Empire Archives is a series printed every Saturday featuring a short compilation of headline stories in the Juneau Empire from archived editions in 1984, 1994 and 2004.
This week in 1984, House lawmakers opposed to a new legislative hall in Juneau say the proposal is dead in the water following the passage of a resolution asking the municipality to stop planning for the project. “The Juneau hall is pretty well at a stalemate until some other form of action is taken by the Legislature,” said Rep. Jerry Ward, R-Anchorage. The House voted 30-10 in favor of a resolution ordering the Juneau City-Borough to “cease and desist” plans to finance and construct the hall, and lease it to the state. While the resolution is not a legal mandate to the city to stop planning, supporters such as Rep. Mike Szymanski, D-Anchorage, said they believe it will make financing of the hall through bond sales virtually impossible.
Original Story: “House passes resolution to stop planning on hall,” by Debbie Reinwand Rose. 2/23/1984.
This week in 1994, Duffers who dream of a full-size golf course complete with motorized carts, a driving range, clubhouse — the works — haven’t brought the city-borough into their foursome yet. But Aerie Holdings, a nonprofit corporation created to promote planning and building of a new course, is expected to tee up a formal proposal soon. The organization wants to lease 250 acres of city land on North Douglas Island to build an 18-hole, regulation-length golf course, according to representative Chip Parr. Also involved are developer Richard Holden and former Mayor Bill Overstreet. The existing Mendenhall Golf Course, privately owned and operated by Tom File, offers nine par-three holes. Aerie has proposed selling timber cut from the fairways to help pay the estimated $2.8 million cost of constructing the course. The timber is worth between $1.6 million and $3 million according to John Mangusso, president of the Juneau Golf Club. Aerie is also looking for private investors for part of the money, according to Parr.
Original Story: “Golfers tee up plans,” by Tim Huber. 2/21/1994.
This week in 2004, Radio and television ads promoting a new method of managing the Alaska Permanent Fund could have a tough time getting funding from the Legislature, according to some lawmakers on the House Finance Committee. The Alaska Permanent Fund Corp., which manages the $28 billion account, asked the state for $300,000 to help its campaign to push the percent of market value (POMV) plan for managing the fund. That plan inflation-proofs the fund and limits the annual payout to 5% of the total value of the fund. Fund trustees say this will provide a stable, predictable dividend payout to state residents. Finance Committee member Kevin Meyer, R-Anchorage, questioned the funding request because groups who oppose POMV would not have access to the same campaign dollars. “I understand the need to try to educate the people,” Meyer said. “The problem, though, is not everybody likes POMV. We’ve raised kind of a fairness issue as to whether or not we should be using public funds to advocate this position, knowing there is another group out there with an opposing position that has to raise private funds.”
Original Story: “Commercials a tough sell in Legislature,” by Timothy Inklebarger. 2/19/2004.
