I thought twice about posting anything remotely this generic to the Claiborne County list, but I think it's rather critical, and it's most definitely real. The National Archives and Records Administration has issued proposed regulations that would, among other things, raise the fee for a Civil War pension from the already somewhat high $37 to $150, with fees for other mail requests also going up by large amounts; Revolutionary War pensions, for instance, jump to $60. NASA published the proposed changes in the 26 February 2007 edition of the Federal Register (pages 8327-8329), and public comments are requested until 27 April 2007. You can read the proposed regulations and file public comments on the Web, and I strongly suggest that everyone do so; letters to Congress wouldn't be a bad idea, either. To read the proposed new fees and to file public comments: 1. Go to http://www.regulations.gov/ 2. Type "NARA-07-0001" (without the quotes) into the "Keyword or ID" box and click the "Submit" button. 3. Click either the PDF or Text icon on the screen that appears to read the actual proposed rules and fees. 4. Click the balloon under "Comments" to make your opinion known. Again, public comments are closed on 27 April 2007; there's no need to send this message along to anyone else after that date. -- Phillip