ARRL to build wall around Newington HQ?

I’m sorry, but I couldn’t wait until April 1 to report this story….Dan

It has come to my attention that ARRL CEO Michael Howard is planning to construct a wall on the southern border of the ARRL’s Newington headquarters to prevent miscreant hams from entering the compound. Details are kind kind of sketchy at this point, but here’s what I know so far:

• It’s going to be a great, big beautiful wall.
• Original plans called for it to be made out of concrete, but now the thinking is that it will be made from steel slats. Think aperture antenna or maybe a phased vertical array.
• The ARRL originally planned to get CBers to pay for the wall, but when they said that there is no way that they would pay for it, the talk turned to getting ARRL members to pay for it.
• A GoFundMe was started to help pay for the wall, but was quickly abandoned when only $15 was pledged in the first week.
• Some people question whether or not there is a problem at the ARRL’s southern border. There was a report of a caravan, but that turned out to be a couple of hams from Alabama in a pickup truck who wanted to take a tour of W1AW.
• The ARRL board had given preliminary approval for $1.6 million for the project, but the administration is holding out for $5.7 million. It doesn’t look like the ARRL board is going to approve the $5.7 million, however.
• As a result of this impasse, a 2019 budget has yet to be approved and the ARRL has been shut down. That includes Logbook of the World, so if you were waiting for confirmations from the latest Cook Island DXpedition, you’re just going to have to wait a little longer. Same goes for your club’s Special Service Club commendation. (Oh wait, nobody really cares about that, so just forget I mentioned it.)
• Apparently, the recently-elected division directors (you know who you are!) are the ones holding out. They were recently called in to discuss the shutdown and were asked, “Will you agree to build the wall?” They replied, “No,” and CEO Howard walked out of the room, calling the meeting, “a total waste of time.” There was some debate as to whether the table was slammed or not.

At this point, it remains unclear what’s going to happen. All I can say is that it’s a good thing that nothing like this happens in Washington DC.