March 5th, 2008
According to the Buffalo News, Kenny Tours still plans to fly from Rockford to Ireland this summer. Kenny Tours has postponed plans to fly between Niagara Falls, N.Y., and Ireland, though, because it could only get one plane to charter. Service between Columbus, Ohio, and Ireland and between Pittsburgh, Penn., and Ireland also appear delayed.
But a Kenny Tours spokesman told the Buffalo paper that they still plan to start seasonal service between Ireland and Rockford; Lansing, Mich.; and St. Louis. The spokesman hasn’t returned my calls in a while, but RFD officials say they’ve heard positive news recently.
I’ll let you know when I hear more.
March 5th, 2008
Remember last month, when RFD Executive Director Bob O’Brien was wooing airlines in Mexico?
So was Gary/Chicago International Airport.
“We met with several air carriers,” (Gary airport director Chris) Curry said, “and there was one in particular that indicated an interest in serving the Chicago market because of the huge Hispanic and Latino population that we have here.”
Curry wouldn’t name the airline, but he said it wants to avoid Chicago’s two major airports.
“It’s clearly a competition, I believe, between us and Rockford (International Airport),” Curry said.
Read more here.
March 5th, 2008
(data courtesy of AAA’s fuelgaugereport.com)
Gasoline: If I were the kind of person that bought my gas based on price fluctuations, I would fill up today. Rockford, along with most of Illinois, dropped today while the national average continued its uptick. The national average is now two cents above the Illinois average, which is very rare. Since Feb. 25, Rockford dropped more than 11 cents and Illinois dropped almost three cents, while the nation increased four cents. Typically, when the nation’s prices go up, so do ours. So something’s gonna change soon. We fell to fourth in the state, decreasing four cents to $3.13 a gallon. The Quad Cities remains the top in the state at $3.20
Diesel: I wish I had good news for truckers, bus drivers and other diesel users. But Rockford increased more than a penny to $3.79 a gallon, and is now fourth in the state. In this case, we’re mirroring national prices, which increased almost three cents today and about 25 cents since mid-February. The state average has stayed at $3.82 for a few days, but the general trend is also up. Chicago remains on top with $3.90. Danville has a relatively normal three-cent drop, so despite my wild predictions, it’s calmed down over there. Oh, and Illinois has the 10th-highest diesel prices in the country.
