Midwest Connections and Midwest Energy Cooperative launched gigabit speed Internet in southwest Michigan, said a news release from Midwest Energy Cooperative. Midwest Connections is an unregulated service of Midwest Energy Cooperative, a regional electric distribution system with about 36,000 customers across southern Michigan, northern Indiana and Ohio. Together they make up TeamFiber, which launched fiber Internet in small markets in parts of rural southwest Michigan in 2014 and then committed to a five-year build-out of its entire southwest Michigan service territory, the release said.

The New Jersey Division of Rate Counsel asked the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities for a second time to do an investigation of Verizon's continued use of copper and to issue an order prohibiting any disconnections pending the outcome of this investigation and review, said a request filed Thursday in docket TO15060749. Rate counsel filed a petition June 29 asking the board to investigate Verizon’s practices for the migration from copper landlines to fiber, after consumer complaints. The counsel was concerned that Verizon wasn't following FCC regulations on the transition steps and that Verizon was giving customers short notice that they must change from using their copper landlines to fiber and wasn't providingall details/consequences associated with the transition, said a spokeswoman from the rate counsel. Since the June 29 petition, the rate counsel has logged inquiries from concerned customers and state and local elected officials on behalf of their constituents located in the counties of Atlantic, Bergen, Cape May, Essex, Hudson, Middlesex, Monmouth, Ocean, Passaic and Warren, the filing said.

CEA CEO Gary Shapiro and Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International CEO Brian Wynne released a joint statement Thursday opposing passage of California SB-142, which they said would restrict the flight of unmanned aerial systems, including drones. Shapiro and Wynne said the bill is an “unnecessary, innovation-stifling and job-killing proposal.” Privacy issues should be addressed, they said. But SB-142 would “open the door to a new class of frivolous lawsuits in California and create inconsistencies with federal law,” they said.

Work-related text messages sent from the private cellphone of a public employee are public record, the Washington state Supreme Court said in an en banc opinion Thursday. Under the ruling, Mark Lindquist, a Pierce County prosecutor, must turn over the contents of work-related texts sent from his personal cellphone, as sought in public records requests by Glenda Nissen, Pierce County sheriff's detective. Nissen sued the county, claiming Lindquist barred her from his office after she criticized him and submitted records requests for his calls records and texts messages. Lindquist initially submitted a call record sheet and a similar sheet for his texts messages, but didn't include the contents of the messages. In the initial hearing, the trial judge sided with Lindquist, concluding text and call records on private cellphones are a private record. The state Supreme Court struck down that ruling, and ordered Lindquist to produce the contents of the requested text messages he sent in his capacity as prosecutor. The court said in its ruling: "Employees must produce any public records (emails, text messages, and any other type of data) to the employer['s] agency." Although he must turn over texts sent from his cellphone related to his public duties, Lindquist said in a statement Thursday that the ruling is a win for public servants. He said he's pleased with the ruling because it allows public employees to satisfy the court's requirement by completing a "good-faith search" for public records on personal devices, instead of allowing requestors to search through the private data. "This is a win for teachers, fire fighters, police officers and all of us who serve the public," said Lindquist. "Further, it's a win for all of us who care about constitutional rights and open government."

CenturyLink laid off about 150 employees in Colorado -- 2.5 percent of the workforce -- as part of a larger, countrywide reduction, emailed a spokesman Thursday. The total employee impact, across the entire company, is about 1,000 positions, he said. The layoff in Colorado is the largest reduction per state because Colorado has the largest total of CenturyLink employees in one state, he said. The reduction in staff affects represented and nonrepresented employees in a variety of job positions and departments, the spokesman said.

With a 4-0 vote, the Montana Public Service Commission approved a settlement agreement Tuesday with CenturyLink on service quality violations across Montana, said a news release from the PSC regarding docket N2014.3.38. The agreement is in response to the commission’s complaint in state District Court in Helena for violation of Montana administrative rule 38.5.3371, which requires that 90 percent of reported service problems across the state be fixed within 24 hours, the agency said. CenturyLink agreed to accept about $91 million over the next six years from the FCC Connect America Fund Phase II for broadband infrastructure investment in rural Montana, it said. CenturyLink also agreed to "augment" the CAF II funding with investments of its own to amplify the effects of the federal funds, the PSC said.

The California Public Utilities Commission's amended scoping memo on Frontier and Verizon's application for approval of transfer of control includes several issues about the physical condition of the Verizon wireline network, said CPUC Administrative Law Judge Karl Bemesderfer's ruling setting evidentiary hearings. Questions regard the condition of the network, its compliance with CPUC orders and the cost and extent of repairs required to bring the network into compliance with commission-imposed standards of safety and reliability. Evidentiary hearings are scheduled for Sept. 24 and 25, the ALJ said.

Seattle supports proposed reforms to the FCC Lifeline program, including the changes to the structure, modernization of the program and the improvements to access to broadband for low-income residents in the city, said a filing in docket 15-71. At least two connections should be allowed per household to ensure adequate service and mobility, the city said. The minimum standards for broadband should be based on the FCC's definition of 25 Mbps downstream and 3 Mbps upstream, the city said. The FCC also should ensure that providers report regularly on the levels of adoption at the city level to enable local jurisdictions to assist the commission in overseeing the program's implementation, Seattle said.

Minnesota customers of TerraCom's Lifeline services may be eligible for a year of free credit monitoring due to a data breach at the company, said a Tuesday news release from the Minnesota Department of Commerce and the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission. An investigation after a 2013 data breach found that TerraCom failed to protect consumers' personal information, the release said. The FCC did a similar investigation, finding that TerraCom's vendor stored customers' personal information on unprotected servers that were accessible over the Internet, the release said. The FCC reached a $3.5 million settlement with TerraCom and a related company in July (see 1507090035).

Fifteen library jurisdictions -- 110 libraries -- joined the High-Speed Broadband in California Public Libraries project in the second year of the initiative, said the Corporation for Education Network Initiatives in California. CENIC is a nonprofit that operates the California Research and Education Network (CalREN), a high-capacity, 3,800-mile fiber network designed to support more than 20 million users. The projectbegan in December. In the first year, 75 library jurisdictions and their 447 individual libraries joined the project, CENIC said. These libraries are now connected to CalREN and most libraries have 1 gigabit of connectivity, CENIC said.