Author: alaskaadmin

It’s the fourth year of the Chilkat Valley’s annual spring art festival and organizers are hoping a new grant will help them grow the festival event further. 

The Alaska Arts Confluence is still raising the funds it needs to match and receive a $4,500 Alaska State Council on the Arts grant. Board members said they’re about $1,000 away from meeting that goal. The group plans to use the funds to pay artists running workshops and expand the core things it offers during the two-week Artfest at the end of April. 

“The marketplace is going to be much bigger and the parade is going to be bigger,” Alten said.

The theme of this year’s parade is “Colors of the Wind.” The winner of the most creative float will get $100 and bragging rights. 

“This year we’d really like to get a bunch of art cars in the parade – people who have painted their cars or done fun things to their cars,” Alten said. 

The ArtFest calendar changes every year, depending on which local organizations participate, but that’s kind of the idea. Both Alten and Arts Confluence board member Charlie Moody described creating a space for organizations to launch the Chilkat Valley into summer with whatever local art they’d like to produce. 

“We’re really trying to help people promote and expand what we’re offering,” Alten said. “To make it something people look forward to, that visitors come for. There’s never really been much to do in April.” 

This year on the calendar, the Haines Arts Council’s workshops include songwriting and ballet. The organization is also in its second year of running a music, art & dance camp on Sunday starting at noon at the Chilkat Center. Tracy Wirak-Cassidy is running an ArtFest workshop teaching people about marine debris and then creating a mosaic with it throughout April; several afternoon art sessions are scheduled at the Haines library and the Lynn Canal Community Players are staging a comedic spoof on an Alfred Hitchcock film called “39 Steps.” 

The Arts Confluence is sponsoring a handful of workshops on May 2, including block printing, zine making, and felt art. 

The group is also organizing Live Art on the Trails which features performers showcasing their work on the CIA Trails in Haines. That event has been pushed back a week, to April 25th, due to the snow conditions on the trails. Moody said anyone interested in showing off their skills during that event can reach out to him or Clara Natonabah to get involved. As of Wednesday, there were three spots left open. 

Events are still being added to the Alaska Arts Confluence calendar. Organizers said the best place to find more information was at the website alaskaartsconfluence.org/artfest. 

Artfest ends after a day of events on Sunday May 3, starting with the parade at 11:30 a.m. and ending with a Jackson Emmer concert at the Chilkat Center at 7 p.m. 

Ultimately, Alten and Moody said they’d like to see the annual event grow into something that brings people together to practice art of all kinds, regardless of what the Confluence can organize. 

“There’s an economic benefit,” Alten said. “We know that about art festivals. Yukon Art Festival has grown by leaps and bounds. That’s what art festivals do, they grow.” 

The post With new grant, organizers eye ArtFest expansion appeared first on Chilkat Valley News.

Since I wrote my piece comparing a lease to sharecropping, I have received quite a bit of feedback. I regret getting involved in a dispute between two parties who were not seeking resolution but dissolution of their business relationship. I was unaware of the tenant’s past-due rent, and I should have reached out to the landlord before writing what I did. For this, I am sorry.

I still believe that tenants should advocate for their best-case scenarios in their leases, and if you don’t know what that is, consult a lawyer. I hired Andrew Juneau from Faulkner Banfield in Juneau. 

I was wearing my chef hat when I wrote that piece, and now I am eating it. I wasn’t considering my role at the Chamber of Commerce. What I did was a divisive act. While I thought I was defending a chamber member, I should have looked at the full picture first. When a restaurant struggles, it is usually because of multiple compounding issues, not one.

It is important to help each other in a small community, but boundaries matter. Our most meaningful impact comes from our daily work and how we show up for people. We live in expensive, stressful times — especially in rural Alaska — and it is easy to lay blame. It is harder to work together. I’ve always preferred the hard way, and I am sorry that my anger got the best of me.

Travis Kukull

The post An apology for my involvement in a landlord-tenant dispute appeared first on Chilkat Valley News.

Haines’ king salmon sport fishery is once more open to anglers, even as state fish forecasters project a smaller run of Chilkat kings this year.  

For nearly a decade, sport fishing for king salmon has been shut down in the Upper Lynn Canal — a response to historically low returns. 

From 2011 to 2018, the number of kings spawning in the Chilkat River came in below the state’s sustainability goal — also known as escapement — all but one year. 

This year, beginning on June 14, Alaskan anglers in the Haines area may catch two 28-inch or bigger king salmon per day, with no total limit for the season. 

Non-resident anglers are limited to one large fish per day and three total through June 30, then limited to one total after that date. 

The past decade of restrictions on fisheries have been effective in pulling the Chilkat run out of its decline. Whereas about 20% of the run annually was being harvested 10 years ago, the harvest in recent years has been about 5% of the run, said Alaska Department of Fish and Game biologist Brian Elliott last year. Now, the run has made escapement seven of the last eight years.

Last year’s return of 4,054 spawning-size Chilkat kings exceeded the top end of the escapement range and the pre-season forecast of 3,000 fish. 

Nevertheless, some continue to worry about the run’s long-term health.

Longtime angler and gillnetter Stuart DeWitt this week questioned the decision to reopen the sport fishery without an annual limit. 

“A run that’s been closed for so long, why wouldn’t you err on the side of caution?” DeWitt said. “I want to be able to (catch kings), I’ll take any opportunity to do it, but three fish per person for a family in a year — that’s plenty of meat.” 

The first indication of run strength will come from tagging in May, said Daniel Teske, Fish and Game’s Juneau-area sportfish biologist. With that data, he said, managers may still consider in-season restrictions, particularly on non-resident anglers.

But overall, Teske pointed to last year’s return and the recent run of higher-escapements as evidence of a run that can support this year’s opening. 

As the Haines-area sheds the stringent restrictions of the past decade, the fishery is now mostly in line with the rest of the region. 

The daily- and season-limits are the same as the general Southeast king salmon sportfish regulations, though the start of the season in Haines is delayed to June 14. This year’s two-fish daily limit for kings in Southeast doubles last year’s one-fish daily limit. 

The June 14 start date means fishing will only open toward the tail end of traditional run-timing, Elliott said, which Fish and Game hopes will minimize over-harvest.  

The new sport fish regulations follow the January release of Fish and Game’s annual preseason forecast. According to the forecast, state biologists predict the Chilkat will see 2,650 spawning-size king salmon. That number — calculated assuming zero-harvest — falls well within the escapement range, but is lower than both last year’s return and last year’s forecast. 

According to Elliott, that’s not a cause for worry. The largest proportion of spawners in the Chilkat run have been 5-year old fish, and last year’s 5-year old age class was particularly large. The forecast still exceeds the specific point goal within the escapement range of 2,200 spawners, Elliott said, leaving room for some harvest. 

On the commercial side, management is expected to “remain conservative” this season, with restrictions remaining similar to past years, said Fish and Game’s Haines commercial fisheries manager Nicole Zeiser.

The post After a decade, the Chilkat king salmon sport fishery is open appeared first on Chilkat Valley News.

Using Haines School for a privately funded “Easter” celebration wherein thousands of pieces of candy are distributed to children, is unhealthy, wasteful and inappropriate — but exemplifies our health crisis. 

Instead of maladaptive festivals of refinement and glucose-spiking junk, schools, churches and donors (and community organizations generally) might consider serving and offering heartfelt gratitude and whole, real, and traditional disease-fighting foods.

Human health is way more complex than food alone; reducing daily stressors, getting sufficient sleep and exercise, and healthy relationships are also key to productivity, thriving, creativity, and disease avoidance. 

We now know tons about how to lower risks for vascular disease, type-2 diabetes, kidney problems, cancer, Alzheimer’s, depression, and so forth. What’s the missing super sauce? Simply informed people taking collective care and action, which come free of charge.

A few sobering numbers illustrate the scale of America’s problem. Chronic disease is expected to cost the U.S. an insane $47 trillion over the next 15 years, probably more. Over half U.S. adults live with two or more chronic disease diagnoses. The frequency of type-2 diabetes has tripled the rate of vision-loss due to diabetic retinopathy since 1990, and this year alone about 155,000 U.S. amputations will be performed because of complications of type-2 diabetes. By 2050, the U.S. rate of overweight and obese (now about 40-percent) will hit 60 percent — which will likely include children currently enrolled at Haines School. 

Exactly what are we doing here and why?

Burl Sheldon

The post Candy-fueled Easter is an unhealthy, inappropriate and wasted opportunity appeared first on Chilkat Valley News.

Severance tax fails 

A flurry of final votes on major legislation, all coinciding at Tuesday’s meeting, came at somewhat of an inconvenient time. As has become familiar in recent weeks, the assembly requires four votes — a majority of the full body — to pass legislation. That remains the case even with assembly members missing, which was the case Tuesday. 

Absences from assembly members Cheryl Stickler and Kevin Forster left only four assembly members present, meaning a unanimous vote was the only way to pass any legislation. Functionally, that meant each assembly member had a veto, with any no vote able to derail any motion to pass, amend, or even postpone legislation. 

A severance tax was the first to fall, losing out in a 2-2 vote. 

The proposal has been to tax the value of raw materials extracted in the borough but exported and sold outside — specifically mineral ore, timber, gravel, sand and coal. Exports up to $5,000 in value would have been exempted from the tax. 

The idea has long been on the table, failing in front of multiple recent assemblies. Former assembly member Debra Schnabel spoke in favor of the tax during public comment, saying that she saw “no embarrassment in charging for a commodity we have that people need.” 

“I’m disturbed by the idea that this tax is something that is going to hurt business,” she added. “The consumer is the one that pays the severance tax we’re talking about right now. We have a commodity people want, and it’s important to take advantage of that, especially in our time of need.” 

Prior to the meeting, assembly member Mark Smith had submitted a list of objections to the proposal, namely that rates were set too high, the tax would not be legally defensible, and the borough would be better served with alternatives like a negotiated payment-in-lieu-of-tax, or PILT. 

The legislation had been “vetted” by the borough’s attorney, borough staff said. 

During the meeting, Smith proposed sending the severance tax proposal back to committee, but assembly member Eben Sargent objected, citing the months it had already spent in committee. 

Smith then moved to take a final vote, which failed with him and assembly member Gabe Thomas voting no. 

Bulk-ore containerization postponed

The severance tax was the lone-member of the most significant ordinances to make it to a final vote. The rest were put off, including a vote on new ore-handling regulations in the borough. 

Those regulations, put forward by Thomas and Forster, would require mineral-ore containers to remain sealed within borough boundaries, even as they are loaded onto ships. In theory, that would assuage concerns about environmental contamination, in the event of an active Chilkat Valley mine, similar to that of Skagway’s ore terminal.

But rather than make a final decision, assembly members Tuesday decided to send the proposal to committee. 

Sargent, who said he supported the intent of the proposal, argued committee review would ensure the intent was reflected in the actual language of the legislation. 

“We’re dealing with big industry and big money and we need to be careful we don’t create loopholes or redundancies that will cost us money later,” he said. 

ADU future still controversial, still uncertain

The accessory dwelling unit proposal has changed from last year, but the conversation around it remains just about the same. 

The overall idea is to allow individual homeowners to build a small rental unit on a single-family lot, which some say could help cut into Haines’ housing shortage. 

Sargent, who has led the charge on the measure, described it as a way to “unlock a quiet source of development capital and land.”

In other words, individuals who wouldn’t finance large new housing-development projects might be willing to spend a smaller amount to repurpose an existing structure or build on their own property to have an extra stream of income.  

Allowing accessory dwelling units, often referred to as ADUs, wouldn’t be a significant change to existing regulations, at least on its face. Residents in single-family zones are already allowed to rent out garage apartments or units attached to their homes. The new rules would allow them to rent out slightly larger units and units on the property but not attached to the primary residence. 

But the impact of that, some residents say, would be large. As has been the case at all public hearings on ADUs, many spoke out Tuesday arguing the change would increase crowding in single-family neighborhoods. Many objections came from Lutak and Mud Bay residents who had been exempted from last year’s version of the ordinance.

Compared to that previous proposal, the current version adds new restrictions in an effort to address density concerns. For instance, the proposal now requires lots must be of a certain size to have an accessory dwelling unit by right, otherwise the ADU permit must go through a stringent conditional use permit process, which includes the input of neighbors. It also requires lots to have a state-approved septic-system or borough sewer connection in order to host an ADU.

But still, Thomas described it as a “sweeping zone change” that “will not work,” citing the high cost of building an extra unit. 

“If this doesn’t work, no ADUs get built and no one’s losing anything,” responded mayor Tom Morphet.

In the end, the four-member assembly voted unanimously to send the current version of the proposal to the planning commission for review. The assembly will then hold a third public hearing and possibly take a final vote at their next meeting on April 28. 

Smith to write check

In perhaps the quickest resolution to a non-profit funding discussion in recent assembly history, Smith said Tuesday he’ll be signing over $10,000 of his own money to the Chilkat Valley Preschool. 

Chilkat Valley Preschool had come to the assembly as a whole for funding Tuesday, asking for up to $10,000 to fund a new program for toddlers, including new equipment and licensing. That youngest age group currently has the biggest shortage of childcare providers in the valley, many, including childcare providers, have said. 

After some initial discussion amongst the assembly, Smith interjected. His offer to the preschool: withdraw the request to the assembly and he’d write out a check after the meeting. Staff at the preschool quickly accepted. 

High costs to get town hall meeting

Amid skyrocketing global fuel costs, over 500 Haines residents have signed a petition asking the assembly to cut the summer sales tax rate by 2.5%. 

According to Delta Western spokesperson Di Do, the fuel-provider hasn’t raised Haines prices yet — last raising them March 13. But the global increases have already been seen in other areas, including a major increase to rates from freight company Alaska Marine Lines.

Across the board, assembly members on Tuesday seemed receptive to residents’ struggles with rising prices. The tougher question is what they’ll decide to do about it. 

Borough finance director Jila Stuart has raised concerns with significantly slashing the sales tax rate. 

“I think people are asking for a kind of relief valve from the rising prices,” Stuart said Tuesday. “I think taking (sales tax) from 7% to 4.5% is way more than a relief valve. It’s totally unraveling our sales-tax structure.” 

According to her projections, the summer sales-tax cut could result in a loss of over $1 million in revenue for the borough, roughly 2% of the annual operating budget.

There’s also a question of legality: the seasonal sales-tax rates were passed by voters at the ballot in October, and the assembly is not allowed to immediately overturn a vote from residents. The more clear solution would be to hold a special election, allowing voters to pass the temporary rate change, Morphet said. 

But there are other options for temporary price relief, including some suggested by Stuart. Stuart’s ideas included temporarily eliminating tax on electricity bills or exempting groceries. Those proposals would have a smaller impact in terms of total dollars, exempting roughly $100,000 and $400,000 of tax, respectively, over four months, Stuart said. 

They may also favor residents over tourists more than the overall sales-tax rate cut by targeting services more heavily used by residents.

Smith also brought to the meeting an idea to temporarily eliminate sales tax on “all fossil fuels.” 

No decisions were made, and the assembly has scheduled a town hall on April 22 to hear residents’ concerns and ideas for price relief. 

“I’m living on tuna fish now,” Morphet said. “I think it’s incumbent on us to hear how badly people are hurting. It’s important information.” 

Plastic bag ban get canned 

Plastic bags at Olderud’s have been a persistent topic in the assembly, coming up against a plastic-bag ban that is theoretically on the books in borough code. 

The ban had been originally championed by a sixth-grade class. Two members of that class, now graduated, spoke at a January assembly meeting encouraging the assembly to enforce the ban. 

One of those Haines High graduates, Willa Stuart, spoke about the class’s plastic-bag efforts in her valedictorian speech last year. 

“This is about whether we honor our own laws and honor our young people who say, ‘you said you were going to do something and you don’t do it,’” Morphet said at that January meeting.

On Tuesday, new legislation was up for introduction that would have clarified the existing ban by adding a specific plastic thickness threshold, something Sargent said was common around the state. 

Smith, however, said he wouldn’t vote for it, saying he was “against any law that can’t be enforced.”

Smith’s lack of support, plus Thomas’ later when it came to a vote, meant the legislation failed to be introduced.

“Not taking action on this ordinance doesn’t make (plastic bags) legal,” Sargent said. “This was a good faith effort to make it super clear. This was created by school children. Although it’s probably the most realistic lesson that if you put something into code it’ll probably be cheated, that’s not the lesson I’d like to teach in this room.” 

“I get the whole kid thing,” Smith responded. “That’s not serious in my world. There’s a reason they’re not in Congress.” 

AMG tour permit

The assembly approved a tour permit for Alaska Mountain Guides to operate a boat to Eldred Rock Lighthouse. An AMG application to run boat tours in Lutak Inlet remains undecided. 

The Lutak Inlet tour faced some opposition from area residents due to concerns over boat noise, crowding, and disturbance to wildlife. 

AMG owner Sean Gaffney said the tours would have a beneficial effect on the area, easing concerns of congestion following new state-regulations this year banning large tour buses. The large-bus ban may increase the total number of vehicles in the state recreation area — something that would be helped by putting tourists onto the water, Gaffney said. He did not specifically say 

Gaffney also said the tour would be limited, spending only 30 minutes in Lutak Inlet twice a day when cruise ships were docked in town. 

By only approving the uncontroversial Eldred Rock route, the assembly is asking Gaffney to resubmit the Lutak Dock tour as a separate permit for consideration. 

The post Assembly Briefs: Smith writes big check, assembly considers major changes appeared first on Chilkat Valley News.

For the third year, Holly Davis has organized a butterfly migration at the Haines library. She said kids build a “butterfly tree” using  children’s book illustrator  Eric Carle’s style of painting vibrant textures using brushes and sponges. Then, they cut the butterflies for the tree. She was helped by Ava Stanford, Lolly Minor, and Maren Billings. Davis says in the fall the butterflies on the tree will be replaced with leaves that children will also make.  

Patty Brown recently spent time in west Texas on what she called a  “solo pro-democracy tour.” Her kickoff was participation in a rally in  Austin on March 28. She also visited the memorial honoring 21 children and teachers killed in Uvalde. Brown spent three days outside of the Dilley Family Detention Center protesting the conditions and prolonged stays by children and families. Brown went on to camp at Big Bend National Park. While there she joined locals at a rally protesting a border barrier in a sensitive riparian zone impeding access to the Rio Grande River for hundreds of miles. 

American Bald Eagle Foundation director, Kathy Benner loaded up two bald eagles, Arden and Vega for a ferry ride to Juneau this week. Benner received permission from state and federal permittees to transport the eagles to get imaging and bloodwork.. This will set a baseline for their future medical needs. Benner has been taking eagles for X-rays for 20 years. She put her skills to work loading Arden and Vega into the dog kennels incident free and the two remained well-behaved for the journey. She was in the unique position to note that two adult eagles in a vehicle for a long time offered a distinct smell. 

The Haines swim team competed in Juneau last weekend. Sydney Wray said everyone swam well. Sally Andersen  was the sole Masters swimmer participating from Haines, and she “crushed it.” The ten and under boys Elias Mason, Dames Gregg, Stanley Johnson, Azeo Walsh and Aurora Mason achieved personal best times in all events they completed. McConnell Robinson scratched from day one and two only to continue on to a personal record in his 100m fly. Hazel Wray swam the 400 individual medley for the first time and managed four personal best times. Grady Robinson highlighted the meet – becoming a new Alaska State Swimming Championship qualifier in the 50 meter free with a time of 26.96. Robinson, Wray and McConnell Robinson will represent the Haines Dolphins at the end of the month in Anchorage. 

The 51st annual Juneau Folk Fest once again inspired plenty of people to flock to Juneau from Haines. Some former Haines residents were spotted enjoying the festivities. Dr. Len Feldman played the accordion. John Hunt performed on the main stage playing auto harp and also ukulele. Katya Kirsch played banjo with 16 women on Saturday night. Tony Tengs was spotted by Tom Morphet enjoying the music as well as former CVN reporter Steve Williams and his wife Michele Drucker. 

A few Haines folk-festers found themselves learning to cut a rug together at a popular clogging workshop taught by Annie Bartholomew and held at Centennial Hall. Nene Wolfe was part of the three piece band providing the music, she was on accordion. Leslie Evenden,, Mardell Gunn, Patty Brown, Lizzy Jurgeleit, Anna Jurgeleit and former Haines resident Andrew Cardella made up a few of the nearly 40 cloggers – yours truly included– who followed the step by step instruction on the clogging. They also practiced fundamentals of Appalachian flatfooting – some with more success than others. 

Hannah Trujillo attended her very first Juneau Folk Fest. Trujillo says that her mom was a fiddle player. She loves fiddle music and she “had a hankering to dance.” This likely will not be her last trip to folk fest. Anna Jurgeleit has attended 10 folk fests so far. Her favorite band to perform over the years was “Texas Maniacs.” Tom Morphet has also attended 10. Nancy Berland says she has been to the event at least 25 times, but was out done by Berl Sheldon. He has attended at least 30. Both Berland and Sheldon agree that “Hot Club of Cowtown” was their favorite band to see during their history attending the festival. Mardell Gunn has only missed two folk festivals since 1995, and says that any year Rhiannon Giddens plays is the best year to attend. 

The post Duly Noted: Traveling musicians, a butterfly tree, transporting eagles and more appeared first on Chilkat Valley News.