Atlanta airport upgrades security measures after alert level rises ATLANTA (AP) =97 Hartsfield Atlanta International Airport upgraded its=20 security Wednesday after the federal government raised the national=20 security alert level to "high," or orange, amid fears that a wave of=20 terrorist attacks overseas could spread to the United States. Random=20 vehicle checks are back on both north and south access roads, airport=20 spokeswoman Lanii Thomas said, and people hoping to park in the hourly lots= =20 will find about 1,300 of the spots closest to the terminals blocked off.=20 The increased security is expected to continue at least through Memorial=20 Day weekend, when travel is typically at a high level. The security=20 measures implemented outside the terminal are not expected to cause=20 travelers any long delays, Thomas said. "The vehicle inspections take less= =20 than 60 seconds, so there's no need for people to think that they need to=20 get out here 2 or 3 hours before their flights," she said. Airport=20 officials recommend that passengers on domestic flights get to the airport= =20 an hour before departure, but Thomas said it might be wise to add 30 extra= =20 minutes during peak travel times over the weekend when lines inside=20 security checkpoints tend to get longer. During Monday morning's peak period, some passengers waited an hour to pass= =20 through security inside the terminals, a wait that Thomas called=20 "unacceptable." "We are very concerned about that, especially as we enter=20 the peak summer travel months," she said. "We are constantly asking the=20 Transportation Security Administration, which is handling all this now, for= =20 more funding." The national security alert was raised Tuesday after top=20 Bush administration and counterterrorism officials reviewed intelligence=20 reports suggesting domestic terrorist attacks were possible. The new level,= =20 the second highest level on the five-color scale, marks a high threat of=20 terrorist attacks. "This should mean to the general public to remain aware= =20 of their surroundings and to be nosy about what's happening around them.=20 Nobody knows better about what's normal for their community than the people= =20 who live there," Georgia Homeland Task Force spokesman Jim Shuler said.=20 "It's the neighborhood watch program on a nationwide level." Georgia=20 officials had received no specific information about any threat locally,=20 Shuler said, but they were preparing to handle whatever should come up. *************************************************** The owner of Roger's Trinbago Site/TnTisland.com Roj (Roger James) escape email mailto:ejames@xxxxxxxxx Trinbago site: www.tntisland.com Carib Brass Ctn site www.tntisland.com/caribbeanbrassconnection/ Steel Expressions www.mts.net/~ejames/se/ Mas Site: www.tntisland.com/tntrecords/mas2003/ Site of the Week: http://www.caribbeanfloral.com TnT Webdirectory: http://search.co.tt *********************************************************