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, employees in several state departments have complained they were pressured by supervisors to attend two Democratic party fundraisers, although organizers said the events were planned as “strictly voluntary attendance activities.” Officials this morning estimated as much as $35,000 was raised for the state Democratic Finance Committee through a cocktail party and dinner held as a salute to Gov. Bill Sheffield on the occasion of his birthday. Tickets to the cocktail party cost $50 per person, while tickets to the dinner and cocktail party were set at $250 per head. Members of the organizing group said they were asked by the governor to make sure all preparation work was done after office hours and it was stressed that no state employees should feel they had to attend. Several employees in the Office of Management and Budget, however, said that OMB Director Peter McDowell “made it clear (that) attendance was expected,” said one OMB official who requested anonymity. Several employees at the Department of Environmental Conservation also reported similar pressure.
Original Story: “State workers complain of donation pressure,” by Debbie Reinwand Rose. 7/26/1984.
This week in 1994, a net designed to keep a hatchery run of chum salmon out of Peterson Creek is blamed for killing or injuring about 100 Dolly Varden, a hatchery official says. Ladd Macaulay, director of Douglas Island Pink and Chum Inc., says the net is supposed to be replaced this weekend. The net is supposed to prevent large numbers of hatchery chums from entering the creek and overwhelming wild runs of pinks, Dolly Varden, cutthroat and steelhead. The net, which is across the mouth of the creek, is also supposed to allow Dolly Varden to come and go as they please. DIPAC releases juvenile chums at Amalga Harbor and harvests them there when they return to spawn. Peterson Creek flows into the harbor. Revenue from the returning chums is used to fund DIPAC’s operations, including its Gastineau Channel hatchery. In theory, salmon can’t pass through the net, and smaller Dolly Varden and trout can. But it hasn’t worked out that way in practice and the Dolly Varden have been getting caught in the net, said Macaulay, who discussed the problem with representatives of the state Department of Fish and Game, the Territorial Sportsmen and Trout Unlimited. DIPAC plans to install larger mesh at the top of the net in the hopes of reducing the unintentional Dolly Varden catch.
Original Story: “DIPAC nets pose Dolly hazard,” by Tim Huber. 7/24/1994.
This week in 2004, from local teachers and artists to engineers and corporate executives, more than 50 people had something to say about the proposed Kensington mine during a Monday public hearing in Juneau. A majority of speakers in the hearing bemoaned a weak Southeast Alaska economy and urged federal and state environmental regulators to quickly issue permits for Coeur Alaska’s gold mine project, located 45 miles northwest of Juneau near Berners Bay. Others — almost a third — asked the regulators to conduct a more critical review of the project plan. Many of those who criticized the Kensington Mine’s proposed environmental permits said they preferred Coeur’s 1997 plan, which involved dry tailings storage and no marine transport in Berners Bay. Those listening included representatives from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the Alaska Department of Natural Resources and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, who are reviewing a number of the draft permits for the project this summer. Some permits – such as a dam safety permit – have not been drafted yet.
Today the Kensington mine remains in operation and the U.S. Forest Service in 2022 approved a controversial expansion of operations that extends its life for at least another 10 years.
Original Story: “Most at meeting want mine open,” by Elizabeth Bluemink. 7/27/2004.
• Contact Mark Sabbatini at mark.sabbatini@juneauempire.com or (907) 957-2306.
