Subj : Amateur Radio Newsline (A) To : All From : Daryl Stout Date : Fri Dec 22 2017 01:48 pm Amateur Radio Newsline Report 2095, for Friday, December 22, 2017 Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2095, with a release date of Friday, December 22, 2017, to follow in 5-4-3-2-1. The following is a QST. A ham radio operator's killer gets prison. Hams in Hong Kong mark an important anniversary - and Dayton Hamvention's getting a whole lot more space. All this and more, as Amateur Radio Newsline Report 2095 comes your way right now. ** BILLBOARD CART ** PRISON FOR ILLINOIS HAM'S KILLER JIM/ANCHOR: Our top story this week brings a conclusion to a gruesome case, the killing of an amateur radio operator more than two years ago in rural Illinois. The killer has been sentenced, as we hear from Paul Braun, WD9GCO. PAUL: The man who killed amateur radio operator Henry Murphy, WB9TFX, of Rockford, Illinois, after robbing him, shooting his golden retriever, and setting his home on fire in 2015, has been sentenced to 90 years in prison. Delano Foreman was convicted this past summer of fatally shooting Henry Murphy, a 67-year-old Army veteran. He also shot and killed the ham radio operator's dog, Shelby. According to the Rockford Register Star, Delano Foreman's attorney had urged Circuit Judge Ronald White to impose the minimum sentence of 20 years. The attorney, Erin Hannigan, asked the court to consider Foreman's difficult upbringing, with a drug-addicted mother, and a father in prison. The judge, however, said the killing reflected [quote] "a complete disregard for human life." [endquote] The attorney plans to file a motion for the sentence to be reconsidered. According to the Rockford Star Register, prosecutors had requested a 100-year prison sentence for the killer, saying he had a criminal record dating to 1996 in juvenile court, and had been a gang member since the age of 10. For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Paul Braun, WD9GCO. (ASSOCIATED PRESS, ROCKFORD STAR REGISTER) ** HAMVENTION'S NEW HOME GETTING AN OVERHAUL JIM/ANCHOR: May will be here before you know it, and that means Hamvention 2018. It looks like Ohio's Greene County Fairgrounds will be providing hams with a whole lot more space, as we hear from Neil Rapp, WB9VPG. NEIL: There is some building-up, and some rearranging planned for the Greene County Fairgrounds in Ohio, and much of it is being done with Hamvention 2018 in mind. The fairgounds, which made its debut in May as the new home of Hamvention, is getting a new Expo Center. Hamvention organizers announced on Wednesday, Dec. 20, that construction will begin soon, and the project is moving forward with the goal of accommodating Hamvention 2018 this spring. Hamvention will also gain use of another building that is being vacated by longterm tenant Fairgrounds Furniture. The furniture store, which lost its lease in August, had been a fixture on the site, and did business there for more than 40 years. Owner Melissa Smith told the Dayton Daily News that a major liquidation sale was under way. At the time, the fairgrounds board of directors elected to end the store's lease, board president Jerry Liming was quoted in news reports as saying that negotiations to relocate the store to accommodate Hamvention had been unsuccessful. The store has until April to vacate. No details about the additional square footage available to Hamvention were given at the time this news was released, but Hamvention organizers said they were assured that the additional floorspace will exceed the area of the tents that housed activities this past spring. For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Neil Rapp, WB9VPG. (DAYTON HAMVENTION, DAYTON DAILY NEWS) ** SOMETHING TO CELEBRATE IN HONG KONG JIM/ANCHOR: If you happen to be DXing, and you hear a call sign with the prefix VR20, listen up! Jeremy Boot, G4NJH, explains: JEREMY'S REPORT: The call sign prefix VR20, is an important one for hams in Hong Kong: it marks the 20th anniversary of Hong Kong's return to China. On July 1, 1997, Britain ended its rule in Hong Kong, and the former crown colony was reunified with the mainland. The British had acquired Hong Kong from China in 1842, at the conclusion of the first Opium War. By 1949, the island became a sanctuary for refugees fleeing communist rule. In 1984, after years of discussion, Britain and China finally came to terms with the fact, that at some point, Hong Kong should be handed back. That became a reality in 1997. So, naturally the hams in Hong Kong are marking this important anniversary. They're able to use the new prefix on a purely voluntary basis, through the 30th of June 2018. Be listening! For Amateur Radio Newsline I'm Jeremy Boot, G4NJH. (SOUTHGATE) --- SBBSecho 3.03-Win32 * Origin: RdoWxNet: The Thunderbolt BBS - wx1der.dyndns.org (802:2/3) þ Synchronet þ Temple of Doom BBS - tod.eothnet.com .