Santa cleared for annual rounds
The man in the red suit has been given approval by the FFA and other government agencies to make his annual Christmas Eve rounds tonight and that includes the rural areas of Illinois.
A partial government shutdown won’t stop NORAD, or the North American Aerospace Defense Command, from giving updates on Santa’s progress. The NORAD Santa-tracking operation is expected to proceed as normal since it is operated by volunteers and any funding was approved prior to the budget standoff, according to the Associated Press.
Over a thousand volunteers and military personnel are working shifts at Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado taking phone calls from kids.