Gear

For the first time since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, federal airport screeners will allow passengers to carry onto a plane small knives, as well as golf clubs, hockey sticks and pool cues. The policy change, which will take effect April 25, was immediately criticized by flight attendants, who say the move will create an unnecessary risk and further crowd the already limited space in the overhead bins. "While we agree that a passenger wielding a small knife or swinging a golf club or hockey stick poses less of a threat to the pilot locked in the cockpit, these are real threats to passengers and flight attendants in the passenger cabin," said Stacy K. Martin, president of Southwest Airlines' flight attendants union, TWU Local 556. In a statement, the Transportation Security Administration said the change will help align the list of prohibited items on U.S. flights with those of international carriers and cut the time passengers spend going through security screening.

The passengers and pilot of a Learjet survived a scare Monday afternoon when the aircraft's landing gear developed a problem and forced an emergency landing in St. Louis. Those aboard were able to walk off the plane unharmed after the jet landed at 1:30 p.m. CST at Lambert-St. Louis International Airport, where fire crews were waiting, spokesman Jeff Lea said. "It did land safely, without incident," Lea said. The exact nature of the landing-gear problem wasn't clear. Diane Earhart, an administrator with St. Louis Downtown Airport, told the Associated Press that controllers at a Cahokia, Ill., airport tower had confirmed that the plane was "not in proper landing condition.

The folks at Household Essentials aren't kidding when they call their featherweight totes MightyStor. This polyethylene-tarp zippered storage bag is mighty strong, but it's also mighty big (22 inches wide by 26 inches high by 12 inches deep) - and that's just the medium-size model. The large size (30 inches wide by 26 inches high by 12 inches deep) could carry a collie, not that you would want to. These rugged bags are tear- and water-resistant and have sewn-in nylon double shoulder straps and a side grab strap.

Can someone who has coached all of his career at the college level suddenly reverse course and be successful at the high school level? That's one of the questions facing Marvin Sanders, who was hired Saturday to take over the football program at Los Angeles Loyola. Sanders, 45, was the secondary coach at USC for one season in 2012, then was fired by Coach Lane Kiffin when the Trojans revamped their defensive coaching staff. He has coached at the college level since 1992, when he became an assistant at Nebraska Wesleyan.

Banks are stepping up efforts to forgive mortgage debt for troubled California homeowners, although more than half of the aid offered under last year's landmark mortgage settlement is still geared toward getting people out of their homes. California homeowners have received an estimated $16.9 billion worth of completed aid doled out by the nation's five largest mortgage servicers under the accord reached last year. In the most detailed report to date on how that money is flowing to borrowers, regulators noted an increase in the number of principal reductions, although the single biggest chunk of aid has been short sales.

Students with a passion for nature and science have a chance to perform hands-on research this summer at Yosemite National Park during two-week trips organized by NatureBridge . Trips visit the park's backcountry to teach students backpacking and wilderness survival skills as well as how to perform field research while they are in the wild. Participants who take the Field Research Course will collect and analyze data on a particular project and report their findings to scientists at the park and others afterward.

FT. MEADE, Md. - The top security officer at the detainee compound on Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, testified Wednesday that prison cells for high-value inmates and a special visitation room include monitoring equipment that the FBI had installed and later turned over for use by U.S. intelligence officials. The testimony by Army Col. John Vincent Bogdan, the military police commander of the prison since June, was elicited by defense attorneys for five alleged Sept. 11 plotters to bolster their complaints that law enforcement and intelligence agencies, including the FBI and CIA, have been monitoring their confidential meetings with the defendants.

The old home gym isn't what it used to be. It's more creative, often combining traditional fixed-path movements with self-balancing "functional" movements that force you to use more muscle groups to stabilize the load. Despite very different designs, the four models reviewed below share key attributes most people will love: compact, room-friendly footprints, a wide variety of exercises that can work you hard from head to toe, and retail and online sales prices of less than $2,600. PHOTOS: Home gyms Look, Ma, no weight stack Inspire BL1 Body Lift: The single-station, multi-exercise gym does not have a weight stack.

You know those big rolling camera rigs that cinematographers use? Think of a tiny version of those, and you'll get a sense of the iStabilizer Dolly . This is a mobile rig for smoothly shooting HD video with your cellphone or any device that shoots HD video, including cameras and smaller camcorders. This sturdy 8-by-5-by-3-inch device has a metal base with four roller blade-like wheels, an 11-inch-long eight-jointed arm for locking in various camera angles, and a spring-loaded cradle that grips your device and screws into a tip on the arm using the standard universal tripod thread found on popular cameras and camcorders.

Nothing's scarier than being invisible on a bike, and that can happen too often with the sun still setting before 6 p.m. That's why there's no excuse not to carry bike lights along, especially when some of the new ones are so convenient and compact that they'll stow in the smallest fanny pack, pocket or tool bag. Little stars Serfas Thunderbolt UTL-6 Headlight and Taillight: Tiny, powerful lights weigh 2 ounces each, measure about 31/2-by-3/4-by-1-inch,...