Karina Ramírez

Jennifer Smith lost her mother in a 2008 traffic accident involving a driver distracted by using a cellphone. As founding director and president of FocusDriven, she continues to share her story of how she lost her mother, in an effort to promote awareness of the dangers of driving while distracted.

Smith will be the guest speaker at the Women Business Owners of Denton County meeting Tuesday.

“The topic of distracted driving and the dangers of talking and texting while driving is big right now, and she is one of the leaders in this effort on a national basis,” said business group member Debbra Dunning Brouillette.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration website, nearly 6,000 people died in accidents involving distracted driving in 2008.

“Losing someone and then finding out it was preventable makes losing them even harder,” Smith said on the FocusDriven website. “If we do nothing, then it is no longer a matter of if this will happen to someone you love, it is a matter of when it happens to someone you love.”

For her efforts, Smith appeared on the Oprah Winfrey Show in 2009 to tell her story. Also, she recently participated in a lobbying effort along with U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood to further the national anti-distracted driving movement.  

Courtesy photo

Jennifer Smith, president of FocusDriven, will be the guest speaker at the Women Business Owners of Denton County meeting Tuesday.

View larger More photos Photo store

“It is our goal to quickly eliminate this threat and prevent other families from going through what we have experienced,” Smith said in a press release.

The cost to attend the business group meeting is $20 for members and $25 for guests. Register online at www.wbodc.org or call 940-483-1264 by 5 p.m. Monday.

*

First State Bank recently announced it now offers a wide array of supplementary trust services for clients.

The new services include: personal money management (rental home management, tax organization and more), home maintenance and repair (appliance services, structural repair, auto repair, swimming pool service, among others), and personal comfort (cleaning services, pet services, care assessment and more), a press release states.

“For years we’ve tailored our services to our clients’ needs,” said Ryan Morris, senior vice president at First State Bank. “Now we want to work hand in hand with them to help them get the most out of life.”

For more information about the trust offerings, visit www.F-S-B.com or call 940- 349-5440.

*

This week, Wells Fargo and Wachovia announced a historic merger and integrated their operations in Texas.

Wells Fargo now has more than 700 banking locations in Texas and has become the largest retail bank network in the state with more than 1,000 ATMs, a Thursday press release stated. 

“Our team members have been planning and working for 18 months to make this transition go as smoothly as possible,” said Wells Fargo’s Texas Regional President Chip Carlisle in the release.

The Wachovia Corp. merged with Wells Fargo & Co. in December 2008.

The Greater Denton/Wise County Association of Realtors will have its “Dine Out for the Nelson Center” fundraiser on  Tuesday at the Pourhouse Sports Grill. A percentage of each tab (alcohol excluded) will be donated to Nelson Children’s Center projects.

Each year, the association helps fund projects at the center such as the annual Christmas party and spring-cleaning events.

The restaurant is at 3350 Unicorn Lake Blvd. in Denton.

*

DoubleDave’s Pizzaworks recently announced that the 220 W. University Drive location will be closed Monday through Wednesday for remodeling.

“We’ve wanted to do interior improvements for a long time,” said Ali Kohandani, co-owner of the restaurant. “We are sorry for the temporary inconvenience, but we are confident the improvements will be pleasing to our customers.”

Coming up           

In celebration of Denton County’s first trauma center, Denton Regional Medical Center will host a Denton Regional Safety Round-Up at 9 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 14, in the center’s parking lot.

The free event includes information on fire, car seat and automobile safety.

A children’s bicycle rodeo will be offered by the Denton Police Department.

In addition, the Denton County Health Department will provide free disaster-preparedness kits for the first 200 people, CareFlite will provide tours of a helicopter and 106.1 KISS FM will be on location.

“The first 200 kids will get bicycle helmets and they can go on an interactive bicycle course that will help them learn the rules of the road,” said Katherine Sims, hospital spokeswoman.

Staff writer Candace Carlisle contributed to this report.

KARINA RAMÍREZ can be reached at 940-566-6878. Her e-mail address is kramirez@dentonrc.com.