Bill Targets Whiteclay Alcohol Sales
Posted by Mikola 18 to NDN AIM
By SCOTT BAUER
Associated Press Writer
LINCOLN, Neb. -- They've tried talking to the governor.
They've protested by drinking beer at a Liquor Control Commission hearing, outside the governor's mansion and in the state Capitol.
They've marched and rallied.
Now activists who want to prevent the sale of alcohol in the border village of Whiteclay are again turning to the Legislature for help.
Last year a bill to ban the issuance of new liquor licenses in Whiteclay did not make it out of committee. Omaha Sen. Don Preister reintroduced a similar version of the proposal Tuesday.
ŒŒThe issue hasn't gone away,'' Preister said. ŒŒWe continue to have problems in the area with drunkenness, with law violations, people drinking in public places.''
While it does not mention Whiteclay by name, Preister's bill (LB325) would prohibit the issuance of a new license to sell alcohol in any unincorporated village within five miles of any American Indian country where alcohol is banned.
Whiteclay is about 200 feet from the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, where alcohol is banned. The 5,000-square-mile reservation just over the border in South Dakota is home to 15,000 Oglala Sioux and has one of the nation's highest alcoholism-related mortality rates.
Nebraskans for Peace has argued that residents of the reservation walk into Whiteclay, purchase alcohol, then illegally consume it on the street. They say police do not enforce open container and public drunkenness laws.
Nebraska state officials counter that the sale of alcohol is legal and whenever a violation is cited, a ticket is issued.
Preister's bill would not take away the licenses of the four stores currently selling beer in Whiteclay.
The only way those licenses would be revoked is if stores enough violations that the state Liquor Control Commission would be forced to act, said Tim Rinne, director of Nebraskans for Peace.
The commission is asking for more police to look for violations in Whiteclay. In its recommendations sent to Gov. Mike Johanns and Sen. Ray Janssen, chairman of the General Affairs Committee, the commission said more money needs to be spent to ensure law enforcement in Whiteclay during the hours that alcohol is sold.
A bill doing that has yet to be introduced.
Protesters say the Whiteclay beer stores sell more than 11,000 cans of beer -- or 1,833 six-packs -- each day, mostly to residents of the reservation. There are no official sales numbers available.
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