HARRISBURG - Starting this week, residents of northeastern and parts of central Pennsylvania will have to dial 10 digits to make phone calls.

The state Public Utility Commission said customers within the 570 area code will have to dial the area code plus the phone number beginning Saturday. The area code covers cities including Scranton, Wilkes-Barre and Williamsport.

Most of Schuylkill County is in the 570 area code.

The change comes ahead of the introduction of the 272 area code, which will be assigned in the region beginning Oct. 21.

Those who take a new 272 number will have to dial 10 digits, too.

Customers who dial only seven numbers will hear a recording asking them to hang up and try again using 10 digits.

pacino wrote:who knew there were areas that still didnt do this:

HARRISBURG - Starting this week, residents of northeastern and parts of central Pennsylvania will have to dial 10 digits to make phone calls.

The state Public Utility Commission said customers within the 570 area code will have to dial the area code plus the phone number beginning Saturday. The area code covers cities including Scranton, Wilkes-Barre and Williamsport.

Most of Schuylkill County is in the 570 area code.

The change comes ahead of the introduction of the 272 area code, which will be assigned in the region beginning Oct. 21.

Those who take a new 272 number will have to dial 10 digits, too.

Customers who dial only seven numbers will hear a recording asking them to hang up and try again using 10 digits.

WheelsFellOff wrote:I only dial 7 here in the 717...I think. Haven't made a local landline call in about forever.

What happened on Saturday around 2 a.m. remains unclear. The public version of events comes from a press conference given by the Charlotte-Mecklenburg police chief on Saturday, before the officer was charged. He said Ferrell crashed his car into an embankment in northeast Mecklenburg County. He climbed out the back window of his mangled car, and walked about a quarter-mile to a house visible from the accident scene.

There, according to police chief Rodney Monroe's initial statement, Ferrell started "banging on the door viciously." The woman who lived there believed he was a robber, and dialed 911. Three officers responded and encountered Ferrell near the home. Ferrell "immediately ran toward the officers," according to a police statement.

One officer fired his taser, and officer Randall Kerrick, who's been on the force since 2011, fired his gun, striking Ferrell "multiple times." Ferrell died at the scene.

Police initially described the encounter as "appropriate and lawful," but on Saturday night changed course.

A Charlotte-Mecklenburg police officer who was involved in the fatal shooting of an unarmed man early Saturday has been charged with voluntary manslaughter and is in custody, Charlotte-Mecklenburg police Chief Rodney Monroe said Saturday night.

The victim had apparently wrecked his vehicle early Saturday and sought help at a nearby residence before encountering the police.

He was identified as Jonathan A. Ferrell, 24, who recently moved to Charlotte from Florida. Officer Randall Kerrick, 27, is in custody; the Midland resident had joined the force in April 2011.

...

Ferrell was driving a vehicle that crashed into the woods near Reedy Creek Road in northeast Charlotte.

Monroe called the accident severe, adding that Ferrell would have been forced to climb out of the back window to get out. Monroe didn’t know the cause of the crash, and he didn’t say whether Ferrell had injuries from it.

...

Ferrell apparently walked to the nearest house, about a half-mile from the accident, and was “banging on the door viciously,” Monroe said. The woman who lives there thought the man at her door was her husband coming home late from work.

But when she saw Ferrell instead, she shut the door and called police because she thought he was trying to rob her.

Officers received a call shortly after 2:30 a.m. about an attempted break-in at a residence in the 7500 block of Reedy Creek Road.

The three officers from the Hickory Grove division who responded to the scene came across a man matching the description of the possible suspect, and they surrounded him. The man “immediately charged” at the police, Monroe said.

Officer Thornell Little unsuccessfully fired his Taser at Ferrell, who continued to run toward them, police said in a statement. Kerrick then fired several rounds at Ferrell, who was shot multiple times and pronounced dead at the scene, police said.

Monroe said Ferrell was unarmed. The chief did not think he was trying to rob the woman, saying, “I don’t believe threats were made.”

Authorities said late Saturday that the initial encounter between Ferrell and Kerrick was “appropriate and lawful.” The evidence showed that Ferrell advanced on Kerrick, but the subsequent shooting of Ferrell was “excessive” and violated the law regarding voluntary manslaughter, according to police.

Kerrick turned himself in to the Mecklenburg County Sheriff’s Office on Saturday evening.

Officials could not immediately recall the last time there was a fatal officer-involved shooting of an unarmed person.

Responding to a reporter’s question about the vehicle accident, Monroe said late Saturday that there was no evidence of alcohol but noted that a toxicology report could take several weeks. “It doesn’t change the circumstances or the facts.”

Bill McNeal wrote:

pacino wrote:who knew there were areas that still didnt do this:

HARRISBURG - Starting this week, residents of northeastern and parts of central Pennsylvania will have to dial 10 digits to make phone calls.

The state Public Utility Commission said customers within the 570 area code will have to dial the area code plus the phone number beginning Saturday. The area code covers cities including Scranton, Wilkes-Barre and Williamsport.

Most of Schuylkill County is in the 570 area code.

The change comes ahead of the introduction of the 272 area code, which will be assigned in the region beginning Oct. 21.

Those who take a new 272 number will have to dial 10 digits, too.

Customers who dial only seven numbers will hear a recording asking them to hang up and try again using 10 digits.

The entire state of Delaware is area code 302, so whenever someone gives you a phone number it's only 7 digits in fact, even most local advertising is done with only 7 digit phone numbers. I've lived here for four years now and it still kinda throws me for a loop it also instantly outs me as nonlocal since I'm the only ass-hole giving out my area code with my phone number.

BigEd76 wrote:This one's free:

http://sourceforge.net/projects/fastclicker/