Latest news with #MobileRegionalAirport
Yahoo
08-05-2025
- Yahoo
REAL ID requirement, Day 1, at Mobile Regional Airport — what travelers should know
MOBILE, Ala. (WKRG) — For travelers coming in and out of Mobile Regional Airport, they now must show a new form of identification before boarding their flight. Dauphin Way Baptist Church confirms it's selling long-time property After years of hearing it was coming, the 'enforcement deadline' for having a REAL ID, also known as STAR ID, is finally here. If you're planning on travelling anytime soon, you might want to double-check your driver's license. It should have a REAL ID star on the front. 'If they have a star in the corner, they have a REAL ID or as Alabama has termed it STAR ID,' Joshua Thompson with the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency said. The star in the top corner means you're set to go. For anyone 18 and older, the star is required to fly domestically, enter certain federal buildings, or even to use TSA pre-check, unless you have a passport and or other federally accepted forms of ID that you can use in its place. Now that deadline is here, the big question, is everyone prepared? WKRG News 5 spoke with passengers to find out who's ready. 'My license actually expires in June and I did not have time to do my REAL ID, but I knew I could take my passport. So I brought my passport with me,' Christine Newbegin, a traveler from Madison, Wisconsin said. 'I got it last August,' Levy Knox, a Mobile resident travelling to Atlanta, said. 'I believe that opportunity comes through those who are prepared. So we need to be prepared.' But if you don't have your STAR ID yet, that doesn't mean you have to panic. 'You can still obtain your STAR ID after today. Today is just the day that it goes into effect,' Thompson said. 'You can still travel domestically, you can still access federal buildings. You just might need a different proof of identification.' Alabama bill combating gun violence signed into law So if you've got a trip coming up and no gold star, you might want to pack your passport. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WKRG News 5.
Yahoo
28-01-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Mobile eyeballs lodging tax increase to pay for Civic Center and Mobile Regional Airport costs
MOBILE, Ala. (WKRG) — City of Mobile officials think they have found a way to make tourists pay for costs associated with the Civic Center and Mobile Regional Airport projects. How Mobile high school bands prepare for Mardi Gras parades On Tuesday, the Mobile City Council reviewed a plan to raise the city's lodging tax from 8% to 10%. Mobile Mayor Sandy Stimpson said the goal is to generate at least $300 million per year for 10 years to help pay for the relocation of the Mobile Regional Airport. Any revenue exceeding $300 million would go towards the debt services of the Civic Center project. 'We're creating a firewall so we don't have to go to the citizens, you know, to ask for money for these two projects,' Stimpson said. 'People who are coming to the arena, so many of those will be staying in our hotels, and for the airport, the business travelers coming here and those coming for entertainment.' After an estimated 20 years of paying off the debt services related to the demolition and construction of the new Mobile Civic Center, the revenue from the lodging tax will roll into the city's general fund to be used at the government's discretion. 'This is a way to lock it in, so we're not going back to the citizens of Mobile and asking them to participate and helping satisfy some of these costs,' Stimpson said. Gulf Coast universities considering potential impacts after Trump administration pauses federal loans, grants Stimpson said the plan is a way to target the pockets of Mobile's tourists rather than its citizens. He said less than 1% of the city's 1.5 million room nights per year are reserved by Mobilians, typically during the Mardi Gras season. 'We're actually saving the citizens of Mobile money that they otherwise might have to pay,' Stimpson said. Despite concerns that a tax increase would turn tourists away, President and CEO of Visit Mobile, David Cooke, said otherwise. He said Mobile's lodging tax would be competitive among surrounding cities. He said the tax rate would be the same as Gulf Shores and lower than Birmingham. 'We haven't had a lodging tax increase in 20 years. It's very warranted,' Cooke said. Visit Mobile currently takes 33.5% of the lodging tax revenue. If passed, Cooke said Visit Mobile's slice of the lodging tax revenue would increase to 37.5%. That money will be used to market Mobile's tourism scene. 'With these new assets coming on board, we're projecting a very bright future,' Cooke said. Senior Bowl players visit USA Health Children's and Women's Hospital patients The city council is expected to vote on the tax increase in next Tuesday's meeting. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
