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Spotlight Shines on Whiteclay Disaster - 1/26/17

Details: Created: Thursday, January 26 2017 17:32

Sheridan County Commission Fails Residents

A beer truck in front of a liquor store in Whiteclay NE On January 11, the Sheridan County, NE Board wasted an opportunity to address an unmitigated public health disaster in its back yard. Asked to evaluate the appropriateness of liquor store licenses in Whiteclay, NE—a tiny town of 12 that sells over 3.5 million cans of beer a year, largely to the neighboring, legally dry, Pine Ridge Reservation—the board voted unanimously to recommend reapproval.

Nebraska state government, spearheaded by State Senator Patty Pansing Brooks, has been aggressively pushing for open hearings around the Whiteclay liquor licenses. Key to this process was a recent hearing at which the liquor store owners made the case why their licenses should be renewed. Around 60 attendees made cases for and against reapproval, with the Omaha Journal-Herald reporting that the majority of arguments were against.

The Lincoln Journal-Star provided a rundown of the local ills caused by the flow of alcohol into Pine Ridge. These include unsolved murders, widespread fetal alcohol syndrome disorders, the overloading of local behavioral health and medical services, and lasting damage to the family infrastructure. “It’s in every single one of our families,” Pine Ridge advocate and Alcohol Justice ally Olowan Martinez told the Journal-Star. “No matter how educated, no matter how nice our homes and how good we live. We could be some of the haves, of have-nots, and still be affected by it.”

The Pine Ridge reservation abuts Sheridan County and bears much of the burden of Whiteclay-related alcohol harm, but the price tag is high for the county, too. The Associated Press estimated 1/3 of Sheridan County’s $5.2 million budget goes to costs incurred by alcohol use in Whiteclay. With no local police force, the town is also entirely reliant on the Sheriff’s Department, which has five officers to patrol an area the size of Delaware. This, critics say, makes the region un-policeable, further warranting a revocation of liquor licenses.

Proponents of the liquor stores argued that the responsibility for stopping alcohol harm lies with Pine Ridge and the residents who drink. They also maintained that the police presence, though paltry, was normal for a rural area. The Sheridan County Board concurred, and recommended the licenses be renewed.

The decision was slammed by the editorial staff of the Journal-Star, who called it “reprehensible” and asserted that it “ignored indisputable evidence that adequate law enforcement is absent in Whiteclay.”

The case will come before the Nebraska Liquor Control Commission on March 7, 2017. The three commissioners—Robert Batt, Janice Wiebusch, and Bruce Bailey—will make the final determination as to whether to honor the needs of the residents of Pine Ridge and Sheridan County, or to maintain the cycle of intoxication, exploitation, illness, and waste.

TAKE ACTION: stand with the people of Pine Ridge to shut down the Whiteclay liquor stores.

Whiteclay Updates: Liquor Licenses Under Review - 12/20/16

Details: Created: Tuesday, December 20 2016 19:04

Does Paying Millions to Police a One-Horse, Four-Liquor-Store Town Make Sense?

In the midst of the ongoing public health and safety disaster in Whiteclay, NE, the four local liquor store owners have been asked to re-apply for their license to sell alcohol by the Nebraska State Liquor Control Commission. A legislative hearing last October revealed that Sheridan County, wherein Whiteclay is located, did not have enough law enforcement to adequately patrol the town. As adequate law enforcement is a prerequisite for the issuance of an alcohol license, the State Liquor Control Commission is expected to decide if the stores will be granted the licenses in late February.

In the meantime, the problems at Whiteclay continue. The town of 12 residents and four liquor stores remains a major source for alcohol—and alcohol-related harm—for the adjacent Pine Ridge Reservation. Health and safety threats attached to rampant alcohol abuse in the town include:

Public Intoxication
Selling alcohol to minors
Using food stamps to purchase alcohol
Physical abuse
Liquor stores exchanging alcohol for sexual favors
Prostitution

In addition, there have been five unsolved murders in Whiteclay. In neighboring Pine Ridge, Downtown Whiteclay Nebraska and its liquor stores one out of four children suffer from fetal alcohol syndrome.

The costs for enforcement, investigation, prosecution, and incarceration are bourn directly by Sheridan County. It is estimated that the county spends $1.7 million a year patrolling Whiteclay—a third of the county's budget. The taxes generated by beer sales, on the other hand, total a meager $120,000 yearly. This math does not add up—it doesn’t benefit the county, it doesn’t benefit the state, and it doesn’t benefit the residents of Pine Ridge. It only benefits High Plains Budweiser and the owners of the liquor stores.

TAKE ACTION: stand with the people of Pine Ridge Reservation to oppose the licensing of liquor stores in Whiteclay.

Activists Encourage Nebraska Senator's Life-Saving Proposal, Legislation to Follow in 2017 - 10/26/16

Details: Created: Wednesday, October 26 2016 15:47

by Michael Scippa

roadsign welcoming you to Whiteclay NB Alcohol Justice continues to provide media and strategic organizing support to the Oglala Sioux Tribe on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota for their campaign to shut down the liquor stores across the border in Whiteclay, Nebraska.

This past summer, Alcohol Justice initiated a successful Action Alert that generated over 635 letters to Nebraska State leaders asking them to support the work of State Senator Patty Pansing Brooks who declared that Whiteclay was a public health disaster for alcohol-related harm. Documented outcomes of liquor sales in the tiny town include widespread homelessness, alcoholism, sex trafficking, and alarming rates of fetal alcohol spectrum disorders. Senator Pansing Brooks is proposing legislation to deal with the illegal and illicit activity taking place at Whiteclay.

On October 11, 2016 the General Affairs Committee of the Nebraska Legislature heard testimony on LR567—an interim study introduced by Senator Brooks designed to examine and review the sale of alcohol in Whiteclay and the need for additional funding for law enforcement. Alcohol Justice drove three activists from Pine Ridge to participate in the hearing: Olowan Thunderhawk Martinez, Wambliwin Red Cloud, and former Tribal President Bryan Brewer. Alcohol Justice Board member Sonny Skyhawk also attended and testified, as did Alcohol Justice Advocacy Director Jorge Castillo.

Prior to the hearing all the people involved had a meeting with Senator Brooks. A strong and cordial relationship was established between Senator Brooks and the Pine Ridge activists. The group of participants agreed to continue to work together with the Senator to craft legislation next year. The hearing received extensive radio, TV, print and online screencap of a tv broadcast showing Sonny Skyhawk testifying media coverage.

Earlier in the month, activist Olowan Thunderhawk Martinez was extradited to Nebraska to face allegations of criminal misconduct related to a Women's Day of Peace Rally at Whiteclay a few years ago. From all accounts it appears to be an attempt to criminalize her activism in order to neutralize the ongoing efforts to address the problems in the area. Alcohol Justice agreed to pay her bail and to assist with her attorney fees. As it turned out, being on bail allowed her to freely move in Nebraska and to testify at the hearing. Her extradition to Nebraska brought national media attention to her case and to the problems at Whiteclay.

In addition to legislation being proposed for 2017, due to a complete lack of enforcement capability in Whiteclay, the four liquor stores in the cross-hairs of controversy for their illegal practices will be f orced by the Nebraska Liquor Control Commission to re-apply for their licenses to operate. Lack of law enforcement is grounds for denial of issuing alcohol licenses in the state.

Please TAKE ACTION to send your message of encouragement and support to Nebraska State leaders.