From USA Today...

Airport screeners for the first time will begin roving through airports taking chemical swabs from passengers and their bags to check for explosives, the Transportation Security Administration said Tuesday. The program, already tested at five airports after the attempted Christmas Day bomb plot on a U.S.-bound airliner, begins nationwide in a few weeks, TSA spokeswoman Sterling Payne said.

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Another blizzard has nearly stopped operations at several airports in the Northeast, and thousands of flights have been canceled. No flights are expected to operate at Reagan Washington National or Dulles International airports on Wednesday, according to the Washington Metropolitan Airport Authority. Also, most airlines canceled Wednesday flights in and out of Baltimore/Washington International Airport.

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American Airlines quietly announced last week that it would eliminate free blankets in coach and sell an $8 packet that includes a pillow and blanket starting May 1. The change is for flights over two hours in length to and from Canada, Mexico, Hawaii, the Caribbean and Central America. The airline will join JetBlue and US Airways, which began charging $7 for a pillow-and-blanket set in 2008 and 2009 respectively.

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Santa Barbara is billed as the "American Riviera." It's long been a workplace and playground for movie royalty, from Douglas Fairbanks and Charlie Chaplin in the early 20th century to Jeff Bridges and Meryl Streep today. Thanks to balmy weather and photogenic Spanish Colonial architecture, it was a movie hub a century ago, before the booming California industry needed a larger base and Hollywood took center stage.

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Mardi Gras falls on a Sunday this year. The city of the Saints is filling up with ex-New Orleanians looking to cast off a legacy of football futility and natural disaster — others just looking to let loose in the world's greatest party town. "We're gearing up for Sunday just like Mardi Gras day," said Earl Bernhardt, a bar owner in the French Quarter. "If the Saints win, we won't close at all."

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During the past 6 years, millions of passengers have been on at least 65,000 U.S. airline flights that shouldn't have taken off because planes weren't properly maintained. "Many repairs are not being done or done properly, and too many flights are leaving the ground in what the FAA calls 'unairworthy,' or unsafe, condition," says John Goglia, a former airline mechanic and National Transportation Safety Board member.

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