NC General Assembly Calendar for 05-03-2012

The North Carolina General Assembly [link] has convened for the short session. The NC Senate [link] and the NC House [link] are not scheduled to meet today.

I have posted the calendar of scheduled legislative activity along with links to where you can listen online to our state legislators as they go about their tasks. I do not plan on listening or recording today.

Another good source of live and recorded audio of the NC General Assembly is Voter Radio. Check out their website. [link]

If you experience problems listening to the meetings via the links below, try the North Carolina General Assembly website. [link]

9:00 AM	Appropriations Subcommittee on General Government (House) Committee Members	414 LOB
9:00 AM	Economic Development & Global Engagement Oversight Committee, Joint Legislative Committee Members	544 LOB
11:00 AM	Appropriations Subcommittee on Justice and Public Safety (House) Committee Members	415 LOB
1:00 PM	Information Technology, Jt Leg Oversight Comm. Committee Members | Agenda | Annual Report | VIPER Report | SAP License Presentation	1027/1128 LB

Personal observation regarding the 800 Mhz VIPER Towers (Voice Interoperability Plan for Emergency Responders):

I monitor public safety radio traffic nearly every day and, a few weeks ago on Feb 22nd, I monitored a foot chase by the NC State Highway Patrol conducted (with assistance of deputies from the Macon and Jackson County Sheriff Departments. The troopers were out of radio contact for most of the chase because their radios were useless on the mountainous terrain on Cowee Mountain. They had to rely on the UHF radio communications provided by the sheriff deputies that were with them [link]. 


800 Mhz may work well on flatland and in the foot hills, but not so much in the mountainous terrain west of the Balsams and in the High Country in northwestern North Carolina.