PUD doing better than expected with fiber
CHERYL SCHWEIZER | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 11 years, 1 month AGO
The Royal Register News
Senior Reporter Cheryl Schweizer is a journalist with more than 30 years of experience serving small communities in the Pacific Northwest. She began her post-high-school education at Treasure Valley Community College and enerned her journalism degree at Oregon State University. After working for multiple publications, she has settled down at the Columbia Basin Herald and has been a staple of the newsroom for more than a decade. Schweizer’s dedication to her communities and profession has earned her the nickname “The Baroness of Bylines.” She covers a variety of beats including health, business and various municipalities. | September 14, 2015 6:00 AM
EPHRATA — The Grant County PUD is making more money from its fiber optic network than projected. But fewer people have signed up for its wireless service than anticipated.
Networks manager Warren Miller detailed those and other findings in a report to PUD commissioners at their regular meeting of Aug. 25.
The PUD was supposed to be making about $150,000 on the fiber optic system by mid-2015, according to projections made when the system was set up in 2007. The system actually was $572,747 in the black at the end of June, Miller said.
The PUD builds the system and provides access to Internet service providers (ISP), who provide it to retail customers.
The goal has been to get about 40 percent of potential customers on the system, Miller said. The current participation rate is about 36.5 percent, he said.
The utility has signed up 931 new customers in the first six months, Miller said, which he attributed to more advertising.
ARTICLES BY CHERYL SCHWEIZER
Warden man injured in tractor-trailer collision with train
BRUCE — A Warden man was transported to an out-of-area hospital after the tractor-trailer he was driving was hit by a train near Bruce at about noon Tuesday. "The extent of the driver's injuries is not known at this time," wrote Adams County Sheriff Dale Wagner in a media release. "Preliminary information indicates the semi-truck was traveling above the speed limit and failed to obey posted requiring traffic to yield at the railroad crossing. The train was traveling at a slow speed," Wagner said. "He was moving. He wasn't stuck on the tracks," he said in an earlier interview.
Othello man arrested for Moses Lake attempted burglary
MOSES LAKE — An Othello man jumped into Moses Lake in an unsuccessful attempt to avoid Moses Lake Police Department officers last Friday. An MLPD media release issued Wednesday said Fernando Lira, 36, was booked into the Grant County Jail on suspicion of second-degree burglary in connection with the incident. Lira allegedly attempted to burglarize a business in the 600 block of East Broadway Friday morning. The business owner discovered him and chased him off the property, the release said.
Higher revenues, expenses projected in preliminary Moses Lake city budget
MOSES LAKE — While Moses Lake city officials have reduced expenses and revenues are projected to increase by about 7.9% in the city's preliminary budget, proposed expenditures are projected to go up by about 9.5%. Assistant City Manager James Richmond emphasized the preliminary budget presented earlier this month is not cast in stone. "The projected figures are not finalized. They are requests from departments based on projected 2027 operational costs. Largely, the figures are based on guidance from the city council during the financial sustainability plan analysis," Richmond wrote in answer to questions from the Columbia Basin Herald.