Transportation

Aside from the ferry Lituya, which shuttles between Ketchikan and Metlakatla, the entire Alaska Marine Highway System fleet will be idle until March.

The most noteworthy item that wasn’t included in the budget was the more than $800 million that Gov. Mike Dunleavy has said Alaskans are owed in permanent fund dividends.

All but the Alaska Marine Highway System’s smallest ship — the shuttle ferry Lituya that runs between Ketchikan and Metlakatla — is either down for repairs or laid up to save money.

Alaska’s economic development arm, the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority, hired Clark Penney’s company for a no-bid consulting contract. Penney’s grandfather Bob Penney spent $300,000 supporting Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s election.

The Alaska Department of Transportation seeks ships capable of ferrying 125 passengers from Juneau to Hoonah, Angoon and Kake. The three communities aren’t scheduled to receive a state ferry until March.

The Matanuska hasn’t moved since Jan. 26 and is not likely to get underway until Feb. 7. That’s because serious mechanical problems forced the ferry to cancel the rest of its sailings in January.

Alaska lawmakers are also affected by the ferry service gap. About two dozen vehicles for state legislators and their staff are stuck in Haines.

Pelican and Tenakee Springs residents are facing a proposed summer ferry schedule with zero summer sailings to the two remote Southeast Alaska communities.

The National Weather Service says up to 8 inches of snow are expected throughout the day, with an additional 2-4 inches expected overnight.

A charter plane from Wuhan, China, left Anchorage for California Tuesday night after everyone aboard passed a coronavirus screening test.