It is actually fairly common practice to lower a first offense DUI to wreckless driving if the person does not have other negative items on their record and depending on the circumstances of the DUI. For instance if there was a wreck or property damages it would be unlikely to be lowered. As far as I am concerned his possesion of a firearm while intoxicated is reason enough to maintain the DUI charge.

Laura, we will continue to follow this story and will keep the public up-to-date on what happens. Thanks for your comments.

Funny thing when a left winger gets in trouble it is the "right wing" writer that is the moron. Just does not add up. Not only get your head out of the sand but don't follow your fellow left winger so close.

Mr. Dowd police reports are full of lots of information, one thing I did fail to mention is that he did have an expired concealed weapons permit in wallet. These are public records and whether it is a Democrat or a Republican arrested, we do have access to those documents and do report that information. We reported on Mr. Vick's arrest just as we have other arrests of candidates running for the 7th Congressional District. If you are interested, I would encourage you to blog on Patch. It's platform where people can voice their opinions and write about things of interest to them.

Hi K.B., thanks for joining the conversation. A few things though, regardless of anyone's opinion of the success or failure of the Bush presidency he is Constitutionally barred from getting the White House back. The 22nd Amendment to the U.S. Constitution limits a president to two terms, or a maximum of 10 years in cases where a vice-president is elevated to the presidency during the term of another president - if that president resigns, is assassinated, dies in office, is removed from office, or is incapacitated in some way and unable to perform the duties of the president. Secondly that same Constitution prohibits any kind of religious test for people seeking office, so even if Barack Obama were a Muslim that would have absolutely no bearing on his fitness to serve as president. And finally, at this point I doubt there is anything that will convince a birther that Obama was born in Hawaii, but I've yet to hear a plausible explanation as to how he was able to time travel to the 1960s and insert birth announcements into two Hawaiian newspapers, but if you've got one I'd love to hear it.

Why do you think we are at war with a religion? Take a good look at what you have written and ask yourself who is it that has placed himself in trouble. Your anger and prejudice is blinding you to reality. It is attitudes like yours that scare me to death. We have more than enough hate in the US. I hope that you can find a way to get rid of yours.

??? This comment (from KB McDaniel) was so bizarre I wouldn't even know how to respond. There wasn't ANYTHING there based on reality. By the way, how many birth certificates of previous presidents have you actually seen? Obama's was the first for me, and by the way, McCain was not born in ANY of the 50 states nor Wash DC, but no one in the Democratic Party thought it was valid to challenge HIS eligibility for office. This birther movement is the most absurd diversion I have seen in national politics.

@Robert Kelly: "...??? This comment (from KB McDaniel) was so bizarre I wouldn't even know how to respond..."

sadly true of most/all comments by kb mcdan-etals...and;
keep asking myself: self, 'why do you respond, get a life'...then, b/c hope springs eternal...

i hope some will read and see see how bizarre the kb mcdans are and evaluate the facts, vice hyperbolic bs, re issues and their representatives...

notice how mcdans never respond to asked for fact/details...ie, back-up for their opines...they respond by moving the goal post and expounding more hyperbolic baseless personal attacks...oh my sigh...

@K. B. McDaniel: ‘...compared to what we have seen from Mr. Wonderful, George had more smarts in his left boot!’

too cute and not so cute comments add nothing...actually detract from enlightened comparison of people and issues...not that IQ smarts mean much...but for the record:

“...[study] rated G.W. Bush second to last since 1900, with an estimated IQ of 125 (the estimates ranged from 111 to 139). Bush's estimated IQ was only higher than those estimated for Grant (120), Monroe (124), and Harding (124). The same study estimated Clinton's IQ at 149, behind only those of Kennedy (151), Jefferson (154) and J. Quincy Adams (169).” [Believe BO’s around 150]

on to a more relevant issue “what we have seen”:

FROM W: the worst economic conditions since 1929; an unpaid for war lied into; there must be something positive...what?

FROM BO: health care for 30-40 million; DJI around 13000 (around 6000 in 2008); jobs increasing (were decreasing 2008); GM and Detroit saved (GM now #1 car producer in the world); economy pulled out of 2008 ditch...to name a few.

Back to left boot IQ crap...colin powell avg student at not ivy college (NY City)...but would make a great president...so much for IQ and ivy league colleges.

All said:

It’s not about W v BO smarts...it’s about the FAILED (1929, 2008), voodoo, trickle UP, T-GOP policies v progressive DEM policies that hauled our country out GOP ditch.

@Stanley Seigler,
My methinks statement was posted as a reply to Mr. K. B. McDaniel's comment. I apologize for any confusion. I totally agree with you that there are way too many that hear, see and read things that they know are wrong, yet they do not protest. It is like things were years ago when most people had stopped using the "N" word, at least in public. Still there were a few that kept right on using it as though nobody minded. I always expressed my distaste while others only tried to ignore it. The same goes now when I read what is to me obvious hate and prejudice. I will say so while others allow it to pass. That is how Germany slowly slipped into what they became in the 1930's and 40's. I've enjoyed reading your comments here. Keep speaking out even when others disagree.

@William Steve Brodie: "Keep speaking out even when others disagree."

Rebbe Nachman say: "To be a person of truth, be swayed neither by approval nor disapproval. Work at not needing approval from anyone and you will be free to be who you really are".

methinks above a goal for 'allus'...rich folks, po folks, and in between folks...

happy memorial day...God bless our troops and their troops...young men/women should not be sent to their death to solve problems created by old men's egos...

draft the politicians...put them in the trenches...

@Jonathan Edwards: "...A DINO..."

dino, rino they are all (well most) just egotistical politicians...

long time passing, where have all the statesmen, public servants gone...

we (the people) need to put our ideologies aside...find and elect true public servants...

how did we ever end up with the likes of vick, john edwards, and one who trolls airport rest rooms for sex, etcetc...gonna throw up...

@K. B. McDaniel: "I stated my view, it is my right, I am NOT a racist, etcetc..."

certainly your right...but yo vitriolic, ad hominem, not racist, unsubstantiated, view sounds racist...butbutt you probably just sound like one.

re: "I am a citizen of the USA"

born or naturalized? do you have birth certificate...:)

re: "I don't care if Obama is green"

do you care if a person is gay, mexican, anything but white anglo sax, christian, american (not native american, tho)???

re: "To many things are being hidden"

of course if they are hidden you dont know...but what are a few things you think BO is hiding..think, .maybe hidden with W's weapons of mass destruction...

facts that back yo 'not-racist(?)' opine could/would convince one that you are not racist..."where's the meat"...or is it just opine...similar to that of a racist...

re: "Look at what is being done..."

as mentioned i look and see: health care for 30-40 million; DJI around 13000; jobs increasing; GM, Detroit saved (GM now #1 car producer in the world); economy pulled out of 2008 ditch...to name a few...

and specifically what do you see?

your "I am NOT a racist", brings to mind tricky dick, ie, "i am not a crook"...

"doth protest too much, Methinks!"

What exactly is being done? What rights have you lost? It's funny when people who hate Obama throw out accusations but there isn't ONE POLICY or ONE ACTION to back it up.

George Bush hung out with Dick Cheney, I can't imagine a more questionable character.

@William Steve Brodie: "Methinks!"

methinks too...even if directed at me and not K. B. McDaniel.

but not as concerned with those who "protest too much" (methinks we donr protest enough), as with those who have a "lean and hungry look"...ie/eg;

those who know better and use true patriots to advance their devious, greedy, selfish, goals...eg, yon koch bros and their ilk.

@PEN: "... I thought you were a girl for the longest time. Weird"

how do you know i am not...in days of yore,there was a girl in sville named stanley (smith, i believe) and;

i wanted to name our daughter, stanley...wife would have none of it...one stanley was too much for my wife.

Re: ‘Our president should never bow to anyone...’

modified agreement: should never bow in a subservient manner...but OK and should to show respect for customs of another’s country...there are enough "ugly americans". our pres doesnt have to be one.

BO haters never miss an opportunity to purposely mis-state BO’s actions/words...bet;
if BO had been seen holding hands with saudi prince abdullah, as was W...the right wing-nuts would still be pointing out BO was gay.

re: ‘we show deference to Muslim leaders.’

wrong again! BO/we show respect...not deference

re: ‘Do I [peter] hate Obama? NO!’

cudda fooled me...but if you can cite examples of what you see as ‘four years of unrestrained government gluttony and giveaway’ (over and above that of 2000-08, the W years)...then I might vote for T-GOP candidates and embrace their ideals...

re: ‘I [pete] do not support Mitt Romney.’

Neither do i...but bet you will vote for the mitt over the BO, the most qualified one...

What policy or practice of the Obama administration specifically you you dislike?

The Japanese bow to each other and it's common to bow to royalty, that it offends you really isn't a national concern. Did the sky fall when president Bush held hands with that Saudi prince? I think killing at will Muslim terrorists in Muslim countries without their permission negates any perceived notion that we're weak. Indeed, it proves we're polite and knowledgeable of other cultures, and only an ignorant fool would consider manners and knowledge weakness.

We need less fighting men and women. Because we have highly capable and mobile aircraft carriers and bombers that have around the world range. We don't need a standing army today for a few reasons, because of the 2nd amendment, because we can draft a standing army, and because we don't have an adversary that can march on us.

I assume you meant Americans on December 7 1941, our military wasn't downsized. For that matter neither was the Japanese at any time during WWII. We were complacent, but not undermanned. The French are famous for rolling over, share a border with Germany (are you worried about Mexico or Canada?) and Germany at the time was the worlds most formidable fighting force outside of us. Guess who is still the worlds most formidable fighting force by many magnitudes? For what purpose?

I'm all for defense, but we don't need cavalry anymore. Progress happened and continues to.

@LuvSC: "...men don't learn from history..."

eg, GOPs keep repeating the policies that brought us 1929 and 2008...now they want a three-peat with the mitt...

but to defense spending (investment), ron paul seems to have the right idea...he say:

[CLIP]
'I oppose our current foreign policy that stretches our troops thin across the globe so we can play world policeman. This foolish endeavor costs us dearly in lives, and it has become far too expensive to sustain...In the past 10 years, overall military spending has more than doubled...it is impossible that government does not waste any of the hundreds of billions we spend on defense yearly...We cannot control government's growth without reining in the expansion of the military industrial complex...[end clip]
http://www.usnews.com/debate-club/are-cuts-to-the-defense-budget-necessary/cutting-military-spending-does-not-mean-cutting-defense-cut-military-spending-to-strengthen-us

ps. luv SC too and sville was my 'kingdom by the sea'.

I know that no matter what anyone says you're going to say that poor Americans are "entitled" because you've been brainwashed, but are you REALLY going to stand by "we sat on our behinds and watched as the German and Japanese War Machines grew bigger and bigger and did nothing but enjoy our overly luxurious lifestyles" during the Great Depression? You do know that is what immediately preceded WWII, don't you? FFS.

I'm for the sustained or even increased funding of the JSOC and other small mobile forces like the Marines and the Rangers; they along with technologically advanced weaponry are the future of warfare. Fighter Air Force is redundant and infantry Army is unnecessary most of the time and easy to ramp up.

I never said that there will never be another WW or that the reason was because of technology.

The Mexican "invasion" you talk about has been abating for some time due to the economy and increased application of the law under the current administration. You likely won't acknowledge the truth of this because it directly conflicts with what you've been told and what you trumpet, but according to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement the annual number of deportations has been stable but increasing over the last few years: 370,000 in Fiscal Year 2008, 390,000 in FY 2009, 393,000 in FY 2010, and 397,000 in FY 2011.

Also, the word unrestrained means something totally different than what you think.

@JoSCh: "...I never said that there will never be another WW or that the reason was because of technology.

this approach is used by some/many T-GOPs...they attribute a statement to you (anybody) you never made...then try to disprove something you/anyone never said...not sure just what logic fallacy applies...but;

in general (beside the ad homeniun fallacy) maybe the following applies...

"Argumentum ad Ignorantiam: (appeal to ignorance) the fallacy that a proposition is true simply on the basis that it has not been proved false or that it is false simply because it has not been proved true. This error in reasoning is often expressed with influential [hyperbolic] rhetoric."

when their premise is shown to be obviously wrong...T-GOPs just move on to another baseless premise/conclusion...ie, move the goal posts.

on the positive side their baseless, unfounded, premises/conclusions provide the opportunity to bring out the facts ...and maybe some minds are changed...

sigh...

Stanley, technically it's a straw man. Poorly constructed, but a straw man nonetheless.

And while I want to point out that logical fallacies are used by people of all stripes, I have to admit their use is becoming increasingly prevalent by current GOP supporters. Here hoping the desperation signals we're near the end of the radicalized GOP and a return towards the center and putting country before ideology/party.

@JoSCh: "...logical fallacies are used by people of all stripes...a return towards the center..."

'used by all'...for sure...we just need to recognize them all...and;

opine: the pendulum is swinging back to center...a bleeding heart (me) hopes it swings center left...progressive over regressive (statu quo) policies.