Nearly 3.5 million holiday travelers are expected to board planes this Thanksgiving holiday weekend. Many dread the long lines and invasive procedures of security checkpoints. Hoping to improve the experience, the Transportation Security Administration is working on a device that would let passengers keep their shoes on through security checks.

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And I'm Linda Wertheimer.

Most candidates see a strong showing in the New Hampshire primary as important. For Republican Jon Huntsman, it's essential. The former Utah governor has staked his whole campaign on the New Hampshire primary. New Hampshire Public Radio's Josh Rogers reports.

Regional news from the KBIA newsroom.

With a small mention on its blog, Google officially scrapped a project, which sought to drive down the cost of renewable energy.

"At this point, other institutions are better positioned than Google to take this research to the next level. So we've published our results to help others in the field continue to advance the state of power tower technology, and we've closed our efforts," Google said on its official blog.

Demand for ‘alternatively raised meat’ seems like an opportunity for farmers in the Midwest. But it’s not a booming industry in the region just yet. Plus, an update on the effort to bring broadband internet to rural areas of Missouri.

Turns out Howard Hughes was right. The world is a very germy place, especially public restrooms.

The reclusive billionaire, who had the world's most notorious case of so-called germophobia, would go to just about any length to avoid contamination. He wore tissue boxes on his feet. He burned his clothing if someone near him got sick. He wrote careful instructions to his staff on how to open a can of peaches without contaminating them.

In the small-town of Elko, ambition looks like high-heel suede booties on the floor of the auto shop at the local high school.

Brandi and Kaylee look like the Olsen twins. And they're the best auto-shop students at Elko High. The girls have a plan. Everyday out the school window, they see trucks heading up to the gold mines. Day and night. So, the girls figure, why not open a truck repair shop after they graduate?

"In Elko we've been really blessed and really lucky to actually have a good economy," Kaylee says. "We can actually have our hopes and dreams."