March 2003

March marks the beginning of Spring and the end of ski season. Once again, the lawn and other home projects dominate our thoughts. Continuing the theme of the year, several big changes also came about. March ended with an event so unusual and unexpected that it most certainly must have been an April Fool's joke, but unfortunately it wasn't.

March 8

Yearly carpet scrubbing.

March 9

First ski trip, highway 2 closed for avalanche control. Drove to Snoqualmie Falls and spied Todd's house.

March 13

Took the day off from work to help Todd move boxes to his new house.

March 14

Flight Simulator: A Century of Flight alpha disks arrive.

March 15

The battle with the moss begins: fertilizer/moss killer on front yard, spray moss killer on roof.

March 16

Planted grass around back half of shed, met with two stump grinder contractors, moved branches and previously cut small trees into piles for mulching.

March 17

Speaker stands from Wood Technology arrive. President Bush gives Saddam Hussein 48-hour ultimatum.

March 18

Hired one stump grinder for the small stuff and the other to bring down the Maple tree.

March 19

Small trees mulched, but six still left standing. US attacks Iraqi military target believed to be housing Saddam.

March 20

Maple tree cutting started, but incomplete due to high winds.

March 21

Maple tree cutting complete; lots of clean-up work to follow.

March 22

Bought maul and sledge hammer and began splitting and moving the Maple tree pieces out of the yard and into the garden beds.

March 23

Finished splitting the Maple logs and cleaning up the back yard. St

March 29

Rented a Kuboto backhoe. Tom came up and we worked two projects. First, we leveled out the dirt on the other side of the fence from the shed. Second, we worked on removing the maple tree stump.

March 31

In a sneak attack at 1:30AM and without prior notification to the city or the FAA, Mayor Richard Daley of Chicago cuts huge X's into the runway at Meigs Field, destroying it and trapping 16 GA planes in the process. For years the mayor has wanted to convert the airport into a city park, but organizations like AOPA and Friends of Meigs Field have stood in the way. A little over a year ago in December 2001, the mayor agreed to keep Meigs Field open for 25 years in return for federal funding for other Chicago-land airports and a new airport in the region. So much for his promises. While America fights a tyrant in the Gulf, we discover we have our very own living on the shores of Lake Michigan.

CONTROLLERS CONDEMN DALEY’S MIDNIGHT MADNESS; NATCA joins FAA, users in blasting Chicago mayor's Meigs policy

3/31/2003

CHICAGO – Air traffic controllers blasted Chicago Mayor Richard Daley’s unannounced forced closure of downtown lakefront Meigs Field under cloak of darkness Sunday night, assailing the stealth maneuver as a major step backwards for Chicago aviation and warning of a domino effect on traffic at neighboring airports.

“Mayor Daley bulldozed his way into aviation history this morning by destroying a national treasure and potentially causing unsafe flying conditions for the greater Chicagoland airspace,” NATCA President John Carr said. “This reminds me of the Colts sneaking out of Baltimore by dead of night. Clearly, the mayor didn’t think his policy choices could either figuratively or literally withstand the light of day. It’s the epitome of arrogance.”

Chicago media are reporting today that before midnight on Sunday, workers with construction equipment arrived at Meigs escorted by Chicago police and carved out large, X-shaped portions of concrete out of the center of the runway. Sixteen aircraft appeared stranded. Sources said under terms of a deal with then-Illinois Governor George Ryan in December 2001, Mayor Daley agreed to keep Meigs open until 2026.

“Mayor Daley has managed to do what terrorists couldn’t -- he permanently shut down an airport in the great city of Chicago,” Carr said. “It’s just outrageous.”

The monthly average air traffic volume at Meigs in 2002 was 1,564 instrument flight rules operations, meaning flights where pilots were in contact with air traffic control. But Meigs routinely became a much busier airport during events at the nearby McCormick Place convention center. In fact, last September, the airport handled 2,273 IFR operations.

“The problem with Meigs closing is those 1,500 operations are going to have to go somewhere else,” remarked Ray Gibbons, president of the local NATCA chapter at Chicago Terminal Radar Approach Control. “O’Hare and Midway airports are already operating above capacity. In fact, we are working more aircraft than we were before Sept. 11, 2001. Meigs’ closure adds complex and higher volumes of traffic to this area’s overburdened, understaffed facilities and sooner or later that understaffing will reach critical mass. At some point in time, the safety of the flying public will be compromised.”