Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/679857
ByScottMayerowitz and Marcy Gordon The Associated Press WASHINGTON Facing a growing backlash over ex- tremely long waits at air- port security, Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson asked fliers "to be patient" as the government takes steps to get them onto planes more quickly. Travelers across the country have endured lengthy security lines, some snaking up and down es- calators, or through food courts, and into terminal lobbies. At some airports, lines during peak hours have topped 90 minutes. Airlines have reported hold- ing planes at gates to wait for passengers to clear se- curity. Johnson said Friday that the government is working to ease the lines, although travelers should expect to wait as they travel this summer. Whatever steps TSA takes, Johnson said, it won't neglect its duty to stop terrorists. "Our job is to keep the American people safe," Johnson told reporters at a news conference. "We're not going to compromise avia- tion security in the face of this." The Transportation Se- curity Administration has fewer screeners and has tightened security proce- dures. Airlines and the TSA have been warning custom- ers to arrive at the airport two hours in advance, but with summer travel sea- son approaching even that might not be enough. Airlines are expecting a record number of fli- ers this summer, meaning more passengers and bags to screen. Johnson said TSA is working with airlines to enforce limits on carry-on bags and their size. Passen- gers often over-pack carry- ons to avoid paying the $25 checked bag fee most air- lines charge. Two U.S. sen- ators this week suggested that airlines should drop those fees. But that doesn't appear to be a solution ei- ther. The TSA still scans checked luggage. And even that might not ease check- point problems. On Thurs- day, a video surfaced of gi- ant lines at Chicago's Mid- way airport. Southwest Airlines — which is the only U.S. airline that doesn't charge for checked bags — is the predominant airline at Midway. In the past three years, the TSA and Congress cut the number of front-line screeners by 4,622 — or about 10 percent — on ex- pectations that an expe- dited screening program called PreCheck would speed up the lines. How- ever, not enough people en- rolled for TSA to realize the anticipated efficiencies. Congress this week agreed to shift $34 mil- lion in TSA funding for- ward, allowing the agency to pay overtime to its exist- ing staff and hire an extra 768 screeners by June 15 to bring it up to the congres- sionally mandated ceiling of 42,525. But that might barely make a dent on the lines. Even as it boosts hiring, the agency loses about 100 screeners a week through attrition. And J. David Cox, the president of the union representing the TSA offi- cers, this week sent a letter to congressional leaders suggesting that 6,000 addi- tional screeners are needed. After the press confer- ence, Rep. John Mica, a Florida Republican who sits on the House Trans- portation Committee, sug- gest that TSA should tai- lor screeners' schedules to fit the volume of passenger traffic in lines, rather than conforming to shift sched- ules. Airlines and airports have hired extra work- ers to handle non-security tasks at checkpoints — such as returning empty bins to the beginning of the line — as part of an effort to free up as many TSA employees to handle passenger screen- ing. The help can't come quickly enough for travel- ers. Friday morning, Amer- ican Airlines held at least five flights at Dallas-Fort Worth International Air- port because of passengers stuck at security lines, ac- cording to airline spokes- man Ross Feinstein. The biggest help to ease lines is to have more fliers enroll in the PreCheck pro- gram. PreCheck gives previ- ously vetted passengers special screening. Shoes, belts and light jackets stay on. Laptops and liquids stay in bags. And these fliers go through standard metal detectors rather than the explosive-detecting full- body scanners most pass through. PreCheck security lanes can screen 300 passengers an hour, twice that of stan- dard lanes. The TSA's goal was to have 25 million fliers en- rolled in the program. TRAVEL As fl ie rs w ai t in s ec ur it y li ne s, f ed s as k fo r pa ti en ce SAITSERKANGURBUZ—THEASSOCIATEDPRESS Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson, center, accompanied by Transportation Security Administration (TSA) Administrator Peter Neffenger, right, speaks Friday at Washington's Ronald Reagan National Airport. Washington 72/48 New York 72/48 Miami 89/74 Atlanta 81/52 Detroit 55/37 Houston 85/66 Chicago 51/36 Minneapolis 52/35 Kansas City 58/40 El Paso 88/67 Denver 65/43 Billings 56/40 Los Angeles 73/59 San Francisco 68/55 Seattle 69/52 AIRQUALITYFORECAST Whatitmeans:0-50:Good; 51-100:Moderate; 101-150:Unhealthyforsensitivepeople; 151+:Unhealthyforall. Source: Airnow.gov City Today'sairquality City Hi/Lo/W Hi/Lo/W CALIFORNIA CITIES National and world forecast s-sunny,pc-partly cloudy,c-cloudy,sh-showers,t-thunderstorms,r-rain,sf-snow flurries,sn-snow,i-ice City Hi/Lo/W Hi/Lo/W Summary National Extremes World Extremes North and South America Asia, Australia Africa CarsonCity Hawthorne Reno Herlong Lovelock Sacramento Yuba City Napa Ukiah Chico Corning Lakeview Alturas Susanville Redding Red Bluff Laytonville Fort Bragg Point Arena Eureka Redway Mount Shasta Yreka Crescent City Ashland Shown is today's weather. Temperatures are today's highs and tonight's lows. Shown are today's noon positions of weather systems and precipitation. Temperature bands are highs for the day. ALMANAC Precipitation Temperatures ALLERGY REPORT Pollenlevels Source: National Allergy Bureau TODAY'S UV INDEX (The higher the number, the faster skin damage will occur.) Extreme Very high High Moderate Low SUN SETTINGS, MOON PHASES Sunrise Sunset Moonrise Moonset Hoursofsunlight River Levels SacramentoRiver Flood 7a.m. 24-hr Stage yest. chg. Lake Levels Elevation Yesterday Storage (acre-feet) Percent Capacity Q: A: SUNDAY 81° 59° MONDAY 86° 62° Mostly sunn y and br ee zy Mostly sunn y TUESDAY 91° 64° Sunn y to p artly cloudy and hot WEDNESDAY 95° 62° Sunn y to p artly cloudy and hot TODAY 74° 54° Cooler with clouds and sun; a shower in the p.m. Mainly clear tonight. High ....................................................................... 88° Low ........................................................................ 58° Normal high ......................................................... 80° Normal low ........................................................... 54° Record high ........................................... 100° in 1976 Record low .............................................. 41° in 1942 Humidity noon today ........................................ 44% 24 hours through 2 p.m. yesterday ................. 0.00" Month to date ................................................... 0.29" Normal month to date ..................................... 0.59" Season to date ................................................ 21.88" Normal season to date .................................. 22.79" Red Bluff through 2 p.m. yesterday Chico .......................................................... Moderate Napa ................................................................... Good Red Bluff .............................................. Not available Redding ............................................... Not available Yuba City ........................................................... Good Allergy, dust and dander today: Beneficial Grass ...................... High Mold .........................Low Trees ............. Moderate Weeds ........... Moderate 7 Highest at 12 p.m. Today 5:54 a.m. 8:17 p.m. 1:48 p.m. 2:24 a.m. Sunday 5:53 a.m. 8:18 p.m. 2:44 p.m. 2:55 a.m. 14 hr., 23 min. May21 Full May29 Last New Jun4 First Jun12 aboveBendBridge......................27 ...........2.60 .......none atHamiltonCity.........................148 ......129.10 ....... -0.20 atOrdFerry................................114 ........96.60 ....... -0.16 atRedBluffDiversionDam.......253 ......238.60 ....... -0.10 atTehamaBridge ......................213 ......201.30 ....... -0.10 atVinaWoodsonBridge............183 ......167.20 ....... -0.10 BlackButte ....................461.29..............88,290 .....61.4% LakeOroville..................891.74.........3,408,738 .....91.2% LakeShasta .................1055.44.........4,215,763 .....92.6% LakeTrinity..................2300.19.........1,464,436 .....55.3% Whiskeytown...............1208.97............237,800 .....98.6% Weather Trivia ™ What is the average diameter of a tornado? 150 yards. Today Sunday Anaheim 74/58/sh 73/59/sh Bakersfield 84/61/pc 82/61/pc Chula Vista 70/58/sh 67/60/pc Crescent City 58/50/c 58/49/pc Death Valley 104/67/pc 97/74/pc Eureka 61/51/sh 61/51/pc Fremont 70/57/pc 70/53/pc Fresno 82/56/pc 82/56/s Glendale 75/56/sh 72/57/sh Huntington Beach 68/60/sh 69/60/pc Irvine 71/59/sh 71/60/pc Lake Tahoe 60/31/pc 58/36/pc Long Beach 73/61/sh 73/60/pc Los Angeles 73/59/sh 72/59/sh Mammoth Mountain 67/34/pc 65/34/t Modesto 79/56/pc 81/56/s Monterey 66/55/pc 63/53/pc Moreno Valley 78/53/sh 73/54/sh Napa 71/51/pc 75/50/pc Needles 102/73/pc 94/68/pc Oakland 69/56/pc 69/54/pc Oxnard 68/56/sh 69/56/pc Redding 73/53/pc 81/59/s Riverside 78/54/sh 74/55/sh Sacramento 76/53/pc 82/54/s San Bernardino 80/54/sh 74/55/sh San Diego 70/62/sh 69/63/pc San Francisco 68/55/c 66/53/pc San Jose 72/56/pc 71/53/pc San Luis Obispo 73/53/pc 73/51/pc Santa Ana 70/60/sh 71/61/pc Santa Barbara 71/54/pc 71/53/pc Santa Clarita 78/52/sh 75/52/sh Stockton 77/53/pc 80/54/s Ventura 70/55/sh 70/54/pc Yosemite Valley 71/46/pc 69/44/pc Today Sunday Albuquerque 80/57/pc 81/53/t Atlanta 81/52/s 73/55/pc Baltimore 72/46/t 60/41/pc Boston 71/50/s 61/44/pc Buffalo 56/37/sh 48/38/sh Chicago 51/36/pc 57/40/pc Cincinnati 54/39/pc 58/39/pc Dallas 73/59/t 68/63/t Denver 65/43/pc 65/44/t Detroit 55/37/sh 54/41/c El Paso 88/67/t 90/64/c Fargo 55/35/pc 67/43/pc Honolulu 83/71/pc 84/75/pc Houston 85/66/t 83/67/t Indianapolis 52/37/c 58/40/pc Kansas City 58/40/s 63/48/pc Las Vegas 96/70/pc 88/68/pc Louisville 59/44/pc 64/46/pc Miami 89/74/t 89/75/s Minneapolis 52/35/pc 63/46/pc New Orleans 87/67/s 85/70/t New York City 72/48/t 60/44/pc Oklahoma City 62/49/sh 60/48/r Several hours of sunshine are forecast along the Atlantic Seaboard today. As the day progresses, showers and storms will ramp up over the eastern Great Lakes and Appalachians. Some of the storms will become heavy and gusty as they reach the coastal mid-Atlantic and western part of New England later in the day. A zone of heavy showers and thunderstorms will affect portions of Texas and southern Oklahoma. A strong cold front will extend from the eastern Great Lakes to the southern Plains. Wet snowflakes can mix with rain showers in the Upper Midwest. High ......................... 104° in Gila Bend, AZ Low ......................... 20° in Angel Fire, NM High ........................ 118° in Sibi, Pakistan Low ........................ -1° in Eureka, Canada Bogota 67/49/pc 67/50/c Buenos Aires 62/49/pc 62/46/r Caracas 89/78/pc 89/79/pc Ensenada 74/55/pc 71/55/pc Mexico City 79/54/t 77/55/t Montreal 69/44/pc 49/35/c Rio de Janeiro 75/63/pc 80/70/pc Tijuana 71/57/pc 68/58/pc Toronto 55/34/sh 49/33/pc Vancouver 69/52/c 63/51/pc Orlando 91/64/s 91/67/pc Philadelphia 76/48/t 60/44/pc Phoenix 100/72/s 93/68/s Pittsburgh 58/38/t 51/39/sh Portland, ME 71/48/s 60/40/sh Portland, OR 63/53/sh 63/53/sh St. Louis 60/42/s 68/51/pc Salt Lake City 85/62/pc 68/50/c Seattle 69/52/c 63/51/sh Tucson 97/66/s 93/60/s Washington, DC 72/48/t 60/43/pc Cairo 106/83/s 110/83/pc Casablanca 69/53/s 72/55/s Johannesburg 58/47/sh 61/44/sh Kinshasa 91/74/t 91/74/c Lagos 90/77/t 89/79/t Nairobi 76/55/pc 76/57/pc Tripoli 78/58/s 81/62/s Baghdad 102/75/s 103/79/s Beijing 56/52/sh 75/44/pc Hong Kong 86/78/t 87/72/pc Jerusalem 89/73/s 94/78/pc Kabul 76/47/pc 83/49/pc Manila 95/83/pc 95/82/t Melbourne 71/58/s 68/47/pc New Delhi 111/81/pc 112/81/pc Seoul 78/57/pc 74/54/r Singapore 90/80/c 89/80/pc Sydney 76/55/s 77/58/s Tehran 86/62/pc 90/67/s Tokyo 73/57/pc 71/58/pc Amsterdam 53/44/sh 54/44/sh Athens 79/62/s 81/60/s Belgrade 67/52/t 65/46/t Berlin 59/42/pc 56/44/t Budapest 64/50/t 58/43/t Dublin 55/39/pc 58/41/s London 57/40/pc 61/43/c Madrid 68/48/pc 70/47/s Moscow 63/44/s 60/45/pc Paris 57/39/pc 56/43/sh Rome 65/57/t 69/54/t Stockholm 51/40/sh 53/39/c Vienna 66/46/r 59/43/pc Zurich 59/40/r 55/39/sh 69/40 80/45 73/44 72/45 78/43 76/53 78/53 71/51 71/50 76/54 76/54 63/38 65/40 68/44 73/53 74/54 66/47 61/52 62/52 61/51 67/49 62/41 66/45 58/50 65/49 Forecasts and graphics provided by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2016 365-7194 or 365-4322 OPEN 7 DAYS 6am-10pm 8080 AIRPORT ROAD Your full service: Meat Department, Deli & Groceries www.kentsmeats.com On-site HARVESTING CUTTING & CRYOVACING 235So.MainSt.,RedBluff 527-1657 FurnitureDepot MON.-FRI.9:00-6:00 SAT. 9:00-5:00 • SUN. 11:00-5:00 $100$300 OFF ANY RECLINER LimitedtoinStockMerchandise Limited to in Stock Merchandise OFF ANY FLEXSTEEL SOFA SET $500 Limited to in Stock Merchandise OFF ANY SIMMONS BEAUTYREST BLACK MATTRESS SET Regular Haircut $ 2 00 off KWIK KUTS FamilyHairSalon 1064SouthMainSt.,RedBluff•529-3540 ANY RETAIL PRODUCT 20 % off withanychemicalserviceof $50 or more Notgoodwithotheroffers Expires 5/31/16 With coupon Reg. $13.95 RobertWood tothe Benny Brown Auto Group Family. 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