Project will explore the impact alcohol has had on community

It’s been six years since the Daily News-Miner last took a close look at the community impact of alcohol abuse. The four-part series the newspaper produced that year focused on the continuing effort to combat the high presence of regular public inebriates in downtown Fairbanks. That series itself was a follow-up to a 2003 […]

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 […]

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 […]

A last check-in with the Hatch family

From left: Deyna Pardue, Carol Hatch, Will Seward, Simone Hope, Kellen Swanson, RJ Galeshoff, baby Lily Schablein, Gifford Benoit, Ari Schablein, Chase Benoit and Leah Morgan-Carroll. April 29, 2014 Baby Lily squirms on the living room floor as Ari speaks to a nurse from the Southcentral Foundation who visits every two weeks. Ari is proud […]

Kellen on career dreams

March 27, 2014 If FASD wasn’t an issue, what kind of job do you think you’d be doing? Kellen: I would probably be doing something besides (being) a (part-time) domestic engineer at a church. I would probably be going for a career with a job that I might find beneficial to myself and my […]

Carol talks about parenting

Carol Hatch helps her granddaughter, Deyna, after she fell off her scooter. (MARC LESTER — Anchorage Daily News) Why did you start accepting foster kids and seeking out foster kids? Carol: I always wanted to be a foster parent, even before I had a kid of my own. I always loved to be around kids […]