On June 27, 1986, a national campaign to raise funds for the Alaska-Siberia Peace Bridge was announced. In September, the Alaska Performing Artists for Peace was to be the first group to travel to the Soviet Union in a reciprocal cultural exchange as a part of the 1985 Geneva Accord signed by U.S. President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbahev.
In Ketchikan, after almost 90 witnesses testified against John Peel, a Washington man accused of killing eight people on a fishing boat near Craig and setting their boat aflame, two witnesses testified that Peel was not the man who had committed the crime but rather someone else had. The defense claimed that one of those awarded on the ship had committed the crime instead.
“This Day in Juneau History” is compiled by Empire intern Tasha Elizarde, who sums up the day’s events — 30 years ago — by perusing Empire archives. To learn more about the project, click here.
