Star Tribune
Minneapolis-St. Paul TSA officials offer tips for Thanksgiving flights
Thanksgiving travel could bring a record number of people through Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, and the Transportation Security Administration is offering tips on how people can best prepare to make it through the long lines stress-free.
Marty Robinson, Minnesota’s federal security director for TSA, said Tuesday he’s expecting close to 50,000 people to go through security checkpoints Wednesday and Sunday, which will likely be the two busiest days.
“It appears that this Sunday, nationally, may be the busiest day we’ve ever had,” he said at a brief airport news conference.
Nationally, TSA expects to screen 2.7 million passengers Wednesday and 2.9 million on Sunday, which would narrowly eclipse a record set June 30.
Robinson’s basic tips included getting to the airport early and, before leaving home or even as you wait, emptying out luggage bags before refilling them in order to make sure no prohibited items are left inside that would have to be fished out by TSA agents. Check TSA.gov for what’s allowed.
Robinson reminded customers that they can enroll in the TSA PreCheck program at a price of $78 for five years. It allows people to move through security faster in a separate line.
In July, the airport was on pace to break a record for the most guns confiscated from security checkpoints, with 32 intercepted at the time. Robinson urged customers to make sure they have no guns in carry-on bags.
“Anything in carry-on luggage is going to be discovered, and it’s up to a $15,000 fine if you’re caught,” he said.
The U.S. is on pace to break the record for number of handguns intercepted at security checkpoints, he added. Those traveling with a firearm or ammunition must pack it in a checked bag, unloaded, and in a hard-covered case.
Aside from the physical preparations, Robinson’s main message is for passengers to bring “some of that famous Minnesota nice when you’re traveling.”
The busiest times will be in the early mornings and late afternoons, Robinson added.
U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said Monday that the government has tried to better prepare for holiday travel by hiring more air traffic controllers and providing grants to airports for snowplows and deicing equipment.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Two people from Minnetonka were killed late Friday afternoon when their GMC Suburban ran a stop sign and was struck by a GMC Yukon headed north on Hwy. 169 west of Palisade, Minn.
According to the State Patrol, Marlo Dean Baldwin, 92, and Elizabeth Jane Baldwin, 61, were dead at the scene. The driver of the Suburban, a 61-year-old Minnetonka man, was taken to a hospital with life-threatening injuries.
The Suburban, pulling a trailer, was headed east on Grove Street/County Rd. 3 at about 5:15 p.m. when it failed to stop at Hwy. 169 and was struck by the northbound Yukon. The Yukon then struck two westbound vehicles stopped at the intersection.
Four people from Zimmerman, Minn., in the Yukon, including the driver, were taken to HCMC with life-threatening injuries, while two passengers were treated for non-life-threatening injuries. Three girls in the Yukon ranged in age from 11 to 15.
The drivers of the two vehicles struck by the Yukon were not injured, the State Patrol said. Road conditions were dry at the time of the accident, and alcohol was not believed to have been a factor. All involved in the accident were wearing a seat belt except for Elizabeth Baldwin.
Hill City police and the Aitkin County Sheriff’s Office assisted at the scene.
Amid the cacophony and chaos of the pregame preparation before a recent Minnetonka High School football game, an exceptional group of six girls is gathered together among the school’s deep and talented cheerleading and dance teams.
The cheerleaders, a national championship-winning program of 40 girls, dot the track around the football field. As the clock ticks down to kickoff and their night of choreographed routines begins, the six girls, proudly wearing Minnetonka blue T-shirts emblazoned with “Skippers Nation” and shaking shiny pom-poms, swirl around the track, bristling with excited energy.
Their circumstances are no different from any of the other cheerleaders with one notable exception: The girls on this team have special needs.
They’re members of the Minnetonka Sparklers, a squad of cheerleaders made up solely of girls with special needs.
A football game at Minnetonka High School is an elaborate production. The Skippers’ recent homecoming victory over Shakopee brought an announced crowd of 8,145. And that is just paying attendees; it doesn’t include school staffers, coaches, dance team, marching band, concession workers, media members and others going about their business attached to the game.
The Sparklers program, now in its 12th season, was the brainchild of Marcy Adams, a former Minnetonka cheerleader who initiated the program in her senior year of high school. Adams has been coach of the team since its inception, staying on through her tenure as a cheerleader at the University of Minnesota.
She started the program after experiencing the Unified Sports program at Minnetonka. The unified sports movement at high schools brings together student-athletes with cognitive or physical disabilities and athletes with no disabilities to foster relationships, understanding and compassion through athletics. Many Minnesota schools offer unified sports.
“I grew up in a household that valued students with special needs and valued inclusion,” Adams said. “I saw a need to give to those students. At Minnetonka, we have a strong Unified program, and this was a great opportunity to build relationships and offer mentorship opportunities.”
Elite runners are in a league of their own.
To get a sense of how far ahead elite runners are compared to the rest of us, the Minnesota Star Tribune took a look at how their times compare to the average marathon participant.
The 2022 Twin Cities Marathon men’s winner was Japanese competitor Yuya Yoshida, who ran the marathon in a time of 2 hours, 11 minutes and 28 seconds, for an average speed of 11.96 mph. He averaged 5 minutes and 2 seconds per mile.
That’s more than twice the speed of the average competitor across both the men’s and women’s categories, of 5.89 mph, according to race results site Mtec. The average participant finished in 4 hours, 26 minutes and 56 seconds. That comes out to an average time of 10 minutes and 11 seconds per mile.
And taking it to the most extreme, the fastest-ever marathon runner, Kelvin Kiptum of Kenya, finished the 2023 Chicago Marathon in 2 hours and 35 seconds, for an average pace of about 13 mph. Kiptum averaged 4 minutes and 36 seconds per mile.
Here is a graphic showing these differences in average marathon speed.
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