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The California Highway Patrol (CHP) is benefiting from federal funds to help save lives by nipping drinking and driving in the bud. More than $1 million in grant funds is used to fund California’s Designated Driver Program through August 2010.

“There’s no excuse for operating a motor vehicle after you’ve been drinking,”  CHP Commissioner Joe Farrow said. “Not only is it against the law, you’re putting your life and the lives of fellow motorists at risk every time you do.”

Last year in California, 1,112 people were killed at the hands of an impaired driver. In 2007, another 1,272 victims were killed under similar circumstances.

“While the numbers of DUI fatalities has dropped in recent years, we still have a long way to go with young males,” said Christopher Murphy, Director of the California Office of Traffic Safety. “This grant to the CHP gets the message of designating a sober driver right in front of that group.”

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A man with seven prior drunk-driving convictions was sentenced to two years in state prison Friday for careening into a San Mateo parking lot while intoxicated and stumbling into a coffee shop – right into the path of two California Highway Patrol officers.

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DOVER, Del.- Nationwide in 2008, 58 percent of all fatalities nationwide on Halloween night were alcohol-related, according to the Delaware Office of Highway Safety. That is why the OHS is coordinating statewide stepped up enforcement of Delaware’s impaired driving laws throughout the coming Halloween weekend as part of the state’s Checkpoint Strikeforce campaign.

Five sobriety checkpoints, along with several DUI saturation patrols, are planned for Oct. 31 and Nov. 1. In addition, the New Castle County DUI Task Force will conduct an 8-hour checkpoint in the Wilmington area to coincide with the popular Halloween loop.
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Rep. Jeffrey Wood was arrested for the third time in less than a year on suspicion of drunk driving Tuesday. The Wisconsin assemblyman was videotaped while performing sobriety tests when he was pulled over this week, where he falls after being told to walk in a straight line. A state aide reported today that the Wisconsin rep will enter an intensive rehab program.

The state aide confirmed that she did not know whether Wood would resign, but commented that he would not be seeking re-election. A committee has also been reportedly formed to consider expelling him from the post he’s held since 2002.

Sources say the 40-year-old state rep entered an outpatient rehab program last December, and even an inpatient program just last month. He is married and has 3 children. He is said to be enrolling in a 30- or 45-day treatment program.

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The Nevada Supreme Court has rejected an appeal by an Illinois man convicted in Douglas County of felony driving under the influence.

James Edward Schultz was sentenced in 2007 to a maximum of 10 years in prison but petitioned the court seeking a modified and reduced sentence. He argued a prior Illinois conviction should not be counted because the DUI law and sentencing in that state is different from Nevada statute. He said the Illinois statute doesn’t encompass the same conduct as that prohibited by Nevada law.

Without that conviction, Schultz’s case would not have been treated as a felony.

The high court rejected the argument.

“The record reveals that despite the disparity in the sentencing schemes, the Illinois statute Schultz was convicted under prohibits the same conduct prohibited (in Nevada),” the order by Justices Jim Hardesty, Michael Cherry and Nancy Saitta states.

Shultz had 19 prior felony convictions, 13 stemming from a single arrest on bad check charges. Four were related to driving under the influence and the rest were theft, battery and a drug charge. We are sure his mother is very proud

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More information is expected to be released Monday about the DUI arrest of Richmond city councilman Marty Jewell.

Police arrested Jewell after a traffic stop near Byrd Park around 1:30 a.m. Saturday, but did not elaborate on the arrest.

In a statement released to media, Jewell said, “On advice of counsel, I won’t be saying anything more until Monday. I look forward to all the facts being made public.”

Since his election in 2004, the councilman had largely enjoyed a scandal-free career; that changed when his nephew was charged in a shooting on the campus of Virginia Union University. No one was killed in that incident, but one student was wounded. Jewell stated he was shocked by the arrest which has continued to be part of the political discussion surrounding him.

Jewell was released on $500 bond. Stay with 8News for updates.

The Kansas Supreme Court is being asked by the Douglas County District Attorney’s office to consider a driving under the influence case, saying that the matter could have statewide consequences.

The issue is whether an Intoxilyzer reading of .08 within two hours of driving is sufficient evidence to get a DUI conviction.

The case stems from the Aug. 19, 2007 arrest of Paul Finch. A sheriff’s deputy stopped Finch for weaving in and out of his lane, according to court records.

He was taken to the county jail where he submitted to a breath test. The Intoxilyzer 5000 measured his breath to have .080 grams of alcohol content.

Finch’s atorney argued the .08 reading was insufficient to find him guilty of DUI beyond a reasonable doubt. State District Court Judge Robert Fairchild agreed, granting a motion to acquit. Finch pleaded guilty to a remaining charge of failure to maintain a lane.

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Alan Mabrey was driving drunk when he ran down Pacific Beach resident Emily Dowdy last February as she walked across Mission Boulevard.

In fact, tests showed that his blood alcohol level was nearly three times the legal limit.

The 45-year-old man also left the scene of the crash so he could get a burger at a nearby restaurant, leaving Dowdy lying in a pool of blood.

Mabrey may now have to spend the rest of his life in prison for killing the 24-year-old woman.  A San Diego jury convicted him Tuesday of second degree murder, gross vehicular manslaughter and hit and run causing death.

“Nothing will bring my beautiful daughter back to me and it is a tragedy,” said Emily Dowdy’s mother Ellie.  She listened to the verdict with a large group of family and friends.

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Stephanie Pratt, one of the stars of “The Hills,” was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence early Sunday morning in Hollywood.

Police said Pratt, 23, was arrested at around 3:45 a.m. outside a nightclub in Los Angeles and taken into custody, with bail set at $5,000, according to Sergeant Mark Cohan of the Los Angeles Police Department. Before her arrest, Pratt was reportedly out with some fellow “Hills” stars at Empire, celebrating Holly Montag’s 26th birthday.

Pratt was released with a ticket later Sunday morning and was not required to post bail but will return for a court hearing, according to a spokesperson at the Van Nuys Division, where Pratt was held.

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A new Ohio law now permits alcohol to be sold up to 2 hours earlier than before on Sundays, a change greeted openly by drinkers and restaurants and angrily by anti-DUI groups.

The change came at the end of this past legislative session when the state passed a new budget and other initiatives. As of this Sunday, over 8,000 restaurants and other locations selling liquor can open their bars at 11AM. Previously, the depots had to wait until 1PM due to an antiquated state law.