Airports
Commentary - Meigs: The Bigger Picture
The destruction of Meigs Field’s runway is viewed by enraged aviation interests as an act of vandalism to a public facility that would have landed any othe

The destruction of Meigs Field’s runway is viewed by enraged aviation interests as an act of vandalism to a public facility that would have landed any other citizen of Chicago in jail. Such is the power of politics in the Second City, however, that Mayor Richard Daley Jr. continues to walk free, plotting with his lawyers.

What Daley was unable to accomplish through democratic channels he wrought by ordering in backhoes under the cover of a Sunday night and under the pretense of “security” (see story on page 1). The security angle smelled of rotting Great Lakes whitefish from the start, and it wasn’t long before Daley’s flimsy cover was blown by the revelation that he had never consulted with homeland security chief Tom Ridge about any threat Meigs might or might not pose to the voters of Chicago.