The ARRL Amateur Radio Legal Defense and Assistance Committee has voted to contribute $5000 toward the costs of a lawsuit against the City of Palmdale, California. The city has proposed a highly restrictive antenna ordinance.

With snow and ice impacting all parts of the Pacific Northwest in late December, local ARES® groups assisted served agencies, including local Emergency Operations Centers.

In Nevada, a major winter storm brought hurricane force winds that damaged sensitive electronic weather equipment. SKYWARN spotters stepped in to provide real-time weather data via Amateur Radio.

In New England, ARES units responded in the wake of a severe ice storm that knocked out power to nearly 400,000 households in Massachusetts alone.

Those who submitted a November Sweepstakes log with more than 100 contacts qualify for a Sweepstakes Participation pin, and if you submitted a log with a Clean Sweep, you qualify for a Clean Sweep coffee mug.

Welcome! Membership Manager Diane Petrilli, KB1RNF, has joined the ARRL Headquarters staff in Newington.

The following operations have been approved for DXCC credit: Wake Island -- WA2YUN/KH9 (for operations commencing 2007); Willis Island -- VK9DWX (2008) and Andaman and Nicobar Island -- VU4RG (2008).

J.M. Rowe, N5XFW, of Hot Springs, has been appointed as the new ARRL Arkansas Section Manager.

The House Committee on Energy and Commerce -- the congressional committee that oversees the Federal Communications Commission -- released a majority staff report that confirms a number of allegations against FCC Chairman Kevin Martin.

These online course sessions begin Friday, January 16: Amateur Radio Emergency Communications Level 2; Antenna Modeling, and Radio Frequency Propagation.

Thanks to the generosity of FlexRadio Systems, W1AW, the Hiram Percy Maxim Memorial Station, now boasts the newest in software-defined radio (SDR) -- a FLEX 5000A.

The winner of the QST Cover Plaque Award for December is Larry Coyle, K1QW, for his article "A Modular Receiver for Exploring the LF/VLF Bands."

The February issue of QST and the January/February issues of NCJ and QEX have been released to the printer. The January installment of CONTACT! for media professionals has been posted.

On the Air: The ARRL 160 Meter Contest was December 6-7 and the 10 Meter Contest was December 13-15. Next up, the ARRL RTTY Roundup is January 3-4, Kids Day is January 4 and the January VHF Sweepstakes is January 17-18.

Compiled by Joel Kleinman, N1BKE
Managing Editor