Episode 169 Show Note

Steve

Police in four states partner for ‘Move Over’ traffic enforcement

 CDLLIFE   Published:  July 20, 2026

ByAshley

State and local law enforcement agencies in four states are teaming up to enforce ‘Move Over’ laws on Monday.

From 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Monday, July 20, police in Michigan, Kentucky, Ohio and Pennsylvania will conduct a one-day, high visibility enforcement effort with a goal of enforcing each state’s Move Over laws.

“With at least 13 instances just this year of patrol vehicles being struck while conducting traffic stops, and seven MSP members killed while working on the side of the road in the department’s history, this is an important message we need everyone to hear,” said Col. James F. Grady II, director of the Michigan State Police (MSP). “We always prefer education over enforcement, but during this single-day operation officers will be looking for and addressing dangerous driving behaviors, including motorists who disregard the state’s Move Over law.”

In Michigan, the Move Over law requires that drivers they must move over a lane and slow down at least 10 miles per hour below the posted speed limit for an emergency vehicle with lights activated. If moving over isn’t possible, drivers should slow down to at least 10 miles per hour below the posted speed limit and proceed with caution. Michigan’s Move Over law applies to police vehicles, fire or EMS vehicles, construction vehicles and tow trucks.

Bill

Mail Pouch Barns: A Fading American Icon

Hagen History Center’s.    Jeff Sherry    Friday Jul 16th, 2021

Iconic Mail Pouch Barn

Today all forms of tobacco are known to be cancer-causing so some younger readers may not realize the extent of advertising by tobacco companies throughout the United States. One such form was the Mail Pouch Tobacco Barn. Large hand painted advertisements for chewing tobacco. “Chew Mail Pouch Tobacco Treat Yourself to the Best” read most of these large roadside billboards. Between 1891 and the 1970s, the Bloch Brothers Tobacco Company of Wheeling, West Virginia, (now Swisher International) had upwards of 20,000 barns in 22 states painted by traveling two-man teams. Now a fading part of Americana, these barns once dotted the countryside, including Northwestern Pennsylvania. An article in Erie Reader in 2013 identified at least 8 in Erie County alone.

The idea was simple: pay a farmer $1-$2 a month, less than $50 today, for the right to rent the barn for the ads. In the days before interstate highways, these barns, located along main roads, were seen by millions. The farmer not only got one wall of his barn painted, but he was also sent free Mail Pouch Tobacco. The company painted the entire barn once, but a sign painter would periodically repaint the Mail Pouch ads.

A Red Mail Pouch Barn in Pennsylvania.

One of the sign painters, Harley Warrick, has taken on almost legendary status among Mail Pouch Barn aficionados. Between 1946 when he came home from World War II and 1991 when he retired, Warrick is said to have painted or repainted over 20,000 barns. Warrick said he could do one in six hours. He didn’t use a pattern or strait edge. He did it from habit. He said, “ The first 1,000 were a little rough, after that you get the hang of it.”

Harley Warrick

The Bloch Brothers Tobacco Company was sold to the General Cigar and Tobacco Company in 1969, and they decided to end the barn-painting campaign, but they allowed Warrick to keep working, touching up existing barns until he retired in 1992. He died in 2000 and is buried in Belmont, Ohio.

Warrick’s Headstone in Belmont Ohio

In 1965 the Highway Beautification Act allowed the Mail Pouch Barns to be grandfathered in as landmark signs rather than billboards. This allowed these iconic barns to remain, though none have been repainted for nearly 30 years, unless it was by the owner. Swisher International Inc. still pays the barn owners a small fee-$10 a year. Today, the Mail Pouch Tobacco Barn is becoming just a memory of America’s past. Once a common roadside sight, they are almost all gone.