WASHINGTON — The head of the Transportation Security Administration is heading back to Capitol Hill Wednesday to try to explain what his agency is doing to deal with increasingly long airport security lines that have already snarled the fledgling summer travel season. TSA Administrator Peter Neffenger is also likely to be pressed by members of the House Homeland Security Committee to explain exactly what prompted the ouster of the agency’s top security official, Kelly Hoggan. Hoggan was removed Monday and replaced by a former federal security director in Los Angeles and New York, Darby LaJoye. Neffenger has also announced a new management team in charge of screening operations at Chicago O’Hare International Airport. Long lines have been plaguing airports since early spring, but the issue came to a head in recent weeks when thousands of passengers in Chicago missed flights because of lengthy checkpoint waits. Changes announced Monday by Neffenger aren’t likely to have much effect in the short run, as the TSA doesn’t have enough security screeners to quickly scrutinize growing crowds of travelers and their sometimes overstuffed carry-on luggage. Neffenger has said the problem was created by a combination of factors, including the fact that more people are flying this year and fewer than anticipated have applied for the government’s PreCheck program, which allows passengers to move through security faster after submitting to a background check. Neffenger also said the agency will launch an incident comment center that “will closely track daily screening operations, shifting officers, canine resources, the National Deployment Force and other resources to meet mission demands in advance of predicted passenger volume.” TSA plans to add 768 new screeners by mid-June. Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson, who oversees TSA and has addressed the security line delays in recent weeks, told National Public Radio Tuesday that TSA officers are being moved to staff checkpoints at the busiest airports at the busiest times.

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BING NEWS:
  • More than 300 passengers tried to evade airport security in the last year, TSA says
    Washington — Hundreds of passengers circumvented or tried to circumvent various aspects of airport security to access secure areas of U.S. airports within the last year, according to the ...
    04/5/2024 - 8:58 am | View Link
  • Hundreds of people bypassed parts of airport security in last year
    Passengers pass through the security checkpoint at the Newark Liberty International Airport on March 27. When the airport is not crowded, the gates near unused security sections are intentionally ...
    04/4/2024 - 9:11 am | View Link
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  • Plan your mountain trips for Colorado’s summer jazz festivals
    Denver Post, Sunday - 05/05/2024 - 08:00 AM

    The time has arrived to build your summer schedule around the jazz festivals returning to the mountains. How fortunate are we to have so much natural beauty intersecting with so many people obsessed with bringing you excellent music at altitude? Boney James will perform at this summer’s Winter Park Jazz Festival.

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  • Sleek new Japanese restaurant is full of surprises — including one in the bathroom
    Denver Post, Tuesday - 04/30/2024 - 08:00 AM

    “Employees must wash hands before returning to work.” It’s a basic concept (and one that probably shouldn’t need a bathroom-sign reminder). But at Kawa Ni, a flashy, cozy Japanese-style izakaya that opened last November, washing your hands is just the beginning. Kawa Ni is among the first – and only – restaurants in Denver with a pair of bidet toilets, one in the women’s restroom and one in the men’s.

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  • Guatemala becoming tourism hot spot for young travelers
    Denver Post, Sunday - 04/28/2024 - 08:00 AM

    Adventurous travelers seeking beauty and budget thrills should look no further than Guatemala: a friendly country that remains largely unexplored by many Americans, but can be reached in as little as six hours from Denver. A question I fielded several times before my late February trip: Why Guatemala? My partner and I have made a habit of planning at least one international trip each year.

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  • Pikes Peak is getting “trashed” by overuse and blatant disregard for the environment
    Denver Post, Friday - 04/26/2024 - 02:00 PM

    As most Coloradans know, the lyrics to “America the Beautiful” were inspired by a trek to the summit of Pikes Peak via prairie wagon in 1893. But when Katharine Lee Bates penned a poem called “Pikes Peak,” which became an American anthem after it was set to music in 1910, she could scarcely have imagined the great mountain becoming a trash heap. Outdoor recreation advocates fear that’s precisely what is happening to the majestic 14,107-foot peak that soars above Colorado Springs, along with the surrounding Pike National Forest. “We’re trashing America’s Mountain,” says Susan Davies, executive director of the Trails and Open Space Coalition of the Pikes Peak region. The Broadmoor Manitou & Pikes Peak Cog Railway.

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  • A road trip to Oklahoma, the path of totality, and making family memories
    Denver Post, Friday - 04/26/2024 - 07:59 AM

    We had expected that seeing a total solar eclipse in the path of totality would be the highlight of our trip. In hindsight, it was also the perfect excuse to be together, three generations on a simple road trip through five states. On April 6, three of us set out from Lakewood — me, my 23-year-old son Ryan and 85-year-old mother, Mary — toward Oklahoma, near the Texas and Arkansas borders.

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  • Eight Colorado hotels get new Michelin Keys
    Denver Post, Thursday - 04/25/2024 - 03:45 PM

    Eight Colorado hotels won the new Michelin Keys on Wednesday, according to the Michelin Key hotel guide. Each of these Colorado hotels received one Michelin Key. Three of the winning hotels are in Denver — the Clayton Hotel and Members Club, Four Seasons Denver and the Crawford Hotel. Three hotels in Aspen — Hotel Jerome, part of the Auberge Resorts Collection, the Little Nell and Mollie Aspen — and two in Vail — Four Seasons Vail and Sonnenalp Hotel — were also awarded the distinction. “Michelin is a prestigious organization and being one of only eight hotels in Colorado to receive a Key is a great honor,” Thierry Kennel, Four Seasons Hotel Denver regional vice president and general manager, said. According to Michelin, hotels with One Michelin Key offer a very special stay.

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