KHNS - Haines

Skagway officials are preparing for nearly 100,000 cruise ship passengers to visit this summer, and are taking steps to make sure the same sort of outbreak doesn’t happen on their side of the border.

The Yukon Territory’s COVID-19 outbreak continued to grow Monday despite nearly three-quarters of the territory’s adult population being fully vaccinated.

The 80 passengers aboard the relatively small American Constellation spent Friday in Skagway, then Saturday touring Haines. 

Based on the mayor’s math, the number of passengers that will visit Skagway this summer will be less than a tenth of the visitors that come in a typical season.

National Park Service is considering a number of upgrades including a new visitor kiosk, restroom, river overlook, bike racks, benches, interpretive panels, passenger drop-off zone and improved parking.  

The Haines Long Term Recovery Group formed in December to help piece together recovery strategies across the Haines Borough.

Runoff from the December rains carried debris into the field, which sits below an old, decommissioned petroleum pipeline.

Port agreements have yet to be finalized with the municipality of Skagway for any cruise ships, leaving business owners in limbo as they attempt to plan for an uncertain summer season.

Lende spoke with KHNS about her writing and about what it means to be named Alaska’s laureate.

Owner Robert Murphy hopes to have most of the work on the hydro system done by this fall with a rollout of hydropower for his buildings targeted for next spring.