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Missourinet

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You are here: Home / Archives for Alcohol

Motorists warned: The HEAT is on

July 2, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Summer months are the most deadly on Missouri Highways and the HEAT is On campaign aims to keep fatalities and injuries down.

More than a thousand people were killed during July, August and September over Lt. Col. Richard Coffey the last four years. That’s why HEAT, high enforcement action teams, are forming a strategic initiative to crack down on the three main causes of dangerous crashes — alcohol, inattention and speed.

Lt. Col. Richard Coffey, Asstistant Superintendent of Missouri Highway Patrol, says each of those contributing factors comes down to personal choice.

The patrol reports that so far this year there have been 375 fatalaties compared to 445 this time last year — a 15 percent decrease. Coffey says enforcement’s goal is to see that downward trend continue.

Coffey says during the summer season last year, 251 people were killed and nearly two thousand suffered disabling injuries.

Coffey says the patrol hopes to lower the number of fatalities to fewer than 850 by 2012, a goal that can only be achieved if summer accidents decrease.

The patrol reminds motorists that seatbelt enforcement is also a priority.


Jessica Machetta reports [Download/listen MP3]

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Alcohol, Department of Transportation, Missouri State Highway Patrol

Department of Public Safety hosts conference on fighting underage drinking

June 25, 2008 By admin Leave a Comment

Dozens of law enforcement officers from throughout the state are spending three days in Jefferson City, attending a conference on how best to combat underage drinking.

While part of the gathering gives police, sheriffs, State Water Patrol, and State Highway Patrol officers the opportunity to exchange tips on how best to deal with underage drinking, it is also giving officers the chance to put some of what they know into practice. Tuesday night, for instance, officers and young adults under the age of 21 staged sting operations.

Special Agent Nancy McGee with the Missouri Division of Alcohol and Tobacco Control says during one-third of the checks alcohol was sold to those younger than 21. McGee says that’s a good night, though, because the average sting operation finds alcohol sold to underage buyers about 40 percent of the time.

Public Safety Director Mark James says failure to comply with the law has its consequences – not just for the young person who is not old enough to purchase alcohol, but for the server or seller of the alcohol and the licensee of the bar or store selling alcohol.

Download/Listen: Steve Walsh report (:60 MP3)

Filed Under: Crime / Courts Tagged With: Alcohol, Department of Public Safety

Loophole Used by Lawmaker to Avoid Drunk Driving Charge Closed

July 4, 2007 By admin Leave a Comment

A new law will go into effect this year that closes a loophole a state lawmaker exploited to avoid a drunken driving conviction.

A law approved in 1982 required the use of a non-alcoholic antiseptic swab before blood could be drawn to determine a suspect’s blood alcohol content. Prosecutors dismissed a drunk driving charge against Representative Charles Portwood (R-Ballwin) in 2006, because a hospital nurse used the wrong kind of swab during the blood test after an accident in Manchester in 2004. Portwood’s blood test indicated his blood alcohol content was more than twice the legal limit, but Portwood argued that the alcohol on the swab distorted the results. Portwood settled his case by pleading guilty to a charge of leaving the scene of an accident, a misdemeanor.

Governor Blunt has signed the bill into law saying numerous studies have shown that alcohol wipes have no impact on blood samples. The State Highway Patrol and the Missouri Prosecuting Attorneys Association pushed for the change.

Filed Under: Legislature, Politics / Govt Tagged With: Alcohol, Drunk Driving, Matt Blunt

State Clears Restaurant in Ballplayer’s Death

May 31, 2007 By admin Leave a Comment

State officials say a two-week investigation has found no credible evidence that Mike Shannon’s restaurant served drinks to St. Louis Cardinals baseball player Josh Hancock, knowing that he was drunk.

Hancock died in a traffic crash April 29th in St. Louis. Hancock’s blood alcohol content was Point-157, twice the legal limit. The Division of Alcohol and Tobacco Control says it will take no administrative action against the restaurant’s license. The division has the authority to discipline establishments that knowingly serve alcohol to a visibly intoxicated person.

State officials say those interviewed described Hancock as drinking in moderation and talking with teammates and friends at the restaurant prior to his fatal accident.

 

Download/listen Chris Pilsic report (:35 MP3)

Filed Under: Crime / Courts Tagged With: Alcohol, Department of Public Safety, St. Louis, St. Louis Cardinals

Bill Aims to Crack Down on School Bus Drivers Committing DWI Offenses

January 31, 2007 By admin Leave a Comment

Legislation before a Senate committee would make things tougher than they already are for school bus drivers arrested for driving while intoxicated on the job. Senator Norma Champion (R-Springfield) says this is a bill that toughens the current laws regarding bus drivers who are legally drunk while behind the wheel. This particular lifetime ban on driving any school bus would only affect a driver who has been driving while intoxicated while driving a school bus. The legislation, however, would require any driver arrested for drinking and driving outside his or her work hours to inform the employer before getting back into the driver’s seat.

Related web sites:
Missouri SB 24

busingv.mp3 (422k)

Filed Under: Legislature Tagged With: Alcohol

Plea for State Support of Treatment Centers

January 17, 2007 By admin Leave a Comment

A recovering drug and alcohol addict pleads with the legislature for more state money to be spent at centers who give people like her a second chance. Aaronette Noble of O’Fallon smoked her first marijuana at age 7; took her first drink at 14, started using meth and cocaine at 17. She has spent time in prison for making meth, lost custody of her child born with drugs in its system. She has been clean for 19 months and is a technician in the residential treatment center that straightened her out. She says the demand for services at the center every day is far beyond the center’s ability to provide and some people wind up waiting four to six weeks to get in. She says she had to tell the mother of an addicted son there would not be room for him for weeks. She says she can “only imagine” how that mother felt to hear that help would be available but not for weeks. She says four to six weeks is a lifetime for an addict who is “using” every day. She says more beds and more counselors would mean fewer laws being broken, fewer children in foster care, fewer families being torn apart, and more lives being saved. She says the center where she works gets 100 to 150 calls a day from people seeking help. But it has only 76 beds, and only about one-third of those beds is state funded. The Senate Appropriations Committee has been told treatment is a better prescription for addiction than prison and that savings in the costs of healthcare, workers comp injury claims, and employee turnover and training will more than offset the costs of treating addicts. The committee is taking testimony from interested citizens about various state programs. It won’t start work on budget bills, which have to pass the House of Representatives first, for several weeks.

Filed Under: News Tagged With: Alcohol, budget, Department of Mental Health, Drugs

Drunk Diver Pleads Guilty to Murder Charge

January 9, 2007 By admin Leave a Comment

A Springfield woman driving drunk when she caused a fatal traffic crash last July has been sentenced to 15 years in prison after pleading guilty to second-degree murder. Audrey Jeanette Driscoll’s blood alcohol level was more than four times the legal limit when her car crossed the centerline and hit a pickup, killing the other driver, Scott Beshears of Springfield. Court documents showed that Driscoll’s blood alcohol level was .335. The legal limit in Missouri is .08. Driscoll has two previous drunk driving convictions. She was driving without a license because the license had been suspended until 2009.

Filed Under: Crime / Courts Tagged With: Alcohol, Drunk Driving, Springfield

Campaign Launched to Combat Drinking and Driving

August 16, 2006 By admin Leave a Comment

Law enforcement officers from around the state gathered in Jefferson City to kick off this year’s campaign of “You Drink and Drive … You Lose.” The campaign runs now through Labor day Weekend and uses sobriety checkpoints and increased police presence out on the roads, as well as public awareness, to try to reduce the number of drunk drivers on Missouri’s roads. Incoming State Highway Patrol Superintendant Major Jim Keathley says things are getting better, with fewer drunk driving deaths. Federal officials say Missouri is one of 27 states nationwide last year that saw an increase in the number of drunk driving fatalities from 2004. Keathley hopes the new trend of fewer drunk driving fatals for this year is one that will become more permanent.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Alcohol, Fires/Accidents/Disasters

Internet booze sales to minors a concern, but not major problem in Missouri

August 10, 2006 By admin Leave a Comment

A new study of Internet sales of alcohol finds more and more young people are buying alcohol online and by-passing the age checks that are conducted in bars or liquor stores. Mike Schlar with the Missouri Division of Alcohol and Tobacco Control says the U.S. Supreme Court recently ruled in favor of Internet alcohol sales – despite objections from several states. Schlar points out Missouri law requires that those delivering alcohol only do so to people 21 years of age or older and to obtain signatures from those people. He says that while efforts are being made to keep minors away from alcohol, Internet booze sales would not be considered a major problem because there are easier ways for minors to obtain alcohol.

Filed Under: Politics / Govt Tagged With: Alcohol

Special Prosecutor Will Look Into Commissioner Drunk Driving Charge

August 2, 2006 By admin Leave a Comment

A special prosecutor has been appointed to investigate the drunk driving arrest of Jasper County Presiding Commissioner Chuck Surface. Lawrence County’s prosecutor will take over the case. The Jasper County prosecutor is stepping aside because he represents Surface in his role as presiding commissioner. One of the first decisions the new prosecutor will make is whether to file a charge. Surface calls the incident a personal error. He has admitted his blood-alcohol level was above the legal limit but tells the Joplin Globe it was not excessively over the limit.

Filed Under: Crime / Courts, Politics / Govt Tagged With: Alcohol, Drunk Driving

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