Orange alert means few visible changes in Wisconsin over holiday weekend By MELISSA McCORD Associated Press Writer MILWAUKEE (AP) - Travelers may see extra security guards at Wisconsin airports, and boaters could spot a few more Coast Guard watercraft on the Great Lakes during the busy Memorial Day weekend. But few other people should notice much change in security because of the federal government's latest terror warning, said Ed Gleason, state emergency management director. "Maybe that's good. Maybe that's how it should be, that it's almost invisible, the stepped-up security," Gleason said. "But that doesn't mean it's not happening." Michael Bie, spokesman for AAA Wisconsin, doesn't expect people in the state to change travel plans this weekend because the U.S. Homeland Security Department raised the security alert level Tuesday to orange, or the second highest. "I think in this region, the upper Great Lakes region, there may be a little bit more sense of security than, say, on the East Coast, New York City, Washington, D.C.," he said. AAA estimates 4.4 million people will drive 50 miles or more away from home this weekend in Wisconsin and the rest of the Great Lakes region, up 1.6 percent from last year. Those drivers will see more Wisconsin State Patrol troopers on the highways _ not because of the orange alert, but because of the expected traffic, Sgt. Gaetano Martino said. Travelers who fly, though, may notice more security. The state's busiest airport, Milwaukee's Mitchell International, scheduled more security officers and started randomly checking vehicles at its two main drives leading to the baggage and drop-off areas, spokeswoman Pat Rowe said. The second-busiest airport, Madison's Dane County Regional, implemented similar procedures because of the heightened threat, said Rod McLean, airport deputy director. The orange alert also triggered extra Coast Guard patrols on the Great Lakes, and officers are targeting high-risk areas along the lakefront, said Mike Hegedus, homeland security officer. Some police departments like those in Kenosha, Madison and Racine, though, haven't increased patrols in response to the orange alert, officers said. But the higher terror threat has caused some changes in procedures. Kenosha officers, for instance, must always carry their riot gear, Sgt. John Morrissey said. They also pay extra attention to certain higher-risk targets like the harbor, the water treatment plant and the interstate running through town, he said. The Green Bay Police Department has increased patrols in the city _ as it had for the previous three orange alerts. The city used to pay officers overtime for the extra patrols, but the budget crunch felt across Wisconsin has forced the department to find other ways to increase security without raising costs, said Lt. Jim Arts. The department now pulls detectives and other officers from their regular duties and reassigns them to security, he said. Arts said that has caused some grumbling from residents who say the police should focus on curbing crime rather than on reacting to a terrorist threat that more than likely won't reach Green Bay. "It's been an unbelievable cramp on our style," he said. In Wisconsin Rapids, the Rev. Kent Raddatz said increased threat doesn't make him more concerned about his safety, but it does make him worry more about his son stationed at a New Jersey Air Force base. "I assume that terrorists would want to do something spectacular where all the media is focused," the Lutheran pastor said. "That's probably not going to be Wisconsin." Ed Garbers of La Crosse also is pretty sure terrorists won't hit western Wisconsin, but he still worries that people's fears about the orange alert will affect the economy. "I don't think it's going to bother us so much here," said Garbers, who owns a car repair and towing shop. "But I still worry about it because it has something to do with everybody."