Category Archives: National

13 Colonies Amateur Radio event starts tomorrow

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The annual 13 Colony amateur radio event begins tomorrow and runs through July 7th. Amateur radio operators are encouraged to attempt to contact all 13th stations from the original colonies of the United States plus two bonus stations from the list below.All modes of operation may be represented – SSB, CW, RTTY, Digital, Etc. – The mode of operation is up to the individual colony state station. Please refer to the State information pages for details.

All HF bands will be in play, including the WARC bands, with the exception of 60 meters. Simplex on 2 meters and 6 meters is encouraged. The SE stations are on the east coast and, are very close to each other. It will be harder for these states to contact each other so, use of 40m-160m is encouraged.

The exchange for this event is:

  • CALL SIGN
  • RS / RST / RSQ
  • STATE / PROVINCE or COUNTRY

If you are a Short Wave listener (SWL), you also qualify for the certificate. Follow the instructions on the Certificates page when you submit your log. A special SWL logo will be affixed to the certificate for you. One or all 13 stations logged qualifies you. Just log ALL of the 13 Colony states and you can get a complete set of custom special event QSL cards also! all 13 are different. QSL requests to be made to each individual Colony State Station with an self-addressed stamped envelope.

The 13 Colonies event invites those short wave listeners to consider getting an amateur radio license. Just use your favorite search engine and search for amateur radio clubs in your area to get information on becoming licensed.

The 13 Colonies Special Event is a not for profit event. All donations are used to fund the next years event, and to defray any expenses occurred. All donations are used for operating costs, supplies, equipment, and 13 Colony Group initiatives. Donation is voluntary

Amateur Radio Saves Family in Death Valley National Park

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Death Valley National Park is in a remote desert in southern California, where mobile phone networks are spotty at best. On Saturday, April 6, a radio amateur and his family were enjoying the park when their vehicle became stuck in mud in a dangerous area. Without access to a cell network, the ham called for help on the 10-meter band.

According to a news release from the Black Swamp Amateur Radio Club, Caleb Gustwiller, KD8TGB, jumped into action.

Gustwiller was monitoring from Ohio when he picked up the distress call. He was able to hear the call sign and the general location of the ham in distress. He lost the signal to the noise, so he wrote a post in the Parks on the Air® Facebook group asking for other hams to listen for the calls.

Several hams contacted emergency officials in southern California, which led to the ham and their family being rescued within a few hours by park rangers. The club stated in their Facebook post: “Without Caleb hearing this distress call, it could have quickly become a very deadly situation for the operator and his family.”

Colorado uses old Republican document to destroy Democracy

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COLORADO — The non-elected judges of the Colorado Supreme Court on December 19 used an old Republican document to launch an attack on “democracy.” The State of Colorado—apparently oblivious to the Second Amendment to the Republican document—concentrated on the Fourteenth Amendment to the Republican Constitution to remove Donald Trump from the ballot in the first attack on their own vaunted “democracy.” They also completely ignored Section 5 of this amendment that states, “The Congress shall have the power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article.” The power does not reside with the States.

There has not been one charge of “insurrection” in the mostly peaceful protests of January 6th. All defendants—whose Eighth Amendment rights were violated without protest by Colorado—were charged with misdemeanors and some felonies, but none were charged with insurrection. Nineteen of those were Colorado residents.

In fact, President Donald Trump ordered the National Guard (which is NOT a militia, but people think it is) into Washington and was told to stand down by Nancy Pelosi whom obviously did not consider it an insurrection.

In an AP article by by Nicholas Riccardi, he notes, “Dozens of lawsuits have been filed nationally to disqualify Trump under Section 3, which was designed to keep former Confederates from returning to government after the Civil War. It bars from office anyone who swore an oath to ‘support’ the Constitution and then ‘engaged in insurrection or rebellion’ against it, and has been used only a handful of times since the decade after the Civil War.”

The Fourteenth Amendment was immediately approved by Rinos whom wanted to continually punish the Democrat south after the Civil War. This in direct contrast to President Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln wanted healing and was going to issue a blanket pardon for the Rebels.

This event makes it apparent that Colorado is not concerned with supporting even Greek-style Democracy; only Russian or Chinese-style Democracy.

2023 SET Exercise to Test Skills and Emergency Preparedness for Amateur radio

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The SET is ARRL’s annual national emergency exercise designed to assess the skills and preparedness of Amateur Radio Emergency Service® (ARES®) volunteers, as well as those affiliated with other organizations involved in emergency and disaster responses. The SET is open to all radio amateurs and partner organizations, in addition to national, state, and local officials. Besides ARES volunteers, those active in the National Traffic System (NTS), Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service (RACES), National Weather Service’s SKYWARN® Storm Spotter program, Community Emergency Response Team (CERT), and a variety of other allied groups and public service-oriented radio amateurs are needed to fulfill important roles in this nationwide exercise.

During the exercise, volunteers can assess equipment, modes, and skills under simulated emergency conditions and scenarios. Individuals can use the time to update a go-kit for use during deployments and to ensure their home station’s operational capability during an emergency or disaster.

SET guidelines can be found here. To get involved, contact your local ARRL Emergency Coordinator or Net Manager.

Williams celebrates Loss of Essential Liberty day.

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Commentary by Glen Davis

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WILLIAMS — On September 3rd, the city of Williams celebrated communism with fireworks to beat the band. They are following that up by celebrating Loss of Essential Liberty day, known euphemistically as Patriots day, with a Patriots Day parade.

The communist that started labor unions back in the 1800s could not have imagined how successful their campaign would be. In 1913 comrade Woodrow Wilson signed in the holiday that the Communist had been working for for years. That holiday was Labor Day. You know, as in workers of the world unite.

Move to the Future in 2001. September 11th when the world trade center came tumbling down. Magically, mystically a plan of over 4,000 pages appeared in Congress in October. That’s the Patriot act was born under the Bush regime. A plan that created the Department of Homeland Security that cannot seem to control the border.

I have not received a schedule for September 17th, but I imagine that will be a blow out! It will probably start with churches holding prayer services, followed by a solemn ceremony at William’s Memorial Park.

After that, Buckskinner park will be the place to go for the huge barbecue event with games and prizes. Visit the carnival along Railroad Avenue. You can probably even visit the Grand Canyon for free on that day.

Just after dark, prepare yourselves for a fireworks display that will dwarf that on “Labor” day weekend. At least 45-minutes long but probably over an hour. Don’t forget to watch your animals and keep them safe! But before that will be a parade of lights for… For…

What? you ask. You are asking what September 17 is? You are kidding, right? Why, that is Constitution day. The day we celebrate the ratification of the Constitution of the United States of America. It is printed on your calendar, isn’t it? Mexican independence day is.

National Archives
National Constitution Center

Coconino NF releases updated Motor Vehicle Use Map for forest travel

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FLAGSTAFF — The Coconino National Forest has released an updated Motor Vehicle Use Map (MVUM) used to view forest roads, trails and areas open to motor vehicle use.

The 2023 version of the MVUM includes new information regarding Flagstaff- area camping and campfire restrictions. It also includes updates to several roads and trails in both the Flagstaff and Red Rock ranger districts for improved on-the-ground accuracy.

The MVUM is free to the public and is reissued each year. Hard copies can be obtained by visiting any Coconino National Forest office.

Digital versions of the map — an Avenza Maps version compatible with smartphones and tablets as well as a version dedicated to Garmin GPS devices — and compatible instructions are also available on the Coconino National Forest website.

The digital MVUM is an electronic color map that includes all designated motorized routes and hiking trails. It also features shaded relief topography and game management units. The Avenza map works with cellphone GPS, which enables users to see where they are on the map in real-time. Once downloaded, the digital map will work without cellphone coverage.

Forest visitors can also propose changes to motor vehicle access or submit comments regarding the map by emailing comments-southwestern-coconino@usda.gov.

Russell Stover Chocolates Issues Allergy Alert on Undeclared Pecan in Sugar Free Peanut Butter Cups

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Russell Stover Chocolates of Kansas City, Missouri, is voluntarily recalling two (2) Best Before Dates of its Sugar Free Peanut Butter Cups in 2.4 oz packaging due to the potential for undeclared pecans. The recalled Sugar Free Peanut Butter Cups may contain Sugar Free Pecan Delights. Pecans are not declared on the label. People who have an allergy or severe sensitivity to pecans run the risk a serious or life-threatening allergic reaction if they consume these products.

The recalled Sugar Free Peanut Butter Cups were distributed nationwide to wholesale and retail stores.

The recalled Sugar Free Peanut Butter Cups are packaged in a 2.4 oz plastic bag, and they are labeled with Best Before dates of 01MAY23 and 01JUN23 and UPC of 077260096937 with Lot code(s): K0521, K0321, K0421, L2122, L2221, L2321. The lot code and best before date can be found on the back of the product packaging, below the UPC.

The recall was initiated following consumer contacts regarding the wrong product inside the outer packaging for Sugar Free Peanut Butter Cups product. Russell Stover has received no reports of any illness or allergic reactions related to this issue to date.

President Trump big announcement

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President Trump digital trading cards.President Donald Trump made his major announcement on TruthSocial, today. TruthSocial is Trump’s social media website. Yesterday he posted that he had a major announcement to make with a slick super hero video. As it always is with President Trump, the announcement turned out to be big.

The announcement turned out to be a series of digital trading cars that can be obtained at his COLLECTTRUMPCARDS website.

The official limited edition series of trading cards costs $99, but it appears you can buy 1 up to 100. These trading cards, however, comes with special sweepstakes entries. You can also enter the sweepstakes without a purchase. Each card purchased gives you an entry in the sweepstakes that gives you a chance to win several prizes including a one-on-one meeting with the President.
There is a set of 45 digital trading cards that guarantees you a ticket to a dinner with the President.

We have not researched all of the details on the sweepstakes prizes. We ALWAYS recommend that you research the rules carefully to see what the packages contain. For example, does it include transportation to Florida and the hotel?

Northern Arizona Gazette @gazette is on TruthSocial and Twitter @naz_gazette.

Protect your identity through the holiday season and beyond

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Medicine bottles found blowing in the wind.

DISCLAIMER –After this photo we stripped off the pharmacy labels and shredded them without keeping any record of who the person was.

WILLIAMS – While walking the streets, today, we found these medicine bottles that, apparently, blew from a residents trash can and was blowing around town. They had pharmaceutical labels which might be used to steal an identity. We removed the labels and shredded them without recording any names.

Northern Arizona Gazette would like to remind everyone to take care to secure their identities, particularly through the holiday season. Is someone looking over your shoulder while you enter your PIN? Does your wallet block RFID chips? Do you account for all of your receipts after a day of holiday shopping?

Do not shop on an Internet site whose address does not begin wit “https://.” If you are expecting packages from Amazon, Chewy or other online sites, try to be home when they are expected. Do not open emails if you do not recognize who sent it. If a “government agency” or “company” calls asking for personal information, make them give you a phone number that you can call back to. Check the number in your favorite search engine. Reputable companies will NOT ask you for personal information via email or over the phone. Your local law enforcement office probably has had complaints about certain activities by people attempting to steal personal information or identities. If you are suspicious, call them or check their Facebook or Twitter feeds.

We recommend that you be proactive about protecting your identity over the holiday season. It tends to get so busy that you may not catch something on your credit card until it is too late.

Weird: The Al Yankovic Story

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Movie Review by Glen C. Davis

ROKU – The much anticipated Weird debuted, today, on Roku TV. This is the actual true story of Weird Al Yankovic. And there are so many things that are revealed about him.

The movie stars Daniel Radcliffe simply because they did not offer me the part. Radcliffe is known for staring in the Harry Potter series of movies. Radcliffe does a tremendous job of bringing the story of Weird Al Yanovic to life.

Weird Al’s musical journey started when his dad beat up an accordion salesman collapsing his lung. In order to avoid a lawsuit his mother offered to buy the accordion. His dad objected to this stringently. I don’t want to spoil the movie for you so I won’t tell you that his dad bought an accordion which caused his ejection from the Amish community he lived in.

Weird Al Yankovic and Daniel Radcliffe.

He attempted to sell his first song, My Bologna, to a record company run by Tony Scotti who is played by an actor who is vaguely familiar, though I can’t place him. They refused the song and advised him to write more songs and play before an audience. It was his song I Love Rocky Road that catapulted him to the top.

What I found amazing was how closely our lives parallel. We both grew up listening to Dr Demento.  He was a musical genius with the accordion. I had one of those wind-up monkeys that clashed the symbols together. He was Madonna’s lover. I saw Madonna’s videos on MTV. He was invited to the birthday party of drug lord Pablo Escobar, who was his biggest fan. I read about Escobar in the newspaper and then used the newspaper as a fan.

The movie follows his true life experience right up until the time when he was assassinated at the Shrine auditorium in 1985 while accepting an award.

The movie is a drama in pure Weird Al style. If you are a Weird Al Yankovic fan, you will want to see this film. If you’re just looking for a good movie with a lot of comedy you want to see this movie.

The only problem is it leaves a burning question. Did Michael Jackson come out with “Bad” first or did he parody Weird Al’s Fat?”