Nick Zywot’s mom stopped talking to him because of his drinking. After a decade of sobriety, police arrested him a few days after Christmas for DUI No. 6. Jesse Powell notched his fourth DUI in September. Tia Smart went to court 10 times for underage drinking before her latest assault charge. That was last […]
‘It never ceases to amaze me what people will do to other people’
From the driver’s seat of his Anchorage police cruiser, Officer Barry Hetlet sees many people out wandering the streets of Fairview and downtown Anchorage in the middle of the night. At all hours, people stand on the street corners of Ingra and linger downtown. During rare quiet moments, between the mayhem of 911 calls, […]
After making millions on liquor store, Kotzebue plans city-owned bar and restaurant
In an ongoing experiment to pay for city services with liquor sales, Kotzebue officials plan to open a city-owned bar and burger restaurant later this year. The restaurant and a city-run liquor store launched in 2010 are expected to generate about 15 percent of the general fund cash needed to operate the Northwest Alaska city in […]
“I have to do this this way”
Barrow judge Michael Jeffery has made several changes to the way he runs his court to try to provide fair treatment for defendants who may be affected by a fetal alcohol spectrum disorder. In 1990, a defense attorney presented evidence that her client was diagnosed with an FASD, and that it would be unjust to […]
Call him ‘Minimum Mike’ if you like, but this Barrow judge is trying something new
Judge Mike Jeffery talk with a defendant in Barrow on Monday, November 11, 2013. Jeffery says he has tried to adapt his courtroom to a provide for fair treatment for people affected with a fetal alcohol spectrum disorder. He slows down his hearings, uses plain language and uses his discretion in plea agreements to allow […]
Alaska could fight FASD right now with these three ideas
Forget, for the moment, the debate over whether the state should pay to hand out free pregnancy tests and/or condoms. Give away both, then think bigger. Every baby born with fetal alcohol syndrome costs the public $1 million to $4 million in lifetime medical and social services bills. Bar bathroom give-aways aside, experts say […]
‘I genuinely care’
Probation officer Terri Telkamp has a unique approach to her work in Barrow. She suspects many people who wind up on her caseload are affected by fetal alcohol spectrum disorders, and has adapted in ways she hopes will lessen the likelihood that felons will reoffend. In this video, Telkamp talks about her methods to […]
2 out of 3 ‘intentional injury’ hospitalizations among Alaska Natives are alcohol related, report says
My mailbox is filling up this week with notes from researchers and reporters interested in the new ISER study that found no statistical evidence that banning alcohol in a village reduces suicides among young Alaska Native men. One reader notes that the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium’s newly updated Alaska Native Injury Atlas shows an expanded picture of […]
Study: Banning alcohol in Alaska villages doesn’t reduce suicide, but more jobs might
In fall 2013, voters in Shishmaref voted against removing a ban on the importation and sale of alcohol. File photo, October 1, 2013. (MARC LESTER – Anchorage Daily News) Banning alcohol in Alaska’s most isolated and cash-poor villages has failed to reduce suicide rates among the young Alaska Native men who live there, new research […]