weekly roundup

this week's adventures from About.com/Alcoholism;

Lindsay Lohan Back in L.A. for Court Showdown

Actress Lindsay Lohan was all over the news last week as she remained in France rather than show up for a court probation hearing. Lohan blamed a stolen passport on her delay in returning from the Cannes film festival in time of the hearing, which concerned her not completing court-order alcohol education classes.

Wife of RFK Jr. Charged With Drunken Driving

Mary Richardson Kennedy, wife of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., has been charged with drunken driving after police saw her run over a curb near a school. Kennedy, 50, had a blood-alcohol level of 0.11 at the time of the arrest, according to police.

Michigan Approves Ignition Locks for Repeat Drunk Drivers

Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty signed a new drunk driving law that provides for ignition interlock devices for some convicted drunk drivers. The law, which won't take effect until July 2011, will require the devices for anyone stopped driving with more than twice the legal .08 BAC limit and repeat drunk driving offenders.

Girl Charged in Hit-and-Run Had Smoked Marijuana

A Illinois high school honors student was handed a $500,000 bail by Cook County Judge Marcia Orr in a hit-and-run case that critically injured another student. The judge set the bond for Erin Hughes so high because she told police that she had been smoking marijuana before the crash.

Brother Jailed for Refusal to Testify in DUI Trial

A Florida man has been ordered to spend three months in jail for refusing to testify against his brother in a drunk driving manslaughter case. Even after spending two weeks in jail, James Hunter continued to refuse to testify against his brother, a former high school football coach, whose pickup overturned and killed fellow coach Doug Garrity.

Deadly Drunk Driver Held Without Bail

A Vermont judge has withheld bail for a man who is awaiting trial on for his ninth DUI. "If I can't stop you from driving, then I can't allow you on the streets," Judge Gregory Rainville told Douglas Gardner. After spending almost 20 years in prison for killing a man while driving drunk, Gardner was out for less than one month when he drove his pickup truck off the road into a bog.