Newlywed couple dead; crashed head-on into each other while texting each other

Nicolas Cruz and Christina Munoz died while texting each other.

(Photo Credit:  Nicolas Cruz via Facebook)

A sad story out of Texas that demonstrates, once again, just how quickly life can change.  On June 5^th, a Texan newlywed couple was killed in a car crash.  Authorities just released new information yesterday that the couple was texting each other during the wreck that landed both vehicles in a ditch.  The ironic part is that they were driving to meet each other.  The ill-fated couple was identified as Christina Munoz, 26, and Nicolas Cruz, 31.

As the couple was approaching each other from opposite directions, something happened and Munoz apparently lost control of the car.  Her 1999 Saturn veered into the oncoming lane and she crashed head-on into the 1990 Mazda pickup truck that her husband Cruz was driving.  (Continue reading full story here.)

4-time DUI repeat offender out on bail, drives again, kills 3-year-old child

3-year-old Josiah Jenkins was killed by a 

drunk driver last week

(photo credit:  thestate.com)

Josiah Jenkins, was buried Sunday at Refuge Temple church in Columbia, SC.  The toddler was killed as a result of severe head trauma when a drunk driver plowed into the vehicle Jenkins was riding in as his mother Latoya Jenkins drove.  The inebriated driver, 44-year-old Lonnie Gross III is, of course, just fine.  The accident took place while Gross was out on bond awaiting trial for a previous DUI charge just this past November.

Horrific crash scene underscores need for stricter DUI laws

(photo credit:  wistv.com)

There were over 600 mourners at the service, many of whom did not even know young Jenkins.  But it is indicative of a community that is fed up with lenient DUI laws that have made the county jail essentially a revolving door storefront.

Repeat Drunk driver Lonnie Gross III

(photo credit:  thestate.com)

According to The State newspaper, Gross is a four-time felon (whose crime of choice is DUI) who kept being released on bond and probation.  Not only was Gross driving under the influence when the accident occurred last week, but his license was suspended.  For the fifth time, the crime is DUI, and finally the judge has shown mercy to the innocent citizens of Columbia and denied Gross bail.

Last year there was a big push for stricter DUI penalties when yet another child, 6-year-old Emma Longstreet, was killed by a repeat drunk driver.  Sen. Joel Lourie, D-Richland, introduced Emma’s law which would require first time DUI offenders to use an ignition locking device on their vehicles for a minimum of six months.  Read more about how this system would work here.

Shamefully, the bill stalled for almost a year due to partisan politics.  Now with the rash of more deaths by repeat DUI offenders in South Carolina, both sides of the house are agreeing to come together and will give the bill a hearing this Thursday.

Lights out for old bulbs

Video Credit:  Courtesy of Thomas H. Culhane

The 60- and 40-watt light bulbs will no longer be manufactured in the United States as of January 1, 2014.  It will also be illegal to import them.  Retailers will still be allowed to sell them until current in-store stocks are depleted.  This is all a part of President George Bush’s Energy Efficiency Act of 2007.

The 100- and 75-watt bulbs were already phased out in 2012 and 2013 respectively.  According to this law, the primary reason for this change is that “A standard incandescent is only 10% efficient – the other 90% of the electricity it uses is lost as heat”.  The government has issued the following guidelines to ease the transition of shopping for the new bulbs:

• If you used to buy 100 watt bulbs, look for a bulb with 1600 lumens.

• If you used to buy 75 watt bulbs, look for a bulb with 1100 lumens.

• If you used to buy 60 watt bulbs, look for a bulb with 800 lumens.

• If you used to buy 40 watt bulbs, look for a bulb with 450 lumens.

The Energy Act is projected to save as much as $6 billion per year.  But many are a little leery over the fact that these new bulbs contain mercury vapor, although a very small amount.  According to this article in the Scientific American, there is no danger to the household as long as the bulbs are intact.  However, if they break, it is very important to follow cleanup details precisely and all should be fine.