On Sept. 9, 1986, Star Trek celebrates its 20th birthday, proving that they’ve truly lived long and prospered in the hearts of fans. Aside from celebrating the show that revealed to us the genius of Leonard Nimoy, good news was hard to find in Alaska.
On the budget, the Legislative Finance Decision and the House and Senate finance committees took a 5 to 10 percent pay cut. The Legislature also considered an oil tax law change that could raise state revenue by $1.5 billion by the year 2000 if passed. One of the biggest proposed changes would repeal an existing provision that gives oil companies a tax break. If no action at all is taken by next summer, the state would lose an estimated $70 million in income.
In Sitka, strikers against the United Paperworkers Local 962 and Tokyo-based Alaska Pulp Co. were unable to come to an agreement even after Gov. Bill Sheffield flew in to mediate their talks. The union went on strike on July 11, upset at the number of large pay cuts they had to accept in the past year. After a week of the strike, the company ordered replacements.
Another instance of Company vs. Town was seen during a City and Borough of Juneau meeting when the vice president of the CBJ Planning Commission and a principal in the organization behind Vintage Business Park argued about a recently revised ordinance that governs development in the business park. The former claimed he was doing what he must while the latter claimed he was being harassed by the commission and CBJ staff.
“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.
