Doug Kreuzkamp was shocked when news outlets reported that Google won an auction to buy a huge amount of operational data as part of Spirit Airlines’ bankruptcy proceedings.

Kreuzkamp founded a startup called Springshot in 2011, which created a widely used proprietary platform that helps humans and AI systems improve airline efficiency and quickly solve logistics problems so flights can stay on time and airlines can operate as smoothly as possible. Hundreds of airports use it globally.

Springshot powered Spirit’s technology stack for the last three years, right up to the “very last flight,” Kreuzkamp told Ars. Yet his company got no notice when Spirit prepared to auction off a massive dataset that he thinks likely improperly includes a substantial amount of data and intellectual property (IP) that Springshot owns—not Spirit.

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While passengers are cruising at 35,000 feet, their checked luggage is already passing through a very different kind of cloud.

In a move designed to eliminate one of the more frustrating friction points of international travel, Richland, Wash.-based Pacific Northwest National Laboratory has co-developed a mid-flight luggage scanning system to streamline arrivals for inbound U.S. travelers.

PNNL has teamed up with federal security agencies and major airlines to launch the International Remote Baggage Screening (IRBS) platform. The cloud-based system screens and analyzes scans of checked luggage before a flight even touches down in the U.S..

Cleared bags are moved straight to a passenger’s connecting flight without the hassle of retrieving and rechecking them through security — unless Customs and Border Protection explicitly flags a bag for a manual check.

Over the past year, the system has rolled out on select international routes into major U.S. hubs—including Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta, Minneapolis-St. Paul, and Detroit—on flights arriving from hubs like London-Heathrow and Seoul-Incheon. PNNL and federal agencies developed IRBS alongside key airline partners, including Delta Air Lines, Korean Air, and Virgin Atlantic.

This isn’t PNNL’s first time reshaping airport security — the Department of Energy lab also engineered the millimeter-wave body scanners used in airport checkpoints worldwide. For IRBS, PNNL managed the complex data engineering and privacy compliance needed to stream sensitive imaging between foreign security agencies, private airlines, and U.S. border officials.

The system feeds into the TSA’s “One Stop Security” push to streamline international arrivals. Additional international routes and airports are expected to join the network soon, according to PNNL.

A friendly challenge sparked by a portrait of Jimothy, Seattle’s favorite short-spined raccoon, has now drawn in 11 regional heavyweights — and with a big new donation from Amazon, driven the total raised for the Ballard Food Bank past $270,000.

Amazon announced Friday that it is adding an additional $200,000 to a pot that already included $71,975.31 in matching contributions from coffee and software giants, airlines, pro sports teams, and others.

The corporate generosity started as a grassroots effort on Instagram in July, where prolific Seattle artist Ryan Henry Ward auctioned a 24-by-24-inch painting of the internet-famous raccoon to benefit the food bank. Buyer Angela Galdabini won the piece with an exact bid of $6,543.21 — prompting Amazon to match the amount and issue a public callout challenging other local brands to step up.

Ten companies stepped up to match the bid: Alaska Airlines, Brooks Running, Microsoft, the Seattle Mariners, the Seattle Kraken, Stanley 1913, Starbucks, T-Mobile, WaFd Bank, and Windermere Midtown.

It all sparked a Jimothy love-fest on social media with the brands responding to each other.

Jimothy’s path from Ballard backyards to corporate mascot of sorts began when photos and videos of the round raccoon started circulating online. Born with a rare condition that gives him a compressed, neckless posture, the creature quickly captured Seattle’s — and the internet’s — heart.

The flood of artwork, music, tattoos, food items, memes and more dedicated to Jimothy doesn’t appear to be slowing down, as this Reddit sub demonstrates.

The Mariners held a Jimothy night on Wednesday at T-Mobile Park, where the first 20,000 fans received trading cards with the raccoon’s “stats.” Ben Trammel, who shot video of Jimothy as a baby last year, threw out the first pitch. It all proved so popular that a second Jimothy night was added for Friday.