Solar farm's data cord sliced

Deep into the night on Thanksgiving – actually at 3 a.m. the next morning – the Palouse solar farm data quit tracking. It turned out someone or something had cut the line which transmits data from the site on a hill at the south edge of town.

It was determined it was a person with a blade of some kind because the four-inch cut was even and straight, not something that would have been done by an animal.

“The cuts were deliberate,” said Palouse Clerk/Treasurer Kyle Dixon.

After discovering the data flow halt Nov. 27, Dixon went up to the site and found everything plugged in and appearing normal....