Mr. Television Wants You to Know!

From the book cover: Old Jewish Comedians by Drew Friedman

The PRU Crew wanted to get to this issue last February, but we forgot! And other matters caught our attention at the time.

As many of you may be aware, there is less than a year left before television broadcasters switch from analog to digital signals -- February 17, 2009. Most of us will not have to do a thing to prepare for the change. But some of us may not be prepared.

Here are two links to some excellent discussion and resources on the impending switch:

1. Digital Confusion

2. The Department of Commerce's National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA)

When we say there is a need to be prepared for the signal switch, we don't mean that we need to be prepared so that we don't miss the voting on the next 'American Idol' winner. We mean this in the sense that broadcast communications are a public safety issue.

Local cable providers have begun advertising the coming change. But if you know of a neighbor or friend who may be caught unawares or for whom the costs of the switch may be prohibitive, please check out the links provided above and see if you can lend a hand. We also hope that the City Council Public Safety committee has paid some attention to this matter; the Park Ridge Police Department has a program that checks on "seniors" -- that may be a good place to start.

Neighbors helping neighbors. One of the great traditions in Park Ridge.