Empire Archives is a series printed every Saturday featuring a short compilation of headline stories in the Juneau Empire from archived editions in 1985, 1995, and 2005. The stories include names, AP style, and other content of their eras.
This week in 1985, the 1985-86 municipal budget is passed, including $7.35 million for local schools, but Juneau property owners still don’t know whether they’ll be facing a tax increase next year. Still up in the air are about $20 million to expand Bartlett Memorial Hospital, build a new library and improve the city ferry terminal, all of which could come down on the shoulders of local taxpayers. The assembly was told city bonding for $20 million in projects would add 2 mills to the current mill rate, or $200 a year in tax for every $100,000 worth of property. The mill rates currently range from a low of 8.92 in downtown Juneau to a high of 10.68 in Douglas.
Today the Juneau Assembly is advancing a mill rate of 10.24 for the coming fiscal year, up from 10.04 mills this year, due to extra items added late in the budget process as well as anticipated cuts to federal funds previously received.
Original Story: “Budget passes; taxes up in the air,” by Betsy Longenbaugh. 5/21/1985.
This week in 1995, if the school board was hoping for affirmation of its position that teachers take a 5 percent pay cut next year, they didn’t get it from an independent observer. After listening to the school district and teachers union make their best arguments on a proposed contract for next year, arbitrator Kenneth McCaffree suggested that the district adopt the union position for salaries during the 1995-96 school year. That would mean keeping the current salary schedule, allowing pay increases for additional experience — the “step” increases — and granting pay increases for additional education, called “column” pay increases. No across-the-board, cost-of-living raises would be included.
Today teachers are telling the Juneau School District they’re quitting because of low salaries, and the most recent contract offer to them proposes slashing salaries, cutting middle school prep in half and removing guaranteed prep minutes for secondary teachers.
Original Story: “Arbitrator: Don’t cut teacher pay,” by Dan Joling. 5/24/1995.
This week in 2005, Redfern Resources Corp. announced it is putting the proposed Tulsequah Chief mine northeast of Juneau on hold, pending further mineral exploration. In its current state, the mine cannot be financed, according to Redfern officials. The preliminary results of a feasibility update begun in late winter show high construction and operating costs and a reduced mineral resource estimate. The Tulsequah mine includes proven reserves of gold, silver, copper and zinc, 40 miles from Juneau in the British Columbia reaches of the Taku River watershed. “It’s a bit of a step back,” Redfern president Terry Chandler said of the decision. “We have to make it perform better economically.” The project, which still hasn’t received approval at the Canadian national level, may be set back a year or two, said Ed Fogels, large mine permit coordinator for the Alaska Department of Natural Resources. Some of the mine’s critics in Southeast Alaska said Wednesday the delay may also be an opportunity to create an international watershed protection plan for the Taku River, origin of chinook, coho and sockeye salmon fished by Juneau gillnetters and trollers.
Today cleanup issues for the shuttered Tulsequah Chief mine remain unresolved.
Original Story: “Company puts its Tulsequah mine on hold,” by Elizabeth Bluemink. 5/19/2005.
• Contact Mark Sabbatini at mark.sabbatini@juneauempire.com or (907) 957-2306.
