Letter to the Editor

To the Editor:

We need resolutions from the cities of Wrangell, Ketchikan, Juneau, Hoonah, Unalaska, etc. that request that the Alaska Senate and Legislature keep the Alaska Marine Highway in service. Without this service any of our rural areas will be unable to transport a loved one suffering from a severe medical condition comfortably in their car to Seattle or Juneau, transport teams for sporting events, or visit family and friends. If we listen to the people who work the ferry, they will run the ferry better. The ferry system is the backbone of transportation not only in Southeast, but also from Unalaska to Ketchikan. Let a retired Captain, Purser, or Engineer run the system: Restore the bars ($5,000 a trip), use the sale of the fast ferries to start up the Matanuska and keep the bigger vessels on the main runs, use the Aurora and LeConte as feeders to places like Kake, Angoon, etc.

Let's take the Columbia to Juneau during the legislative session and park it as housing for Legislatures, Senators, and Aids. No more per diem. No more using state funds for legislators and senators from the north ride for free.

How about toll booths up north to pay for our highway?

If everyone wrote Murkowski, she would take a Federal stand. If everyone wrote Ortiz, he would listen to his constituents

 I have a copy of the impossible budget when I was up in Juneau lobbying for education, the AMHS, and for the Elders. It will be at the Wrangell Library.

We need the ferry and local government must be proactive in keeping our road open.

Loretto Jones