FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

May 29, 2003

At 9:15 AM this morning, 9-1-1 officials in Marion County became aware of a 9-1-1 Circuit problem that has affected several counties in Northeast Missouri.

The outage appears to have only affected CenturyTel telephone customers.

9-1-1 calls made from CenturyTel customers received a “busy” signal.

At 10:35 AM, Century Tel officials notified Marion County 9-1-1 that the outage has been repaired and everything should be back to normal.

Test Calls were conducted in areas where the outage occurred and in Marion County, everything seems to be working normally.

Marion County 9-1-1 is reporting that no emergencies occurred in Marion County during the time of this outage.

Some areas may still be experiencing problems – if you dial 9-1-1 and the call does not connect, hang up and dial your local law enforcement agency direct.