I was featured on the news (Channel 33) regarding my opinion on stricter punishments for alcohol-related law offenders:
DALLAS, TX - In an instant, Tonya Winchester's life changed when she handed her keys to a drunk driver, who ran a red light and collided with a semi-truck.
"It was just devastating. I woke up and couldn't walk," the McKinney woman, said.
Winchester was 17 and a new high school graduate when she was paralyzed from the chest down. The anti-drunk driving advocate wonders why Texas isn't doing more to get drunks off the road."
I feel like it should have already happened. I just don't understand what lawmakers are waiting on?"
But, there is renewed optimism that the wait could be over for advocates who have pushed for stricter laws against drunk driving. This week anti-drunk driving officials urged lawmakers to approve ignition interlock devices for first-time offenders. About 12 states already use the bold tactic to punish offenders.
Advocates are also calling on the legislature to approve sobriety checkpoints, which officials say have proven effective in 39 states. Some fear the checkpoints infringe on law-abiding drivers."
What those studies show is that with sobriety checkpoints there is a 20 percent decline in deaths. In Texas, that would be about 200 people every year," Bill Lewis, with Mothers Against Drunk Driving, said.
Lewis testified at hearings in Austin this week. It is the first time in more than a decade the lawmakers have held committee hearings mid-session. He says the measures to reduce drunk driving are clear cut, if lawmakers will act."
We don't have to guess at this like this is a hunch. We do know what stops drunk driving."
As for Winchester, the 25-year old shares her story with anyone who will listen, hoping to change hearts and minds. This time, she hopes lawmakers in Austin are listening."
We do need change to stop this tragedy," Winchester said.
Tongish, Dawn. "Drivers Could See Stricter DWI Laws In Texas." The 33 News. 9 July 2010. Web. 10 July 2010. http://www.the33tv.com/news/kdaf-drunk-driving-proposals-texas-story,0,6101190.story.
Click link to watch a video of the broadcasting.
Showing posts with label News. Show all posts
Showing posts with label News. Show all posts
Saturday, July 10, 2010
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
How You Can Help the China Earthquake Victims
Visit this link. There are many different ways to help! They desperately need us!
http://www.networkforgood.org/topics/international/earthquake/china080512.aspx?source=YAHOO&cmpgn=NEWS
http://www.networkforgood.org/topics/international/earthquake/china080512.aspx?source=YAHOO&cmpgn=NEWS
The Country's Cheapest Gas
"While the average gas price nationwide passed $4 last weekend, Missouri could boast of prices around $3.825, the cheapest in the country. How come the Show Me State has the lowest gas prices?
Taxes, pipelines, and ethanol. State gas taxes—which are assessed on top of the federal rate of 18.4 cents per gallon—tend to get the most attention in comparisons of fuel prices across states. At 17.6 cents per gallon, Missouri's gas taxes are low, but they aren't quite as low as some other states'. New Jersey, for example, takes just 14.5 cents per gallon, but its prices remain more expensive than Missouri's."
"But because of its proximity to Texas, Oklahoma, and the Gulf Coast states, Missouri is crisscrossed by some of the nation's larger pipelines. Oil barges also pass through the state on the Mississippi and Missouri rivers. Proximity to producers reduces transportation costs a little, but it also makes Missouri less susceptible to price spikes when individual refineries run into problems."
-http://www.slate.com/id/2193222/?y=1
Taxes, pipelines, and ethanol. State gas taxes—which are assessed on top of the federal rate of 18.4 cents per gallon—tend to get the most attention in comparisons of fuel prices across states. At 17.6 cents per gallon, Missouri's gas taxes are low, but they aren't quite as low as some other states'. New Jersey, for example, takes just 14.5 cents per gallon, but its prices remain more expensive than Missouri's."
"But because of its proximity to Texas, Oklahoma, and the Gulf Coast states, Missouri is crisscrossed by some of the nation's larger pipelines. Oil barges also pass through the state on the Mississippi and Missouri rivers. Proximity to producers reduces transportation costs a little, but it also makes Missouri less susceptible to price spikes when individual refineries run into problems."
-http://www.slate.com/id/2193222/?y=1
Monday, May 26, 2008
DEADLY DISASTER BY NUMBERS
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2008-05-26-china-earthquake-mainbar_N.htm?csp=34
"ANXIAN, China (AP) — China grappled with backed-up rivers and reservoirs in danger of collapse, along with looming storms heralding the start of rainy season that threatened Monday to compound damage from the country's worst earthquake in three decades.
Two weeks after the magnitude-7.9 earthquake centered in Sichuan province, the confirmed death toll rose to 65,080, the Cabinet said. The government has said the final number of dead is expected to exceed 80,000.
Many of the disaster victims were children, prompting officials to clarify the country's strict one-child policy guidelines.
The Chengdu Population and Family Planning Committee in the capital of Sichuan province said Monday that families whose children were killed, severely injured or disabled in the quake can get a certificate to have another child."
DEADLY DISASTER BY NUMBERS
Latest facts about the May 12 earthquake that struck a city in China's Sichuan province, the country's worst in 30 years:
Magnitude: 7.9 (U.S.); 8.0 (China).
Disaster area population: 20 million.
Missing: 29,328.
Injured: 288,431.
Homeless: 5 million.
Classrooms destroyed: 6,898.
Orphans: 4,000.
Tents needed: 3.3 million.
Animals killed: 12.5 million.
Company losses: $9.5 billion.
Reconstruction: $10 billion government fund.
Sources: Chinese government
"ANXIAN, China (AP) — China grappled with backed-up rivers and reservoirs in danger of collapse, along with looming storms heralding the start of rainy season that threatened Monday to compound damage from the country's worst earthquake in three decades.
Two weeks after the magnitude-7.9 earthquake centered in Sichuan province, the confirmed death toll rose to 65,080, the Cabinet said. The government has said the final number of dead is expected to exceed 80,000.
Many of the disaster victims were children, prompting officials to clarify the country's strict one-child policy guidelines.
The Chengdu Population and Family Planning Committee in the capital of Sichuan province said Monday that families whose children were killed, severely injured or disabled in the quake can get a certificate to have another child."
DEADLY DISASTER BY NUMBERS
Latest facts about the May 12 earthquake that struck a city in China's Sichuan province, the country's worst in 30 years:
Magnitude: 7.9 (U.S.); 8.0 (China).
Disaster area population: 20 million.
Missing: 29,328.
Injured: 288,431.
Homeless: 5 million.
Classrooms destroyed: 6,898.
Orphans: 4,000.
Tents needed: 3.3 million.
Animals killed: 12.5 million.
Company losses: $9.5 billion.
Reconstruction: $10 billion government fund.
Sources: Chinese government
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
China: 40,000 dead, 5 million homeless after quake
I cannot believe all the earthquakes, tornadoes, and crazy storms the world has ben having lately. I just ask for you to join me in praying for everyone that has been affected by this catastrophe. -Me
"CHENGDU, China - Rescuers freed a 60-year-old woman Tuesday who was trapped for more than 195 hours after last week's earthquake and had survived by drinking rainwater, while the confirmed death toll rose to more than 40,000."
"The tales of survival came after the confirmed death toll from the disaster rose to 40,075, according to the State Council, China's Cabinet. Officials have said the final number killed by the quake was expected to surpass 50,000.
Five million people lost their homes in the quake, said Jiang Li, vice minister of civil affairs.
The government was setting up temporary housing for victims unable to find shelter with relatives, but there was a "desperate need for tents" to accommodate them, she said.
Nearly 280,000 tents have been shipped to the area and 700,000 more ordered, with factories working triple shifts to meet demand.
"Despite generous donations, the disaster is so great that victims still face a challenge in finding living accommodations," Jiang said.
In Washington, President Bush and his wife, Laura, visited the Chinese Embassy to sign a condolence book for quake victims and said the country was "ready to assist in any manner that China deems helpful."
"We stand with you during this tragic moment as you mourn the loss of so many of your loved ones and search for those still missing," Bush wrote, before pausing for a moment of silence.
China has said it will accept foreign medical teams, as the relief efforts shift from searching for survivors to caring for the homeless. A growing number of countries responded to the call, dispatching doctors to the quake area Tuesday.
A Russian medical team with a mobile hospital arrived Tuesday in the Sichuan provincial capital of Chengdu, Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said. A 37-member medical team sent by the Taiwan Red Cross organization also arrived in the disaster zone.
A 23-member medical team from Japan also departed Tuesday for China, replacing a rescue team in the disaster zone, the Japanese Foreign Ministry said.
Crews of doctors were also en route from Germany and Italy, Qin said.
At the West China Hospital in Chengdu, staff were trying to find relatives of victims being treated. A relief tent in the courtyard doubled as a bulletin board displaying about 50 snapshots of people who had not been claimed by families, mostly elderly patients or children."
"Nearer the epicenter in the town of An Xian, a crew of volunteers arrived from Tangshan, the Chinese city that suffered the country's worst quake in 1976 that killed at least 240,000 people"
- http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080520/ap_on_re_as/china_earthquake
"CHENGDU, China - Rescuers freed a 60-year-old woman Tuesday who was trapped for more than 195 hours after last week's earthquake and had survived by drinking rainwater, while the confirmed death toll rose to more than 40,000."
"The tales of survival came after the confirmed death toll from the disaster rose to 40,075, according to the State Council, China's Cabinet. Officials have said the final number killed by the quake was expected to surpass 50,000.
Five million people lost their homes in the quake, said Jiang Li, vice minister of civil affairs.
The government was setting up temporary housing for victims unable to find shelter with relatives, but there was a "desperate need for tents" to accommodate them, she said.
Nearly 280,000 tents have been shipped to the area and 700,000 more ordered, with factories working triple shifts to meet demand.
"Despite generous donations, the disaster is so great that victims still face a challenge in finding living accommodations," Jiang said.
In Washington, President Bush and his wife, Laura, visited the Chinese Embassy to sign a condolence book for quake victims and said the country was "ready to assist in any manner that China deems helpful."
"We stand with you during this tragic moment as you mourn the loss of so many of your loved ones and search for those still missing," Bush wrote, before pausing for a moment of silence.
China has said it will accept foreign medical teams, as the relief efforts shift from searching for survivors to caring for the homeless. A growing number of countries responded to the call, dispatching doctors to the quake area Tuesday.
A Russian medical team with a mobile hospital arrived Tuesday in the Sichuan provincial capital of Chengdu, Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said. A 37-member medical team sent by the Taiwan Red Cross organization also arrived in the disaster zone.
A 23-member medical team from Japan also departed Tuesday for China, replacing a rescue team in the disaster zone, the Japanese Foreign Ministry said.
Crews of doctors were also en route from Germany and Italy, Qin said.
At the West China Hospital in Chengdu, staff were trying to find relatives of victims being treated. A relief tent in the courtyard doubled as a bulletin board displaying about 50 snapshots of people who had not been claimed by families, mostly elderly patients or children."
"Nearer the epicenter in the town of An Xian, a crew of volunteers arrived from Tangshan, the Chinese city that suffered the country's worst quake in 1976 that killed at least 240,000 people"
- http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080520/ap_on_re_as/china_earthquake
Monday, May 12, 2008
52 total tornadoes in OK, MI, & GA over the weekend
"In all, 22 people were killed in the tornado outbreak in Oklahoma, Missouri and Georgia."
"National Weather Service assessment teams determined the twister that hit Picher had an EF-4 rating, the second highest rating, and was 1 mile wide at its widest point, meteorologist Mike Teague said Monday.
The tornado's winds were estimated at 165 to 175 mph, and the damage track stretched 74 miles - 29 in Oklahoma and another 45 in Missouri, where 15 people were killed.
"These storms are fairly rare to be that strong. The devastation was nearly complete in a few areas," Teague said. "Albeit isolated, there were some sections of neighborhoods where houses were just completely taken off the foundation. Gone."
The tornado could be the ultimate incentive for those 800 or so residents who have been reluctant to leave, now that most of their homes have been ruined, Sparkman said."
52 Total Tornadoes over the weekend in Ok, Mi, and Ga!
-http://www.ktva.com/topstories/ci_9235294
"National Weather Service assessment teams determined the twister that hit Picher had an EF-4 rating, the second highest rating, and was 1 mile wide at its widest point, meteorologist Mike Teague said Monday.
The tornado's winds were estimated at 165 to 175 mph, and the damage track stretched 74 miles - 29 in Oklahoma and another 45 in Missouri, where 15 people were killed.
"These storms are fairly rare to be that strong. The devastation was nearly complete in a few areas," Teague said. "Albeit isolated, there were some sections of neighborhoods where houses were just completely taken off the foundation. Gone."
The tornado could be the ultimate incentive for those 800 or so residents who have been reluctant to leave, now that most of their homes have been ruined, Sparkman said."
52 Total Tornadoes over the weekend in Ok, Mi, and Ga!
-http://www.ktva.com/topstories/ci_9235294
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