An AT&T outage last week left residents, businesses and government agencies across Stanislaus and Merced counties without phone or internet service, with significant impacts reported in Westside communities including Newman and Gustine.
The outage began Tuesday morning and affected city halls, police departments, school districts and county offices. In Stanislaus County, Turlock City Hall, the Turlock Police Department and the Stanislaus County Jury Commissioner’s Office all reported disruptions. The county’s website and online payment systems were unavailable for much of the day, and some facilities experienced intermittent phone and computer issues.
AT&T spokesperson Caden Harris said the outage was caused by “damage to our network by a third‑party contractor,” and crews worked through the day to restore service…