WEDNESDAY, JULY 2, 2003
NEWS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN - 13
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Police ready for Fourth as DUI laws stiffen up
By Annie Bernethy
aberneth@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
This month marks the beginning of tougher DUI consequences in Kansas, ranging from fines to car impoundment.
A new Kansas law implemented yesterday allows law enforcement to impound the cars of drunken drivers for up to a year on their first offense.
Highway patrolmen will be making sure motorists aren't drinking and driving. The patrolling will cover Independence Day weekend, said Lt. John Eichkorn of Kansas Highway Patrol.
The Kansas Highway Patrol has been enforcing the "You Drink and Drive, You Lose" program since Friday and will continue through July 13.
In Kansas, if a person receives a DUI they will lose more than just their drivers license.
Officers will set up sobriety check points at different locations around Lawrence and across all state highways.
For the first offense a driver could spend 48 hours in jail, serve 100 hours of community service, complete an alcohol abuse class, have their car impounded, pay fines up to $1000 and spend 330 days on probation. All this after 30 days of license suspension for the first offense.
A third DUI conviction is a felony with a mandatory 90 days to one year in prison and fines up to $2,500.
The consequences only get tougher.
"We see a large number of DUIs in the summer," Eichkorn said. "We want people to plan ahead if their plans include alcohol."
All across the state, highway patrolmen will be looking for intoxicated drivers. The safety of everyone is top priority for the Highway Patrol, Eichkorn said.
"We feel it is important that people get the message now," he said. A lot of people celebrate outside during the summer, at lakes, golf courses and other outdoor events, he said.
"A lot of those celebrations include alcohol,"he said.
Memorial Day weekend was proof of what holiday celebrations could result in.
The Kansas Highway Patrol arrested 103 people under the suspicion of drinking and driving in a 78-hour period Eichkorn said.
Eichkorn said the Highway Patrol had always been aggressive in stopping drunken driving, but this was the first year it used the slogan "You Drink and Drive You Lose."
He said he just wanted people to plan ahead and be safe.
"It just doesn't happen to other people," he said. "It could happen to any of us."
Sgt. Mike Pattrick of the Lawrence Police Department said the department always had a large number of officers on duty for July 4, but was not doing anything out of the ordinary.
The Lawrence Police Department will respond to fireworks complaints, Patrick said, but those calls will be a lower priority.
— Edited by Brandon Baker
E. coli cases prompt inquiry
HEALTH
The Associated Press
TOPEKA (AP) Kansas is investigating an E. coli case linked to a national investigation of the potentially deadly bacteria in other states, the Kansas Department of Health and Environment said yesterday.
The national investigation found the common source of the E. coli cases has been vacuumed-packed frozen steaks sold door-to-door and distributed to restaurants, institutions and retail stores,
The Food Safety and Inspection Service said the products subject to the recall were produced between March 17 and March 22 and bear the establishment code "EST. 19113" inside the USDA inspection mark.
according the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the USDA Food Safety Inspection Service.
E. coli symptoms include stomach cramps and diarrhea and usually occur two to five days after eating contaminated food.
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