On Nov. 11, 1986, Gov.-elect Steve Cowper chose his budget transition team. The group was to begin writing recommendations for state spending and budget cuts by next week, less than a month before Cowper was to be sworn into office Dec. 1. The first task on his agenda was to create solutions for a budget deficit caused by the state’s oil industry.
The state of Alaska planned to sell the Pacific Forest Products mill in Haines for $1 million to a pair of Petersburg residents. The owner of the mill, the Alaska Resource Corp., had used $8.5 million in loans on the mill before filing for reorganization two years before. Since the loans were not repaid, the property became the state’s largest creditor.
In Anchorage, the Alaska Supreme Court ruled that a man who was convicted of sexually abusing his teenage stepdaughter retained his parental rights with the child borne from the relationship.
“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.
