|
Published: August 21, 2008 09:36 pm
Copper theft knocks out phone service in Greenup
About 1,000 affected
By KENNETH HART
The Independent
GREENUP —
Copper thieves knocked out telephone service to about 1,000 Windstream customers in Greenup County Thursday morning.
Among those affected was Ashland radio station WLGC, which was off the air for about seven hours.
According to Windstream spokeswoman Erin Ascione, the thieves removed about 500 feet of phone cable from utility poles along U.S. 23 near Laurel Street. The theft occurred about 3 a.m., she said.
“They just climbed the poles and cut it down,” Ascione said.
She said the theft was particularly troubling to the phone company because it left a lot of people without a means of contacting help in the event of an emergency.
“When something like this happens in the middle of the night, it really puts our customers at risk,” she said.
Copper theft has been a huge problem for most utility companies for the past several years, and Windstream has been no exception. Such incidents in eastern Kentucky alone have cost the phone company about $600,000 over the past two years, Ascione said.
Windstream crews were able to restore service to all affected customers by 8:30 p.m. Thursday night, she said.
WLGC was affected by the outage because it uses a digital phone circuit to relay its signal from its studios on Winchester Avenue to its transmitter in Greenup County, Mark Justice, the station’s program director, said.
The station went off the air about 3 a.m., and Justice said he contacted the phone company. A short time later, he said, Windstream called him back and told him about the line theft.
Phone company workers were able to use a “jumper” to get the station back on the air about 10 a.m., Justice said.
• Click to discuss this story with other readers on our forums.
|
|
|
|
 |
|
MEDICAL ASSISTANT
Full time for busy surgeon’s office. Send resume to PO Box 2058, Ashland, KY 41105...>MORE
CALL CENTER POSITIONS
INFOCISION IS HIRING! And we have increased pay rates!!! We will be conducting Open Interviews at ...>MORE
MANAGER
BonWorth (ladies wear factory outlet) KYOVA MALL 10699 US Rt. 60 is looking for F/T MANA...>MORE
See all ads |
| Premium Cars, RVs and Boats |
MALIBU
2001, 69k, V6, mint, 27-35mpg, loaded. $5900 obo. 836-2983....>MORE
GMC ENVOY
2005, exc. cond., good mileage, $11,700. 836-7885 or 922-7332. ...>MORE
See all ads |
|
HOUSE FOR SALE - 7238 SKYLINE
Imm. Poss., 4BR, 2.5BA, lg. lot, $179,900. (606)547-2709...>MORE
KENWOOD HOME FOR SALE
OPEN HOUSE- Sun., noon-5pm. 108 Cardinal Ct. Russell, KY. 3-4BR, 2BA, fin. bsmt, deck w/hot tub, 1 acre lot 606-393-5349...>MORE
See all ads |
|
PIT BULL PUPPIES
APBR, red nose, ready to go. Call 606-325-9252....>MORE
FIREWOOD FOR SALE
$75 pickup load. 606-923-0717 or 606-325-8745....>MORE
See all ads |
|
 |
|