A.M. Executive Brefing - Dec. 15
This Morning's Headlines:
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State Cracks Down on Overweight Trucks
In order to head off road damage, South Dakota officials are conducting a crackdown on trucks breaking state weight restrictions. Hefty fines are being levied. ABC NewsWire (12/15/99)Manager-Led Group Offers to Buy Truck Parts Maker
Senior managers of the truck-parts supplier Transportation Technologies Industries are at the head of an investor group that has offered $205.8 million for the company. The offer will be examined by independent directors. New York Times (12/15/99) P. C4
Truck Thieves Get Large Haul of Tiny Candy
Two thefts of trucks full of freight took place recently in Florida.A tractor-trailer containing $50,000 worth of M&M candy was taken Saturday or Sunday in Port St. Lucie. The words "RWH Trucking Inc." were written in black on the white trailer. Trucker John Schmitt said the $150,000 rig also contained roughly $20,000 of his personal items.
Also, according to a spokeswoman for Fort Pierce police, a truck containing Dell computers worth over $1 million was taken from a Pilot truck stop. The stop is located between Florida's Turnpike and Interstate 95.
Some $1 million in cargo-theft loss took place in St. Lucie County in the last twelve months. Stuart (Fla.) News (12/14/99) P. C1; Martinez, Ray
Eight Charges Dismissed Against Truck Driver
Charges of death by vehicle against Trucker Esau Roosevelt Dixon of Maryland-based J.M.X. Inc. regarding a 1996 accident in Durham, N.C., that killed eight people have been dropped.The jury came to a deadlock in a 1997 trial on eight charges of felony manslaughter, and prosecutor Mitchell Garrell said "the state believes a retrial would be unlikely to produce a different result."
Dixon and J.M.X. argued that the driver of a John Umstead Hospital van was at fault. That van, seven of whose occupants died in the wreck, cut off Dixon's truck and came to a halt, they argued. Associated Press (12/14/99)
Thieves Steal 37,000 Pounds of Kool-Aid
A $20,000 trailer that held $25,000 worth of Kool-Aid drink mix was stolen from Roadway Express in Aurora, Ill., according to police. Chicago Tribune (12/14/99) P. 4, Trib West Section; Dardick, HalNew Charges Filed in Driver's License Scandal
Prosecutors in the federal Operation Safe Road probe into the Illinois drivers license scandal filed charges of conspiracy to commit extortion against onetime Elk Grove Village licensing site manager Soon Cho, 40, of Morton Grove, and four other people.The prosecutors claim that Chicago driving school owner Wojciech "Wally" Grabinski, 51, gave $500 annually to Cho and that some of that money went toward campaign fundraisers for Gov. George Ryan, who was secretary of state at the time.
The indictment also alleges that one of Cho's employees bribed Cho up to 10 times so the employee could keep up such unlawful actions as, prosecutor Scott Lassar said, accepting payoffs to give CDLs to Grabinski's students. A number of these applicants were not English speakers.
The indictments allege that driving instructors also gave bribes for applicants to be licensed under false names.
This brings the number of people charged in the scandal to 28. Associated Press (12/14/99) ; Irvine, Martha
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