The FCC chose the Virginia Department for the Blind and Vision Impaired to certify participants in the National Deaf-Blind Equipment Distribution Program for the state, said a Consumer and Government Affairs public notice in Friday's Daily Digest. The program provides up to $10 million annually to distribute communications equipment to low-income individuals who are deaf and blind.

After a Jan. 5 accident in southern Florida, some of AT&T's buried cables were cut by another company, and wireline, Internet and video service to about 600 people was knocked out, said a company spokeswoman. Services for 911 were fine, she said. About 70 customers remained without service on Friday, but AT&T hopes to remedy that by early this week, she said. The damage to AT&T's equipment was extensive, and the repair team had to rebuild the infrastructure before it could start reestablishing connectivity, the spokeswoman said.

West Virginia Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin (D) proposed legislation that would eliminate a sales tax exemption and line up West Virginia's telecom tax with 41 other states. “Once adopted, this legislation will place the same 6 percent sales tax on cellphone and phone line usage -- putting us in step with what is done in the vast majority of other states,” he said in his state of the state address Wednesday. By eliminating the exemption, the state will be able to collect an extra $60 million each year, Tomblin said.

A fiber cable cut shut down 911, wireline and cellphone services in Kerr County, Texas, Wednesday, said a post on the Kerr County Sheriff's Office Facebook page. Originally, it affected only landline and cellphone service, but the repair work hit some complications and knocked out the 911 services in the county as well, it said. The post instructed people to go to the local fire department or "flag down" emergency personnel in the event of an emergency.

Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper (D) unveiled a cybersecurity initiative, in his state of the state address Thursday. The state has crystalized plans to create the National Cybersecurity Intelligence Center in Colorado, he said. "This center can be the country’s foremost authority on cybersecurity research and development, training and education," Hickenlooper said. "It will provide real time response capability for businesses to detect, prevent, remediate and recover from threats and hacks." The governor is proposing to build the center in Colorado Springs because the region has a concentration of assets, private sector interest and connection to the University of Colorado Colorado Springs cybersecurity program, he said.

The California Public Utilities Commission's new website went live this week, a CPUC release said. The site aims to improve user interface and navigation, provide better functionality, improve its design and create a more consistent online presence, the agency said Monday. The CPUC released a reformatted Consumer Information Center designed to make it easy for consumers to get information about utility services, file a complaint and comment on CPUC proceedings.

AT&T plans to hire about 300 people to fill available jobs in Kansas and Missouri, a Thursday news release from the company said. The positions are primarily technicians and retail support jobs, AT&T said. More than half of the available jobs in Missouri and Kansas are in the Kansas City metropolitan area, it said. AT&T employs roughly 12,000 people in the two states, the company said.

FirstNet Government Affairs and Consultation staff met with the Arkansas Interoperable Communications Executive Committee in Little Rock to discuss the network's progress, plus local needs and concerns, last month, FirstNet said in a blog post. Local officials told FirstNet about their experiences with network capacity and lessons learned, the post said. They also talked about Gov. Asa Hutchinson’s (R) initiative to teach coding in public schools, which could possibly lead to generating apps for the network, the post said. "Given Arkansas’ predominately rural make-up, broadband coverage is a significant priority for the state," the blog post said. "Arkansas has had its fair share of emergencies in the last few years, from tornadoes, to floods, to major ice storms. It was clear from our dialogue that the state knows what is needed during an emergency, especially the ability to communicate effectively and continually."

The National Association of State Chief Information Officers will make cybersecurity, flexibility in federal regulations, FirstNet and information sharing its 2016 federal advocacy priorities, said a NASCIO news release Tuesday. “Cybersecurity is a top concern for state CIOs and with the tremendous growth in data that we anticipate, securing our public networks and the state’s digital assets are and will remain a top priority for NASCIO,” said President Darryl Ackley, secretary of information technology for New Mexico. NASCIO will also work with federal regulators to reduce regulatory burdens that hamper state government, it said. NASCIO also will closely watch the FirstNet process as states move closer to the opt-in/opt-out decision slated for 2017, it said. Some state CIOs are their state's single point of contact for FirstNet and it's crucial that CIOs stay informed of major developments, especially as FirstNet evaluates and awards bids this year in response to its request for proposals, said the group.

Stanley County, North Carolina, is between two of Google's upcoming gigabit cities, but because of how sparsely populated it is, the county will likely not be the next to receive gigabit service, said a blog post from the Coalition for Local Internet Choice (CLIC) in North Carolina. CLIC says it represents public and private interests that support the authority of local communities to make broadband Internet decisions that are important for economic competitiveness. To keep the county's young people and businesses, county officials need to be creative to develop broadband opportunities without breaking the state law that limits local governments' authority to do so, CLIC said. County officials chose to build rather than lease a public safety tower because "aerial space like that is good real estate for multiple purposes," the CLIC said. Connecting the tower with fiber could provide needed backhaul that would help private carriers and provide leasable connections for a private-sector partner, it said. It will help fill in the region’s middle mile gap, CLIC said.