I LIE!
Posted on 11/03/2009 7:12:34 AM PST by Diana in Wisconsin
Excitement is building and potential hassles emerging as Madison readies for President Barack Obama's visit Wednesday.
The public can expect some flight delays, street closings and parking restrictions as Obama arrives at Dane County Regional Airport and makes his way to and from Wright Middle School, 1717 Fish Hatchery Road, on the South Side.
The main road to the airport, International Lane, and the airport terminal will be open during the visit, but temporary flight restrictions will be imposed, deputy airport director Dave Jensen said.
"There is the possibility there may be some delays to flights," he said, adding that travelers should contact airlines.
Obama will speak about education at Wright, a charter school with the highest poverty level and largest percentage of minority students in the Madison School District.
It's also the first anniversary of Obama's election.
On Monday afternoon, students bounded from Wright with orange memos in hand for their parents that said students must be in school Wednesday before 8:15 a.m., when doors will be locked. Lunch will be served early and in classrooms instead of in the cafeteria, the memo said.
Parents were told children will pass through something like airport security. Digital cameras are OK but video cameras, cell phones and backpacks aren't.
"It's really exciting," said Rachel Strauch-Nelson, spokeswoman for Mayor Dave Cieslewicz, who will greet Obama at the airport and join him at the event.
"It's an all-hands-on-deck effort," said Cieslewicz aide Joel Plant. "We're working very closely with the administration."
City and school officials had few details of the visit, including when Obama is arriving, his route to the school, the program or how long he'll stay.
Joe Quick, a spokesman for the school district, said, "We're doing what we're told to do by the White House staff."
Some adults in the school parking lot voiced disappointment Monday that parents aren't invited. But Tonya Ellis, mother of sixth-grader Isaiah Yancey, is happy her son can celebrate the anniversary of Obama's election. "We're overjoyed that he will be able to see the first black president," she said.
Madison police will assist with crowd control, motorcade and event security, police spokesman Joel DeSpain said, who could not say what streets will be closed, when or for how long.
The number of officers involved may not be known until Wednesday, DeSpain said, adding that overtime costs are uncertain.
A presidential visit can cause modest or major disruptions, depending on the destination, schedule and length of visit, officials from other cities said.
"It's an honor to have a president of the United States in your city," said Dan Williamson, spokesman for Mayor Michael Coleman of Columbus, Ohio, where Obama spoke at a police class graduation on March 6.
"You're going to have a team of people show up hours and hours before the president gets there, bomb-sniffing dogs all over the place, that sort of thing," he said. "It's going to be a very different atmosphere."
When Obama went to Elkhart, Ind., for a town hall meeting on Feb. 9, about 40 local officers worked with the Secret Service and other law enforcement, racking up about $15,000 in overtime, Lt. Ed Windbigler said.
The president flew into South Bend, 20 miles west, because "we don't have a big enough airport here to land his plane," he said.
"Obviously, the Secret Service does this all the time. ... They were really good to work with," he said.
John Schalliol, director at the South Bend Regional Airport, said Obama has visited five times in a year, three times as president.
Commercial or passenger flights were shut down 10 to 20 minutes before Obama's arrival and after his departure, he said. General aviation flights were grounded in a 30-mile radius of the president.
"They kind of take over," he said. "They're very polite about it."
Any way we can get the Northwest pilots who overflew the airport a couple of weeks ago as pilots of AF-1? We can hope that they get lost and never NEVER come back.
By the way, what do they call Air Force One now...Air Force 0.1 (when the child idiot is aboard)?
I LIE!
Hey 0bozo, how's that pesky little war in Afghanistan going? Any photo ops for you today with that?
“Madistan” lol! 25 square miles surrounded by reality!
And that ought to be pronounced “Modeestahn”, you know, rhymes with “Pockeestahn”.
It’s getting there.
‘The People’s Republik of Madistan’ is the formal title. It’s also known as ‘The Worker’s Paradise,’ LOL!
Just a trivial point, but I see:
“Digital cameras are OK but video cameras, cell phones and backpacks aren’t.”
Don’t virtually all digital cameras have a video mode? Why would they want to ban video cameras, perhaps to limit the possibility of someone recording a gaffe or less-flattering image?
He’ll feel right at home in Madisonistan.
Leni
yeah....that’s where the Commander in Chief needs to be right now, a middle school in Madison, Wisconsin.
And they gave Bush a hard time about My Pet Goat!
any Constitutionalists going to be there to protest Hussein?
Another day. Another photo op. Another speech. Another $100 steak for dinner. Ah for the life of the leader of the free world.
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