Nucleotide excision repair (NER) is an evolutionarily conserved, multistep process that can detect a wide variety of DNA lesions.  RNA polymerase (RNAP) stalled at DNA lesions mediates the recruitment of NER enzymes to the damage site thereby expediting the recognition of DNA damage by NER components – the process known as transcription-coupled DNA repair (TCR). I will discuss a newly identified bacterial TCR pathway in which the NER enzyme UvrD, in conjunction with transcription elongation factor NusA, plays a major role in initiating the repair process. I will discuss the tradeoff between the new and conventional models of TCR, how and when each pathway operates to repair DNA damage, and the necessity of pervasive transcription in maintaining genome integrity. I will also discuss newly elucidated roles of ppGpp (a modified nucleotide second messenger) in transcription elongation that couple this bacterial alarmone to DNA damage repair and maintenance.