I have more protection than Britney Spears!

I moved here (Fargo, ND) from Washington, DC. Usually the headlines of the local newspaper are comfortingly bland, but if you look really hard you can see certain disturbing articles.

Add that to the fact that F-16's are circling the town every hour...these guys are based at the LOCAL CIVILIAN AIRPORT.

military "blending"

And if you're a pioneering reporter trying to show how easy it is to climb this airport's fence, this is what happens to you:

You get arrested and fired.

Just a little look into dah local life yah...





[edit on 29-7-2004 by dotgov101]

From the local paper, The In-Forum.
Unhappy Hooligans: 119th could face 'blending' with Grand Forks base

**********************************************************
Area military, government and business leaders are mounting a case not only for saving Fargo's North Dakota Air National Guard Base, but preventing its potential relocation to Grand Forks (N.D.) Air Force Base.
Fargo's 119th Fighter Wing � like many other units across the nation � could be recommended for "blending" into another base, according to a draft study prepared for the Fargo-Moorhead Air National Guard Support Group by an Alexandria, Va., military consulting group...

...The Forum requested � but was denied � a copy of the full draft report on Friday. Fargo Mayor Bruce Furness said the report, though publicly funded, can't be released because it is only a working document at this point.
The Forum filed an open records request with Furness to obtain a copy of the report, after consulting with Forum Communications attorney Steven Johnson of Fargo and North Dakota Newspaper Association attorney Jack McDonald of Bismarck. Both advised draft reports retained by governments are open records.
"It's difficult to believe why this report is being withheld," Forum Editor Lou Ziegler said. He said the newspaper plans to appeal the denial...

...Losing the Air National Guard base at Hector International Airport would be not only a financial blow but an emotional one for the region, Furness said...

...Fargo is known to many as the home of the 119th Fighter Wing's "Happy Hooligans," as the pilots and support personnel for the base's 22 F-16 fighter jets are known...

...The 119th Fighter Wing, comprised of 300 active-duty and 700 part-time soldiers, occupies 20 major buildings, including hangars, on a 250-acre base area leased from the Fargo Airport Authority for $1 per year....

...The 119th Fighter Wing's mission is air-to-air combat and air defense, he said. The Happy Hooligans regularly have planes and pilots deployed at Langley (Va.) Air Force Base, providing air defense over Washington, D.C.

[edit on 29-7-2004 by dotgov101]

[edit on 29-7-2004 by dotgov101]

July 15th, 2004 The Forum, Fargo, ND. www.in-forum.com
Reporter receives sentence, is fired

A Fargo television reporter was fired Wednesday after pleading guilty to a misdemeanor charge of illegally entering a restricted area at Hector International Airport.

Michael Licquia was developing a news story for WDAY-TV on June 26 when he scaled a fence and entered the restricted area.

WDAY placed the 26-year-old reporter on unpaid suspension the same day.

"After a thorough review of the circumstances involving the arrest and subsequent guilty plea of Mike Licquia, we have decided to terminate our relationship with Mike," WDAY News Director Al Aamodt said in a prepared statement.

"He broke the law and in the process cast a negative light on WDAY and Forum Communications. We wish him well in his future endeavors."
Licquia said he is "very surprised and disappointed" in WDAY's decision to fire him.

He declined to say more.

East Central District Judge Michael McGuire sentenced Licquia to six months of unsupervised probation.

The trespassing conviction can be removed from Licquia's record if he successfully completes probation, McGuire said.

"The message must be sent to other individuals that this is serious," McGuire said. "But I'm confident he has learned from this.

"I think this would be sufficient without taking another pound of flesh."

A WDAY camera operator who caught Licquia on video climbing over the fence told police they had talked about testing the airport's security just minutes before, court records say.

Witnesses said the reporter entered a loading area next to a terminal before climbing out again.

Rebecca Oberholtzer, a Transportation Security Administration supervisor at Hector, detained Licquia until Fargo police arrived.

Licquia was initially charged in Cass County District Court with Class C felony trespassing, punishable by as many as five years in prison.

Cass County State's Attorney Birch Burdick said he reduced the charge to a misdemeanor because Licquia accepted responsibility and because he didn't intend any harm at the airport.

holy sh*T why do u have that much protection there?
u secretly a VIP or somein?