John Boel, Drunk Driving And The Problems YOU'VE Caused !

* THE VIEWS EXPRESSED ARE MY OWN AND DO NOT REFLECT THOSE OF WGZB-FM, MAINLINE BROADCASTING, OR IT'S ADVERTISERS **

As a member of the Louisville Media, one of the things I love about this community is the support we show each other and that was shown as evidenced by WHAS' Terry Meiners words about John recently. There are a lot of us that hope that John will get the help he so desperately needs if he hopes to have any quality of life.

WLKY had no choice for the actions they took. John represented them no matter if he was working or not just as all of us in Louisville Media represent our respective employers even if we're not working. That's a burden we gladly bear because of the love we have for what we do. In John's case, it's a lose/lose. He lost his job and WLKY lost a damn good reporter and anchorman.

I also speak as the victim of a drunk driver. I should've died back on Halloween Night of 1986, but I'm still here, healthy and whole. The driver that hit me couldn't say the same. The only thing I lost that night was my car because I was able to walk away unharmed. He wasn't. Needless to say that I have ZERO tolerance for drunk driving. 

Instead of piling on like so many have in the Courier Journal and on other websites, I would suggest being constructive with your anger and some cases, ugliness. Afterall, you are part of the problem. You either have a non chalant attitude about drinking and driving or you've done it yourself and dare to pass judgement because you've never been caught.

Kentucky's DUI laws are among the weakest in the country and unless you put your foot in the butts of state legislators and DEMAND stiffer penalties and MANDATORY sentencing, you'll get more repeat offenders like John. So you can continue to hide behind your keyboard or do something meaningful with it.

Talk to anyone who's lost a loved one at the hands of the drunk driver. Talk to anyone who's lost a loved one due to alcoholism. The pain is pretty much the same. I will keep John and his family in my thoughts because the last thing that needs to happen is for another family to be torn apart needlessly. I'll also use my keyboard to work toward getting tougher penalties for DUI.

What are YOU going to do ?

Mark Gunn

Radio Personality

WGZB - FM, B-96.5