Charleston Mayor Clears Security With Magazine Photo
Passport Changes to Take Effect Friday
Could a Former Parachute-Packing Plant Save New York’s Airports?
Galapagos Islands In Danger Zone
Fly Nude with a Planeful of Germans
CHARLESTON MAYOR CLEARS SECURITY WITH MAGAZINE PHOTO – USA Today
Mayor Danny Jones of Charleston, West Virginia, managed to clear security at a Southern California airport by pointing to his photo in a magazine. He initially was stopped at John Wayne Airport in Orange County for using an expired ID and was detained for 30 minutes, until he opened a copy of Charleston Magazine that identified him as the mayor. Apparently, the expired ID wasn’t a problem in his outbound flight from Charleston: “Obviously, they know who I am at the airport,” Jones said.
Link: USA Today
PASSPORT CHANGES TAKE EFFECT FRIDAY – Los Angeles Times
Starting Friday, the cost of a new passport will rise by $3 to $100 for adults and $85 for children; renewed passports, which currently cost $67, will cost $75. In addition, both parents will be required to appear in person, or one parent with appropriate documentation, to apply for a passport for a child under 16. Currently, the cutoff age for that rule is age 14. The State Department is also providing downloadable forms on its Web site, www.travel.state.gov, to apply for standard passports and “passport cards,” which is a cheaper government ID that will be accepted for certain land or sea border crossings.
Link: Los Angeles Times
COULD A FORMER PARACHUTE-PACKING PLANT SAVE NEW YORK’S AIRSPACE? - MSNBC
Just over 60 miles from New York City is Stewart International Airport, a former parachute-packing plant that may be a “relief valve” for congestion troubles at JFK, Newark and LaGuardia airports. This former Air Force base in the Hudson Valley has “a runway long enough to land a space shuttle, four times as much land as LaGuardia, [and] half a billion dollars to work with.” Some changes are already in place: there is now an exit off I-84 that leads to the airport and a 350-space parking lot. Ultra-low-cost carrier Skybus has already begun flying out of Stewart to Columbus, Ohio.
Link: MSNBC
GALAPAGOS ISLANDS IN DANGER ZONE – The New York Times
Due to a significant increase in tourism, the Galapagos Islands—the planet’s first World Heritage site—have been precariously perched on UNESCO’s “in danger list.” Since 1990, the number of visitors to the Darwin’s famed archipelago rose 250 percent to 145,000 people in 2006. Dr. Graham Watkins, executive director of the Charles Darwin Foundation, explains, “Unless we start to make fundamental changes right now, in the next 10 to 15 years we will see the Galapagos suffer from both economic and environmental degradation.”
Link: The New York Times
FLY NUDE WITH A PLANEFUL OF GERMANS - Reuters
A travel agency in Germany is taking bookings for a nudist day trip, which will begin with stripping down in the airplane. The agency, OssiUrlaub.de, is planning a trial trip on July 5 from the eastern German town of Erfurt to the Baltic Sea resort of Usedom, for a total cost of more than $700. Participants will have to keep their pants on until they board and get dressed before disembarking, while crew members will remain fully clad for the entirety of the trip.
Link: Reuters
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