The State Police arrested 67 people for DUI, issued 352 traffic citations, and gave drivers 1,767 warnings.

"Obviously some motorists are not getting the message that driving under the influence has negative consequences," said First Sgt. Michael Baylous.

"Ideally, we would like to conduct such a blitz and see no arrests for driving under the influence. Until that happens, we must continue to educate the public on the hazards of such reckless behavior."

But the battle against drunk driving is being won. In 1982, the United States suffered 26,173 alcohol-related traffic fatalities.

In 2011, the toll was 9,828 - a 72 percent drop.

That comes despite a 36 percent increase in population. The drop in DUI deaths is the main reason there has been overall a 36 percent decrease in traffic fatalities, making the anti-DUI campaign a success.

Keep up the good work, troopers.

***

IN July 2008, dozens of FBI agents raided the homes and offices of public officials and businesses in the Cleveland area in a mass effort to break corruption in Cuyahoga County.

The result is that former County Commissioner Jimmy Dimora and County Auditor Frank Russo, both Democrats, are in prison serving sentences of 28 and 21 years, respectively.

The pair ran a huge patronage machine and both men accepted millions in bribes. In all 47 people are either in prison or headed that way.

And nearly 1,000 county employees retired, quit or were fired.

The bottom line is the county payroll had a net drop of 589 employees - meaning that taxpayers paid millions of dollars (and owe millions more in pensions) for nearly 600 make-work or no-show jobs.

The crimes of Dimora, Russo and company were all nonviolent. Anyone care to argue that they should be placed on home confinement to save money?

***

OFFICIALS at Wheeling Island Hotel-Casino-Racetrack are considering dropping table games unless the state reduces its $2.5 million licensing fee and some taxes.

Wheeling Island managers say they lose money on table games because of competition from Ohio and Pennsylvania.

Wheeling Mayor Andy McKenzie told council his city would lose $720,000 in annual revenue if table games are shut down.

That would be a challenge, but it would amount to a little over 2 percent of the city's nearly $31 million budget for next year.

Two percent is a popular number this year. The state is cutting spending by 2 percent to feed the ever-growing cost of Medicaid. Washington is aflutter about sequestration - a 2 percent cut in spending.

Yes, it would be a pain, but Wheeling taxpayers would probably understand.

After all, most of them have already cut their own budgets by that much or more.

***

DESPITE all the president's efforts to portray cutting federal spending to 98 cents on the dollar as disastrous - a government that borrows 33 cents of every dollar it spends - life at the White House continues as usual, reports Daniel Halper of the conservative Weekly Standard.

The White House has not laid off Chief Calligrapher Patricia A. Blair (annual salary $96,725) or her two deputies, who receive $85,953 and $94,372 per year.

With benefits, the White House is shelling out $400,000 a year for work that could easily be done by changing the font on a computer.

In 1976, Charles Peters, founder of the liberal Washington Monthly, called the hysteria that surrounds budget cuts as "The Firemen First Principle."

The administration's threat to cut essentials while continuing self-indulgences is as disgusting as it is insulting. Enough.

***

FOR years, some medical practitioners have pushed wellness programs as a way to rein in health costs.

Now a study shows that wellness programs may be oversold, because what is saved in hospitalizations is wiped out by increased costs for medications and outpatient visits, the Associated Press reported.

"The immediate payback in terms of cost is probably not going to be there," said economist Gautum Gowrisankaran of the University of Arizona-Tucson, lead author of the study.

Alas, solutions are never as simple as they appear.