funny because some messages I remember from before hi. oh well, better late
than never as they say.
Barb [log in to unmask]
----- Original Message -----
From: "Walt Sebastian" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Thursday, November 08, 2001 10:48 PM
Subject: LETTER TO ARRL


> This was in a central Connecticut newspaper.
> Walt WA4QXT
>
> NEWINGTON -- An inflammatory letter sent to the American Radio Relay
League
>  headquarters brought in the state police emergency services unit and the
>  Federal Bureau of Investigation Wednesday, officials said.
>  Contained in the daily load of mail employees of the Newington-based
radio
>  operators' association picked up at the post office Wednesday morning was
a
>  letter, the text of which threatened government officials and implied a
>  coming anthrax attack, Newington police Lt. Stephen Clark said.
>
>  Despite the threats, officials said no foreign substances were found in
the
>  envelope. Postal inspector Hal Stevens said precautionary tests of the
>  letter at the state lab in Meriden came up negative for anthrax. With the
>  negative result, officials said there's no need to test the two ARRL
>  employees who handled the day's mail, nor the postal workers who may have
>  come into contact with the letter.
>
>  The medium-sized envelope had no return address but was postmarked "San
>  Antonio, Tex." ARRL vice president Dave Sumner said the envelope was
>  generically addressed to "American radio," and the typed, unsigned letter
>  inside it was addressed to Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge. Sumner
> said
>  the letter appeared to be a mass-produced copy meant for wide
distribution.
>
>  The letter's typed text contained "threatening remarks toward the
>  government," Clark said, and contained the phrase "Allah is Great" a
number
>  of times.
>
>  At one point the text read, "Your next breath could contain spores."
>
>  Although it was clear the letter produced no danger, no one is taking any
>  chances in the current climate.
>
>  "There was absolutely no indications that it contained any substances
that
>  might be harmful, but it was worded in such a way that we thought we
should
>  tell the authorities," Sumner said.
>
>  The fire department, state postal inspectors, the state police
>  chemical-biological response unit, and the Federal Bureau of
Investigation
>  were on scene Wednesday afternoon. Officers there contained employees in
an
>  area of the parking lot as a precaution while they disposed of the
letter.
>
>  Clark said the letter met the warning criteria for suspicious packages
put
>  out by the post office after the anthrax cases began appearing.
>
>  With the thousands of letters ARRL receives everyday from all over the
>  world, however, the task to identify those parcels is daunting.
>
>  "This particular one was just one in the pile," Sumner said. "No one
> noticed
>  anything unusual about it. We'll try to be a little more attentive to
>  prescreening.
>