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PSC Investigating Utility Service Outage Notification Systems – West Virginia Public Broadcasting

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PSC Investigating Utility Service Outage Notification Systems – West Virginia Public Broadcasting


West Virginia’s Public Service Commission has ordered 14 regulated state utilities and cable providers to explain how they notify their individual affected customers of service outages and what plans they have, if any, to add, expand, modify, or improve notification systems 

The order also asks the utilities to describe any technical or physical barriers that exist to providing electronic notifications by email or text message; and describe procedures in place to notify mass communication media of outages.

PSC Consumer Advocate Robert Wiliams said different utilities have different capabilities to identify outages.

“When you have a massive storm that blows through, it takes them a while to identify what areas have been hit the worst and where they have outages, electric utilities can see things a little bit easier,” Williams said. “The commission is trying to get a feel for their methodology and get some clarifications on that. When you have a water outage, that’s something that sometimes may not be noticed until they’re doing the work.” 

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Williams said power companies notify their customers by texts or emails with contact information on file.  But with gas and water utilities, a mass outage like the recent one on Charleston’s West Side, he said there’s not always underground technology to tell them when certain areas are out.  

“When you have a gas system buried in the ground and the water systems are out, these lines are 100 years old,” Williams said. “They don’t have the telemetry in the ground to give them that kind of detailed information.” 

Williams said as technology constantly improves, the PSC is working to get a gauge on better informing the public of a service outage. 

“As you upgrade collector systems where you have more feedback information provided along the line, you can identify the individual customers that are out and the individual lines that are down a little bit better,” Williams said. “Right now, they have people that call in and their calling centers might get overwhelmed. With a mass outage like they had during the recent storms, it takes a while to notify, but you want to get the best information out as quickly as you can to the affected customers.”

West Virginia Rural Water Association, West Virginia Municipal League, and the West Virginia Internet and Television Association were provided copies of the order so they can inform their members of the general investigation.

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Susan Economou is the deputy executive director of the West Virginia Municipal League. She said cities in the municipal league that are running utilities are already required to have notifications for boil water advisories and other issues with their utilities. 

“We will forward the information of the investigation to our members,” Economou said. “So they can be involved in that and keep up with what’s going on, even though they’re not the named utilities in the order.”

Economou said utilities advancing communications technology for service outages can come with a price.

“There’s always that balance of, we could have a huge state of the art communication system and everyone’s rates would go up to pay for it,” Economou said. “There is that balance of trying to keep everything modern but also be conscious of what the ratepayers are going to have to do to absorb any of those extra costs.” 

To see the PSC order and a listing of the West Virginia utilities involved, click here. 

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West Virginia

US appeals court upholds West Virginia restriction on abortion pill sales

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US appeals court upholds West Virginia restriction on abortion pill sales


GenBioPro Inc., the country’s only manufacturer of a generic version of the abortion pill mifepristone, had argued that the state cannot block access to a FDA-approved drug. Chambers had dismissed the majority of GenBioPro’s challenges, finding there is ”no disputing that health, medicine, and medical licensure are traditional areas of state authority.”

Appeals judge DeAndrea Gist Benjamin concurred and dissented in part Tuesday, calling it a ”troubling opinion.”

”Put plainly, this law erects barriers to life-saving healthcare for countless West Virginians in ways not envisioned by Congress,” Benjamin wrote.

Not at issue in the appeal was a challenge by GenBioPro concerning a separate West Virginia law that stopped providers from prescribing mifepristone by telehealth. Chambers had allowed that challenge to proceed. The U.S. Supreme Court last year unanimously preserved access to mifepristone, which is used in nearly two-thirds of all abortions in the U.S. in 2023.

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Photo gallery: Best Virginia gears up for start of TBT – WV MetroNews

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Photo gallery: Best Virginia gears up for start of TBT – WV MetroNews


MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Best Virginia held its first practice for The Basketball Tournament (TBT) on Monday at the WVU Basketball Practice Facility. The team will practice throughout the week leading up to Friday’s 8 p.m. contest against the DuBois Dream at the Charleston Convention Center. Of 10 players on the team’s roster, six were present



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West Virginia couple pulled over after cops spot them having sex while drunk driving stolen RV

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West Virginia couple pulled over after cops spot them having sex while drunk driving stolen RV


These two gave DUI a whole new meaning — driving under intercourse.

A couple in West Virginia was arrested after police pulled over their stolen RV and allegedly found the duo both in the driver’s seat, totally nude and having drunken sex, according to a criminal complaint.

Authorities pulled over Shannon Bryant, 35, and Matthew McDonnell, 48, while they were driving through Bluefield, West Virginia last Wednesday afternoon.

Matthew McDonnell was arrested after allegedly stealing an RV and trying to have sex with a passenger while driving. The Smoking Gun
Shannon Bryant was allegedly seen straddling McDonnell behind the wheel of the RV, police said. The Smoking Gun

While cops were pulling the vehicle over, they noticed that Bryant was in the driver’s seat straddling McDonnell as the RV tore down the road, according to the complaint obtained by the smoking gun.

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When cops approached the driver’s side window, McDonnell was sitting innocently in the passenger’s seat as if nothing had occurred, like a teenager caught in the act.

But Bryant, who “appeared to be highly intoxicated” while sitting in the driver’s seat, had no shame and candidly told the cops “We were f–king’,” Officer R.L. Hamm reported.

The duo were quickly ordered out of the vehicle before Bryant could delve further details on their escapade.

McDonnell reportedly confessed after the two were read their rights and said that they “were naked and attempting to engage in sexual activity while driving” when the police pulled them over.

The pair then scrambled into the opposite seats as the officers approached the RV, he added, trying to play it coy.

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Records cited the materials found in the couple’s RV, including drugs. The Smoking Gun

When police searched the RV, they found drug paraphernalia inside including a bag of white powder. They also recovered painkillers and a broken glass pipe that Bryant admitted McDonnell had tossed out the window during the stop.

A vehicle check using the VIN number and registration also revealed that the RV-turned-love shack had been stolen from Princeton, a city just 10 miles away.

Drug-using materials were also found in the RV, police said. The Smoking Gun

The disrobed duo were charged with indecent exposure, drug possession, DUI and possession of a stolen vehicle, according to records obtained by the smoking gun.

Despite being caught in the act and admitting to having sex behind the wheel, the couple pleaded not guilty.

McDonnell has a prior criminal record and a warrant out for his arrest in Tazewell County, Virginia, according to court records obtained by WTRF. He is being held on an $8,000 bond.

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