Huffington Magazine Issue 85 | Page 72

ALASKA IS FLAGGING ment, one representative sighed. His response could have well been the title of a textbook on Alaskan politics. “Their chief is friends with Don Young.” Such economic and political uncertainty is beginning to cast a pall over the Last Frontier. The very same week Begich and Cantwell toured the state, the town council of Ketchikan, population 8,000, voted to expand daily ferry service to its airport and a smattering of homes. Funding for a bridge had failed to materialize in Washington, and residents would have to make do with a less desirable alternative. The significance was lost on no one. This was the “Bridge to Nowhere,” the infamous road link that had become nationally synonymous with bloated federal budgets. It solidified Al \