Tsa

HARRISBURG — Every four months, the detritus of post-9/11 America arrives by the tractor-trailer load at a warehouse here, to be sorted, priced, and sold to the highest bidder. On this particular day, the delivery from LaGuardia, Kennedy, and Newark airports landed rather indelicately, the back of the trailer cracked open like a piñata to reveal broken boxes and heaps of stuff scattered over the truck bed. One worker admired a Pete Rose model Louisville Slugger baseball bat before putting it in the bin on the skid loader.

Federal prosecutors unsealed bribery charges today against a Transportation Security Administration (TSA) instructor at Philadelphia International Airport. Shannon Gilliam, 29, of Sharon Hill, was charged by criminal information, a process which typically indicates a plea deal is in the works. The information said Gilliam was employed as a security training instructor with the TSA. He was responsible for training transportation security officers (TSOs) and to administer mandatory screening proficiency tests to TSOs who handle passenger and baggage screening at the airport.

A training instructor with the Transportation Security Administration at Philadelphia International Airport pleaded guilty in federal court today to taking a bribe from a security officer. Shannon Gilliam, 29, of Sharon Hill, potentially faces four to 27 months in prison under advisory sentencing guidelines. Gilliam, who began working for the TSA in 2003 as a baggage screener and was promoted to training instructor in 2008, has been suspended with pay pending the outcome of the investigation, a TSA official said.

Nancy Anne Phillips, a 63-year-old retired professor from Southern California, was passing through Philadelphia in April when, she says, she had one of those nightmares at the airport that give this city a bad name. Her knees have been replaced with titanium, and a metal plate supports her back. She's used to setting off alarms. But she's not used to the sort of screening she experienced April 5 when a Transportation Security Administration worker motioned Phillips to the side for a secondary screening.

A Transportation Security Administration worker who pretended to find drugs in a passenger's bag at Philadelphia International Airport in January had played the prank more than once and told one of his victims that "she would have to admit it was funny," according to TSA documents. The documents, which detail the dopey antics of a bomb-appraisal officer whose name has been blacked out, were released on the Smoking Gun website this week. The Inquirer broke the story of Rebecca Solomon, 22, who on Jan. 5 became the unsuspecting butt of the officer's joke when he pretended to find a white, powdery substance in her luggage.

If the rallying cry of outraged air travelers last fall was "Don't touch my junk," a simpler and softer call has risen from an Alaska state representative and breast cancer survivor. "No. " It's a powerful word, Sharon Cissna told a House subcommittee Wednesday. And each time she said it to a growing circle of TSA agents, airport workers, and police in Seattle last month, she felt more confident. "No," the Democrat from Anchorage recalled saying, "I will not be physically touched.

U.S. Rep. Bob Brady, in a letter sent yesterday, urged the U.S. Transportation Security Administration to replace three security dogs assigned to Philadelphia International Airport that failed recent bomb-sniffing tests. In an interview, Brady said he was alarmed that the agency did not promptly share the information with the airport and that he learned about it from local TV news reports Tuesday night. Airport spokesman Mark Pesce said yesterday, "Late this afternoon, we received notification from the TSA that three of their canine dogs have been decertified.

Most of the time I think I'm in sync with the rest of the world. And then there are the times when I'm not. Security scanners. I just watched the TV news, wherein everybody is outraged about the new body scanners and pat-downs as they go through airport security. I'm not criticizing those people, but I travel all the time and I don't feel that way at all. On the contrary. Scan me. Search me. Bend me over. Stick your finger in my ear. Do anything you absolutely have to do. I'll get over it. Here's what I won't get over: Being dead.

The Transportation Security Administration is moving ahead with plans for a "registered traveler" program, to be run by private-sector companies, that is designed to speed up airport security screening, the agency announced yesterday. Travelers willing to undergo a background check would be fingerprinted, pay between $80 and $100 a year, and then be issued a card that could be presented at a security checkpoint, enabling them to bypass the normal lines. Registered travelers may still have to remove shoes, pull laptops out of bags, pass through metal detectors, and be subject to a secondary screening, agency officials have said.

HARRISBURG — Every four months, the detritus of post-9/11 America arrives by the tractor-trailer load at a warehouse here, to be sorted, priced, and sold to the highest bidder. On this particular day, the delivery from LaGuardia, Kennedy, and Newark airports landed rather indelicately, the back of the trailer cracked open like a piñata to reveal broken boxes and heaps of stuff scattered over the truck bed. One worker admired a Pete Rose model Louisville Slugger baseball bat before putting it in the bin on the skid loader.

Airline passengers are not getting smarter. This week's attempts by two men to board airplanes at Philadelphia International Airport with fireworks and firearms were not unusual events. In fact, they're getting more common all the time. Last year 1,310 guns - about 3.5 a day - were seized by airport screeners across the nation. That's up from 1,123 in 2010 and 851 in 2005. "Despite our best efforts, the numbers are going up every year," said Ann Davis, a Transportation Security Administration (TSA)

CHICAGO - Some air travelers over the age of 75 will soon get a break at airport security checkpoints under a test program announced Wednesday that could allow them to keep their shoes and light jackets on and skip pat-downs. The new guidelines from the Transportation Security Administration, which take effect Monday at four U.S. airports, are part of an effort to move away from its one-size-fits-all security procedures and speed lower-risk passengers through while focusing on those who may need more scrutiny.

A TRAINING instructor with the Transportation Security Administration at Philadelphia International Airport pleaded guilty yesterday to taking a bribe from a transportation security officer. Shannon Gilliam, 29, of Sharon Hill, potentially faces four to 27 months in prison under advisory sentencing guidelines. Gilliam has been suspended pending outcome of the investigation, a TSA official said. Prosecutors said Gilliam was responsible for training transportation security officers and administering mandatory certification exams to officers who handle passenger and baggage screening at the airport.

Federal prosecutors unsealed bribery charges today against a Transportation Security Administration (TSA) instructor at Philadelphia International Airport. Shannon Gilliam, 29, of Sharon Hill, was charged by criminal information, a process which typically indicates a plea deal is in the works. The information said Gilliam was employed as a security training instructor with the TSA. He was responsible for training transportation security officers (TSOs) and to administer mandatory screening proficiency tests to TSOs who handle passenger and baggage screening at the airport.

LOS ANGELES - A military demolitions expert who completed three tours of duty in Afghanistan was being held yesterday on federal charges that he had tried to transport explosives on a civilian airplane in Texas during the holiday weekend. Army Sgt. Trey Scott Atwater, of Hope Mills, N.C., waived his initial federal court hearing set for yesterday afternoon, said Daryl Fields, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's Office for the western district of Texas, in a telephone interview.

NEW YORK - With age come such things as catheters, colostomy bags and adult diapers. Now add another indignity to getting old - having to drop your pants and show those things to a complete stranger. Two women in their 80s put the Transportation Security Administration on the defensive this week by going public about their embarrassment during screenings in a private room at Kennedy Airport. One said she had to lower her pants and underwear in front of an agent so her back brace could be inspected.

NEW YORK - With age come such things as catheters, colostomy bags and adult diapers. Now add another indignity to getting old - having to drop your pants and show these things to a stranger. Two women in their 80s put the Transportation Security Administration on the defensive this week by going public about their embarrassment during screenings in a private room at Kennedy Airport. One claimed she had been forced to lower her pants and underwear in front of an agent so that her back brace could be inspected.

It seems that hardly a day goes by that I don't get a complaint about the Transportation Security Administration. Today it's Judi Kutzko's turn. She believes many air travelers, like her, are afraid to stand up to the agency for fear of being blacklisted. "TSA can - and often does - make things miserable for anyone who speaks up," she says. (Indeed, it took some convincing to let me share her grievance with you here. You're a brave woman, Judi.) So what, exactly, happened to her?