Service outage disrupts 911 calls

Oskaloosa — Jefferson County residents and agencies reported phone service disruptions Wednesday afternoon.

The county’s 911 emergency phone system became unavailable for calls outside Oskaloosa, a dispatcher said. The disruption occurred over the Sprint phone system and lasted for about an hour shortly after noon, officials said.

Sprint spokeswoman Alice O’Brien confirmed there had been a problem from 12:15 p.m. to 1:25 p.m. But she also said a backup system should have allowed calls to go through.

Jefferson County officials disputed O’Brien’s contention. Sprint was still investigating the incident, O’Brien said.

Snow blankets area

About 1 inch of snow fell Wednesday on Lawrence, but area law enforcement agencies had few reports of traffic accidents or other problems.

The snow began falling late Wednesday afternoon, and light snow was continuing at 10 p.m. More snow was possible overnight and early today but little or no accumulation was expected, 6News weather forecaster Ross Janssen said.

About 6 p.m., Skyhawk weather watcher Curt Zeisig reported a half-inch of snow on the ground near Ninth Street and Lawrence Avenue.

Today’s high should be 26 degrees, Janssen said.

Forums to feature city, school candidates

Candidates for Lawrence City Commission and Lawrence school board will appear at forums Saturday morning at Lawrence High School.

School board candidates will take questions from 9 a.m. to 10:20 a.m.; commission candidates will have the floor from 10:45 a.m. until noon. The forums are sponsored by the Lawrence Association of Neighborhoods and the Lawrence-Douglas County League of Women Voters.

The primary is Feb. 25.