Here are five things worth knowing today: 1. The former owner of Arrow Trucking, James Pielsticker, has been sentenced to seven years in prison for tax evasion and conspiracy, according to Fox 23. Pielsticker must also pay $21 million in restitution and report to prison on Jan. 7, Fox 23 said. The network spoke with a former Arrow Trucking employee, who said she doesn’t believe Pielsticker’s sentence is “good enough,” after he left hundreds of his employees stranded across the country in December 2009 with no way to pay for fuel. Fox 23 has more.2. Quality officials and experts in California say that cutting ozone to federal health standards while meeting state targets to cut greenhouse gas emissions will require a “radical transformation” of California’s transportation sector, The Los Angeles Times reports. According to the report, the most significant changes and largest reductions will have to come from the heavy-duty trucking sector, which emits 45% of the smog-forming pollution in the state. The LA Times has more. 3. Law enforcement personnel in Moore, TX, discovered 37 undocumented immigrants locked in a tractor-trailer parked at a truck stop in Moore, according to The Trucker. The report states that according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the Frio County Sheriff’s Office initially received a call saying several people were locked inside the truck near a gas station at Highway 57 and I-35. Drew Potter, the driver of the tractor-trailer, faces federal smuggling charges, according to The Trucker. 4. Smithfield, NC, officials want to stop tractor-trailers from using one of its town streets as a cut-through, the Smithfield Herald reports. According to the report, the town council is looking into actions to forbid 18-wheelers from using South Third Street as a cut-through. Truckers and other motorists use the street as a shortcut to avoid several stoplights and traffic from outlet shoppers to access I-95, the Herald said. 5. Two fifth-graders from Horace Mann Middle School in Neenah, WI, organized a “Flood the Truck” donation drive to help those affected by the recent flooding in South Carolina. According to Fox 11, the drive is today from 6:30 a.m. to 6 p.m., and a 53-ft. semi-trailer from N&M Transfer will collect donations at the school. Items needed are bottled water, hand sanitizer, work and rubber gloves, masks, shovels, rakes, rain slickers, toiletries, gift cards, blankets and large boxes, Fox 11 said.
