A1A South

Prom time approaches and with it come concerns about accidents involving drunken driving and the possibility that the evening will end in a lifetime of sorrow for the surviving family members.

In order to try to get the students to think of the possible consequences before they drink and drive, Nassau County emergency services personnel staged an auto accident scene with a “body” ejected onto the “road” (the track), had the firemen and policemen on site providing first aid, a Life Flight helicopter (Trauma 1) landed on the field to whisk the most seriously injured “accident victim” away by helicopter, an ambulance took away a less seriously injured victim, the police “arrested” the drunken driver, and the coroner arrived to pick up the body, and the news was given to the “parents” of the victim.

The firefighter representative explained to the students about “the golden hour” to treat accident victims and explained that in the rural area where we live, we’re at least 45 minutes to an hour away from a hospital, and it may take a half hour or more for county emergency personnel to even get to the accident site.

The helicopter returned, landed, and the flight surgeon took the microphone and told the students that he wanted them all to pretend they did not have hands or arms. He told them to sit on their hands, their hands did not exist, for five minutes. Of course, not many could keep still without using their hands even for five minutes on a lovely spring day. He then explained that a spinal cord injury at the C6 cervical vertebra may leave them without hand control and no lower body function for life.

The police then had the quarterback throw a couple of passes back and forth to a friend on the football team, then put on glasses that mimicked the effect on vision of being under the influence of drugs and/or alcohol, and then had them do the same thing again. The ball didn’t go anywhere near the intended recipient that time.

The kids then were released to examine the helicopter, talk with the EMTs/firefighters and policemen, and try on the glasses.

With the prom and graduation parties that are going to be going on county wide, we will probably lose some of our young men and women to automobile accidents. Will the program help? I can only hope so. I know that the emergency services people do not want to get the call dispatching them to an automobile accident with fatalities and have to be the ones notifying the parents that their beloved child has been killed in a tragic and preventable accident.

But I also remember when I graduated from high school. I was one of the “smart” kids that knew better, but it didn’t keep me from making bad choices, perhaps because my parents did not know or care who my friends were.

Parents, know who your children’s friends are. Know the families of your children’s friends. Too many parents are afraid to provide adult supervision and want to be their child’s “friend”. The kid has plenty of friends; what he/she needs are parents.

ATLANTA — The Georgia State Patrol is feeling the pinch from high gasoline prices.

Trooper Larry Schnall, a spokesman for the agency, said troopers are being asked to reduce the amount of time spent on the road by 25 percent.

Schnall said the troopers are being asked to perform more discretionary patrols, road checks, sobriety check points, license check points and possibly operate laser and radar more often.

Schnall said motorists should not notice any difference and that patrols still will be visible.

“We just may not be on rolling patrols for the entire eight hours of our shift,” Schnall said.

The change comes as gas topped $3.60 a gallon in the Atlanta area.

Source: News4Jax.com

I’m trying to figure out if this is good or bad for those that habitually violate the speed limit.

JACKSONVILLE BEACH, FL — Beachgoers may soon start noticing company in the water with a lot of sharp teeth.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says the sharks spotted in the New Smyrna Beach area, where there’s been three bites in three days, are migrating north to the First Coast.

A NOAA shark expert says the sharks, black tips and hammerheads, will bite, even if unprovoked.

The expert says usually bites happen when the shark mistakes you for food.

Thomas Wright, with the American Red Cross Volunteer Life Saving Corps, says there are some things you can do to avoid a bite, which are usually minor.

“Swim in front of the lifeguard, don’t go too far out, don’t wear shiny clothing or jewelry, and don’t swim too close to the pier,” said Wright.

He says the shiny clothes can look like the scales of fish.

He says there’s a lot of bait near the pier, which draw the type of fish sharks prey on.

Wright says while a shark can bite you just as easily in shallow water as in deep water, the farther out you swim, the farther help needs to travel to get to you.

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IOW, not dressing like a fishing lure is probably a good thing here. Avoiding swimming near bait and where people are cleaning fish and throwing the guts back into the water is a good thing, too. Try not to accidentally step on or kick sharks. They don’t like that and don’t accept apologies, no matter how sincere. And don’t go out any further than you can swim back from with a missing limb, or that people can hear you scream for help.

“We’re ecstatic,” said FAU lobbyist Tom Barlow. “The economy is not very strong and for the legislature to put this together shows they want to look at solutions to the energy problem.”

The $8.75 million is less than the $10 million that Gov. Charlie Crist had proposed giving FAU’s Ocean Energy Technology Center this year.

Still, researchers said the money will help further the center’s main projects, which include placing a turbine in the Gulf Stream to create energy, using deep ocean water as an air conditioner for coastal areas and generating energy from extreme temperature differences that naturally occur in the ocean.

Although harnessing ocean energy has been considered for more than a century, no system has been installed in the Gulf Stream for more than a few hours.

“We’re certainly honored that the governor and legislature see the potential in this program,” said Howard Hanson, FAU’s associate vice president for research.

FAU also was named to the proposed Florida Energy Systems Consortium, which is expected to generate collaboration between universities to increase energy conservation projects.

FAU’s ocean energy center, which is based in Dania Beach, was created in 2006 with $5 million in state “Centers of Excellence” funding.

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Hope it works out. I’m really worried about our legislators wasting millions of our tax dollars on “green” energy alternatives while blocking things such as coal-fired generating stations that we know work.

JACKSONVILLE BEACH, FL — Police now believe a man wanted for shooting his wife may be hiding in the part of the First Coast where he grew up.

Levert Stewart, 26, is accused of shooting his wife in front of their children at Jacksonville Beach Sunday, the same day of the Opening of the Beaches celebration.

Levonte Stewart is recovering from three gunshots at Shands Jacksonville.

Investigator say Mr. Stewart grew up in northwest Jacksonville.

“We’re in an active manhunt so he doesn’t hurt anyone else,” said Jacksonville Beach Police Sgt. Thomas Bingham.

Stewart’s rap sheet is 13 pages long.

It includes charges of kidnapping, drug possession, domestic violence, and, at the time of the shooting, an arrest warrant.

“We consider him a habitual offender, a very violent offender, based on the very serious and violent acts he committed on Sunday and also his past criminal history,” said Sgt. Bingham.

Police say Stewart is armed and dangerous.

And since he shot his wife in broad daylight, police say there’s no telling what he could do next.

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This is a young man whose adult rap sheet is 13 pages long. He probably has an equally long list of offenses as a juvenile. There has been a massive failure somewhere along the way.

ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. — A 10-year-old boy was arrested on charges of domestic battery and aggravated assault on Monday after attacking his mother with a hammer and fighting with his older brother, according to St. Augustine police.

Officers responding to a report of a domestic dispute in the 8500 block of Josiah Street about 9:30 a.m. were told by the boy’s mother that the incident started when he refused to go to school and she grabbed his bicycle to stop him from riding away.

She said the boy tried to push her over his bike, then went in the house, got a hammer and starting swinging it around. He got in a physical altercation with his 13-year-old brother, then swung the hammer at his mother.

The mother said when she grabbed the hammer away from the boy, but he punched her in the back and sides, then went outside and took off on his bike.

Officers were there when he returned and took the boy into custody, booked, then turned over to the Department of Juvenile Justice. His name is not being used because of his age.

According to the police report, the mother was not injured.

Source: News4Jax

Anybody want to bet on whether this will be his only brush with the law? Whether he will finish school?