Widespread power outages hit customers as temps hover in teens -- UPDATED

Facebook this morning is full of status updates from friends who live from Crimora to Waynesboro to Fishersville to Stuarts Draft to Greenville waking up without power. With temps dipping from upper single digits to low teens and a dusting of snow still on the ground from Thursday's storm, it promises to be a chilly morning for some.

According to Dominion Power's outage map, the problem crosses Afton. Facebook is buzzing with information. Missy Kenny who lives in Kent's Store wrote, "Central Virginia Electric Cooperative has been notified that an issue on the Dominion Virginia Power transmission system is affecting CVEC members served by the following CVEC substations: Midway (near Crozet), Martins Store (serves Afton, Nellysford, Nelson County from Shipman to Covesville), and the substations on Wintergreen Mountain."

Shenandoah Valley Electric Coooperative is also affected in Augusta County. The Staunton News-Leader has updates and reported at 8:30 a.m. that over 30,000 electric customers have been affected.

Stay warm out there. 

Update 9:05 a.m.: Reportedly the cause of the outages is a transformer that caught fire in Crimora. 

Update 10:15 a.m.:  Dominion Power is reporting the largest outage area is Shenandoah region with 20,000 customers without electricity. That is followed by 750 outages in Northern Virginia, 450 in Richmond, and 400 in southeastern Virginia.

Update 10:30 a.m.: I've heard from the SWAC bloggers who live in Fishersville and they are without power ... Fishersville Mike, Kurt, Jason. We're hearing power is supposed to be restored sometime by noon. If not, we may have to party at SWAC Girl's house where we not only have electricity for football games and to charge up electronic devices but also a fired-up wood stove and hot coffee. LOL. Stay warm out there.

Update 10:45 a.m.: Here's the latest from Dominion Virginia Electric:

We have experienced an equipment failure at a transmission substation near #Waynesboro, resulting in power outages to 19,000 Dominion Virginia Power customers and 13,000 coop customers.

To help restore power, we're asking all customers without power to leave on one light and turn off all other lights and major appliances, including heat pumps.

This will help us restore power and prevent customers from experiencing any additional outages when we begin restoring power.

We expect it will be early afternoon before power begins being restored. Thanks to everyone for your patience!

Update 11:15 a.m.: Power is ON in Staunton so lots of Waynesboro, Fishersville, Stuarts Draft, Crimora, and folks from other areas are visiting businesses and restaurants causing a Facebook friend to observe, "Every gas station and fast food place is full with lines to the road in Staunton. Must be the power outage in Waynesboro and parts of the county."

Updates: From Dominion Virginia Power at 11:30 a.m. and 12:25 p.m.

Update: Power begins returning to Shenandoah Valley locations (Fishersville, Stuarts Draft, Crimora, Waynesboro, others)

'The Hook' is folding

"The Hook," Charlottesville's popular free weekly magazine found on grocery store and convenience store news stands around the central Virginia area, is folding at the end of September and joining forces with "C-ville Weekly."

NBC-29 published the announcement Friday:

The Hook will publish its final issue on Thursday, September 26, the free weekly newspaper's parent company announced today, and its editorial and business resources will be folded into a bigger, better version of C-VILLE Weekly.

Two-and-a-half years after a parent company was formed to run the two competing weeklies, its owners have decided that the readers, advertisers, and staff would be best served by combining the resources of the two papers to create a more robust print and online hyperlocal media organization.

"Charlottesville is an amazing media market that has allowed two weekly papers to co-exist, basically because people demand high quality local journalism. After taking our time to look at it from nearly every angle, we came to the conclusion that the best way to serve the community was to combine the papers," said Blair Kelly, a partner in the parent company, Charlottesville Publishing Group (CPG). "We think the decision is the best way forward from both a business and an editorial perspective, and we look forward to serving the community with outstanding journalism for another 25 years."

The Hook has built a reputation for feisty, timely local news reporting. The new version of C-VILLE will carry that legacy forward while building on its own 25-year history as an intelligent, progressive journalistic voice for news, arts, and culture in one of the country's great university towns.

NBC-29 has more information about this change in the hard-copy publishing world.

Lockn' Music Festival ... Woodstock in the Blue Ridge?

 Lockn' Festival photo

The hills will echo this week with music, dancing, camping, and joyous celebrations as the huge Lockn' Music Festival takes place Thursday through Sunday in Nelson County, Virginia. Last-minute preparations are underway as organizers brace for thousands who have already bought tickets for this event that could turn into a Woodstock in the Blue Ridge Mountains for a whole new generation.

But don't take my word for it. Read what was in Ohio's Toledo City Paper:

The innaugural Lockn' festival is a jam-band fan's mecca—the penultimate gathering of the best improvisational bands from every corner of the country. You have Furthur representing the West Coast, String Cheese Incident bringing their Colorado style, Widespread Panic from south of the Mason-Dixie line, and Trey Anastasio traveling from the northern East Coast.

In TCP's opinion, this 'interlocking music festival' is shaping up to be the best party of the summer—the musical highlight of an already epic year.
...
Nestled deep in the Blue Ridge Mountains, Lock'n is an 8 hour drive from Toledo, but it is a beautiful drive through one of the most scenic parts of the country. Festival organizers Dave Frey and Pete Shapiro shopped for locations around the U.S.—New York, California, North Carolina—before deciding on Virginia because of its 'intimate setting'. The festival's two stages stand side by side and will have interlocking performances all weekend—as soon as one band stops, the band on the opposite stage will begin.

For those of us in the central Shenandoah Valley, this four-day event is in our back yard, and only two hours from Richmond. Taking place from September 5-8, 2013, at the 5,000-acre Oak Ridge Farm, officials are expecting 25,000-30,000 people. Oak Ridge Farm is located off Rt. 29 halfway between Charlottesville and Lynchburg and, with the number of vehicles expected, exhaustive traffic plans have been made to avoid backups on Rt. 29, along with security and safety preparations.


The full lineup of musicians includes Zac Brown, the Black Crowes, and a number of other groups set to perform under the central Virginia sky.

The Lockn' Facebook page announced a pre-festival music party for Wednesday night, September 4, at the Jefferson Theater in Charlottesville.

To keep up with the latest details, follow Lockn' on Twitter.

Local vendors including food and craft beer will be available on-site. Nelson County is, after all, home of the famous Rt. 151 corridor featuring some of the finest and best-known vineyards, craft breweries, and food establishments in Virginia.

It will be an experience not forgotten anytime soon, if ever. If anyone takes photos and would like to share, I would love to post them on SWAC Girl. Send to swac.girl@gmail.com. Stay legal, safe, and have fun!