On Oct. 16, 1986, state road crews began cleaning up a mudslide that blocked Thane Road in the morning. The mudslide came shortly after another one had hit a downtown home and threatened six others. The slides were likely to have been caused by the mass amount of rain hitting Juneau, left over from typhoon Carmen, which had hit the West Pacific Ocean weeks before. They were not, however, from the same rains that flooded southcentral Alaska over the same week.
Mayor Ernie Polley and a group of private companies proposed a plan to increase tourism in Alaska by creating a tourism marketing plan that includes placing a visual advertisement to the Sunset and National Geographic magazines and developing brochures for different locations in Alaska. However, for the plan to succeed, southcentral Alaska companies and the City and Borough of Juneau would have to help fund the ads.
“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.
