Local Government

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.

Assembly members chose not to raise property taxes in the city after seeing better-than-expected property values and a potential uptick in tourism.

A representative of the Áak’w Kwáan Coalition Council says T’aaḵu Kwáan aren’t Native to the Juneau area and that they came from up the Taku River, in what is now Canada, to Juneau during the Gold Rush era.

Assembly members asked City Manager Rorie Watt to go back to Norwegian, suggesting the company donate directly to an organization like the Juneau Community Foundation, instead of the city itself.

The memorandum addresses conditions laid out by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention allowing cruise ship operations to resume.

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.  

Chamber of Commerce Director Jason Bickling said that’s created a unique opportunity for the city to reflect on what it needs.

Wrangell Borough Manager Lisa Von Bargen says sinking docks have been a problem in Meyers Chuck for years, but Wrangell’s government has failed to meet its obligation to maintain them.

Some in Bethel say the city could start losing essential services if it starts shutting down B&B’s, which house many transient workers.

At times, Tlingit & Haida tribal officials were outraged because some city officials brushed aside the tribe’s assertion of its sovereignty on the land where it runs its fireworks shop.