Comedy Gold At The Observer-Dispatch

Andrew Donovan, son of Observer-Dispatch publisher Donna Donovan and staff reporter for the paper, escaped a DWI arrest this summer with a slap on the wrist. That makes the latest OD editorial against the evils of driving drunk a particularly ironic vein of comedy gold:

But where drunk driving arrests occur isn’t as much a concern as that they occur at all. Commendable work has been done through the years by law enforcers, educators, social agencies and even victims themselves to drive home the drunk driving message. And while these efforts have certainly resulted in lowering the numbers, the problem persists.

Get-tough prevention is a must.

Friday Forum Funnies: Andy "Demolition Derby" Donovan Edition

Today's Observer-Dispatch Friday Forum question is "Should we lower the drinking age?" Sadly, publisher Donna Donovan failed to pose the question to the one person many of us wanted to hear from, her son Andrew:



I keed, I keed! Despite Andy's drunken antics we all love him. Well, except for the poor guy he almost killed driving drunk. I don't think he's feelin' da luv.

This Is Why We Need A Lower Drinking Age

I don't think I've ever seen WKTV post an update to one of their online stories before today. Oddly enough, the story they chose to exercise this new editorial discretion with was on Andrew Donovan's DWI arrest:

**UPDATE (August 2008): Donovan appeared in New Hartford Town Court, where he pleaded down to a Driving While Ability Impaired charge, according to a court clerk. He paid a $500 fine and $80 surcharge, and all other charges were dropped, which were "to the satisfaction of the court" according to the court clerk.

So an underage drunk goes careening through the streets of Utica, narrowly avoids injuring a guy when he crashes into his car and rips the door off, and then drives off to New Hartford before he gets arrested. And the penalty? A check for $580.

If that's all we're going to do to punish DWI there's no reason not to drop the drinking age.

Update: A kind emailer suggests that we have Google to thank for the revision. The Andrew Donovan involved in the drunken hit and run incident unfortunately shares a name with the totally innocent guy that happens to work at WKTV, so anyone Googling for either of them will probably come across the story. Understandably, the Andrew Donovan that isn't an underage drunk doesn't want to be confused with the one that is.

Update: Another kind emailer has the temerity to suggest that young Andrew received preferential treatment because of Donna Donovan's position as publisher of the Observer-Dispatch. I'm shocked, simply shocked, at the mere suggestion of such an idea.

Blogger Makes News!

Andrew Donovan, who until this morning was a featured sports reporter and blogger on the Observer-Dispatch's website, had a busy Saturday night.

A reporter at Utica's Observer-Dispatch newspaper is in trouble with the law, facing charges in two municipalities.

Andrew Donovan, 20, of New Hartford is charged with leaving the scene of an accident, and DWI. Police in Utica say Donovan clipped a parked car early Sunday morning on Varick Street, ripping off a door.

Police say he then took off.

Police in New Hartford arrested Donovan a short time later at his home in New Hartford, then charged him with DWI, saying his blood alcohol level was .19.

Donovan reports on variety of topics at the paper, including news and sports.

When called for comment, Publisher Donna Donovan of the Observer-Dispatch said she had "no comment."

If the facts as stated are true, Mr. Donovan's blood alcohol level was over twice the legal limit of .08 in New York state. Since he's only 20 it also doesn't seem much of stretch to assume he was in possession of a fake ID.

Oddly enough, I can't seem to find any coverage of the story on the O-D's website.

Update: You can check out Andrew's blog over here. His banner headline homepage at the O-D is here.


Update: Hmmmm...it looks like the O-D did cover the story.

A 20-year-old New Hartford man was charged with drunken driving early Sunday following a hit-and-run car accident in Utica, police officials said.

Andrew Donovan was charged with driving while intoxicated by New Hartford police after he pulled into his Silver Birch Court residence around 1:47 a.m. Sunday, police Lt. Timothy O'Neill said Tuesday.

Donovan was also charged with aggravated DWI for having a blood alcohol content level of 0.19 percent following a chemical test of Donovan's breath, O'Neill said.

Donovan is due to appear in New Hartford Town Court on July 22 for those charges.
New Hartford police waited for Donovan at his residence after Utica police reported his vehicle leaving the scene of a two-car accident on Court Street near Varick Street shortly after 1:30 a.m. that night, O'Neill said.

Update: I feel sorry for the poor web guy at WKTV, who happens to also be named "Andrew Donovan". Cutting down on the confusion between the two is probably why WKTV had the story up this morning.