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With This Airport’s New Remote TSA Checkpoint, You Can Go Straight to Your Gate

Matzav -

FRAMINGHAM, Mass. – The Massachusetts Port Authority, which owns and operates Boston Logan International Airport, unveiled the country’s first remote TSA checkpoint site, with ticket reservations opening yesterday and service starting on June 1.

During the three-month trial, passengers screened at the Framingham facility can ride a secure bus from the Boston suburb straight to their gate, bypassing the airport’s busy departures terminals and security lanes. If all goes well, airport and ground transportation authorities say the new Logan Airport Remote Terminal could become a permanent fixture and a model for other airports.

“This is all about making the travel experience more seamless and convenient by bringing air and ground transportation together and expanding the footprints of the biggest airports in the U.S.,” said David Sunde, co-founder and CEO of the Landline Company, which will oversee the buses. “It’s about reducing the stress and anxiety of going to the airport.”

Who can use the remote terminal and when
For now, the program is eligible only for passengers flying Delta or JetBlue between 5:30 a.m. and 4 p.m. The 55-passenger buses will run hourly from 4 a.m. to 11 a.m.

To use the remote terminal, you must buy a $9 adult ticket (free for ages 17 and younger) on MassPort’s website. At the Framingham facility, ticketed passengers can now check their luggage at the airline counter (one for each carrier) and undergo screening at the TSA security checkpoint. They will then board a secure bus to the airport, which is 22 miles away or about 50 minutes without traffic. The bus will drive onto the airfield and drop off passengers on the air side of Terminal A (Delta) and C (JetBlue).

“All the functions you do at the airport, you’re just shifting that time to here,” said Peter Howe, MassPort’s deputy director of roadway management. “So when you get to Boston Logan, you’re going to be inside the terminal, within the gates, so you can go to the bathroom, get a drink and sit right down at your gate.”

Howe said the remote terminal is an especially good option for families who would otherwise have to navigate a much larger, possibly busier departures hall and screening area with a gaggle of children and bags in tow. It may also appeal to budget travelers who balk at paying $37 a day to park in Logan’s economy lot. The new terminal charges $7 a day for its 400 spots.

The micro-terminal, a new construction a half-mile from the Logan Express station, feels like the private wing of an airport with a small, bright waiting room on each side of the checkpoint, plus bathrooms and vending machines. The screening area has one lane that accepts standard and TSA PreCheck passengers, one CT-scanning machine and one metal detector. No liquids are permitted on the bus, so you will have to live without your morning Dunkin’.

“Even though you’re still in Framingham, the bus becomes part of the sterile side of the airport in Boston,” said Sheldon Jacobson, a professor of computer science at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. “You’ll be locked in a cocoon, but if anything compromises that cocoon, then the screening goes away.”

Timing your remote terminal experience
MassPort recommends passengers arrive at least 45 minutes before the bus departs, so they don’t miss the checked baggage or screening window (45 and 35 minutes, respectively). Reservations are available 90 days to 90 minutes in advance.

People who do not enjoy counting backward or lingering too long at the gate will appreciate a booking feature that suggests the best bus departure time for your flight. For a Delta flight leaving for Detroit at 9:05 a.m., the site recommends a 7 a.m. bus for a gate wait time of roughly 50 minutes.

Jacobson questions whether the terminal is more efficient.

“My initial reaction to this is why? I don’t see any gain in terms of efficiency,” he said. “If you make TSA PreCheck free for everybody, you will have a very efficient, effective and secure air system.”

Of course, it depends on your starting point. The remote terminal makes more sense if you live or are staying near the Framingham terminal. (According to MassPort, the Logan Express in Framingham is the busiest station in the airport shuttle network, which transported 2.7 million passengers last year.) Conversely, if the drive adds another stressful step to your travel day, it might be best to go directly to the airport.

The buses will travel the same route as other airport-bound vehicles, contending with morning rush hour traffic. Sunde said only about 1 percent of buses break down. In the event of an emergency, Landline, which built its business on transporting connecting passengers between regional and international airports in Philadelphia and Chicago, will transfer passengers to a replacement vehicle. They will not have to recheck their bags, but they will have to go through the screening process again.

But not everyone is convinced this off-site option is an upgrade for consumers.

“I don’t know why they’re doing this, except they think there’s too much congestion at Logan,” Jacobson said. “But there are other ways this could be done, so I remain cautiously skeptical.”

Several major airports offer an alternative to the standard TSA security experience. However, these options often reside on the airport’s premises and cater to higher-end travelers.

At JFK International in New York and Los Angeles International airports, Delta One business-class fliers file through a private screening area connected to the Delta One lounge. PS operates “private” security at LAX and Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, charging from $1,295 per person for the exclusive experience.

“In general, programs like [TSA’s Reimbursable Screening Services Program] support innovative passenger processing outside traditional screening checkpoints while maintaining TSA oversight and security standards,” said Katie Chaumont, a spokesperson for Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport. She added that PS, which will open a facility next month at the airport’s Corporate Aviation center, can provide “the company’s clients with streamlined security screening as part of their paid experience.”

If Boston Logan’s trial proves successful, Howe said MassPort and its partners could expand the hours, numbers of participating airlines and locations in the Boston region.

Sunde is casting his eye beyond the Bay State to other sites popular with the flying public, such as Disney World.

(c) 2026, The Washington Post · Andrea Sachs 

EPA’s Zeldin: $1 Billion to Rid Drinking Water of PFAS

Matzav -

EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin said Tuesday that the Trump administration is launching a major initiative to combat PFAS contamination in drinking water, including a $1 billion effort aimed at helping communities remove the chemicals from public water systems.

Speaking on Newsmax’s “Carl Higbie FRONTLINE,” Zeldin said addressing PFAS contamination remains a top priority for President Donald Trump and senior administration officials.

“This is something that is an important priority for President Trump, the Trump administration, for the MAHA commission, including [HHS] Secretary [Robert F.] Kennedy [Jr.], our chairman,” Zeldin said on “Carl Higbie FRONTLINE.”

Zeldin noted that the administration’s focus on PFAS began during Trump’s first term and is now continuing under the current administration.

“This started in a big way during the first Trump administration and is now continuing here through this latest Trump administration.”

He said the administration wants to avoid placing the financial burden for PFAS cleanup directly onto ordinary consumers through higher water bills.

“What we don’t want to have happen is a water system responsible for picking up the cost to remove PFAS from the water system, and they pass it off to the ratepayers so that people then are on the hook for cleaning up contamination of their own water supply,” Zeldin added.

“That is not the right approach to this.”

Zeldin also emphasized that the EPA is working to maintain legally sustainable standards governing PFAS contamination while complying with federal law.

“We are making sure that we have standards that are on the books with regard to PFOA and PFOS and also making decisions that are legally durable following the law, specifically the Safe Drinking Water Act,” Zeldin continued.

“All of these and more add up to a very robust, comprehensive PFAS-fighting strategy,” he said.

Under one proposed EPA rule, public water systems would still be required to comply with federal limits on PFOA and PFOS contamination, though qualifying systems could seek an extension giving them until 2031 to meet the standards.

Water systems that do not apply for extensions would still be required to comply by the previously established 2029 deadline.

According to the EPA, the proposed extension period would provide utilities additional time to complete water testing, engineering analysis, financing arrangements, and construction projects needed to implement PFAS treatment technology. Officials also said the additional time may allow treatment methods to improve and become less expensive.

The agency further announced plans to reevaluate drinking water regulations involving additional PFAS-related substances, including PFHxS, PFNA, GenX chemicals, and broader hazard index standards tied to PFAS contamination.

{Matzav.com}

AN AVERAGE FRUM FAMILY CAN SPEND UPWARDS OF $25,000 A YEAR ON HEALTH INSURANCE

Matzav -

[COMMUNICATED]

HealthSharing began gaining popularity as a way to alleviate the strain of these exorbitant costs. Since the late 1900s, other religious factions have used HealthShares to combat healthcare expenses and to create a medical system in-line with their beliefs. 

The results were enticing:

      – significantly lower healthcare expenses        
      – choice of providers without “out-of-network” limitations
      – no fighting with insurance companies and their bureaucracy 

Slowly, members of our community started joining other religious HealthShares, reaping the benefits they had to offer. 

But there was one catch. 

By definition, HealthShare means a group of people coming together under shared religious beliefs to share in each other’s medical expenses. Shared beliefs are a necessary government regulation for legally recognized HealthShares – and something all members must sign in agreement on. 


The questions emerged. 

Are there halachic ramifications for frum individuals and families joining a Christian-based HealthShare? 

What if there are no alternatives for the frum community? 


United Refuah HealthShare, the first and only Jewish HealthShare, was founded in 2017 by Rabbi Boruch Chaim Manies and other prominent members of the Cleveland community.

There was one goal: to bring affordable healthcare to the frum community – without the questionable halachic and hashkafic participation in non-Jewish HealthShares. 

It has since exploded, saving members an estimated $180 million to date. 

Find out if United Refuah is the right fit for you and your family. 


Limited time offer! Switch from another HealthShare and get your 3rd month of membership free*! Promo Code: Shavuos-Matzav

*applied as a refund. Expires June 1st. New applications only.

JD Vance Blasts Reporter for ‘Speech Masquerading as a Question”

Matzav -

[Video below.] Vice President JD Vance sharply rebuked a reporter during Tuesday’s White House press briefing after accusing him of delivering a politically charged monologue instead of asking a straightforward question.

The tense exchange began when Andrew Feinberg of The Independent spent roughly 90 seconds posing a lengthy question alleging that President Donald Trump “seems to be talking up stocks that he owns, selling them, and enriching himself.”

As Feinberg continued his extended setup, Vance interrupted at one point and remarked that it was a “hell of a question.”

When Feinberg finally concluded, Vance immediately criticized the framing of the question.

“Let me answer your question here. That was a doozy,” Vance said. “Before I answer your question, I want to just observe there are different ways to ask a question, okay.”

Vance then accused the reporter of embedding accusations and political commentary into the question itself.

“You can just ask a question, try to get your answer, or you could do like a speech where you say, ‘You know Mr. Vice President… you know you’re a terrible human being and so is the president and so is the entire cabinet,’ and then I’m like ‘What’s your question,’ and then your question is ‘How dare you.’ Come on, man, have a little bit of objectivity in the way that you ask these questions because there were a lot of things in that speech masquerading as a question that didn’t actually get asked,” Vance added.

After criticizing the question, Vance proceeded to respond directly to the substance of Feinberg’s claims.

“Number one, the president doesn’t sit at the Oval Office on his computer on his, like, Robin Hood account, buying and selling stocks, that’s absurd. He has independent wealth advisers who manage his money. He is a wealthy person. He has had success in business,” he said. “He’s not making these stock trades himself, and your question imputes that… It doesn’t say it exactly, but a reasonable person listening to that question would assume the president is sitting around and doing that; he’s not.”

Vance also addressed congressional stock trading and said both he and Trump support banning lawmakers from trading individual stocks while in office.

“Second of all, you’re right, I’m a big fan of banning members of Congress from trading stocks, so is the president of the United States,” he added. “All of us believe that nobody should be taking proprietary information gained from public service and buying and selling stocks… We want to ban that process. And I think the way to lead by example is banning that process, banning that approach, and making it illegal, which is exactly what the president has proposed doing.”

WATCH:


{Matzav.com}

Satmar’s Niederman and Indig Attend Mamdani’s Controversial Jewish Heritage Month Reception

Matzav -

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani said at a Jewish American Heritage Month reception at Gracie Mansion, which leading Jewish leaders boycotted, that he planned to add $26 million in funding to prevent hate crimes to his proposed budget for the 2027 fiscal year.
Few Jewish government officials or nonprofit leaders attended the reception, which came on the heels of a video that the mayor posted shortly before Shabbos began marking “Nakba” day, which Palestinians say marks the “catastrophe” of the founding of the modern Israeli state.

The mayor’s annual event is usually full of crowds of elected and organizational representatives shmoozing and networking. This year, every major Jewish organization in the city, from the Anti-Defamation League to the Jewish Community Relations Council-N.Y. to the UJA-Federation of New York, declined to attend the reception, which doubled as a dairy-filled gathering ahead of Shavuos.

The mayor, who has said that he would have the Israeli prime minister arrested in New York City and whose spokeswoman said that shuls violate international law if they host pro-Israel events, said at the reception that Jews, who comprise about 12% of city residents, are victims of more than 50% of the hate crimes in the Big Apple.

Hate crimes targeting Jews were up 182% in the city in Mamdani’s first month in office. Since then, the New York City Police Department has twice changed the way that it reports hate crimes and has said that such crimes are dropping. The NYPD and the mayor’s office have denied that Mamdani directed the police to change the way it reports such statistics.

Prior to the event, the UJA-Federation of New York said its leaders would not “be attending the Jewish Heritage Month celebration at Gracie Mansion being hosted by a mayor who denies a core pillar of our heritage—the State of Israel as the homeland of the Jewish people.”

Among those noshing on blintzes and mini-cheesecakes with the mayor this year were representatives of the anti-Zionist groups Jewish Voice for Peace and Jews for Racial and Economic Justice, as well as the liberal group New York New Jewish Agenda, which says that it supports “a democratic vision of Israel.”

Satmar’s Rabbi Moshe Dovid Niederman and Rabbi Moishe Indig, also of Satmar in Williamsburg, were both among the 150 attendees.

The few Jewish elected officials in attendance were former city comptroller Brad Lander, who is now running for Congress and who features Mamdani in his campaign, and two New York City Council members: Lincoln Restler, who represents downtown Brooklyn and Brooklyn Heights, and Harvey Epstein, who represents Greenwich Village and the Lower East Side.

Irwin Kula, president emeritus of CLAL: The National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership, gave the evening’s invocation.

“When the Torah was given at Sinai, the rabbis insist not just the generation of the desert, but every generation across all of time stood at that mountain,” Kula said. “Every age. Every class. Every persuasion. In other words, the tradition insists—even those who would one day deeply disagree with one another, who would one day be almost impossible to reach across the divide to, who would wound each other—all stood together at Sinai.”

“So we are all, even now, standing at Sinai. Together. Receiving the same revelation,” he said at the invocation. “Hearing it differently.”

Mark Treyger, CEO of the Jewish Community Relations Council-N.Y., which hosts the Israel parade in Manhattan, in which Mamdani, breaking with decades of mayoral tradition, has said he will not march, did not attend the Gracie Mansion reception. He told the New York Post prior to the event that “it’s a really telling and concerning sign of where things stand in New York City right now.”

Kula told JNS after the reception that he found it to be “filled with hope.”

“One of the striking things was the very different cross-section of Jews who were in the room—liberal-progressive folks rather than mainstream, legacy institutional leadership,” he said.

Kula also told JNS that he found it “ironic, sad and illuminating” that most of New York City’s Jewish leaders boycotted the event. That, he said, “highlights the ongoing collapse of the mainstream, liberal Zionist consensus around which legacy leadership and institutions organized for the past 50 years.”

He closed his invocation with a blessing for the mayor.

“May you be given the continued strength, the emotional depth and the wisdom to hold the complexity of this city, to parse and nuance, with care and precision, the meanings of Zionism, of antisemitism and the inextricable connection of Jewish identity and Palestinian dignity, in ways that open new possibilities of solidarity among all New Yorkers who believe in the infinite value of every human being,” he said. JNS

{Matzav.com}

Irish PM Blasts Israel Over Interception of Gaza-Bound Flotilla

Matzav -

Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin sharply criticized Israel on Tuesday following the interception of a Gaza-bound flotilla, calling the operation “absolutely unacceptable” and pledging to raise the matter before the European Union.

Martin condemned Israel’s actions after Israeli naval forces stopped a convoy of 57 vessels that had departed from Turkey carrying hundreds of anti-Israel activists attempting to challenge the naval blockade surrounding Gaza.

“In the first instance, what happened is absolutely unacceptable and is wrong,” Martin declared, as quoted by the BBC, adding that Ireland intends to elevate the dispute to the “European Union level.”

Irish Deputy Prime Minister Simon Harris delivered even stronger criticism, accusing Israel of violating international maritime law during the operation.

“My heart goes out to President Connolly and her family, and indeed all of the families of those detained,” Harris stated. “What Israel has done is, in my view, illegal.”

Harris argued that the arrests violated international law and claimed Israel continues to ignore criticism from world leaders.

“unfortunately Israel seems to ignore the condemnation of the international world,” Harris said. “That’s why I think it’s important that we look at the actions that can be taken.”

Among those detained aboard the flotilla was the sister of Irish President Catherine Connolly. The president said Monday that she was “very proud” of her sister’s participation in the mission.

The flotilla had set sail from Marmaris, Turkey, and consisted of dozens of vessels carrying activists seeking to breach Israel’s blockade of Gaza.

Israel’s Foreign Ministry announced Tuesday evening that the Israeli Navy had completed the interception operation and taken all activists aboard into custody.

“Another PR flotilla has come to an end. All 430 activists have been transferred to Israeli vessels and are making their way to Israel, where they will be able to meet with their consular representatives,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

Israeli officials dismissed the convoy as a propaganda effort designed to benefit Hamas.

“This flotilla has once again proved to be nothing more than a PR stunt at the service of Hamas,” the statement added.

Israel also reaffirmed that it intends to continue enforcing the maritime blockade around Gaza.

“Israel will continue to act in full accordance with international law and will not permit any breach of the lawful naval blockade on Gaza,” the statement stressed.

{Matzav.com}

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