It's getting

easier to find out what's going on with your county government.

Fayette County's

Web site has eliminated much of the need for phone calls to county offices,

and soon you'll be able to get information by switching on your television

if you have cable TV.

"It could

be as soon as mid-December," said County Manager Chris Cofty.

Federal regulations

require that cable companies provide channels for use by local governments,

to get information to residents, but until recently AT&T Broadband,

Fayette's cable provider, has been unable to comply with that. The company's

decades-old system couldn't provide enough channels.

With AT&T's

recent upgrade to fiber-optic cable, more channels are now available.

The company

is providing $12,660 so the county can buy the equipment needed to make

use of the government access channel.

"We've

ordered the equipment," said Cofty, "and AT&T's target date

to tie the fiber link [at the County Administrative Complex] to the access

channel is Dec. 1."

Once the equipment

is in place, any county department will be able to use the channel to

make announcements of upcoming meetings and programs and communicate with

residents about changes in services, burning bans and the like.

The equipment

also could be used to televise government meetings and make live announcements,

if county officials decide to go to that extent, but there are no plans

for that at this point, said Cofty.