Passenger traffic increased 15 percent in 2011 and March of 2012 is estimated to be 12 percent higher than March of last year.
This increase in demand cuts into the supply of parking spots and the lots are already consistently 90 percent full.
Still, it does seem like quite a trip to build a few hundred parking spaces.
…Adding… The governor’s office says that Quinn was in Rockford for a “business meeting.” The parking lot announcement was not the only reason for the visit, they claim.
* Photo from the event…
Caption?
* The governor also worked in a nice little shot at Wisconsin during his visit…
Heh.
* Dave Bakke interviewed Toronto Star travel editor Jim Byers, who wrote a favorable column about Gov. Quinn’s visit to that city the other day…
[Byers] described Quinn as “playing it up pretty good in a goofy, folksy sort of way. He said, ‘Did I mention the birds!!?? We’ve got birds!!!’ ” That was a segue into telling our friends in the Great White North that Illinois is home to more bald eagles than any other state other than Alaska. […]
And Byers loved Quinn’s Ronald Reagan joke, too. I’m not sure we’ve heard that one before here in the darker corners of the state — not enough so that it’s stale anyway. The governor was reminding the Canadians that President Reagan was from Illinois. He used a joke about Reagan being a lifeguard in Dixon and saving 87 lives.
“They were all women,” Quinn said. “Mostly the same one over and over.”
* And let’s wrap this up with an official Quinn administration video. The governor begins by having some fun cutting a cable in half. Then he goes on to ramble a bit…
” The previous spots were about this big…… How are you gonna park a Dodge Dart in that? It’s important that we do these important things. The people of Illinois want big parking spots and your gov has delivered.”
“Just as Christ said to Peter, “This is the rock upon which I will build my church.” I have said many times, the place upon which we will build my parking is Rockford.”
- 3rd Generation Chicago Native - Friday, Mar 9, 12 @ 1:27 pm:
Quinn “We are going to have ears of corn so big at the State Fair this year”
“Do you know what it’s like to fall in the mud and get kicked… in the head… with an iron boot? Of course you don’t, no one does. It never happens. Sorry, Ted, that’s a dumb question… skip that.”
You know…Come on Governor. I am an Illinois booster too, and I think Walker’s done a lousy job. But to pick on one little town in WI, well, that just seems unfair.
PQ - “Big planes land here, and they hold a lot of people, so we need more parking spaces, I don’t want anyone to not have a space. I want everybody in and no one left out. And the Parking lot will be close to the airport, when those big planes land they will be incredibly loud and extremely close.”
“First the Earth cooled and then the dinosaurs came but they got too big and fat and they all died and turned into oil and then the Arabs came and they bought Mercedes Benz’. And then Prince Charles started wearing all of Lady Di’s clothes, I couldn’t believe it …”
“The flight back from Toronto was terrible. The guy sitting next to me had a butt that was this big. Since I had the window seat, my whole body was pressed against the window. Very uncomfortable. So, at this time, I am announcing that I am done flying commercial coach when on official state business. In fact, in this year’s proposed budget, I have put funding in place to bring back the the Governor’s official State plane.”
- The Captain - Friday, Mar 9, 12 @ 11:13 am:
“I am serious, and stop calling me Shirley.”
- Bluefish - Friday, Mar 9, 12 @ 11:31 am:
Everybody duck!!!
- wordslinger - Friday, Mar 9, 12 @ 11:32 am:
“I warned you, Walker, and now I’m going to show how you a move Vern Gagne taught me…”
- zatoichi - Friday, Mar 9, 12 @ 12:10 pm:
Here’s a move I taught Chuck Norris…..
- dizzycow - Friday, Mar 9, 12 @ 12:21 pm:
” The previous spots were about this big…… How are you gonna park a Dodge Dart in that? It’s important that we do these important things. The people of Illinois want big parking spots and your gov has delivered.”
- Newsclown - Friday, Mar 9, 12 @ 12:36 pm:
Gov. Quinn’s videos flow lots smoother and shorter since they switched to using a time-lapse camera.
- MrJM - Friday, Mar 9, 12 @ 1:05 pm:
Caption: “Looks like I picked the wrong week to quit sniffing glue.”
– MrJM
- Anonymous - Friday, Mar 9, 12 @ 1:18 pm:
Hey Rogers….Discount Double Check!
- anonymoose - Friday, Mar 9, 12 @ 1:26 pm:
“Just as Christ said to Peter, “This is the rock upon which I will build my church.” I have said many times, the place upon which we will build my parking is Rockford.”
- 3rd Generation Chicago Native - Friday, Mar 9, 12 @ 1:27 pm:
Quinn “We are going to have ears of corn so big at the State Fair this year”
- Rich Miller - Friday, Mar 9, 12 @ 1:31 pm:
“Oh, it’s a big pretty white plane with red stripes, curtains in the windows and wheels and it looks like a big Tylenol.”
- Rich Miller - Friday, Mar 9, 12 @ 1:33 pm:
“Striker, listen, and you listen close: flying a plane is no different than riding a bicycle, just a lot harder to put baseball cards in the spokes.”
- Anonymous - Friday, Mar 9, 12 @ 1:33 pm:
How about some coffee Rich?
- Rich Miller - Friday, Mar 9, 12 @ 1:39 pm:
“I know but this guy has no flying experience at all. He’s a menace to himself and everything else in the air… yes, birds too.”
- Boone Logan Square - Friday, Mar 9, 12 @ 1:58 pm:
“No! That’s just what they’re expecting us to do.”
- Dirty Red - Friday, Mar 9, 12 @ 2:02 pm:
“Looks like I picked a bad day to quit sniffing glue.”
- 47th Ward - Friday, Mar 9, 12 @ 2:04 pm:
“Do you know what it’s like to fall in the mud and get kicked… in the head… with an iron boot? Of course you don’t, no one does. It never happens. Sorry, Ted, that’s a dumb question… skip that.”
- Bill F. - Friday, Mar 9, 12 @ 2:12 pm:
You know…Come on Governor. I am an Illinois booster too, and I think Walker’s done a lousy job. But to pick on one little town in WI, well, that just seems unfair.
Can’t we all just get along?
Bill F.
Beloit College
Class of 1995
PS. GO BUCS!
- Irish - Friday, Mar 9, 12 @ 2:18 pm:
PQ - “Big planes land here, and they hold a lot of people, so we need more parking spaces, I don’t want anyone to not have a space. I want everybody in and no one left out. And the Parking lot will be close to the airport, when those big planes land they will be incredibly loud and extremely close.”
- Irish - Friday, Mar 9, 12 @ 2:21 pm:
PQ “And then Madigan said “Niagara Falls.”
“Slowly I turned, step by step, inch by inch…..”
- The Captain - Friday, Mar 9, 12 @ 2:23 pm:
“First the Earth cooled and then the dinosaurs came but they got too big and fat and they all died and turned into oil and then the Arabs came and they bought Mercedes Benz’. And then Prince Charles started wearing all of Lady Di’s clothes, I couldn’t believe it …”
- TwoFeetThick - Friday, Mar 9, 12 @ 2:23 pm:
“And Leon is getting laaaarrrger!”
- Irish - Friday, Mar 9, 12 @ 2:44 pm:
“And OUR casino hotel will have an out of state legislator discount package.”
- Aldyth - Friday, Mar 9, 12 @ 3:21 pm:
“By the end of my second term, the hole in the budget will be only this big.”
- soccermom - Friday, Mar 9, 12 @ 3:30 pm:
The Reagan joke is pretty hilarious.
- Judgment Day - Friday, Mar 9, 12 @ 3:34 pm:
“Look, that jet you see over my shoulder is just a picture…”
“It is just a picture, right… Getting really loud out here…”
“You know, I parked the Dart over there at the edge of that concrete roadway - signs said something like “7/25″ with some letters/numbers”
“Oh no… I wonder if my insurance will cover that….”
- Cuban Pilot - Friday, Mar 9, 12 @ 4:31 pm:
“The flight back from Toronto was terrible. The guy sitting next to me had a butt that was this big. Since I had the window seat, my whole body was pressed against the window. Very uncomfortable. So, at this time, I am announcing that I am done flying commercial coach when on official state business. In fact, in this year’s proposed budget, I have put funding in place to bring back the the Governor’s official State plane.”