ALCOHOL WAS A FACTOR: Weekly Newspapering in Rural Alaska

The Story Board

This just in:
The working story-board for Thursday’s edition of the Chilkat Valley News. After this week’s paper, only two more issues to go before I return to the Lower 48.

This week, your faithful correspondent has reported and written nine stories (OK, seven; two are left over from last week.)

When two reporters essentially put out an entire 12-page paper with no wire copy, writing long is preferred.

That’s what I do; sort of.

My big story of the week was a local follow on a decision last week that Carnival Cruise Lines had agreed to a settlement to pay $40 million for illegal dumping in open waters. Twenty years ago, cruise ships were caught dumping in local waters.

Lesson: Same shit; different decade.

I did a story about a new local museum exhibit of the Disney movie “White Fang,” the only major motion picture filmed entirely in Haines. That was 25 years ago. While it pumped millions into the local economy, there were pitched battles down-to-earth locals and elitist Hollywood types.

Word is that the some smart guy got an idea to do a TV show based on Haines’ quirkiness.

It was called Northern Exposure but it was filmed in Washington State.

I did a wrap-up of all the local nonprofits that received grants from a local foundation. My favorite uses included buying a new van at the senior center and installing surveillance cameras at the domestic abuse shelter.

Speaking of shelters, I profiled the woman who started the abuse shelter and got the town mayor to admit to me (for publication) that she was abused for years here by her live-in boyfriend.

Alaska is known as America’s Rape Capital for a reason.

I wrote a first-person piece about ringing the Salvation Army bell at the local IGA, and a piece about a a local district court judge who has come out of retirement so Haines will have a resident judge. For awhile, another magistrate flew in 140 miles from Yakutat, on the other side of Glacier Bay. The judge has heard cases in Saipan for years after leaving Haines and said this job was tougher, because ‘It;’s always hard to sit in judgment of people you know.”

I also did a meeting story.

That’s it, plus the two holdovers.

But next week — watch out.

I’m working on a tip that the local Haines sanitation company is not actually recycling materials but just dumping everything — garbage, glass and paper — into the landfill to save money.

A whistleblower in Haines — the horrors!