STAR TELEGRAM: Police to pay special attention to drunken drivers this holiday season

GRAND PRAIRIE — Drunken drivers beware.

Law officers will be out in force this holiday season and looking for such impaired drivers, officials from Tarrant and Dallas counties said Wednesday.

Prosecutors, police, deputies, medical personnel and politicians are all on the same page, said Richard Alpert, Tarrant County assistant district attorney. Those who get pulled over on suspicion of driving drunk will be taken off the streets, they will have their blood drawn even if they refuse to submit to a test, and they will be prosecuted, Alpert said.

Alpert said he expects more than 150 drunken driving arrests in Tarrant County during the holiday season. He said that if people really want to avoid becoming a statistic, they can follow his example.

“I’m not on the roads between 10 p.m. and 4 a.m. during the holidays,” Alpert said at a news conference in Grand Prairie. “I leave those roads to the police.”

Most of the people officers expect to arrest are repeat offenders or will have blood-alcohol levels nearly twice the legal limit, which is 0.08, Alpert said.

Tarrant County Commisioner Andy Nguyen also cautioned motorists to designate a sober driver or stay at home during the holiday season.

“The holidays should be a time for rejoicing,” he said, “not for mourning.”
Grand Prairie Police Chief Steve Dye said those who get caught drinking and driving can expect to spend about $10,000 by the time they complete the court process.

“We are all paying for it,” Dye said. “Drunk driving costs an average insurance customer an additional $800 on their yearly insurance premium.”

Jason Derscheied, executive director of Mothers Against Drunk Driving, said the period between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day is the most dangerous time for those trying to avoid being involved in a collision with an impaired driver.

Near the end of the news conference, Tonya Winchester pulled her wheelchair up to the microphone and said a drunken driver cost her the use of much of her body. Almost a decade ago she was drinking with friends and handed her car keys to a friend who had been drinking but was confident he could drive.

The friend ran a stop sign and an 18-wheeler crashed into her jeep at 40 mph, said Winchester, now 27.

“I woke up two weeks later in a hospital unable to feel, speak or breathe,” Winchester said. “I broke my neck and was told that I would be paralyzed for the rest of my life.”

But that’s not what bothers her most, Winchester said.

“The hardest part of my injury is having to watch the people I love suffer through my decision with me,” she said. “Every decision we make has meaning. My message is to encourage you to think before any decision you make and be responsible.”

Mitch Mitchell, 817-390-7752 Twitter: @mitchmitchel3 THANKS FOR SHARING MY STORY!

http://www.star-telegram.com/2014/11/12/6283310/police-to-pay-special-attention.html?sp=/99/189/228/231/

Read more here: http://www.star-telegram.com/2014/11/12/6283310/police-to-pay-special-attention.html?sp=/99/189/228/231/#storylink=cpy

Mitchell, Mitch. "Police to pay special attention to drunken drivers this holiday season." Star Telegram: Crime And Safety. 13 November 2014. Web. 14 November 2014.

http://www.star-telegram.com/2014/11/12/6283310/police-to-pay-special-attention.html?sp=/99/189/228/231.

DALLAS MORNING NEWS: DWI enforcers on holiday alert in Dallas and Tarrant counties

GRAND PRAIRIE — Tonya Winchester was trying to avoid driving drunk one night while celebrating her graduation from McKinney North High School in 2005. But the friend to whom she handed her keys wasn’t as thoughtful.

An 18-wheeler slammed into the passenger side of Winchester’s car after her friend — who had also been drinking — barreled through a stop sign into State Highway 5 in McKinney. Winchester woke up in a hospital two weeks later unable to speak, move or breathe.

The 27-year-old Winchester, who remains paralyzed below her chest, shared her story as a cautionary tale Wednesday during an annual news conference to announce ramped-up DWI enforcement for the holiday season in Dallas and Tarrant counties. Officials from both counties said they hope their efforts will deter people from drunken driving during a festive time of the year.

“We’ve got to break the cycle,” Grand Prairie Police Chief Steve Dye said. “As a society, we must collectively send a message that driving while intoxicated is no longer acceptable.”

Officials say their plans will include a no-refusal initiative, which means officers will seek warrants to obtain
blood samples from anyone under suspicion of DWI who refuses to provide the specimens voluntarily.

Prosecutors, magistrate judges, nurses and lab workers are available to police departments around the clock to process arrestees.

Dye said no-refusal initiatives, which have become commonplace around holidays, eliminate the burdensome process that most officers go through during DWI arrests.

Richard Alpert, Tarrant County assistant district attorney, said anyone arrested on a DWI charge would face the full consequences of the law. He expects about 150 cases during the holidays in his county.

He advised people to come up with a plan to avoid driving drunk or becoming a victim of drunken drivers. He said he stays off the roadways between 10 p.m. and 4 a.m. “What I’m hoping for is that the community will get the message that those who consider putting themselves and others at risk will understand that this is not the place to do it,” he said.

Dallas County had 49 alcohol-related traffic fatalities in 2013. Tarrant County recorded 24. That included the four pedestrians killed by 16-year-old Ethan Couch of Burleson, who had a blood alcohol level three times the legal limit for adults. Alpert prosecuted the Couch case, which infamously ended in probation for the “affluenza” teen, sparking national outrage. But Alpert said intoxication manslaughter case filings have dropped “surprisingly” recently.

Still, officials said DWI crashes hurt everyone by raising area insurance rate rates. Dallas County Commissioner Elba Garcia, who organizes the annual news conference, said people shouldn’t be afraid to be a “party pooper” by stopping someone from drinking and driving, possibly preventing a life-altering accident.

That certainly rang true for Winchester. In some ways, she has moved on with her life. She studies social work at the University of North Texas. She and her boyfriend celebrated their 12th anniversary recently. And she volunteers for Meals on Wheels and mentors another wheelchair user in McKinney.

Still, the once hard-partying Winchester said she sees herself as not just a victim, but an offender.

“The hardest part of my injury is watching those I love suffer the consequences of my actions alongside of me,” she said. “Day in and day out, their bodies grinding away in my care. All the people that I ran to, that I would party with — they aren’t in my life today.

“But you know who is? My family.”

http://www.dallasnews.com/news/metro/20141112-dwi-enforcers-on-holiday-alert-in-dallas-and-tarrant-counties.ece.


Hallman, Tristan. "DWI Enforcers on Holiday Alert in Dallas and Tarrant Counties." The Dallas Morning News. 13 November 2014. Web. 14 November 2014. http://www.dallasnews.com/news/metro/20141112-dwi-enforcers-on-holiday-alert-in-dallas-and-tarrant-counties.ece.

GREAT JOB TRISTAN!

Fundraiser #1 for Toby Mills

We are raising funds for Toby Mills, my boyfriend's best friend since middle school, who was in a serious car crash last September and is quadriplegic and paralyzed as a result. Not only is he paralyzed but his injury is much worse than mine. He damaged and nearly severed his C4 spinal cord segment which is very high on the spine (actually in the neck). The area of the spinal cord that is affected and the amount of impact and damage to the spinal cord determines what an injured person can move or feel. The higher the injury level on the spinal cord, the less ability and function a person has. Also, a person with spinal cord injury is classified as either paraplegic or quadriplegic. Paraplegia refers to a person that cannot move (or possibly feel) lower body extremities due to damage in the back. Quadriplegia refers to a person that cannot move (or most likely feel) all or parts of both upper and lower body extremities due to damage in the neck. The high spinal cord damage Toby obtained unfortunately has left him with only the abilities to blink, eat, speak, think, and move both his neck and one forearm (very) slightly. He has lost the abilities to move and feel below his neck and encounters daily struggles with pressure sores, breathing troubles, bladder infections, and loss - loss of independence, privacy, and all the abilities the average person takes for granted. We often think we have it bad, but then comes along someone who has it much worse. Toby spends most of his days in his hospital bed watching T.V., waiting only for night to come and another day of doing the exact same thing.


We are raising funds for:
a) Toby to have a computer with adaptive technology - aide in independence and quality of life
b) Inpatient and at-home rehabilitation - aide in physical health, independence, and quality of life
c) Adaptive equipment and tools for daily living (eating, getting in and out of bed, etc.)

We plan on having on-going fundraisers for Toby as he has many needs and desires and currently does not have insurance. His first fundraiser, "Tools for Toby," is an online fundraiser but is only the beginning! The direct link is http://www.youcaring.com/Tmills.

Ways you can help:
1) Pray
2) Donate money
3) Send Toby or Amber, his girlfriend and caregiver, an encouragement card or helpful resources (9433 Olive St., Princeton, Texas 75407)
4) Share this email and spread the word
5) Help us get more fundraisers started
6) Offer knowledge or help - visiting with him, praying over him, care sitting to give his family a break, etc.
7) Make him and his family meals

We have a couple restaurant fundraisers in the works and will keep you posted on those!

Toby's girlfriend, Amber, has honorably remained by his side. You can contact her at aweglowski21@gmail.com or 469-951-7863.

Father, we lift up Toby and Amber and pray that their faith will not fail but be strengthened. When all they see is struggle and defeat, Father, again, strengthen them. Let them experience you personally. May their eyes and hearts and very being be opened to you and who you are. May they understand how much you love and care for them and how you are there for them and always have been. May they look to you for understanding. Reveal purpose, truth, and guidance to them Holy Spirit. Father, we ask for doors of opportunity, blessing, and healing to be opened to them. We trust you God and thank you for saving Toby and their relationship and for your amazing calling on their lives. I see the greatness you have in store for them and praise you God for that revelation. Father, may their spirits be lifted, encouraged, motivated, and empowered and may your people enter their lives and bless them. In Jesus' name. Amen.

Thank you supporters. May you be eternally blessed.

Nobel Prize for Adult Stem Cell Discovery

STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - Scientists from Britain and Japan shared a Nobel Prize on Monday for the discovery that adult cells can be transformed back into embryo-like stem cells that may one day regrow tissue in damaged brains, hearts or other organs.

 

John Gurdon, 79, of the Gurdon Institute in Cambridge, Britain and Shinya Yamanaka, 50, of Kyoto University in Japan, discovered ways to create tissue that would act like embryonic cells, without the need to collect the cells from embryos.

They share the $1.2 million Nobel Prize for Medicine, for work Gurdon began 50 years ago and Yamanaka capped with a 2006 experiment that transformed the field of "regenerative medicine" - the search for ways to cure disease by growing healthy tissue.

"These groundbreaking discoveries have completely changed our view of the development and specialization of cells," the Nobel Assembly at Stockholm's Karolinska Institute said.

All of the body starts as stem cells, before developing into tissue like skin, blood, nerves, muscle and bone. The big hope is that stem cells can grow to replace damaged tissue in cases from spinal cord injuries to Parkinson's disease.

Scientists once thought it was impossible to turn adult tissue back into stem cells. That meant new stem cells could only be created by taking them from embryos, which raised ethical objections that led to research bans in some countries.

As far back as 1962 Gurdon became the first scientist to clone an animal, making a healthy tadpole from the egg of a frog with DNA from another tadpole's intestinal cell. That showed that developed cells carry the information to make every cell in the body - decades before other scientists made world headlines by cloning the first mammal from adult DNA, Dolly the sheep.

More than 40 years later, Yamanaka produced mouse stem cells from adult mouse skin cells by inserting a small number of genes. His breakthrough effectively showed that the development that takes place in adult tissue could be reversed, turning adult tissue back into cells that behave like embryos.

Stem cells created from adult tissue are known as "induced pluripotency stem cells", or iPS cells. Because patients may one day be treated with stem cells from their own tissue, their bodies might be less likely to reject them.

"The eventual aim is to provide replacement cells of all kinds," Gurdon's institute explains on its website.

"We would like to be able to find a way of obtaining spare heart or brain cells from skin or blood cells. The important point is that the replacement cells need to be from the same individual, to avoid problems of rejection and hence of the need for immunosuppression."

In just six years, Yamanaka's paper has already been cited more than 4,000 times in other scientists' work.

In a news conference in Japan, he thanked his team of young researchers: "My joy is very great. But I feel a grave sense of responsibility as well."

Gurdon spoke of his own unlikely career as a young man who loved science but was steered away from it at school, only to take it up again at university.

He still keeps an old school report in a frame on his desk: "I believe he has ideas about becoming a scientist... This is quite ridiculous," his teacher wrote. "It would be a sheer waste of time, both on his part and of those who have to teach him."

EARLY STAGES

The science of iPS cells is still in early stages. Among concerns is the fear that implanted cells could grow out of control and develop into tumors.

Some scientists say stem cells from embryos may prove more useful against disease than iPS cells, and the ethics of working with embryos should be defended.

Nevertheless, since Yamanaka published his findings the discoveries have already produced advances. The techniques are being used to grow cells in laboratories to study disease, the chairman of the awards committee, Urban Lendahl, told Reuters.

"You can't take out a large part of the heart or the brain or so to study this, but now you can take a cell from, for example, the skin of the patient, reprogramme it, return it to a pluripotent state, and then grow it in a laboratory," he said.

"The second thing is for further ahead. If you can grow different cell types from a cell from a human, you might - in theory for now but in future hopefully - be able to return cells where cells have been lost."

Thomas Perlmann, Nobel Committee member and professor of Molecular Development Biology at the Karolinska Institute said: "Thanks to these two scientists, we know now that development is not strictly a one-way street."

"There is lot of promise and excitement, and difficult disorders such as neurodegenerative disorders, like perhaps Alzheimer's and, more likely, Parkinson's disease, are very interesting targets."

For now, both men said their scientific work continues.

Asked why he still keeps his schoolteacher's discouraging report, Gurdon said: "When you're having problems, like when an experiment doesn't work - which often happens - it's nice to remind yourself that perhaps after all you're not so good at this job and the schoolmaster may have been right."

(Reporting by Patrick Lannin, Alistair Scrutton, Ben Hirschler, Kate Kelland, Kiyoshi Takenaka, Chris Wickham and Peter Graff; writing by Peter Graff; editing by Philippa Fletcher)

Ringstrom, Anna. "UK, Japan Scientists Win Nobel for Adult Stem Cell Discovery." Yahoo! News. 8 October 2012. Web. 8 October 2012. .

Urgent Prayer Request

Two nights ago, a good friend of Billy's (my boyfriend) was in a bad car crash and is now paralyzed with a complete C6-7 spinal cord injury (exactly what I have). He is currently at Parkland Hospital in the ICU.

Father, we lift up Toby to you and praise You God for his life. We pray God that You will guide the hands and tests of the doctors and bless Toby with a miraculous recovery in the name of Jesus. God, reveal Yourself to him and his family in a fresh new way. May they learn of Your grace, love, and goodness and may they learn who their God is through this tragic situation. Speak to them God and protect his children as they search for answers. God, we know You have a special plan for Toby and I pray that Your will be done in his life. Father, prepare and strengthen Toby and his family for the road ahead. Give them endurance and help them to persevere. We refuse the report of the world and release the report of the Lord. Cover him and his room with Your healing and guiding spirit. Father, we pray for strength, sensations, movements, and all abilities to return in the name of Jesus. Holy Spirit, awaken his body. Awaken his spinal cord we pray in the name of Jesus. I pray that his girlfriend be encouraged and feel Your spirit. Help her through this as well. Thank you God again, for saving Toby. May he grab hold of this second chance and arise as the man You created him to be. I pray these things in Jesus' name, Amen.

Select "Will Pray" if you prayed this prayer. If this blog was sent directly to your email, please visit the blog page and select the box "Will Pray." Thanks. Please share.

Spinal Cord Injury Research

I am collecting research for the Collin College Undergraduate Interdisciplinary Student Research Conference in April 2011. I am asking for participation from spinal cord injured persons. If you would like to participate by completing an anonymous survey, please visit http://tonyawinchester.com/SCIQ.html. Thank you!!

Injured Rutgers player Eric LeGrand may benefit from new advances in spinal cord research

"Just last week, the first stem cell treatment for a spinal cord injury was administered in the United States. Various drugs are in the research pipeline. And there is optimism in the medical community that new treatments may be in the offing."

"The first embryonic stem cell treatment for a human in this country was administered Oct. 11 to a patient partially paralyzed with a spinal cord injury in Atlanta. Millions of embryonic stem cells were injected into the patient’s spinal cord, with the hope that he or she could recover some of their damaged nervous system."

Augenstein, Seth. "Injured Rutgers player Eric LeGrand may benefit from new advances in spinal cord research." The Star-Ledger. New Jersey Local News. 21 October 2010. http://www.nj.com/rutgersfootball/index.ssf/2010/10/injured_rutgers_player_eric_le_1.html.