By Roger Maynard, on August 10th, 2011 HAINES–The Haines Borough Assembly unanimously approved the tour permit for SEABA’s backcountry tour permit for 2012 after a public hearing during which only one person spoke. Read more->
By Gary Lidholm, on April 13th, 2011  A SEABA helicopter from the deck of the home of Bud and Shirley Stewart at 17 1/2 mile Haines Highway HAINES–Imagine a dozen or more people from all over the world speaking various languages and feeding snacks to the landowner’s dogs, who love the attention they are getting. This is the way Bud and Shirley Stewart, property owners at 17 ½ mile, Haines Highway, described the heli-skiers who wait on their property for the next helicopter to take them to the alpine area for their downhill adventures.
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By Gary Lidholm, on April 8th, 2011  Big Mountain snowboarders survey the descent ahead of them. “You try to scare yourself at least once a day!” said Jason Bach, 35 from Eagle River, Wisconsin, as he re-flected on his 40th run in just over two weeks in the Haines heli-skiing, snow-boarding back country.
Tuesday was a blue bird day for Bach who had worked for over two years at his Wisconsin landscaping business just to make the Haines trip a reality. Read more->
By Roger Maynard, on March 16th, 2011  33-Mile Roadhouse on the Haines Highway HAINES–One of the many joys of living in Haines is the spectacular drive to 33-Mile Roadhouse for an old-fashioned 33-mile burger or a piece Kathy Lapp’s apple pie.
The 33-Mile Roadhouse has been a landmark and favorite stop since the Haines Highway was built. The old roadhouse was destroyed by fire in 1984, and the rebuilt structure is the restaurant that stands today.
Today, the Roadhouse is in the process of an ownership change from Jerry and Kathy Lapp, owners since 1977, to Robert Harris, of Juneau.
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By Roger Maynard, on March 3rd, 2011  The ice-encrusted Perseverance lies in Haines Harbor last Sunday, after setting her crab pots in high winds and heavy freezing spray. HAINES–The good news is that the U.S. Weather Service Climate Prediction center was right. We wrote about it last November, when they predicted a colder than average winter and spring this year, based on the persistent La Nina event in the Pacific Ocean.
But that’s also the bad news — it seems colder and windier this winter, and we can hardly wait for summer to come. Read more->
By Gary Lidholm, on January 26th, 2011  Shortly after Mayor Jan Hill called the Tuesday night Assembly meeting to order, Police Chief Gary Lowe interrupted to say that the attendance exceeded fire codes and that those standing would have to be removed to the hallway. The unusually large crowd came in response to several heli-skiing items on the agenda.
All of the Assembly were present for what turned out to be a rather long night with a lot of public discussion. Read more->
By Gary Lidholm, on January 19th, 2011 HAINES–With the heli-skiing season rapidly approaching, the Working Group finalizing recommendations to the Borough Assembly to regulate commercial ski tours was disappointed when the planned meeting Tuesday afternoon was cancelled due to lack of proper public notification. But representatives of the Working Group did present information to an Assembly Committee of the Whole meeting that went on as scheduled Tuesday evening. Read more->
By Roger Maynard, on November 23rd, 2010 
This year, as our government plunges headlong toward more control of the private sector, more government jobs, more handouts for everyone, and more land locked up in trusts, parks and wilderness areas, there is a lesson we can learn from the Pilgrims’ experiment in socialism: It doesn’t work.
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By Roger Maynard, on November 3rd, 2010  “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” — preamble, Declaration of Independence.
HAINES – With the recent revelation by borough attorneys that our Helicopter ordinance exceeded the limits of the Haines Borough Assembly’s authority, it’s time for the borough government to reassess its direction in this matter. Read more->
By Roger Maynard, on October 19th, 2010 by Roger Maynard
We agree with Tom Morphet’s opinion in the Chilkat Valley News on October 7, 2010, that the Haines Borough Assembly is pushing the limits of the open meetings act. It’s too easy to call for an Executive Session, handle the confidential business, and then keep on talking after the conversation has drifted into matters that should be discussed publicly.
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By Gary Lidholm, on October 7th, 2010  Cruise Ship Silver Shadow, docked in Haines. Photo by Roger Maynard by Roger Maynard
HAINES — Everyone, it seems, favors economic development. Even some of our borough candidates who oppose growth say they are for “a diversified economy” and “economic development.”
Words, like clothing or music, go through fads. Some words such as “sustainable,” and “alternative energy” have become such cultural buzzwords that meanings become skewed. Different people using the same phrase can be describing completely different ideas. Read more->
By Roger Maynard, on September 30th, 2010  by Roger Maynard
HAINES — Watching the antics of the Haines Borough Assembly during the past 3 years can make one feel like Alice in Wonderland. What we knew was right, the borough Assembly treats as wrong — and vice-versa. We all know instinctively there is something awry – so it’s time to take a deep breath, step back, and look at reality.
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By Roger Maynard, on August 24th, 2010 
HAINES — Haines is not the only place in Alaska where helicopters are an issue. But it is the only place where the anti-everything crowd has such a toehold that they are on the verge of driving out the last vestiges of a legitimate tourism industry that could boost the economy enough to help carry local business through the last of the winter doldrums. Read more->
By Roger Maynard, on August 10th, 2010  Preflight deicing by Roger Maynard
Once again, the heli-skiing issue is rearing it’s ugly head. In a town with an economy on the verge of collapse, a heli-skiing industry with potential to carry local business through the late-winter and spring doldrums is being sabotaged by a small group who consider it their place to stop any activity that does not meet their approval. Incredibly, we have a borough Assembly that is willing to listen to this handful of naysayers, rather than consider the needs and economic health of the majority of Haines residents. Read more->
Uncategorized By Gary Lidholm, on December 31st, 2009  Here was something I didn’t expect – a parking lot so crowded I couldn’t find a parking space when I arrived at the Borough Assembly building 10 minutes before last scheduled Assembly meeting of the year. Inside, I couldn’t find a seat as over 50 visitors crammed into the overheated chambers. I dug out the meeting agenda to see what I might have missed that would bring out the town like this.
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Uncategorized By Roger Maynard, on December 30th, 2009  Assemblyman Jerry Lapp makes a comment during discussion of the helicopter issue. Left to right: Assemblyman Lapp, Assemblyman Smith and Borough Clerk Cozzi There was standing room only at the Haines Borough Assembly meeting on Tuesday evening, as a crowd of 50 people waited to address issue of heli-skiing in the valley. Public comments on the issue took more than an hour while each speaker, limited to 3 minutes each, said their piece either for or against the issue.
Comments were divided in favor or against limitations on the heli-ski industry, emotions ran high, and the crowd was slightly unruly–applauding those with whom they agreed and sometimes expressing displeasure at a speaker. Several times Mayor Hill needed to remind folks to address the assembly members, not the audience when speaking, and to not applaud or make comments out of order.
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Uncategorized By Roger Maynard, on December 29th, 2009 Curious about public opinion regarding the heli-skiing business in Haines, we polled our readers during the month of December. The discussion of poll results below will be presented to the Haines Borough Assembly this evening, 12/29/2009, as they consider limitations on heli-ski operations in the borough.
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| Scott Stantis
Chicago Tribune
Feb 4, 2012
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Publisher Information:
Publisher Information:
Alaska Alliance for Commerce, Inc. (AAFC)
P.O. Box 784
Haines, Alaska 99827
Editor:
Roger L. Maynard
P.O. Box 784
Haines, Alaska 99827
editor@hainesnews.net
The Haines Alaska News is a public information service of the Alaska Alliance for Commerce, Inc., a grassroots movement organized to advocate for small business and a free market economy in Alaska.
The AAFC is organized under section 501(C)(4) of the U.S. Tax Code; contributions are not tax deductible. |
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