Sobriety checkpoint planned for tonight

Sobriety checkpoints will be held around the city during the holidays as lawmen crack down on drunk drivers over the yuletide season.

?This is a continued effort to help protect the citizens of McMinnville and Warren County,? said McMinnville Police Chief Charlie Sewell of two planned sobriety check points over the next two weeks. ?Drinking tends to slip up on people more than they think and very often, drunk drivers end up killing the ones they love.?

The first of the roadblocks will be a combined effort by the McMinnville Police Department and Tennessee Highway Patrol and will be held within the city limits after 9 p.m. tonight. The second will begin New Year?s Eve around 5 p.m. and may extend all the way to 5 a.m. New Year?s Day, also to be held in the city limits.

For those planning to indulge over the holidays, Chief Sewell recommends they make arrangements to avoid getting behind the wheel after drinking any alcohol.

?Call a friend or plan a designated driver,? Sewell said. ?Whatever you do, don?t drink and drive because drinking and driving can kill.?