By DAVID NICHOL
T-H Staff Writer
Only one fatality marred the long Christmas weekend for the Arkansas State Police in Troop D, and troopers are now looking toward the New Year's holiday.
The Troop D area includes St. Francis, Crittenden, Phillips, Lee, Cross, Woodruff, Monroe and Prairie counties.
The area's lone fatality took place in a one-car accident on Christmas Eve, when Christopher Spencer, 21, of Forrest City, apparently failed to negotiate a curve on Ark. Highway 306, west of Colt.
The holiday period began officially for the State Police immediately after midnight on Dec. 24, and continued until midnight Sunday.
According to Capt. Nathaniel Jackson, commander of Troop D, troopers investigated 20 accidents in all.
He said they also made nine DWI arrests and one DUI arrest. There were also 37 safety belt violations and nine child restraint arrests.
Jackson said the ASP would also be out in force for the coming New Year's holiday and weekend.
"We're going to do the same thing we did for the Christmas holidays," he said.
The official period will begin with the beginning of New Year's Eve (Wednesday) just after midnight, and continue until midnight on Sunday, Jan. 4.
"And we're still taking part in the 'You Drink. You Drive. You Lose' campaign," Jackson added.
The national campaign, designed to reduce the number of alcohol-related crashes, began on Dec. 19, and will continue through Jan. 4.
"There will be saturation points and we will arrest those who choose to drink and drive," Jackson said. "We recommend that if you're going to drive, you name a designated driver if you're going to be drinking, so you can have a safe way back home."
According to Col. Dan Melton, director of the ASP, no warnings will be issued.
"Our message is simple -- You Drink. You Drive. You Lose. Violators can lose their licenses, time from their jobs, and lose money in high fines and court costs as well as possibly face imprisonment for repeat offenses, assault and vehicular manslaughter.
"Refuse a blood alcohol concentration test and you can lose your license on the spot and have your car impounded. You'll be spending your money on bail and towing fees instead of holiday gifts."
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 242 people in Arkansas died in alcohol-related crashes in 2002. Drivers who were drinking accounted for about 38 percent of the state's total crash deaths.
The Arkansas Highway and Transportation Commission has issued the following tips for people who wish to drive safely -- and stay out of trouble: Don't risk it. If you plan to drive, don't drink; choose a sober designated driver before partying; take mass transit, a taxicab or ask a friend to drive you home; spend the night where the activity is being held: Report impaired drivers to law enforcement; always wear your safety belt -- your best defense against an impaired driver.
The "You Drink. You Drive. You Lose" national mobilization was first launched in December of 1999.
A Hughes man was arrested for rape Friday while being held on drug charges in the St. Francis County Jail.
Robert Brooks, 31, of Hughes, was arrested on Christmas morning on a warrant for possession and delivery of a controlled substance, crack cocaine. While being held in the county jail, the rape charge was levied against Brooks, according to Hughes Police Department Lt. John Davis.
Because the incident is still under investigation, Davis would only say the rape charge involves a minor female and had occurred in the Hughes city limits.
Brooks is being held on a $50,000 bond, and was scheduled to appear in St. Francis County District Court this afternoon, according to court records.
A Haynes man who abandoned his mother's car after an altercation with police early Christmas morning surrendered to police on Friday.
Frederick L. Tiswell, 28, was charged with a variety of traffic violations after his mother drove him to the St. Francis County Jail Friday afternoon.
According to a report at the St. Francis County Sheriff's Department, Tiswell was driving a 1994 Buick when a deputy reportedly saw his vehicle run a stop sign at the Airport and Mallory roads intersection. The deputy stopped the car, but while asking for Tiswell's driver's license, he reportedly drove away. After a brief chase, Tiswell drove the car into a nearby ditch on Airport Road, and the vehicle was abandoned by the driver and two occupants who fled on foot.
On Friday, Tiswell was charged with disregarding a traffic control device, no liability insurance, disregarding a police officer, reckless driving and fleeing.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Investigators and retailers in eight states and a territory are scrambling to recover meat that may have come from a Holstein stricken with deadly mad cow disease.
Agriculture Department officials maintain, meanwhile, there is no health risk to consumers.
Dr. Ron De Haven, chief veterinary officer at the USDA, reiterated that point Monday.
''We know from scientific research'' that the agent that causes the disease ''does not go into muscle tissue or the meat cuts but resides primarily in the central nervous system, the brain and the spinal cord,'' he said on NBC's ''Today'' show. DeHaven described the danger as ''certainly minuscule risk, if any risk at all.''
''We're, again, taking this action out of an abundance of precaution and not out of any real risk to the public safety,'' he told CBS's ''The Early Show.''
Dr. Kenneth Petersen, a department veterinarian, said Sunday that an investigation revealed that meat from the infected dairy cow could have reached retail markets in Alaska, Hawaii, Idaho and Montana and the territory of Guam -- more locations than originally thought.
Officials had said earlier that most of the meat went to Washington and Oregon, with lesser amounts to California and Nevada, for retail sale.
''The recalled meat represents essentially zero risk to consumers,'' said Petersen, of USDA's food safety agency.
He said parts most likely to carry infection -- the brain, spinal cord and lower intestine -- were removed before the meat from the infected cow was cut and processed for human consumption.