03.23.2026

0:00As the old saying goes, March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb. And that means spring is right around the corner. And sports, travel, and after school activities are about to take over. Keep your students momentum going through these busy days with I-X-L, a super popular online platform to sharpen skills in language arts, science, and math for kids from kindergarten through high school. The format is focused and flexible, and we'll give your kids a confidence boost as they wrap up the year. Give it a try at I-X-L dot com slash kid news and get 20% off monthly and annual plans. That's I-X-L dot com slash kid news. Good morning and welcome to Kid News. I'm Kim, today as Monday, March 23, 2026. And we begin with a new twist in the TSA tug of war. According to the New York Times, starting today, federal immigration agents will take up position at airports across the country and ease the long security screening lines

1:02plaguing spring break travel. President Trump made the decision over the weekend as the five week long partial government shutdown forces 50,000 TSA agents to work without pay, call out sick, or quit altogether. In Atlanta, wait times over the weekend again topped three hours. Democrats blame Republicans, Republicans blame Democrats, but it's the flying public standing in line. If you're traveling through Portland international and Oregon, however, the weight may be significantly more bearable thanks to a few very large four-legged hair balls. The airport brings in llamas and alpacas once a month, not in response to the TSA trouble, just an acknowledgement that everyday travel is stressful. The animals appreciate attention and are hard to miss. Each is six feet tall, weighs 450 pounds, and is dressed in holiday attire or randomly as pirates or cowboys. NASA's massive moon rocket is back in position and ready to fly.

2:03The 322-foot tall space launch system, and Orion capsule, made another pain-stakingly slow trek from its Cape Canaveral hangar to Launchpad 39B on Friday. It was the rocket's second four-mile, 11-hour crawl. The first slow motion rollout shifted into reverse after engineers found a helium leak during rehearsal. With the repair now complete, NASA is targeting 6.24 pm on April 1st for liftoff. The crew of four astronauts is already in quarantine, which is a pre-flight requirement so crews don't get sick and force NASA to scrub a mission. This one will last 10 days and take astronauts deeper into space than humans have ever traveled. At the tail end of the heat wave, four west coast towns sizzle their way into the record books, Buttercup and Squaw Lake in California, and Fort Yuma and Martinez Lake in Arizona, all hit 112 degrees on Friday, setting a new, national, all-time high temperature for

3:06the month of March. Not surprisingly, last week's scorcher hit California's ski industry hard. In a good year, skiers can get a few runs in as late as Memorial Day, in a great year even the 4th of July. But at least five resorts have thrown in the towel weeks earlier than they'd hoped. Statewide, California's snowpack is only 48% of normal. In the north, it's even worse at only 28%. As Brian Hickman, Sierra at Tahoe's director of operations posted, sometimes Mother Nature just wins. What do the Nordic nations know that the rest of us don't? For the ninth straight year, Finland has been named the world's happiest country, right behind it, Iceland and Denmark. The rankings are based on the Gallup World Pole, which surveys at least 1,000 people in each of 147 countries, asking them to rate their lives on a scale from 0 to 10. According to Jan Emanuel Denev, director of the Research Center that publishes the report, panic dominance has a lot to do with their connection to nature.

4:08But Finland, Dr. Denev says, does a lot more than that right. They have high wealth and redistribute it. They have great social support. They trust each other and trust the institutions. They've got healthy life expectancy and a great public health care system. Costa Rica is also making waves incline to number 4. The US ranks 23rd. Remember the daytime meteor and sonic boom we told you about last week? It appears that pieces of the space rock did make it to the ground. Meteor chasers have descended to Medina County in Ohio in search of what could be hundreds of cosmic pebbles, at least one of which has reportedly been confirmed as coming from the seven-ton St. Patrick's Day asteroid. Robert Vargas showed it to Fox 8 in Cleveland, saying, this was on the other side of the moon three days ago, and now it's here. It's 4.56 billion years old. It tells us about the creation of the planet. It tells us about the origins of the species, so it's really fascinating stuff.

5:13Still to come, the boys of BTS are officially back. But first, we want to wish a happy 9th birthday, a day late, to Catalina Loishen of Concord, California. Cat loves dancing, arts and crafts, gymnastics, and playing 99 nights in the forest on Roblox. We hope you had a great birthday weekend, Cat. Now, today's kid news quiz. What do you all the astronauts have to do before launch? Be quarantined so they don't get sick before the mission. What temperature is the new all-time high for March in the U.S.? 112 set in Arizona and California on Friday. That nation is the world's happiest for the 9th year in a row, according to an annual survey. Finland, which U.S. airport brings in llamas and alpacas to ease traveler stress.

6:18Portland International in Oregon In today's kid news kicker, for its army of fans, it's the comeback of the century. The boys of BTS officially ended their military hiatus this weekend by hitting the stage for a free concert in Seoul, South Korea on Saturday. It was their first time performing in public in three years, five months, and six days. Did they wing it? No, sir. Hamish Hamilton, the British director, renowned for his work on huge events like the Superbowl Half-Time Show and Oscars, made sure they met the magnitude of their return, which was timed with the release of their fifth album, Ari Rang, and it's all just getting started. On April 9, BTS begins an 82-day global tour that will run through March of 2027. Thanks again to the Loisian family of Concord, California for sponsoring today's quiz. Happy belated birthday to Kat and hello to her teacher, Mrs. Uriahs, and all her friends at Monty Gardens. And shout-outs for our other kid news classrooms.

7:18Design and Mrs. Vigorito and their Monty Bears at Montague Township School in Montague, New Jersey. Mr. Ruth and his Lions at Lions Park in Mount Prospect, Illinois. Mrs. Heinz and her fourth grade Norseman Rockstars at Roland's Story in Roland, Iowa. Anti-California for Mr. Smith and his Panthers at Parkview in Ripon. And Ms. Donnelly and her Gompers Chompers at Gompers in Lakewood. Thanks for listening. Please take a moment to rate and review us and we'll see you back here for more kid news tomorrow morning.