The Fourth of July celebration is commonly associated with fireworks, parades, hot dogs, picnics, and other parties.  Also, it is a day where many Americans will be consuming alcohol.

As North Carolinians across the state flock to the Southeastern North Carolina coast to celebrate the 4^th of July Weekend, the state has begun “Booze It & Lose It: Operation Firecracker” to deter drunk drivers across the entire state and remove impaired drivers from the roads.  Operation Firecracker began Monday, June 27, and continues through Monday, July 4.

Operation Firecracker is conducted by the North Carolina Department of Transportation and it coordinates the Highway Patrol, sheriff’s offices and police departments.  During this period there will be additional checkpoints and stepped up patrols that will be conducted across the state.

The Fourth of July holiday is considered one of the deadliest for highway travel.  In 2010, according to the North Carolina Department of Transportation, there were 205 alcohol-related automobile accidents during the Independence holiday, which resulted in six deaths.  Additionally, alcohol-related crashes also accounted for 105 injuries in the state during the same week last year.  During the 2010 “Booze It & Lose it: Operation Firecracker” campaign officers conducted more than 4,600 patrols and checkpoints, which resulted in more than 1,200 North Carolina motorists being charged with driving while impaired.

This means there will be an increased police presence at the beaches in Pender, New Hanover, and Brunswick Counties.  The beaches that will be affected will be Surf City, Topsail Beach, Wrightsville Beach, Kure Beach, Carolina Beach, Holden Beach, Ocean Isle Beach, and Sunset Beach.

Collins Law Firm always urges people not to drive while impaired.  If you consume alcohol, we encourage you to have a designated driver or to take a taxi home.  However, if you are charged with a DWI/DUI, underage drinking, or any other crime in or around Wilmington, NC in New Hanover County, Brunswick County (Bolivia, NC), or Pender County (Burgaw, NC) and need a lawyer or attorney to represent you, call Collins Law Firm at: 910-793-9000 for a confidential consultation.

It was reported that on June 3, 2011 former Presidential Candidate John Edwards was indicted on four counts of illegal campaign contributions and charges of conspiracy and false statements after federal prosecutors said he used more than $900,000 from his 2008 presidential campaign to cover up his affair with staffer Rielle Hunter and the birth of their daughter. Edwards was ordered to give up his passport.  So it is likely that as this case move forward, Edwards will either be at his home in Chapel Hill, NC or at his beach house in Figure Eight Island, NC, which is just north of Wrightsville Beach in New Hanover County.

The Wilmington Star News reported that Edwards pleaded not guilty to these charges. Edwards defense team says the money he received from his former campaign finance chairman were personal gifts, while the indictment said the payments were a scheme to protect Edwards’ White House ambitions. The indictment stated that, “A centerpiece of Edwards’ candidacy was his public image as a devoted family man.

John Edwards of Robbins, North Carolina came into the national spotlight in the 1980s and 1990s as a successful trial lawyer. He repeatedly won millions of dollars for his clients.  Later he and another attorney created their own firm. He was elected to represent North Carolina in the United States Senate in 1998, and ran for President in 2004 and 2008. During Edwards’ 2004 presidential run he came to Wrightsville Beach, NC to mingle with North Carolinians at the beach crowd.  His activities during his 2008 campaign for President are what are under scrutiny.

The National Enquirer, a tabloid newspaper, first reported the extramarital affair in 2007, but both Edwards and Hunter denied its truth. The mainstream media ignored the story because they said there was no evidence showing it was true.  In August of 2008, Edwards admitted to the affair, but denied he was the father of the child. It was not until January of 2010 that Edwards admitted he was the father.

The federal investigation took more than two years and searched every moment of Edwards political career to examine if he did anything improper. The focus of the investigation had been on the hundreds of thousands of dollars that two of Edwards’ supporters had provided him. This money went to keep Hunter and her baby in hiding in 2007 and 2008.

The legal case against Edwards will focus on whether the money that his two supporters spent to keep his mistress in hiding were campaign contributions that should have been reported publicly, or private gifts from friends. If convicted he faces up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine on each count.

Americans were not discouraged by high gas prices, which at $3.77 a gallon was one dollar a gallon higher compared to last year, and took to the road this past weekend in enormous numbers to celebrate Memorial Day Weekend.  According to a  AAA report 34.9 million travelers journeyed at least 50 miles from home, which was an increase of 100,000 travelers compared to the same weekend last year.  The report declared that 41 percent of the people traveling in the South Atlantic region went to a beach.

In North Carolina that meant that people came to our beautiful beaches up and down the coast.  North Carolinians spent the holiday weekend at the beaches in Pender County, New Hanover County, and Brunswick County.  The beaches in our area that saw a dramatic rise in population this past weekend was Surf City, Topsail Beach, Wrightsville Beach, Kure Beach, Carolina Beach, Holden Beach, Ocean Isle Beach, and Sunset Beach.

The increase in driving led to more dangerous conditions on the roads.  The roadways going to and from the beaches had many traffic jams because so many people descended on the beaches in our part of the state.  In addition to more cars clogging the roads, people were more likely to be drinking and driving.  The North Carolina Highway Patrol announced that at least nine motorists died during the Memorial Day Weekend.  Last year, eleven motorists died and 358 people were injured in car accidents.

The Star News (Major newspaper in Wilmington, NC) published before the holiday weekend that the Wilmington Police Department would host a multi-agency traffic checking station on Sunday afternoon and evenings.  Officers involved in the operation will target impaired driving as well as underage possession of alcohol, open containers of alcohol, or failure to use seatbelts.  It is highly recommended to find experienced attorneys or lawyers to help you if you were caught in one of these checkpoints.

If you were hurt in a car accident, or you were charged with any crime or issued a traffic citation during the Memorial Day Weekend in or around Wilmington, NC scheduled for court in New Hanover County, Brunswick County (Bolivia, NC), or Pender County (Burgaw, NC), you should contact a lawyer or attorney at Collins Law Firm at 910-793-9000 for a consultation.

Spring is here, and people across the Southeast are thinking about going to the beaches in Southeastern North Carolina and planning trips.  We have beautiful beaches in our area.  In New Hanover County, there is Wrightsville Beach, Carolina Beach, Wilmington Beach, and Kure Beach. In Pender County, there is Surf City and Topsail Island.  In Brunswick County, there is Sunset Beach, Holden Beach, Oak Island, Caswell Beach, and Ocean Isle Beach.

There are many efforts to prevent littering, and many make the news in our region.  In Wrightsville Beach, the Cleaner, Greener Wrightsville Beach committee has proposed a list of ideas to help prevent littering.  They proposed the following steps:  to develop a visual image for regular signage and holiday banners to remind visitors to keep Wrightsville Beach clean; create a logo that can be included on T-shirts (possibly signage and banners, too) to identify beach sweep volunteers and solicit volunteers to educating the public about cleaner, greener efforts; color code recycling containers and consider additional recycle locations on the beach strand; maintain the Green Tab on the town’s website through IT manager, Raquel Ivins; work with the Wrightsville Beach Merchants Association and Mayor David Cignotti coordinating with their litter awareness efforts; and study and use results of the Cleaner Greener Survey in developing ideas and plans.

Another program is North Carolina Big Sweep.  They finished first in the voting in the MillerCoors River Network competition.  The first prize is a $30,000 grant.  The statewide non-profit group says the money will be used to coordinate cleanups in all 100 counties in North Carolina and to implement a litter awareness campaign.  WWAY has partnered with Big Sweep on annual beach clean-up programs in the area.

Our beaches are beautiful, and we should all help to alleviate littering.  Littering on most of our beaches is a crime – a misdemeanor, and a conviction for littering can remain on one’s criminal record for life unless steps are taken to prevent it.   If you are charged with littering, or any other crime in our area, Collins Law Firm can help prevent the consequences of being charged, such as court appearances, and convictions and the subsequent consequences of a conviction such as fines, court costs, probation, etc.  We have been doing so for over a decade.

One way we often help avoid convictions for such crimes as littering is to negotiate with law enforcement and the district attorney’s office to have a client perform a number of hours of volunteer service.  Often that volunteer service can be picking up litter on the beach.

If you have been charged with littering, or any other crime in our area, call Collins Law Firm at 910-793-9000 for a consultation about what we can do for you.