Family of South Carolina teacher killed by falling utility pole seeks better rural infrastructure

By JAMES POLLARD
Associated Press/Report for America

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — The family of a teacher killed last week in a small South Carolina town by a falling utility pole is taking aim at poor rural infrastructure. They say it contributed to an avoidable death. Thirty-one-year-old Jeunelle Robinson was walking down a street in the roughly 600-person town of Wagener during her lunch break Aug. 23 when officials say a tractor-trailer snagged overhead power lines. That brought multiple poles toppling to the ground and one of them struck Robinson. She died later that day at a hospital. A lawyer for the family says the wooden post wouldn’t have collapsed so easily if utility companies properly maintained equipment in rural areas.