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 Missouri Public Service Commission expressed concern over the growing burden of the federal USF contribution level, in comments on the FCC NPRM in dockets including 10-90. The state commission recommended the FCC reconsider the income-based eligibility criteria and let states have the discretion to maintain or discontinue the requirements. On FCC consideration of streamlining the eligible telecom carrier designation process, the Missouri commission recommends the process stay the same because of fraud. The Public Service Commission of Wisconsin said the carrier access of Lifeline eligibility requests (CALER) portal, which lets the PSC staff and phone company representatives determine Lifeline program eligibility status electronically, has major limitations that need to be fixed to help with eligibility verification issues in the state. First, verification is possible when the only Wisconsin Department of Health Services database is online and it's reliably online only during normal business hours, the comments said. Second, the CALER interface doesn't allow providers to verify eligibility based on income level or qualification for the Wisconsin Homestead Tax Credit, the PSC said. The deadline for comments was Monday.

Wireless services company 5 Bars agreed to develop Sacramento's fast broadband wireless master plan, said a Monday news release from the distributed antenna system and Wi-Fi company. When that network is fully implemented, it will provide the ability for all citizens to publicly access high-speed wireless Internet in key areas, 5 Bars said.

CenturyLink got a contract from the Texas Health and Human Services Commission to provide managed IP-based voice services to the agency's more than 400 statewide locations, said a CenturyLink news release Monday. CenturyLink said it will manage the agency's existing phone infrastructure, which includes IP-based and analog phone systems, and analog users eventually will transfer to a cloud-based VoIP and unified communications platform.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.