BY MIKE CLARK, Times of Northwest Indiana Columnist
We're used to being considered second-class citizens here in the region.
Chicago ignores us except when there's the chance to showcase some human drama on the 10 p.m. news. If there's a flood in Highland or a teachers' strike in Gary, you can bet a news chopper will be swooping down out of the sky like some high-tech vulture, ready to bring a one-sided view of us to a live audience.
Then there's the rest of Indiana, which thinks of the region as the place where you change your watch on the way to Chicago.
Our neighbors aren't the only ones who disrespect us, either. So does the transportation community, which continues to make it next to impossible to get there from here.
For the past few days, The Times has been looking at what might lie ahead for Gary/Chicago International Airport. It's anyone's guess when hassle-free flying (or as close as we're likely to see in a post-Sept. 11 world) might return to the region.
There's an Alice-in-Wonderland quality to the debate over the future of passenger air travel in Chicagoland. The city and its northwest suburban neighbors are at odds over making O'Hare even bigger than it already is, while U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., D-Ill., is leading the charge to build a third airport between Peotone and Beecher.
It's a little surreal that the state that ranks dead last in educational funding wants to spend billions of dollars it doesn't have to build an airport a lot of people don't want.
Jackson argues the south suburban airport is needed to bring jobs to his constituents. But similar economic benefits could be had from upgrading Gary/Chicago and making it a viable alternative for regionites not wanting to drive to O'Hare or Midway.
As long as we're dreaming here, let's consider the possibility of another way to get downtown besides the overcrowded South Shore Line. The Canadian National railroad has thrown a wrench in plans to add commuter rail lines to Valparaiso and Lowell, saying its tracks are too busy with freights whisking back and forth to accommodate trains carrying people.
We're used to Canadian National thumbing its nose at us, blocking grade crossings, wasting our gas and our time. If you don't like its arrogant stance on track-sharing, you might want to complain to people like Dick Lugar, Evan Bayh and Pete Visclosky, whose voices might carry a little influence in this debate.
Or you could wait till the next time the Chicago TV stations come to town and try to get them to tell a different story for a change.
Mike Clark's column solely represents the opinion of the writer and not necessarily that of The Times. Readers can reach Clark at mclark@nwitimes.com.