On Feb. 10, 1987, the City and Borough of Juneau did not respond to a Juneau Harbors Board report about a needed ice machine, therefore deciding to not supply ice for fisherman the upcoming season. Although Mayor Ernie Polley has claimed that the ice machine was a priority issue to the Assembly, the harbors board rejected the one formal ice proposal that they received because it was too expensive. The board then turned an eye to the public, searching for someone who would be willing to renovate and operate the Juneau cold storage ice machine at their own expense. Also during that Monday meeting, the Assembly talked about negotiating with the University of Alaska-Juneau to get permission to rent the school’s fisheries terminal, approving a suggestion from the harbors board to continue negotiations.
Alaska was shaken by a recent strike from members of the Inland Boatmen’s Union of the Pacific (IBU-P) on Feb. 5. The strike was against Puget Sound Tug and Barge Co., which operated the tugs that tied up oil tankers at Valdez and merchant ships in Whittier, had affected a total of 46 IBU members so far. Alaska officials waited to see if the strike would affect the state’s economy should oil loading operations dry up after state oil revenues because of the 30-day hiatus.
Meanwhile, information about Alaska’s education system from 1985-86 was released by Secretary of Education William J. Bennett. In Alaska, the average ACT score received by high school students was 18.1, increasing from 17.6 in 1985, but less than 0.7 points from the national average. The graduation rate was 67.1 percent, and teacher salaries were about two times more than the national average of $25,313 at $41,480.
“This Day in Juneau History” is compiled by Empire freelancer Tasha Elizarde, who sums up the day’s events — 30 years ago — by perusing Empire archives.
