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News Stories
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Hospice of Haines hosts Taking Care Winter Series
Hospice of Haines hosted a winter series called Taking Care. It included over a dozen events – Movie Nights, TaiChi for caregivers, Forest Healing Therapy and the Death Cafe. At the second to last series event on Sunday, community members discussed how to age, die...
MARAD will not pay for the $10 million worth of steel purchased towards Lutak Dock reconstruction project
The U.S. Maritime Administration has found that millions of dollars in steel purchased by Turnagain Marine Construction for the Haines Lutak Dock project are not eligible for reimbursement. In a review, the federal agency determined that the steel was purchased before...
Skagway will foot the bill for broken float dock – for now
Skagway’s Ore Dock Redevelopment Project had a tight deadline to replace the aging Ore Dock before the start of the 2024 cruise ship season. With the demise of the replacement float dock, meant to be delivered two weeks ago, the assembly met to discuss the new plan....
Planning and Zoning forwards ideas to assembly to improve housing despite criticism
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. The assembly has yet to address the recommendations. Skagway’s...
Haines and Skagway start uphill climb for proposed trail system to connect the two boroughs
A board member from Haines Huts and Trails participated in Skagway’s last Parks and Recreation Committee meeting as the idea of a hut traverse between the communities was broached. If the plan came to fruition, the average hiker could make the trip in three days. ...
Winter king salmon fishing in Haines
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,...
Skagway housing task force builds momentum
Housing dominated much of Skagway’s last assembly meeting as three members were appointed to the ad hoc housing committee. Assembly member Orion Hanson tried to get approval for staff to draft a RFP for high density housing at the former clinic site, to include senior...
Haines middle school wrestlers pin down regional tournament
The Haines Middle School wrestling team competed in the Southeast Alaska Middle School Regional Tournament in Ketchikan over the weekend. Seven athletes made the finals, and Haines returned home with five regional champions. The Haines middle school wrestling...
Skagway’s new cruise dock float breaks into three pieces
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 disaster struck near Ketchikan when the float broke into three pieces. Borough...
Literay Llamas win the Haines school’s Tournament of the Readers
Tuesday morning was the Championship round for Haines school’s Tournament of the Readers. Only two teams were still standing after a nearly month-long tournament that comprised of eight teams. The Tournament is open to grades three through eight. As KHNS’s Jenn...
Newscasts
January 17, 2024
The Haines Borough Assembly’s Commerce Committee brainstormed ideas for imposing a tax on extracted resources. The tax would be modeled after taxes already in place in other Alaskan boroughs. It would be limited to natural resources such as timber, gravel and ore...
January 16, 2024
Preschoolers and seniors in Haines are getting back together for a weekly lunch date after a few years’ break. Chilkat Valley Preschool and the Senior Center share a building and have a history of visiting for lunch, although the meetings were paused for a few years...
January 12, 2024
Winter utility assistance is available from now through April for Skagway residents. Applications are due the second Friday of each month. And, it’s National Dog Training month. Skagway residents can enter to win a dog training platform or cat condo from Paws and...
Newscast – January 11, 2024
Potty talk ran rampant at the Skagway Borough Assembly last week. Winter bathroom closures were discussed and a call for outhouses on the Klondike Highway was flushed into action. Mayor Sam Bass wants to bring local Alaska banks to the borough, and a tax will be...
January 10, 2024
The controversial Lutak Dock Project took top priority in the Haines Borough Assembly meeting on Tuesday night. The assembly met in executive session with the borough attorney to discuss Lutak Dock issues
Newscast – January 09 2024
A recent change in the Haines Borough law codified the long-standing protocol on how to process dead bodies. Dead bodies must be processed within 72 hours of arriving at the morgue.
Newscast – January 08 2024
The Haines girls basketball team took first place over the weekend at the Heather Land Basketball Tournament in Skagway. And, when storms over the New Year prevented a Skagway teacher from traveling to run a marathon, he created his own.
Newscast – January 5, 2024
Police are investigating a spike in air pollution that occurred recently in Skagway. They have found the cause of pollution but are waiting for test results from the Department of Environmental Conservation before moving forward. And…After consulting with the...
Newscast – January 4th 2024
In September, forty-eight hours before hunting season started, a moose escaped from a Haines wildlife center. Two days before Christmas, he returned back to the center unharmed.
Newscast – January 3rd 2024
On December 22, FEMA issued a formal letter to the Haines Borough, explaining in detail their decision to terminate funding for repairs to Porcupine Road. The agency's determination leaves Haines Borough responsible for more than one million dollars in work already...
Newscast – January 2nd 2024
A Skagway high school Senior who is blind will now have better access to library materials after a fourth grader, who is also visually impaired, lobbied the Skagway School Board to stock its library with braille books. Reporting by Jenn Shelton.
Newscast – December 28 2023
Haines elected officials recently learned that the contractor in charge of rebuilding the Lutak dock has purchased $10M worth of steel for the project. This commitment to a design that newly elected leaders had expressed interest in changing surprised and angered...
Newscast – December 27, 2023
A report on Skagway’s last Borough Assembly Meeting. And, the Department of Transportation has sent a notice that the Haines highway will be closed Wednesday at 9PM and through the night.
Newscast – December 26 2023
A rockslide shut down the Highway 15 miles from Haines on Saturday evening. One car was destroyed, but no one was injured. And, the Arctic has been warming much faster in recent decades, and this year, parts of northern Alaska experienced its warmest July on record....
Newscast 12-22-23
Today we have another Skagway wrap-up from Reporter Melinda Munson, stories include Skagway Robotics Team hosting it’s first competition, and Skagway’s second Marijuana dispensary clears another hurdle.
Newscast – December 21 2023
The newly elected leaders of the Haines borough have shown an interest in a different design for the Lutak dock rebuilding project. Recent communications from the contractor indicate the company is committed to the current design, and may charge the borough in the...
Newscast – December 20 2023
A Juneau pharmacy closes, slowing down Skagway prescription process And, the Skagway borough assembly is meeting on Thursday. We spoke with mayor Sam Bass about the meeting agenda.
Newscast – December 19 2023
Traffic on the Haines highway has been limited due to weather for the last week. Canadian crews have been busy clearing the snow, enough so that some convoys have been able to follow a pilot car through the pass on some days. On Saturday, multiple cars in the convoy...
Newscast – December 18 2023
The Haines Chamber of Commerce recently recruited a new director and assistant to the director. The new leadership is energized to build connections between consumers and local Haines businesses.
Newscast 121523
Today we have updates from Melinda Munson in Skagway, reporting on the borough representatives that went to Anchorage for the Alaska Municipal League conference, and Jamie Bricker’s Cultural Host Training class was a resounding success.
Newscast – March 15 2023
The Haines Borough is adopting a new method for assessing property values. Officials warn that virtually all property tax bills will be different this year.
Newscast – March 13 2023
A Haines falconer has acquired and trained the bird of his dreams –a gyrfalcon. The large falcons have traditionally been flown by royalty but recent breeding programs have made them more accessible to the common falconer.
Newscast – March 6 2023
Acts are lining up to perform at this year’s Southeast State Fair.
Newscast – March 3 2023
Skagway and the Yukon have a long, common history when it comes to mining. After a decades-long lease to a private entity, the ore transfer dock will come under the Skagway municipality’s control. The facilities will be upgraded over the coming year. The Yukon...
Newscast – March 2 2023
It is time to replace the Haines public safety building. Borough officials have started the search for funding and hope to start construction within five years.
Newscast – March 1 2023
A heavy snowfall, and a Skagway assembly member takes the tourism director job in Haines.
Newscast – February 28 2023
Winterfest in Haines, and a traveling art show.
Newscast – February 27 2023
A fire in downtown Skagway destroyed a large building on Sunday that was important to the community. No one was injured, but the building and all it contained was lost.
Newscast – February 24 2023
The rockslide mitigation above Skagway’s cruise ship dock entered an important new phase this week (2/24). And officials hope to have the dock ready for the start of the season in April.
Newscast – February 22 2023
A group of Haines residents is pursuing the idea of developing a ski area in the Chilkat valley. Although a budget for such a project is still a ways off, the group held their third meeting last Sunday to continue discussions on how to proceed.
Newscast – February 21 2023
A Skagway man was charged last week for allegedly firing a pistol in town the night of the Super Bowl. No one was injured in the incident.
Newscast – February 16 2023
A Haines man receives a prison sentence, and high school students receive a class in self defense
Newscast – February 15 2023
Mark Davis, a Haines High School graduate, is a second year music student at Michigan State. Earlier this week he spent four hours hiding from an active shooter on campus. He spoke with KHNS about the experience.
Newscast – February 14 2023
Representatives for Turnagain Marine Construction were in Haines last week to present their 65% design for renovating the local freight and fuel dock. The construction company shared its plans with the Ports and Harbor Committee, during a town hall, and at a...
Newscast – February 10 2023
The Municipality of Skagway is discussing how to share the correspondence it receives. Until recently all letters sent to the assembly and mayor were automatically included in the packet. During the pandemic a number of inappropriate letters were received, and...
Newscast – February 9, 2023
The Haines Friends of Recycling released their 2023 Reducing Our Waste Together guide this week. The new guide asks residents to not only deal with their waste, but to consider not buying too much of it in the first place.
Newscast – February 8 2023
There is a backlog at the state agency responsible for food assistance. People throughout the state are doing without a program they have come to rely on, and service providers in Haines are seeing the effects of the delay.
Newscast – February 7 2023
A Yukon woman is initiating a study of lynx in the Chilkat valley. She hopes to shed light on some aspect of the coastal population.
Newscast – February 6 2023
The tanner crab fishery begins this weekend in Southeast Alaska. Crabbers are facing low prices, and bitter crab disease is reduces the sellable catch.
Newscast – February 3 2023
A Haines baker won $25,000 in a regional entrepreneurial contest. Every year the Path to Prosperity competition aims to reward businesses with a positive impact on Southeast Alaska.