Transportation

The winners of Alaska’s name-the-new-ferry contest didn’t know about it until they got a call from Gov. Bill Walker and Lt. Gov. Byron Mallott.

Proponents say the road extension will save lives by improving access to hospitals, but local community councils fiercely oppose it.

Aviation High School mixes advanced academics with aviation mechanics — and a paid internship at a big airline.

“This’ll be a full investigation done by the NTSB,” said Mike Hodges, the investigator in charge on this crash for the National Transportation Safety Board.

The pilot had life-threatening injuries and was medevaced to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle around 7:20 p.m.

Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson hopes that adding staff to security checkpoints will prevent longer wait times that had been projected for this summer.

The Alaska Department of Transportation is planning a $6 million ferry dock refurbishment that would ideally happen this winter. The project would take the dock out of commission for a few months, which DOT says could leave Skagway without marine highway service.

It’s costing 14 percent more to take the ferry to and from the Lower 48. The higher fare is part of another round of tariff increases aimed at boosting income and equalizing rates across all routes.

Should the Alaska Marine Highway System be managed differently? That’s a question being asked by ferry advocates as they cope with smaller budgets and reduced schedules.

“We have zero ability to bond and help the Port of Anchorage,” said Senate Finance Committee co-chair Anna MacKinnon.