As drug violence continues to soar in the Mexican bordertown of Tijuana, the military has barred Marines from visiting. Lt. General Samuel Helland of the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force at Camp Pendleton said that they have restricted travel to Mexico for the units 44,000 members.

Mike Alvarez, the unit's civilian public information officer, told reporters, "The situation in Mexico is now more dangerous than usual. The intent is just to look out for the Marines' safety and well-being."

In 2008, 843 people were killed in Tijuana, a dramatic increase from the 2007 death toll of 337. Many of the murders were execution style, with bodies found decapitated.

The order was first enacted for the Christmas holidays, but the order was last week extended indefinitely.

The Transportation Security Administration is now permitting airlines to store the birth dates of their passengers. The people who will benefit most from this change are those who have similar names to one on a terrorist watchlist, and who are routinely confused for being a terrorist themselves.

The TSA says that by storing birth dates, the airlines will be able to more quickly verify that you are not the same person on the list.

Right now, TSA keeps two lists: a strict "no fly" list, and another list that flags passengers for special attention at airport check-in and security. Those with names that match those on terrorist watchlists are currently barred from checking in for their flights online. Instead, they must present themselves to an agent at their airport.

American citizens won't be required to show a passport for crossing land borders until next summer, delaying the requirement by more than a year. Those traveling across borders by air or sea are already required to show passports, and the land travel requirements were supposed to have gone into effect but have been delayed several times.

The new identification document requirements as required by the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of State, will go into effect on June 1, 2009. The departments announced the decision to push back the deadline Thursday this week.

When the new requirements go into effect, American travelers will need to show both identification and citizenship to cross back from Mexico and Canada. What this means for most people is that they'll need a passport.

The land travel requirements constitute the final step of the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI), that changes document rquierments for travelers who were previously exempt - including citizens of the US, Canada, and Bermuda. Travel to US territories does not require a passport.

Citizens now have approximately 14 months to sign up for a passport. Registering now as opposed to closer to the deadline may save you the hassle of longer waits.

The massive blizzard in Cleveland has shut down countless flights in and out of Cleveland tonight. Continental Airlines, the major carrier out of Hopkins Airport, has released this statement for people affected by the delays:

With severe winter weather forecast for Ohio through Saturday, Continental Airlines announced travel options for customers whose flight plans may be affected by the storm.

Weather conditions are expected to make air travel difficult in the area. This forecast will force some delays and cancellations of flights at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport.

To avoid inconvenience, travelers scheduled on flights through Saturday may wish to delay commencement of their trip.

Customers ticketed for travel through March 8 to or from Cleveland are permitted a one-time date or time change to their flights without penalty. Rescheduled travel must originate by March 15. If a flight has been canceled, a refund in the original form of payment can be requested.

The fastest and most convenient way to change travel plans is via continental.com. Customers should enter their confirmation number and last name in "Manage Reservations." Customers may also call Continental Airlines reservations at 800-525-0280 or their travel agent.

continental.com provides an overview of Continental operations as well as up-to-date information regarding the status of specific flights. Automated flight status information is also available at 800-784-4444.

Cleveland travelers will be able happy to hear the Continental Airlines has added three new non stop flights to their Hopkins Airline hub. Non stops to Greensboro, NC, Omaha, Neb., and Savannah, GA, will all begin on Monday.

"Continental is pleased to be able to expand the range of destinations from our Cleveland hub with these new flights to Greensboro, Omaha and Savannah," said Robbie Anderson, senior director, Cleveland. "We will continue to add additional nonstop destinations from Cleveland over the next few months, including Paris, which will be the second city in Europe with nonstop service from Cleveland."

Here is the schedule of the flights according to the companies press release:

The new flights to Greensboro will depart Cleveland each day at 11:45 a.m., and 7:30 p.m. Flights from Greensboro to Cleveland will depart at 6:41 a.m. and 2:15 p.m. A third round trip flight will be added on April 6, 2008.

The daily flights to Omaha will depart Cleveland each day at 9:20 a.m. and 8:50 p.m. The flights from Omaha to Cleveland will depart at 7:35 a.m. and 11:35 a.m. A third daily flight will be added on May 4, 2008.

A massive, three-alarm fire erupted at the Monte Carlo Hotel & Casino on Friday morning, sending plumes of thick, black smoke more than one mile into the air. "The Strip" was completely shut down so that firefighters could get inside and put out the rapidly spreading flames.

The fire began in the upper floors of the Monte Carlo. The top five floors of two of the hotel's three wings were affected. Flames at least 15 feet high could been seeing rising from the roof, and the thick smoke indicated a severe fire.

It is not yet known what started the fire, but firefighters believe that everyone has been evacuated and that no one is trapped inside. There have been no reported injuries.

Headed out on vacation soon? You may want to check this list of the top ten cities worldwide for Americans to get arrested in. Also included on the list are the number of Americans taken into custody in 2006. Not surprisingly, many of the top cities are in Mexico, our neighbor to the south, and an infamous hotspot for spring break debauchery.

Tijuana: 520
Guadalajara: 416
Nuevo Laredo: 359
London: 274
Mexico City: 208
Toronto: 183
Nassau, Bahamas: 108
Merida, Mexico: 99
Nogales, Mexico: 96
Hong Kong: 90

We've all undoubtedly heard the warnings about being careful about the information we put online, as well as the stories of potential employers and college admissions and coaches checking up on people online through Google and social networking sites like MySpace and Facebook. But here's a new one for you: the U.S. Department of Homeland Security is also using this information to check up on individuals entering the country. "They" are watching you, and "they" know what you've been up to.

Andrew Feldman, a Hungarian-born Holocaust survivor who's currently a psychotherapist in Vancouver, was recently detained for four hours, fingerprinted, and then barred entry into the United States after Homeland Security googled him and found an article he wrote in a literary and scientific journal in which he talked about using LSD and various other drugs in the 1960's. And even though he has no criminal record and says he hasn't used drugs since the 1970's, Feldmar must now get formal permission from the U.S. consul before entering the U.S.

If you're heading off to Canada, Mexico, or the Caribbean, don't forget to take your passport with you. Following a brief relaxation of the controversial passport regulations that require all U.S. citizens to have a passport for travel within the Western Hemisphere, where none had previously been required, the government has now reinstated the rule. Just last week you could have flown into Canada without a passport, but not this week.

The law actually went into effect in January, at a time at which many people were already beginning to plan their summer vacations. Because of the new passport regulations, there was a real rush to get one, and the government was backlogged with applications. After numerous headaches, the U.S. government decided to ease up until they were finally caught up.

Major communications equipment failures today at the regional air-traffic control center in Memphis, Tennessee has resulted in the Federal Aviation Administration clearing all airline traffic within 250 miles of Memphis.

The equipment failure has left air traffic controllers without the ability to use most of their radio frequencies, as well as some of their radar feeds. They have also not been able to make automated "handoffs" of flights to adjacent airspace sectors at other en route facilities that border Memphis. The outage was first discovered at 11:30 a.m CST, when air traffic controllers were immediately thrust into a chaotic situation and were forced to use personal cell phones to talk to other air traffic control facilities about specific flights that they could not communicate with themselves.

As a result, there have been restrictions made on air travel throughout a major portion of the country. Airports including DFW, Atlanta, and Charlotte are experiencing significant delays. Aircraft have not been permitted to take off if their route is withing Memphis' 250-mile radius of airspace, which includes 100,00 sq. miles airspace, including Tennessee, Arkansas, Mississippi, and parts of Alabama and Kentucky.