Monthly Archives: July 2013

Ham it up this weekend

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WILLIAMS—If you are a HAM operator or interested in learning, you might want to attend the annual Hamfest at the Bob Dean rodeo grounds in Williams. While many companies require that you are in possession of a HAM operators license to buy radio equipment proper, there are usually vendors selling a variety of test equipment and other useful electronic products, software and computer equipment.

At the other end of town in the lot beside the Williams Justice Center, the weekend swap meet will be held. The swap meet is a regular week end feature which funds Kiwanis activities throughout the year.

While the City Council has denied the swap meet vendors the right to “camp” at that event, you can be assured that vendors will be “camping” at the Hamfest this weekend just as they allowed vendors to do right downtown at the barbeque event.

St John’s Music and Faith camp Monday

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episcopal-bible-studyWILLIAMS—The 100-year old St. John’s Episcopal-Lutheran Church on the Corner of Second Street and Grant Avenue will be holding a Music and Faith camp starting Monday, July 22nd. The week-long event is free to kids ages 6 through 12 and will run from 10 am to noon each day.

The event will feature singing age-appropriate gospel songs and playing games. They will also be learning Bible verses.

The church camp at 202 W. Grant will be led by Williams residents George and Anne Albers. Space is limited, so they request you call 928-635-2781 714-323-0289 to sign your child up.

From the Bench: From the ashes…

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rob-krombeenby Justice of the Peace Robert Krombeen

This past month on June 28th, while at the judicial conference in Phoenix, I sat down with Judge Anna Mary Glaab from the Yarnell Justice Court and spoke with her about the fond memories I had of Yarnell while working for Yavapai County back in the 80’s. Neither of us knew at that time that lightning had just struck a mountain and started a fire that would change the community and so many lives forever. Judge Glaab reported this week that two of the four members of her staff lost their homes and possessions. The fire totally caught the community and Judge Glaab’s court by surprise, and now she is working diligently to continue and bring back services to the court. Courts in Baghdad, Prescott, and Mayer are scrambling to provide services for the most pressing and time-sensitive matters at that court. Please continue to keep the community and those families in your thoughts and prayers, as now the challenges of the losses really come to light as families attempt to rebuild their lives.

Because of possibility for that and other types of interruptions at our court, the Williams Municipal and Justice Courts have been working together with Coconino County Court Administration to develop our Continuous Operations (COOP) plan to enable our courts to continue providing services during any unanticipated emergency or contingency. The plan would cover a wide range of possible disruptions including forest fire, winter blizzard, gas leak or other evacuation, court facility structural failure, or other similar events which would cause a major interruption to the operations of our courts. COOP plans are being developed by proactive courts across the state and are being implemented in all of the Coconino County Court facilities. We have two off-site court locations identified and approved for our use in the event of an emergency, and a cache of all court supplies required for continued operations will be stored and maintained at a location outside of our facility.

Court Manager Jennifer Carter has selected Williams High School student Jaiden Pona to be our second high school intern during the upcoming school year. Jaiden joins Devin McNelly in the second year of our internship program at the courts. We applaud Jennifer’s investment of energy and effort in our community’s youth by providing a learning environment and an opportunity for our students to experience the criminal justice system and the operation of our courts.

Want to be Unsene on the Internet?

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SAN FRANCISCO—With recent revelations about the NSA spying and knowledge that Microsoft has left “backdoors” open for the government to enter and tamper with your computers, some may have decided to switch to the more secure Linux operating system.

Linux has advantages. Better security is the main feature. Depending on the version—called “distros” in Linux lingo; short for distribution—you can set up more effective firewalls. You can get programs that alert you when certain unwanted activities are going on in your computer. Linux has less problems with viruses. This is probably due to the fact that hackers are not so much interested in Linux as they are Microsoft. Because Microsoft equals Bill Gates.

One disadvantage of Linux is that it is a bit unwieldy for most computer users. They have neither the time nor the inclination to explore yet another operating system. Some cities have Linux Users Groups that may help, but that still takes time out of their schedule. Some distros are helping, such as Ubuntu, by making more user-friendly graphic interfaces.

Another is that much hardware is only Microsoft or MAC friendly unless the company has developed an alternative driver. That you may have to find and download.

There is a new open-source start-up which is seeking funding through Indiegogo. This group, associated with Chris Kitze of Beforeitsnews, has a web email and Skype alternative called Unsene. It is currently in the Beta web version and free. It will eventually ship as a program and Android and iPhone versions are planned.

The premium service is intended to allow for more features depending on the amount donated. Eventually it will be $47 per year, but people donating now will get a lifetime version for $37.

The full security features only work with Google Chrome. Beforeitsnews explains, “The text messaging and chat work with all browsers, but the audio and video calling and the encrypted file sharing require WebRTC, a new technology that is only available on Chrome. Support for Safari, IE and Firefox is expected soon. The Chrome browser is available for free download from Google.”

This program claims military-style encryption. “The service offers a basic level of encryption (AES256) and advanced encryption (xAES up to 4096 bits) and we’ve got some additional tricks up our sleeve for extremely secure encryption.”

See Also: Stop the Spying in Your Inbox

KTVU Oakland and NTSB may be sued over racist prank.

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OAKLAND, CA—The Asiana airlines will sue the Obama administration’s National Transportation Safety Board and KTVU-TV of Oakland for releasing false and racially insensitive names of pilots of Flight 214 which crashed July 6. The airliner crash had three fatalities.

Asiana will review if the lawsuit will proceed despite the fact that KTVU has retracted the names and claimed that the NTSB verified that names that were released.

Sources: The Christian Science Monitor

To the moon, Alice! To the moon!

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kramden_powWASHINGTON—Ralph Kramden must have been a Democrat. For years he wanted wife Alice to beat Neil Armstrong to the moon. Or words to that effect. Now Democrat Representative Donna Edwards wants to commemorate one of the events.

If Representative Edwards from Maryland and Eddie Bernice Johnson of Texas has her way, Ralph would have been able to take his wife there for their honeymoon (Pun intended, though poor). Edwards has submitted H.R. 2617, “To establish the Apollo Lunar Landing Sites National Historical Park on the Moon, and for other purposes.”

The act would establish a park on the moon protecting the artifacts from the various Apollo missions at the various landing sites. This is, of course, as constitutional as the parks systems within the United States.

The bill would allow the Secretary of the Interior to enter into an agreement with the Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration to create the proposed park. The secretary will also be able to enter into an agreement with “a Federal agency to provide public access to, and management, interpretation, and historic preservation of, historically significant Apollo lunar landing site resources under the jurisdiction or control of the Federal agency.”

Funding? Not a problem. The bill allows:

The Secretary may accept donations from, and enter into cooperative agreements with, foreign governments and international bodies, organizations, or individuals to further the purpose of an interagency agreement entered into under paragraph (1) or to provide visitor services and administrative facilities within reasonable proximity to the Historical Park.

After all, the bill also allows it to be established with the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) as a World Heritage Site.

This should provide a big boost to Sir Richard Branson’s Space Program.

Source: National Journal

You Can Now Bear Arms in a Post Office Parking Lot

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A federal judge rules it is OK to bring a gun to a USPS parking lot, but not inside the facility. Fill in your ‘going postal’ pun here.

By Brian Resnick

Tab Bonidy was polite enough to ask before he brought a gun into a Colorado post office. In 2010 his lawyer sent a letter to USPS asking whether Bonidy would be prosecuted if he brought a firearm inside the facility or left one in his car while, let’s say, purchasing stamps. And he got a response.

According to Thursday’s ruling by District Judge Richard Matsch, the USPS legal counsel responded to Bonidy, saying, “Regulations governing conduct on postal property prevent (Bonidy) from carrying firearms, openly or concealed, onto any real property under the charge and control of the Postal Service.”

She was referring to Title 39 of the Federal Regulations, which dates back to 1972:

Weapons and explosives. Notwithstanding the provisions of any other law, rule or regulation, no person while on postal property may carry firearms, other dangerous or deadly weapons, or explosives, either openly or concealed, or store the same on postal property, except for official purposes.

Feeling his rights were being violated, Bonidy teamed up with the National Association for Gun Rights to file suit against this provision.

Read more at the National Journal

Oldest trading post in Williams opens

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tepee1

tepee2WILLIAMS—After a long hiatas, the Turquoise Tepee—the oldest trading post in Williams—opened this month.

The Tepee is owned by a fourth generation of the Wheeler family. They opened in the late seventies moving to their present location.

The family purchases jewelery and other items directly from native American artists in the region. They can even give you a bio of the artists themselves.

While there, you should also check out the paintings on the wall which were painted by the late Drake Seaman; a popular local artist for many years.

Still time to get dinner tickets from Friends of NRA

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friends-of-nraWILLIAMS—Today is the last day to get the early bird 2-for-1 special tickets for the raffle at the Friends of NRA. Although you might not be able to make that, you can still make dinner reservations for the July 20th affair.

The Friends of NRA uses proceeds from projects such as this and donations to promote the safe and legal use of firearms.

The dinner will be held at Doc Holiday’s Steakhouse & Saloon at the Holiday Inn on Grand Canyon Boulevard. The doors will open at 4:30 for the meal consisting of either ribeye steak or half chicken with all of the trimmings. Tickets are $45 for a single ticket or $80 for two. Raffle ticket packages range from $100 to $1000 dollars which includes certain gun packages.

You can also still purchase tickets for the Taurus PT1911 .45 raffle to be drawn at the dinner. They are $10 each or three for $20.

Tickets will not be sold at the door and are running in short supply, but you can reserve your space using this PDF. You can also mail payment to Friends of NRA, 129 E Foothill Trail, Williams, AZ 86046. For more information on the organization, ticket orders or other information, you can call Chuck Corcoran at 928-635-2751.