Paxton airport awaits funds to resurface runway

PAXTON – Paxton's airport is still waiting for federal money to resurface its deteriorating runway, but Alderman Bill Wylie is not giving up on what he knows could be a lengthy political battle. "In the end, to get this done it's just going to take a political maneuver," said Wylie, the city council's airport committee chairman and an avid pilot. Wylie had expressed similar notions last summer, when he embarked on his quest to secure federal funding for what last year would have been a $300,000 project – and so far, he has been proven right, at least partially. Using political pressure from U.S. Rep. Tim Johnson's office, Wylie was able to get officials with the Federal Aviation Administration to show support for making the airport eligible to receive federal dollars through the airport improvement program, but politics at... [read full story]