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            People who work on the water side of Kodiak’s docks have started lining up this week to pick up their new identity cards from the Transportation Security Agency, or TSA. There were 613 who enrolled for the Transportation Worker Identification Credential, also known as the TWIC card, in Kodiak.

            Duane Baird, spokesman for TSA’s Northwest Region, explains the need for the cards:

--          (TWIC 1                      28 sec              “… basically in a nationwide situation.”)

            The TWIC cardholders are not broken down into separate categories, Baird said, but their job descriptions all have the waterfront in common:

--          (TWIC 2                      50 sec              “… without having someone escort them there.”)

            Baird said it took several months to process the applications from Kodiak because of the background checks that were needed:

--          (TWIC 3                      23 sec              “… your personal, physical sense.”)

            Those biometric aspects include fingerprints and retinal scans. The TSA is set up at the corner of Marine Way and Shelikof Street, in the same building as the police annex and the public restrooms, through August 22^nd. Their hours are staggered to accommodate shift workers. On Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, they’re open from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. and on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 11:30 a.m. to 8 p.m.

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