Juneau Independent

In the first week of June, three men flew into Haines to meet with borough manager Alekka Fullerton. They were executives she hadn’t met from a company she hadn’t heard of. As she learned at the meeting, they manage much of the operations at the borough’s cruise ship dock.

A lunch break on a gravel bar on the Klehini River wound to a close as Russ Lyman and Joe Ordóñez studied a massive log jam. The duo have guided raft trips in the Chilkat Valley for nearly 40 years.

The Anan Wildlife Observatory bear cameras are online for a third summer, bringing the lives of Tongass bears like Scuba Sue and Tatonka to viewers around the world. It’s thanks to the hard work of students participating in the Teaching Through Technology program.

A second company has expressed interest in operating Haines’ cruise ship dock but says it has not yet received a response from the borough.

Officials are searching for a large boulder and will need to fundraise to create a patriotic monument for Wrangell, a move that would bring the nation’s “Freedom Rock” tour to Alaska as a way of commemorating the 250th birthday of the United States.

Two high school exchange students, from Moldova and Germany, are confirmed to arrive in Sitka for the 2026-27 school year through the organization AFS Intercultural Programs, despite rollbacks of federal funding for some AFS programs.

Two of three Ketchikan-based U.S. Coast Guard fast response cutters were recently deployed to the U.S./Mexico border, a USCG official stated in an email on Thursday.

The state’s utility regulators struck down a 69.92% electricity rate increase proposed by the Upper Lynn Canal’s electric utility.

Last week’s assembly meeting delivered a certain poetic justice for those who want plastic shopping bags in town.

The Wrangell Museum is launching a new website that will feature access to an online catalog listing thousands of items in the collection. The new feature at nolancenter.com is under construction and will be rolled out in the next month or so, Nolan Center Director Jeanie Arnold said.

1,009 patrons – attended Saturday’s Beerfest. Of these, 180 were Haines residents. According to Jeremy Reed, president of the Southeast Alaska State Fair, 172 guests attended Friday’s Gourmet Brewers’ Dinner.

One of the most widely used campgrounds in the Chilkat Valley is closed.