- 1988

Elizabeth Peratrovich Day was established to honor “her courageous, unceasing efforts to eliminate discrimination and bring about equal rights in Alaska”. Alaska State Library, ASL Portrait File. Photographs. ASL-Peratrovich-Elizabeth-1.

Alaska Governor Steve Cowper established April 21 as Elizabeth Peratrovich Day “for her courageous, unceasing efforts to eliminate discrimination and bring about equal rights in Alaska”. The date was later changed to February 16 in observance of the day in 1945 on which the Anti-Discrimination Act was approved.

Hometown ace skier Hilary Lindh kept Juneau sports fans on the edge of their seats while watching her first performance the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary Alberta. Advancing earlier to the U.S. Ski Team’s A Team, Lindh performed credibly but brought home no medals. Rated as one of the top fifteen women downhill ski racers in the world, she would be one to watch closely in the 1992 winter games.

Wind and rain seemed to be the perpetual forecast for much of the year. On February 4, a record three inches in one day with 70 mile-an-hour winds was recorded , while rain fell on all but 19 days, July 1 through November 30, the worst spell of wet weather since record keeping had begun in 1943 (at the Juneau airport). Heavy fall rains produced widespread flooding, mudslides, downed trees, and a short-term evacuation of residents from homes in endangered areas.

Voters turned down a bid October 4 the city had proposed earlier that Juneau be considered for a Navy homeport for two frigates. Had Juneau actually been selected for such, an estimated 1,100 jobs, $11 million payroll, and $2.4 million in additional taxes could have been added to the city’s economic picture. DIPAC began construction of its new Gastineau Hatchery (later renamed the Ladd Macauley Hatchery to honor DIPAC’s founder), permitted by the Alaska Department of Fish & Game to raise and release pink, chum, king, and coho salmon to enhance northern Southeast Alaska commercial and sport fisheries. The $10 million 52-bed unit Juneau Pioneer Home opened July 1 on Glacier Highway by Vanderbilt Hill.

The local economy showed signs of recovery from the last several years of recession, fueled in large part with mining exploration and planning. Greens Creek Mine continued its preparations for opening early next year, while Echo Bay Inc. continued to assess its possible re-opening the AJ mine. As an unusual service to Greens Creek workers, B.M.Behrends Bank opened a once-a-week mobile bank on site at the mines’ remote camp at Hawk Inlet where the employees could cash their paychecks, open accounts, and use other normal banking services. Sealaska, Goldbelt, and Juneau-based Klukwan Inc. Native corporations showed healthy financial gains. Housing vacancies showed a large drop, indicating the outmigration of laid-off workers had slowed considerably, and there was renewed interest in new housing investment. After much debate, the Glacier Highway Electrical Association voted March 31 to merge with Alaska Electric Light & Power, lowering GHEA area rates by half.

Alaska’s longest and most costly murder trial ended April 23 when John Kenneth Peel was acquitted in a second trial by a Juneau jury. Peel had been accused of murdering the crew of eight people in September 1982 aboard the fishing boat Investor in Craig. The first trial had resulted in a hung jury. Locally, two murders and a fatal car crash added to the crime record. An unusual theft gained national attention when the aptly named “Cheeto Bandito” stole a car, robbed a liquor store of booze and snack foods, returned the car, but was then caught by police who followed a trail of snack foods to his front door on September 25. This year’s election campaign heated up more than usual, when candidates reported many of their signs had been repeatedly torn down by over-zealous supporters of their opponents. That display of overly-partisan rudeness was climaxed when state legislative candidate Paul Fletcher was assaulted by a motorist leaping from his car at an intersection and attempting to slug him in the nose, as he was campaigning. The blow missed and Fletcher continued his campaign; however, he lost in the election.

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