I know that aspects of this have been posted previously, but I thought
I would provide an update I saw in today's newspapers and a release by
the Associated Press.

According to several articles in the news, "Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Pa.,
the U.S. Senate's third-ranking Republican, stirred up a growing storm
with a bill introduced on April 14 that would restrict the availability
of weather information provided now by the National Weather Service for
free to the general public. Among the products removed from public
access would be weather data and radar through the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration's Web sites. Though Santorum claims the NWS
would compete unfairly with such commercial sites as AccuWeather and
the Weather Channel, both for-profit services use basic data provided
by the NWS as well as other information from other sources and
repackage it for target markets."

According to a release by the Associated Press, "Two days before Sen.
Rick Santorum introduced a bill that critics say would restrict the
National Weather Service, his political action committee received a
$2,000 donation from the chief executive of AccuWeather Inc., a leading
provider of weather data."

If you use NOAA weather information to plan sailing events, you might
want to contact the senators from your state.

John