Notifications to 23 employees in Arkansas, California, Delaware, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, Oregon, Oklahoma, Virginia and Washington as well as at MADD’s national headquarters in Irving are expected this week. MADD started the year with 397 employees nationwide. Since then it has eliminated 55 staff positions, or nearly 14 percent of its work force.

Private donations, government grants and corporate sponsorships to MADD National dropped between 15 percent and 20 percent to $43 million last year, said MADD National Chief Operating Officer Debbie Weir. Weir said the current economy has made it especially difficult to raise money for MADD, especially in states with high unemployment rates. “Donors really have to look at their disposable income and as a result, giving is less.”

Weir said that MADD will continue to serve people in all 50 states regardless of whether states have paid employees. Volunteers will pick up the slack in the affected states, helping to push an agenda that includes targeting underage drinking and stronger seat belt laws, she said.

MADD celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2005. Last year, MADD provided grief counseling, court counseling and financial counseling to more than 55,000 people and their families. With advocates in more than 300 communities, MADD lobbies against drinking and driving to save lives. It helped persuade Congress to raise the drinking age to 21 and helped reduce the number of traffic fatalities attributed to drunken driving. It also claims to have helped save more than 300,000 lives.

We would like to encourage people to donate to MADD as there is no doubt that MADD has helped to save lives and to bring attention to the problem of drinking and driving all across America.

A purse thief was arrested in Fort Worth after he offered to sell gas at half-price to undercover police officers. Police say that the man had used credit cards that were stolen from an elderly woman to purchase the gas. The suspect made the half-price offer to two undercover narcotics detectives who happened to be filling up their unmarked car, police said.

The credit cards were stolen from Erma Mathis (73) of Arlington while she was shopping at her neighborhood grocery store. She believes that her purse was stolen from her grocery cart as she was shopping.

Shortly thereafter, at a gas station on East Lancaster Street, two Fort Worth narcotics officers in plain clothes were filling up their car, when Michael Hall (25) made an unusual offer: Gas for half-price. “We were like, ‘What do you mean?'” the officer said. “He was like, ‘Pull up behind the car. Half-priced gas!'”

Michael Hall was arrested and found to be in possession of Mrs. Mathis’ credit card and driver’s license, police said. He faces a charge of credit card abuse, but her purse and glasses are still missing. She said she assumes the thief threw the items away before he was arrested.

Sgt. Chad Mahaffey of the Fort Worth police department praised the undercover police officers for the arrest. The identity of the officers has not been released since they are undercover, but we hope they are recognized by the department for their quick thinking efforts.

Dallas bicyclists be warned, effective immediately, the Dallas Police Department has been advised by the City Attorney to issue tickets to bicycle riders who are not wearing a helmet. Those tickets carry a fine up to $200.00 per ticket. This directive is a reversal of a June, 2009 directive from the city attorney that had ordered officers not to enforcing the law to avoid potential lawsuits.