WEEK OF AUGUST 1, 2024
VOLUME 22 | ISSUE 34
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How local amateur radio enthusiasts in Colorado assist with public safety BY HALEY LENA HLENA@COLORADOCOMMUNTIYMEDIA.COM
Given our dependency on the internet, communicating with amateur radios may seem old school, even quaint. But imagine if bad weather or a solar storm hit and disrupted the internet and cell phones. At that moment, a network of amateur, or ham, radio operators could spring into action, playing a major role in keeping the public safe through communications. “It’s kind of old technology, but it’s old technology that never fails,” said Debrah Schnackenberg, Douglas County’s emergency management director. Whether it’s a natural disaster like Hurricane Beryl, which struck the Caribbean, the Yucatan Peninsula and Gulf Coast this summer,knocking out power for millions of people or the more recent Microsoft and CrowdStrike outage that impacted computer systems throughout the country, an amateur radio can become an important community tool. Amateur radio frequencies are the last remaining places in the usable radio spectrum where people can experiment with wireless communications, according to the American Radio Relay League. It’s not just hurricanes or internet out- Several American Radio Emergency Services of Douglas and Elbert Counties ages where amateur radio can be useful. members stand up a multi-band vertical antenna on Field Day in late June. The SEE SAFETY, P20
day is a way for amateur radio operators to practice establishing connections COURTESY OF BRAD TOMBAUGH in the case of an unspecified emergency.
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Family leave benefits going unclaimed Demand for Colorado’s FAMLI program has been 44% less than expected BY TAMARA CHUANG THE COLORADO SUN
The work perk of getting paid while taking time off to care for one’s health or that of a family member hasn’t been as popular as expected, according to the data from the first six months of Colorado’s new paid-leave program. Colorado’s Family and Medical Leave Insurance program, which is managed by the state but funded by workers and employers, paid out more than $311 million in benefits in the first half of the year, according to state Department of Labor and Employment data. That’s 44% less than the $552.7 million anticipated in a 2022 analysis done for the state, said Tracy Marshall, division director for FAMLI. SEE BENEFITS, P8
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