ONE WEEK AGO THE WORLD STOOD STILL
AND THE EMERGENCY BROADCAST SYSTEM DELAYED ITS TEST BY A DAY

louis martin
cns news & features

It is a week later now. O. J. Simpson is rumored to be marrying his 27-year-old model-actress girlfriend in the Dominican Republic.

But a week ago on Tuesday when the world, or most of the U.S., stood still to hear the verdict--known now as The Verdict--the Offices of Emergency Services (OES) in California decided to delay broadcast of the test of the Emergency Broadcast System.

That test normally takes place on the first Tuesday of every month. But the first Tuesday of October was October 3, the day of The Verdict.

So OES announced on the Emergency Digital Information Service (EDIS), available on the Internet and over other networks, that the test would take place on Wednesday instead.

The delay it said was "necessitated by the conflict with the breaking news story Tuesday at 10 a.m. in the presentation of the O. J. Simpson trial verdict."

Other information available over the EDIS system included a national fire report, two earthquake reports, and a tsunami bulletin.

(10/9/95)

Return to News Page?

Return to Main Page?