[ILHam] Small Town Politics
Don
[email protected]
Wed, 18 Jun 2003 19:50:46 -0500
Hello all , I have a friend that has Been written about , K9KXQ Jim who
lived in Hobart In , I wet to court a few times to show Amateur Radio
support , When They were Giving Him a Hard time about putting up a 56 Ft
Tower , Anyway He had put the Tower up and they were trying to force Him
to take it down the Court Finally ruled They did not have the right to
refuse so , The case was Dismissed , He has since moved to KY , Now with
that said I have a Friend W9MAQ Who is working for NBC TV Chicago for over
25 Yrs Tech and Mini cam etc, He even convinced the TV station to
donate a used Minicam truck with a 48 Ft boom on it for the Local Ham club,
Jim and another Ham friend N9TWF Gene decided to put up a 48 ft Crank up
tower , Both have the same type , Jim having friends in the Know Had some
Engineering drawings etc. made and Went to town Hall to present them and
get Permission , Well he was politely Told NO we the Town of Munster will
not allow You or Your friend put up a tower, and We don't care about PRB or
anything else, We are a town and Make our own rules. Jim told Me he
contacted the ARRL And he was told to retain a private Lawyer at His
expense, I told Him to get one of His Friends at NBC Chicago to make a
News Story about it , The Problem this Town is Complaining about was This
Story About a CB Problem I found the article in the Local Paper and Pop
Communications wrote about it , Any Thoughts or suggestions on How He
should go about this Will be greatly appreciated.. I live in Hammond
In. KA9QJG/Repeater 444.750 and I have not even ask about a Tower here yet.
Thanks Don KA9QJG
CB equipment seized from
'Candyman'
Munster man accused of harassing
neighbors for
years.
BY ELIZABETH EAKEN Times Staff Writer
Posted on Saturday, April 13, 2002
MUNSTER -- A citizens band radio
operator known as
"Candyman" was arrested at his home
Friday following
years of neighbors' complaints about
his high-wattage CB
interfering with their electronic
equipment, cordless phones
and televisions, police said.
William Bates, 38, of 8948 Chestnut
Lane, was arrested
on a misdemeanor harassment charge
that carries a
maximum sentence of one year
imprisonment if convicted.
Police seized Bates' CB; an antenna
mounted on the roof
of the home that was 2 feet more than
the maximum
height allowed by the Federal
Communications
Commission; and a Texas Star linear
transmitter that
boosted the output of the radio from
the maximum 10
watts regulated by the FCC to nearly
700 watts.
Bates used a great deal of profanity
in his CB
conversations, according to Sgt. Doug
Simpson of the
Munster Police Department.
"Basically his problem is he would
get into verbal
confrontations with people and was
talking about sexual
confrontations and stuff that was
really off the wall,"
Simpson said. "... From neighbors'
complaints we began
to monitor his CB traffic because it
was so vulgar."
Simpson said it was the use of
profanity that allowed him
to bring the charges against Bates.
According to Simpson, he was on
Bates' trail for a couple
of years first speaking to him about
the neighbors'
complaints in October 2000.
"He said it couldn't be his
equipment, he was running
completely legal equipment," Simpson
said.
Simpson said he warned Bates over the
CB a week ago
that his comments were inappropriate,
and if he continued,
the Police Department would take action.
Simpson said the delay in arresting
Bates was due to not
knowing how the town could enforce
the FCC regulations
and a lack of cooperation from the FCC.
After a complaint to the Town Council
from one of Bates'
neighbors, Councilman John Hluska,
D-1st, a former police
officer, and Simpson pored over the
statute books. They
discovered Bates could be charged for
harassment, and
the Town Council enacted a new
ordinance last summer in
order to enforce the FCC rules.
According to Simpson, Bates'
violation of the FCC
regulations carries a penalty of no
longer being able to
operate a CB.
Simpson said during the course of his
investigation he
discovered about five to six others
in the area, including
Hammond and the Black Oak section of
Gary, that are
causing similar problems. He plans to
contact other law
enforcement agencies to stop the
violators.
Elizabeth Eaken can be reached at
[email protected] or (219) 933-3318.