Mother Hubbard's Cupboard

  For the past few years Alaska has been suffering with a budget crisis. There hasn't been a state tax since I believe the first year I came here, back in 1976 or somewhere around then. When oil was discovered on the North Slope and Prudhoe Bay, the state was swimming in money from oil revenues. There was so much money that the governor at the time, Jay Hammond decided it would be a grand idea to share the state's wealth with it's citizens. Hence the Alaska Permanent Fund was born. It was a tremendous blessing to receive, and was doable because to this date I believe there are less than a million people who live here. So many folks find themselves out of work in the winter months because of the harsh conditions, so having an extra source of income in the fall really makes a difference. Some years back the price of oil started dropping, from over $100.00 a barrel to around $60.00 or so. The state for years has lived off that oil revenue,and when the prices started to drop, the legislature found itself in a bind financially. There was really a lack of foresight by those in charge and now the whole state is feeling the pinch. When the current governor ran for office, he promised to deal with the budget issues,and he  has. Unfortunately his plan has left the smaller, more remote communities in Southeast Alaska in a real bind. The Alaska Marine Highway ferry system runs throughout Southeast, and is the primary means of these smaller communities getting groceries and other necessities. For about three weeks we've been without any fresh milk, yogurt, sour cream, cottage cheese or any other items you might normally find in a dairy case. It's been about that long since we've had tomatoes and lettuce or cucumbers or bananas that aren't brown. I did manage to buy a green pepper the other day, but it was almost $3.00. It was a whopping $7.39 a pound. I bought a bunch of green onions today because I wanted to make Mexican Quiche. I paid $3.09 for six green onions. I guess I can't complain too loud, at least they had some. While I was at the store I looked for lettuce. There was none, which was just as well because it was advertised at $8.09 a head. I wouldn't have bought it anyway. Not having the ferry running in the winter is one of the worst things that can happen here. The weather has been horrible for the last few weeks, so flights in and out are few and far between. It's hard to order anything to fly over from Juneau because you don't know when the next flight might be and any perishable stuff could just stay there and rot. The other day I sat down to a bowl of corn flakes and had to put some powdered milk on it. It was the last straw. I choked it down and came to the office and sent off a letter to the editor. There is no reason in this day and age that we should have to suffer through a lack of ferry service. It's our primary source of transportation here. As I mentioned in my letter, if this were the height of tourist season, I can guarantee there would be ferries in and out of here. I invited the legislature to hold there meetings here in Hoonah. I'm fairly certain that after a few days of no fresh produce or milk or necessary medicines, the funding for the marine highway would be restored. When you're far removed from the pain of others, it's hard to be empathetic. What is really scary is that the lesson of putting all your eggs in one basket hasn't been learned yet. In my time here I've watched the boom and bust cycle here go from fishing to logging to the oil industry. Now there is a big push for tourism. As of right now there is a world wide scare over the Corona virus. How many folks are going to want to get on a cruise ship if they're afraid of coming down with that? I'm hoping that things are going to turn around soon. Frankly, I'm ready to move to somewhere that I can drive to the store and actually find what I'm looking for.