New Airport Rules Mean No More Removing Shoes For Travelers
You may love to fly the friendly skies but going through airport security is rarely fun or friendly. We line up as passengers being told to put personal items in a tub. Tablets and phones in a separate one, shoes and belts off, and wait to be ushered into the see through x-ray wondering if you wore nice underwear that day.
Thanks to the efforts of former South Dakota Governor - now Homeland Security Secretary - Kristi Noem, has announced that travelers in the United States will not have to remove their shoes when going through airport security starting immediately. This comes with one important caveat; you must have a REAL ID. For licensed South Dakotans, this means there is a gold star in the upper right hand corner of your drivers license.
Its been nearly two decades since the remove your footwear rule went into effect as a knucklehead was caught with a bomb inside his shoe. But according to Noem, "Security technology has changed dramatically. It's evolved. FSA has changed." Adding that airports now have multilayered whole-of-government approach to screening.
This may vary from airport to airport but it's a step in the right direction.
Now could I have me belt back, please?
LOOK: 10 Reasons to Visit the South Dakota Badlands
Returning from a weekend trip to Rapid City, South Dakota for state basketball tournaments we decided to visit the Badlands National Park.
A quick turn-off I-90 will take you into some of the most awe-inspiring scenery.
It's also fun to note that several big-screen movies were filmed in the Badlands. Dances With Wolves, Starship Troopers, Armageddon, and most recently, Academy Award winner, Nomadland.
It's a spectacular park with tons to do. If you're setting out on a hike, bring lots of water and sign the hikers' logs at the trailheads. It could save your life. It's a tough place to survive.
Here are 10 facts about the Badlands:
Gallery Credit: Danny V
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Life on a Cattle Ranch in Western South Dakota
Life is different out in the country. One look at the photo from Robin Bickel and you quickly realize that a workday is quite different as well, after all, she lives out west in South Dakota Cattle Country.
Robin Bickel took time to tell KIKN Country a little bit about her life out west and life as a woman, working outdoors with animals and nature in God's Country. Bickel lives and works on a cattle ranch operated by herself, her father, Jack, and his brother Keith. How far out in the country is she? How does 50 miles west of Mobridge, South Dakota sound? Yep, mountain time out there.
Life is so different in Sioux Falls, South Dakota compared to what our friends on the farm and ranches deal with. It's a half-mile to the grocery store for our family. For Robin, it's 17 miles. However, it's a quick step out her door and she's right in the middle of where a lot of the groceries come from.
Gallery Credit: JD COllins
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