Newscasts
There is big news on the Skagway waterfront. The municipality received a grant that will pay for most of the rockslide mitigation work above the railroad dock. And the town received all necessary permits to move forward with work on the ore dock.
Staffing at the Haines Chamber of Commerce is in flux. The current director is leaving, and a previous director is stepping in to train a potential new director.
It’s been a tough year for commercial salmon fishers. Three years of huge returns in Bristol Bay created a surplus of sockeye in the market. That pushed base prices to historic lows and economists are unsure of how long this glut will affect fishers’ paychecks. KMXT’s Brian Venua reports.
Starting up and maintaining a small business can be a steep learning curve. A Southeast regional nonprofit, Spruce Root, aims to help alleviate the growing pains with the return of its re-branded small business competition.
Two weekends ago a canoe from a Haines guiding company transporting nine people took on water at Chilkoot lake. Its passengers spent a substantial amount of time in the lake’s cold water as they swam to shore before being rescued. We spoke with Haines Fire Chief Brian Clay about the incident, and the department’s response. And, a building project a long time in the making has finally materialized. Skiing enthusiasts in Haines got together to build a hut nestled between peaks above the Chilkat river.
The Skagway Borough Assembly postponed decisions on what to do with land that was the site of a boarding school for Indigenous children. The Skagway Traditional Council has withdrawn its engagement from the process, citing undue stress on its members.
An administrative court ruled to uphold a wastewater disposal permit at the Palmer Project, but with some modifications. The Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation will have to change the way it sets limits on pollutant levels. This could delay some operations at the proposed mine site.
The file in period for candidates in the coming municipal elections closed on Sunday in Haines. And some Haines residents have noticed an increase in truck traffic in recent weeks. Heavy rock trucks have been shuttling material between a quarry four miles from town, and a barge loading area on private land on Lutak road. The company responsible for the activity also carved a large section of the mountain across the road from the loading area. Residents have complained to the borough about the increased noise, and the unpermitted work in the Lutak area. The borough intervened and issued some of the necessary permits.
