ad hoc housing committee. As KHNS’s Melinda Munson reports, Assemblymember Orion Hanson tried to get approval for staff to draft a RFP for high density housing at the...
February 20, 2024
On Valentine’s Day, the new cruise dock float was scheduled to be delivered to Skagway’s Ore Dock Redevelopment Project. Measuring 500 by 50 feet, the float traveled from Anacortes. But, as KHNS’s Melinda Munson reports, disaster struck near Ketchikan when the float...
February 19, 2024
The Haines Borough wants to clean up old contaminated soil outside of town and they’re asking the state for help. The site is 34 miles down/up the Haines Highway near a salmon stream. It’s unclear how the contamination happened. But as KHNS’s Jenn Shelton reports,...
February 15, 2024
The Haines Borough Assembly discussed the next steps for both the Chilkat Bald Eagle Advisory Council and Lutak Dock at Tuesday’s Assembly meeting. And… Students and staff of Haines schools celebrated Elizabeth Peratrovich Day on Thursday with a school-wide...
February 14, 2024
It’s the final story of our two-part series about “How to Write the Perfect Valentine’s Day Card.” Today Alaska’s writer laureate and Haines local Heather Lende gives tips on how to write from the heart. And she goes out of her comfort zone when asked to craft a...
February 13, 2024
For the next two news days, Love is on the air. KHNS interviewed two authors on how to write the perfect Valentine’s Day card. We’ll hear from Alaska’s author laureate–and Haines local–Heather Lende on how she uses the written word to spread the love. But first,...
February 12, 2024
Skagway elders have more opportunity to socialize this winter now that senior lunches have resumed, but a proposed municipal senior-center facility is still on hold because it fails to meet ADA standards. And, Skagway and Haines Middle School Wrestling teams dueled...
February 7, 2024
Two CIA tribal women have been chosen for the third and final year of the Chilkoot Indian Association’s Traditional Arts Apprentice-Mentor Program. Over the next nine months the apprentices will work with an elder as they complete work on two under-represented art...
February 6, 2024
The Haines Pool has a new instructor. Patty Morgan has been teaching children to swim for decades. Her latest class started in the fall and teaches infants and toddlers to swim in a group class. Tot Time teaches life-saving water skills to non-swimmers and gives...
February 5, 2024
Skagway will open its second retail marijuana store this spring. The Skagway Borough Assembly voted unanimously to approve the application for Boom Town Buds at last week’s meeting. Also in the meeting, Mayor Sam Bass introduced a new concept that would make...
Newscast – April 12 2023
As winter thaws into spring, insect life is emerging in Southeast Alaska. We spoke with Juneau naturalist Bob Armstrong to find out what the bugs are doing.
Newscast – April 11 2023
The Skagway assembly will soon appoint its next member. The seat became open after former Assembly Member Reba Hylton announced her resignation. And the Haines Borough manager’s budget is out. It covers dozens of borough employees, roads, and utilities. We...
Newscast – April 10 2023
Some cruise lines have misgivings about tying onto part of a Skagway dock because of the danger posed by a large rock. They are looking at a solution that will allow all scheduled ships to come to town this season. But this will mean shorter visits for some...
Newscast – April 7 2023
The Alaska cruise industry and Northwest ports launch the "Green Corridor" concept and as winter comes to a close, a Mosquito Lake couple is starting off spring on a musical note.
Newscast – April 6 2023
A new exhibit is opening in Sitka, in honor of artists Eric and Pam Bealer. The year-long project is a collaboration between a visual artist and a writer, both of whom found inspiration in the extraordinary lives of the Bealers, and in the extraordinary nature...
Newscast – April 5 2023
The Haines borough manager is proposing a paid position in the volunteer fire department for the next fiscal year’s budget. This would bring big changes to the structure of the organization, but this is just the beginning of a conversation between the borough...
Newscast – April 4 2023
The Haines Economic Development Corporation hosted a workshop last weekend to discuss promoting outdoor recreation. The three-day event attracted a few dozen participants who contributed a wide variety of ideas.
Newscast – April 3 2023
The U. S. Forest Service is seeking new recruits nationwide, with extra focus on filling positions in Alaska. But recruiters say economic conditions are making it hard for them to recruit and retain employees who come from out of state.
Newscast – March 31 2023
Five Alaska Native Tribes receive state education grants and despite a slump in recent years, there are signs of hope for a king salmon recovery.
Newscast – March 30 2023
The board of the Southeast Alaska State Fair in Haines has recently come under local scrutiny because of an act that has been booked for this summer’s event. Juneau Drag has been scheduled to perform on the main stage in the early evening. Some residents do not...
Newscast – March 29 2023
The reassessment of Haines's property values is almost complete. The notices will be mailed soon, and borough officials want the public to understand that an increase in assessed value will not necessarily result in a raise in taxes.
Newscast – March 28 2023
The town of Skagway is preparing for tourists to rush in. With increased docking capacity at the port and a longer season, the municipality is expecting a record number of visitors this year.
Newscast – March 27 2023
The Southeast Alaska business competition, Path to Prosperity, is changing. It’s getting a new name and will shift the way it brings entrepreneurial training to participants.
Newscast – March 24 2023
An accidental milk shipment helps needy families, and the University of Alaska Southeast welcomes a new Chancellor.
Newscast – March 23 2023
The ferry system has a new director, and The Municipality of Skagway is subsidizing the planting of trees within the borough.
Newscast – March 22 2023
We have just passed the equinox, the snow is melting fast, and the land is waking up around us. Bird activity is increasing noticeably. We spoke with some local bird enthusiasts to find out who is doing what.
Newscast – March 21 2023
The Department of Transportation recently signed an agreement with Goldbelt Inc. to consider building a ferry terminal at Cascade point. The new terminal would serve both Skagway and Haines, but some officials in those communities don’t think the new...
Newscast – March 20 2023
A regional conference for childcare providers in Juneau offered a chance for attendees to meet with legislators and advocate for more childcare assistance from the state. Attendees also learned about two bills currently in the legislature that address...
Newscast – March 17 2023
In December 2020 Haines residents Jenae Larson and David Simmons lost their lives in a devastating landslide. Now, over two years later, the father of David Simmons has finished his son’s life’s work – creating a book from his son’s manuscript, detailing his travels...
Newscast – March 16 2023
A Canadian man is trying to drum up support for his ideas, leaving some confused as to his plans. And an error led to an oversupply of milk in a Haines store.