To all those who contacted their senators THANK YOU! Our motorcycle red light bill has passed the senate and now resides in the house. Please read more below how you can help improve motorcycle safety and pass this bill into law.
FF
1) Helmet Law Debate Video
2) SC Motorcycle Red Light Bill Update
3) 9 more poker suspects surrender
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1) Helmet Law Debate Video
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Helmet Law Debate Video
An in-depth video report on motorcycle fatalities in South Carolina and the opposing views held by members of the Motorcycle Safety Task Force.
QuickTime Movie (6.9 MB)
http://www.abatesc.com/movies/HelmetDebate.mov
Free Download: QuickTime Player
http://www.apple.com/quicktime/download/
This impressive video report was created by USC journalism student Jennifer Robinson for the Carolina News; she has kindly shared the video with ABATE.
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2) SC Motorcycle Red Light Bill Update
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http://www.abatesc.com/CallToAction.php
SC Motorcycle Red Light Bill Update
Attention Carolina Bikers SC Senate Bill 111 has passed the Senate and now resides in the House. As you are aware the session is drawing to a close and we need prompt action on this bill to assure passage. If you are sitting on the fence watch the video and do it for Bubba.
S111 will address faulty traffic signal devices that fail to detect motorcycles. This bill will clearly increase safety for motorcyclists by reducing the chance of being struck from behind while stranded at a malfunctioning light.
Please contact the chair of the House Education and Public Works Committee and urge quick passage of S111. Representative Robert E. "Bob" Walker is the chair of the House Education and Public Works Committee; you may contact Representative Walker at 803-734-3053.
... Read More Including the Actual Language of the Bill at
http://www.abatesc.com/CallToAction.php
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3) 9 more poker suspects surrender
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FF Note: Do you organize or participate in poker runs? Have the police been watching you? Will they bust your next run? Did you support ABATE's efforts to legalize poker runs during the past legislative session?
http://www.charleston.net/news/2008/apr/10/more_poker_suspects_surrender36776/
9 more poker suspects surrender
Charleston County deputies defend gambling arrests as their public duty
By Nita Birmingham , Nadine Parks
The Post and Courier
Thursday, April 10, 2008
They're not all in yet, but nine more of them are.
The accused gamblers surrendered Wednesday night in the nearly year-long undercover poker investigation. Forty-five have been arrested, and there's more to come. The probe involves more than 60 suspects wanted on nearly 200 charges.
Among those who arrived at the Charleston County Detention Center in North Charleston for processing were Cpl. Michael McElveen, 38, a 14-year veteran of the Charleston Police Department. McElveen is on administrative leave without pay.
In response to public criticism this week, deputies did not wear the black masks Wednesday that had protected undercover officers in the previous arrests.
They strongly defended the arrests, saying it was their public duty to break up what they called a well-organized operation.
Players are charged with misdemeanor offenses, but eight dealers face felony betting and gaming charges, said sheriff's Maj. John Clark. The dealers were paid $1,300 a night for their work, he said.
Clark said that despite players' contentions that the games were nothing more than boys' poker night, it was a high-stakes operation with paid employees and a house fee to play. Clark said he did not know who among the suspects are charged as dealers.
Players paid $5 per hand to get in the games, and that money went to the host, Clark said.
Poker arrests
The following people surrendered Wednesday night and face unlawful betting and gaming charges.
-- Michael B. McElveen Jr., 38
-- Mary Rippe, 45
-- James Wesley West, 41
-- Scott E. Richards, 33
-- Curtis Heyward, 43
-- John Edward Egonut, 34
-- James A. Laing, 44
-- Bryan Keith Raver, 39
-- Robert Gregory Keiger, 41
-- Michael W. Williamson, 46, and Jeremy Brestel, 27, were previously arrested but surrendered Wednesday to face additional charges.
Gamblers had to have $300 cash just to sit down at the table, and there was no limit on the betting, Clark said. After midnight, the buy-in went up to $1,000, he said.
Other games of chance were set up around the room, Clark said. He said refreshments were on the house.
"This was not boys' night out," the major said.
The Charleston County Sheriff's Office had faced criticism about what some critics said was a heavy-handed approach, with officers in black masks booking suspects into the jail Monday night at a makeshift station outside.
On Wednesday, officers worked unmasked, many of them in civilian clothing.
"We accept the criticism, but we did our job," Clark said. "The guys that put in the work, they don't have anything to feel ashamed about. It's what they are paid to do."
Attorney Mark Peper represented several of the clients who surrendered Wednesday. Most of them are professional business people who knew that what they were doing was illegal, he said.
"I'm not naive enough to believe that anybody doesn't know that gambling is illegal," he said. "They're having to explain this to their wives and children. It's taking a toll on their families."
Earlier Wednesday, some of the players arrested in Friday night's raid in Hanahan started showing up at the Sheriff's Office to retrieve their wallets. Harold Hutzler, 44, was among them. He's facing four charges of unlawful games and betting.
Hutzler owns about a half-dozen pieces of property and said being without his credit cards for four days put him in a bad spot, as it did many of the men busted with him. He didn't get his seized cash back.
"I can't do business. They've got all my money," he said outside the Sheriff's Office.
Hutzler had arrived at the home of Martin and Dawn Reyes at 6916 Tanner Hall Blvd. around 8 p.m. Friday. Law enforcement came through the door a couple of hours later.
"I didn't know what the hell was going on. I just heard a bunch of commotion. They rushed the door in their ninja suits," Hutzler said.
Some of the undercover officers wore face masks.
"I thought we were getting robbed," Hutzler said.
The players were processed at the Hanahan Police Department. Those accused of playing in games in Charleston County's jurisdiction, including Hutzler, were then transported to the jail for a second round of processing. He thinks he got to the jail around 1 a.m. Saturday but isn't sure because officers took his watch.
"They could have just given us a ticket and let us roll on," he said.
Hutzler said he's been playing poker for three years. He disputed the Charleston County sheriff's assertion that this was a well-organized gambling group with paid employees. Games moved as locales became available, he said. The Sheriff's Office said it identified a total of five locations set up for casino-style gambling. Some are businesses where Hutzler said players gathered after closing hours. He started playing at a North Charleston business, but moved to another game when the owner closed it down, he said. Word spread among friends.
"We like playing poker. If you're a fisherman, you find a good fishing spot," Hutzler said.
Hutzler said he doesn't understand why the Sheriff's Office investigation stretched out over 10 months.
"I don't know why they would do such a deep investigation for a magistrate-level misdemeanor," he said.
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