Americans across the country are experiencing drops in cell service, in some cases hindering 911 calls



Tens of thousands of Americans awoke Thursday morning to discover their cell phones were bereft of signal. In addition to being unable to touch base with friends, families, and coworkers, some users apparently were unable to hail 911.

While those affected by the cascading cellular service outages appear to be predominantly AT&T customers, clients of other service providers are reportedly experiencing issues.

Around 3 a.m., there was a spike in reports of AT&T outages on the website Downdetector. As of 9:02 a.m. ET, there were over 73,000 reporters of customers experiencing service issues.

While Verizon, T-Mobile and other providers similarly saw spikes, Downdetector indicated they were orders of magnitude smaller. Verizon and T-Mobile maintain that their networks were unaffected and operating normally.

A spokesman for T-Mobile told CBS News, "Downdetector is likely reflecting challenges our customers were having attempting to connect to users on other networks."

"Some customers experienced issues this morning when calling or texting with customers served by another carrier," Verizon said in a statement obtained by the New York Times. "We are continuing to monitor the situation."

While AT&T has confirmed that it is experiencing rampant outages, it failed to provide an explanation for why the failure occurred in the first place, reported CNN.

"Some of our customers are experiencing wireless service interruptions this morning. We are working urgently to restore service to them," the company said in a statement. "We encourage the use of Wi-Fi calling until service is restored."

A spokesman for the company indicated further that AT&T's first responder network nevertheless remains operational.

The outages prompted some speculation online about possibly wicked causes, such as an electromagnetic pulse strike or a cyberattack; however, an industry source who spoke to CNN under the condition of anonymity suggested the issue is likely linked to a process known as peering, whereby cellphone services pass off calls from one network to the next.

CNN noted that the company was experiencing sporadic outages earlier this week, including a drop in 911 service in various southeastern states.

Blaze News reached out to AT&T for comment on the extent and cause of the outages as well as a projected timeline on a remedy but did not immediately receive a reply.

Various municipalities and local authorities across the country have confirmed the outages, in some cases highlighting corresponding difficulties reaching first responders by phone.

The City of Upper Arlington in Ohio noted that outages were affecting fire alarms, such that first responders "may not be notified of an activation." The city advised residents to follow up alarms with a 911 call "for the foreseeable future."

The San Francisco Fire Department noted that while the San Francisco 911 center was still operational, 911 calls had reportedly been impacted for some customers.

Various other official channels, including the X accounts for the City of Little Rock, Arkansas, the Rockville City Police Department of Maryland, and Orlando Police Department in Florida noted similar difficulties. A common recommendation: Use family or friends as proxies for 911 calls or call from a landline.

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California school district spends $170K on diversity courses for teachers, such as 'Thriving as a Racially Conscious Person'

California school district spends $170K on diversity courses for teachers, such as 'Thriving as a Racially Conscious Person'



A California school district spent more than $170,000 for training from a consulting firm to teach educators how to be a thriving "racially conscious person" and how to understand "marginalization" and "privilege."

Documents obtained by the Daily Wire showed that the Riverside Unified School District in California had a contract with Epoch Education worth $171,000.

The district paid for an "Equity Series" for $133,000, an "Equity Learning Series" for $24,000, and "Site Lead Coaching" valued at $14,000.

A document for the Equity Learning Series revealed several of the critical race theory-inspired learning sessions and outcomes.

In a course called "Thriving as a Racially Conscious Person," participants "explore the meaning of race, ethnicity, culture, identity, and intersectionality evolving parts of the human experience."

The session "Let’s Talk About Race" informs participants that they will "deepen their understanding of historical and systemic racial inequity in order to identify how this important context impacts current organizational beliefs, practices and policies."

As well, "Understanding Marginalization, Privilege, and Belonging" teaches how to "recognize and interrupt examples of marginalization and privilege in order to actively create communities of belonging in their organizations through inclusive environments," and more.

Dealing with racism can leave people lonely and isolated. Racism effects people directly and indirectly. Recognize it. Interrupt it. Repair it.\n\n#RIRprotocol #epocheducation #bridgethedivide #compassionatedialogue #belonging #letstalkaboutrace #drnancydome
— Epoch Education (@Epoch Education) 1663963223

Another document from Epoch Education offered programs for those who wish to go above and beyond in their racial discrimination learnings.

The "Creating Sustaining Equity Series" is recommended for "organizations ready to go beyond allyship to anti oppression." This program warns participants to be ready for some "deep transformative work" across five separate two-hour sessions.

The organization boasted other registered and trademarked activities such as "Compassionate Dialogue® and the RIR Protocol™," which is short for "Recognize, Interrupt and Repair."

In 2022, the Federalist reported on a since-deleted portion of the Riverside School District website that promoted an essay titled "Decentering Whiteness."

"Whiteness needs to be taken out of the center to join other racial/cultural groups on the margins. Simply attacking whiteness is not enough to accomplish this goal," the essay read. "Assaults on whiteness, depending on their nature, may have the effect of confirming and solidifying the central position of whiteness in American society. Like a prize fighter who by defeating all contenders expands their reputation and retinue, whiteness may find its position reinforced while those who attack it are relegated further to the margins."

The essay is a work from 2015 by Jeff Hitchcock and Charley Flint.

\u201cEquity vs Equality - I don\u2019t want to give everyone the same, I want to give you what you need to thrive.\u201d - Dr. Nancy Dome, Author "Let's Talk About Race"\n\nhttps://t.co/caqBuKKPxF\n\n#equity #communitiesofbelonging #bridgethedivide #connection #rirprotocol #compassionatedialogue
— Epoch Education (@Epoch Education) 1662733832

Epoch Education also has an unlisted presentation series on YouTube titled "What is Critical Race Theory?"

The presentation included slides that said, for example, "White male supremacy is a universal concept ... it is a pillar upon which the nation was founded, the government was established, and the constitution was created."

Other videos on the channel included "How To Support The LGBTQIA+ Youth In Your Life" and a podcast titled "A Story On Access and Higher Education for a Non binary Student."

Riverside Unified School District did not respond to a request for comment.

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Why Nancy Pelosi Feels Such a Connection to China

Why Nancy Pelosi Feels Such a Connection to China

Fauci’s Efforts To Kill Handshakes Failed, Thank Goodness

After a year-long attempt to replace our daily lives with a sterile and fearful 'new normal,' the handshake is one more thing we shouldn't let go.