Chilkat Valley News - Serving Haines and Klukwan, Alaska since 1966

"There's not a lot going on in Haines. I don't know what you're going to write about."

That's what the border agent at Dalton Cache said after I told her I was headed to Haines to edit the Chilkat Valley News. I'd driven more than 1,000 miles in my Subaru stuffed with plastic totes, my bike and groceries. I smiled politely, not sure if she was joking. Had I made a mistake in leaving my hometown of Anchorage for a year-long stint editing a small-town paper?

When I pulled up to the Chilkat Valley News office later that day, any doubts about the abundance of stories were eased. The acting editor, Tom Morphet, rattled off story after story that we would have to find a way to cover this week: drug busts, dock controversies, commercial fishing, a divisive mine project, an epic bicycle relay, and, of course, Little League! On top of that, I needed to find a rental in Haines' tight summer market, and the morel mushrooms I picked up on my drive through the Yukon weren't going to dry themselves! It felt like a lot.

In Anchorage, I'd been a different kind of overwhelmed. I'd spent the pandemic years covering heavy topics like COVID and homelessness for public radio. Local government officials threatened me with lawsuits and yelled at me on the phone for writing the truth. It hit deep to see ugly sides of the town where I was born and raised. I left the job and bought a one-way ticket to Colombia, where I spent five months riding buses through the washed-out dirt roads, collecting red beans on a coffee farm, and watching rivers flow by.

When I arrived back in Anchorage, things still didn't feel right. When Kyle Clayton called, saying he was looking to take a break from his duties as editor, it felt serendipitous.

Did I feel qualified? Not exactly. Copy editing has never been my strong suit. I'd never overseen an employee, or made real editorial decisions about what stories to cover. I never studied journalism. I have a bachelor's degree in Russian and a master's in Arctic Studies, both from UAF. But I had a strong resume of writing from my time in Anchorage. I'd won a few awards reporting on the government and people going through rough times. I liked taking photos and talking to new people.

So far, I've had a wonderful welcome. I've had drinks at the Fogcutter, hiked up the road snaking along Christmas Creek to get a glimpse of the helipads of the Palmer Project, decorated my yurt on Mud Bay Road with maps of the world, and played bass guitar to a few songs at the open mic on Friday night at the Pioneer. Haines has shown me its best weather, welcoming people -- and plenty to write about.