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Month: July 2026
Lindblad Expeditions’ National Geographic Sea Bird has twice stopped in Haines this year while carrying an active norovirus outbreak.
The boat’s most recent outbreak affected 20 of the 95 people aboard the ship. During that outbreak, the ship docked in Haines for 8 hours on June 23. The company did not immediately return a request for more information on Friday.
Norovirus is a highly contagious virus that is the leading cause of vomiting, diarrhea and foodborne illness in the United States. It is the most common virus reported on cruise ships, including 17 of the 23 outbreaks reported in 2025.
During a previous outbreak, the ship stopped in Haines on May 28 while twelve passengers were infected. That’s according to Centers for Disease Control reports about the outbreaks, which the agency released earlier this week. The CDC’s reporting threshold for outbreaks is 3% of the people on board.
Separately, 125 of the 4,176 people aboard the Ruby Princess cruise ship that traveled from San Francisco to Alaska from June 12 to July 2 were infected with norovirus. The Ruby Princess next sailing will see it visiting Haines for the first time this season on July 6. The ship arrived in its homeport of San Francisco on Thursday, but new passengers were delayed in getting on board as the company was disinfecting the boat, according to CruiseHive.
The CDC’s Vessel Sanitation Program monitored the Ruby Princess outbreak from afar, but sent investigators aboard the Sea Bird after its second outbreak, according to CruiseHive.
Cruise Line Agencies of Alaska port manager Leslie Ross said Friday she has notified borough tourism director Rebecca Hylton and the Southeast Alaska Regional Health Consortium Clinic of the Ruby Princess’ coming arrival and recent outbreak.
Ross said she was also aware of the outbreaks on the Sea Bird, which has been visiting Haines since mid-May. That ship moors at the Chilkoot Indian Association dock when it’s in town.
“They don’t have a medical [team] on board and they’re not a foreign-flagged ship so I don’t have as much interface with them,” Ross said.
Tourism director Hylton said the borough doesn’t generally get notifications about active outbreaks on ships like the Sea Bird, though the tour operators should.
Hylton said it’s standard practice for cruise lines to notify tour operators of disease outbreaks but not for ports and the general public. Port Community of Alaska, a professional organization based in Juneau focused on collaboration between cities impacted by cruise ship activities, is advocating for a standard protocol for all ports, she said.
Ross said cruise ships are not supposed to let infected passengers on a ship come to shore, but she’s unclear on the legality of restricting a person’s movement to the ship. She also said she wasn’t sure what the specific requirements were for ships to notify ports when they’re coming in with passengers that are infected with a contagious disease.
Ross said generally Haines’ tourism department would notify the community if there was anything to be concerned about, but that cruise operators should take precautions regardless.
“Wash your hands, wipe down everything after they get off. Don’t shake hands. Don’t share an ice cream cone with anyone,” she said.
When a ship does stop in Haines mid-outbreak of anything like the flu or norovirus, Ross said she asks them not to send any passengers who are sick to the local clinic.
“We’re a small town without a lot of resources to deal with that,” she said.
The Juneau Independent’s Mark Sabbatini contributed reporting to this story.
The post Norovirus cases tied to ships visiting Haines appeared first on Chilkat Valley News.
This week, members of the European Parliament issued two sharp rebukes of FIFA over its decision to allow Russians to participate in the U-15 World Cup in October and President Gianni Infantino’s relationship with U.S. leader Donald Trump.
In letters published Monday and Wednesday, 90 MEPs pressed FIFA over actions they said undermine the world football governing body’s political neutrality.
POLITICO sat down with the author of Wednesday’s letter, Lithuanian MEP Petras Auštrevičius from the liberal Renew group, to discuss how the European Parliament is taking a stand against FIFA.
FIFA did not immediately respond to a request for comment about Auštrevičius’ criticism.
The interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Tell us why you wrote that letter condemning FIFA for allowing Russia to return to the U-15 World Cup.
The letter came as a reaction to FIFA’s decision to open up the gates for the Russian U-15 team for the World Cup in October. To my mind, it’s completely based on moral and political blindness. This period of time is absolutely wrong to send this kind of sport-based but politics-based signal to Russia. Imagine some national teams refusing to play against Russians will face disqualification, which is completely wrong and it will lead to unfair sport competitions. It’s not the first time FIFA disappoints sport supporters and the wider public in this regard.
Infantino said earlier this year that he opposes these kinds of bans, like the one that’s been in place for Russia, because they “create more hatred.” How do you respond?
I can imagine the Russian U-15 team is on the field, and there will be a lot of sports viewers and participants in that stadium. I don’t reject [the possibility of them protesting against] Russian players. I’m sorry for the Russian U-15 national team, but that’s absolutely understandable for me, the public reaction toward their country’s war of aggression against Ukraine.
Is the relationship between Infantino and Trump a cause for concern?
It’s a demonstration of political affiliations. FIFA is not any longer a neutral sports organization, I am sorry to say. As long as they play those appeasing games with high politicians around the world, it’s simply a disadvantage of FIFA rather than a strong point. We have to be concerned if that sport becomes rather political.
Lithuania is not in the World Cup, so who are you supporting?
Well, I’ve been supporting [the] Europeans. I’ve been a strong supporter of Germany — whew, disappointed. Disappointed.
But now I keep an eye on Spain.
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DALLAS — Egyptian coach Hossam Hassan said he has no issue with the Dallas Police Department after an officer had a brief altercation with the coach’s brother, team manager Ibrahim Hassan.
“Incidents like that happen, of course,” Hassan said in a press conference after Egypt’s shootout victory over Australia. “We have nothing to follow up in that regard.”
The incident occurred at the team’s Dallas hotel late on Thursday. The police department said officers “responded to the Westin at the request of hotel security regarding an individual without event credentials attempting to gain access.”
The Hassan twins are both decorated former players for both club Al-Ahly and Egypt’s national team, for which they competed at the 1990 World Cup.
Egypt will play its next match in Atlanta.
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Juneau Weather: Friday, July 3, 2026
Friday night, rain showers this evening with overcast skies overnight. Low 48F. Winds E at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50%. Saturday, cloudy skies with a few showers later in the day. High near 60F. Winds SSW at…
Friday night, partly cloudy skies this evening. Increasing clouds with periods of showers late. Low 51F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 40%. Saturday, sunshine and clouds mixed. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 71F. Winds light…
Friday night, rain showers early, becoming a steady light rain overnight. Low near 50F. Winds WSW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 70%. Saturday, cloudy with occasional light rain…mainly in the morning. High 61F. Winds N at 5…