Latest news with #Jiron
Yahoo
14-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Delta shortens seasonal service between Albuquerque and Minnesota
May 13—New Mexicans hoping to fly Delta Air Lines from Albuquerque to Minnesota after November will have to deal with a stop on the way. Four of Delta Air Lines' nonstop seasonal routes to and from Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport, which includes a route between Minnesota and Albuquerque International Sunport, will cease earlier than usual, an airline spokesperson told the Journal on Tuesday. The daily nonstop flight is offered seasonally May through January, but Delta has made the decision to cut the flight earlier, starting Nov. 6. "Delta routinely adjusts its network operations to best accommodate demand," a statement from the spokesperson said. "We will work to rebook impacted customers on alternative itineraries. We deeply apologize for any inconvenience that this may cause." The other three cities for which some of Delta's Minnesota flights will cease early include Buffalo, New York; Fairbanks, Alaska; and Great Falls, Montana. The routes for these cities will end after September. The spokesperson noted that the flight offering will return in May 2026. In the meantime, flyers will still be able to fly to Minnesota using Delta Air Lines, but it will be a direct flight with a layover instead of a nonstop. Daniel Jiron, the Sunport's business development manager, said the seasonality of the flight is nothing new. He said Delta has offered the nonstop flight since 2010 and started offering it seasonally in 2012. He reiterated that this flight is not being eliminated — only paused earlier than usual. "Somehow, somewhere, something got written that they're eliminating all these cities... so everybody's in a panic. What we have been told is, 'Oh no, it's pausing earlier than normal in January,'" Jiron said. "It's not wonderful news, but you know, we don't anticipate it going away, because it does well." While one flight offering is being cut short early, another flight offering will soon be expanding, the Delta spokesperson said. Delta will be increasing daily service between Albuquerque and Salt Lake City this summer from three to four flights. The Sunport is also set to welcome a new flight offering next week, as nonstop flights to and from Dulles International Airport in Virginia kick off May 22. The flight, represented by the airport code IAD, will be offered by United Airlines once daily. "It gives us better connectivity to and from Washington, D.C. It's something we've been working on for a number of years," said Manny Manriquez, the Sunport's deputy director of innovation and commercial development. "United has actually served that route just for the Balloon Fiesta, and we've seen really good numbers between Albuquerque and Washington, D.C.," Manriquez said. "We're excited to launch it."
Yahoo
11-03-2025
- Yahoo
Installing fake plates can be a license for trouble
Mar. 11—WATERTOWN — In late February, New York State Police issued a news release about an arrest involving fake license plates on a vehicle. From an accompanying photograph of the two fake plates, it would be difficult to tell the difference between the bogus plates and official state-issued ones. But a trooper did notice the difference and arrested the Evans Mills resident who allegedly affixed the fake plates to a 2020 Mercedes Benz he was found driving. Troopers also said that the vehicle's registration was suspended due to an "insurance lapse." The driver was charged with possession of a forged instrument, a felony, and other counts. "The letters/numbers look different than an actual New York license plate," said State Police Troop D spokeswoman Jennifer Jiron. "This prompted the trooper to run the plate through the DMV to make sure it was valid." But one element that may have made the fake plates stand out in the case is that they were not stamped, with raised letters and numbers. A lack of a reflective surface could be another clue in such cases. Meanwhile, some states have gone to flat-charactered license plates. New Jersey switched in 2014. People can purchase fake license plates, complete with requested lettering and numbers, from a variety of online sellers. "It is not illegal to sell 'fake plates,' because sometimes people use them for memorabilia or decorative purposes, but to put one on a vehicle with the intention of using it as a 'real' plate makes it a crime," Jiron said. Dealers in fake plates found on eBay point out that plates can be created with "Any Text" or "Your Text." You can even add the "Dealer" option. Some, but not all, product descriptions indicate they are "novelty" or "personalized" items. They are not described as being "lawful" plates. One seller, Boulevardlosangeles, has the following description on its eBay customized New York license plate page: "Personalize this license plate with any text you want and choose from a variety of colors and themes to create a one-of-a-kind look that reflects your personality. This license plate is made in the United States with a glossy surface finish and measures 12 inches in length and 6 inches in height. It is designed for universal fitment and can be placed on the front of any vehicle. In addition to its eye-catching design, this license plate also comes with a one-year manufacturer warranty for added peace of mind." The cost: $12. In mid-February, Nassau County Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder told CBS News: "Fake plates, vanity plates like these that you ordered online, these vanity plates are being put on cars all over and it's becoming a big problem for us in law enforcement. The numbers have been increasing every quarter." 'reading' technology In 2021, the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators issued the report, "License Plate Reader Program: Best Practices Guide." LPR technology provides law enforcement with the ability to check license plates against various databases, LPR can also be used for tolling and parking. A section in the report on the challenges of determining a license plate number states: "Poorly designed fonts and variations in fonts themselves, additional symbols, half-height characters, location of registration stickers, license plate frames and covers, and holograms on characters all increase the complexity of OCR (optical character recognition) algorithms used to determine the alphanumeric characters of a license plate." Some drivers purposely work to disguise their license plates from LPR and OCR technology. A state law that went into effect on Sept. 1 aims to deter that. It's part of an ongoing effort to fight concealed, or "Ghost" license plates, and toll evasion. The new law increases penalties for covering a license plate with a glass or plastic covering, or with any kind of material or substance that could distort a recorded or photographic image of the plate taken by a traffic camera or electronic toll reader. Monetary fines for these violations are increasing from not less than $100 to no more than $500, and anyone convicted of purposely obscuring their plate with a cover or special material will have to surrender that cover or material. Repeat plate covering offenders with three or more convictions within five years will now face a 90-day suspension of their vehicle registration. It is also now illegal to sell or distribute those materials and covers, or any material designed to look like a "lawful" license plate but has not been legally issued by the NYS Department of Motor Vehicles or similar agencies in other states. "These changes to the law are meant to make sure that everyone who makes use of public infrastructure is paying their fair share to use them," Mark J.F. Schroeder, DMV commissioner and chairman of the Governor's Traffic Safety Committee, said in a September news release. "Toughening the law will also help authorities crack down on criminals who try to avoid detection when committing crimes by making use of ghost plates or license plate coverings." In 1901, New York became the first state to require license numbers on motor vehicles. But they were not made by the state. Drivers had to produce their own for their state-registered vehicles. By 1921, there were more than a million registered vehicles in the state. To handle the increase, the functions of regulating motor vehicles were transferred to the state. In 2019, then-Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo's office reversed course on mandating the replacement of New York state license plates that were more than 10 years old after widespread criticism. The state launched an online poll for the license plate to replace the empire gold and blue plate that has been in service for the past decade, with many delaminating and becoming difficult to read. Voters selected a new plate, but politicians disagreed with the fee for the replacement plates. "As the DMV commissioner said weeks ago, this proposal isn't going forward as we have committed to working with the Legislature to create a plan that ensures plates are readable by law enforcement and cashless tolling system," a Cuomo adviser said at the time. The state received lots of backlash on the plan, especially over the fact that each new plate was going to cost vehicle owners $25. In today's dollars, after inflation, that fee would be $31. In 1941, the state's motor vehicle commissioner announced that only one plate would be issued for drivers, instead of two, due to the conservation of metal during World War II. "Close to ten tons of steel will be saved in Jefferson County alone," County Clerk Fred H. Moore told the Times.
