Madison Fireman Guilty of DUI; Sentencing January

Remember Scott Johnson, the Madison fireman arrested in September for driving the firetruck drunk? His case provoked all sorts of awkward conversation and exposed some ugly attitudes about alcohol in our fair community.

But Johnson's case appears not to have provoked much controversy with the jury. Twelve of Scott Johnson's peers spent 40 minutes Wednesday deciding he was indeed guilty of DUI. Blood alcohol level of 0.098, putting public property at risk, violating public trust... not really any excuses, are there?

Judge Tim Tucker will decide how much of the book to throw at Johnson for drunkenness on duty on January 3.

So are you folks done being snotty to the Madison police yet?

Too Drunk to Bounce?

The press coverage on the preliminary hearing in Madison fireman Scott Johnson's DUI case caught my attention, and not just because it brought the KELO and KDLT station wagons crawling up to Madison to trumpet the 0.098 blood alcohol content revealed by the county's blood test.

Madison city police officer Aaron Talich testified that he first interacted with Johnson the night of the incident at 2 a.m. at Teezer's Bar. Talich was responded to a call about a stolen check card. He spoke with Johnson because Johnson was working security at the bar. Talich saw signs—bloodshot and glassy eyes—that Johnson had been drinking.

Now Teezer's owner Jeff Gates told John Hult of that Sioux Falls paper in a September 19 article that Johnson had been to Sioux Falls earlier in the evening but was sober enough to work. And bouncing and firefighting are two different jobs.

But does anyone else find it... well, alarming that a guy would have two jobs that involve keeping people safe, and that the guy wouldn't make the connection that drinking alcohol might reduce his ability to do those jobs effectively? I have had little interaction with bouncers, and my 150-pound frame automatically disqualifies me from being one, but consider: you're working in a bar. You're going to be dealing with two kinds of troublemakers: folks who've drunk too much and are out of control, and folks who aren't drinking at all, want to make trouble, and may plan to use all their wits to take advantage of one or more drunk people around them. Up against either type of miscreant, wouldn't you want to keep your mental and physical faculties as sharp as possible?

Or look at it from the customer perspective: if I were to visit one of Madison's many fine drinking establishments, and if I were to spend money in proximity of large, strong men who are authorized by the boss to throw me out the door, I'd feel a lot more comfortable knowing those large, strong men are exercising that commercial authority while completely sober.

Or look at it from the boss perspective: if I pay you money, I expect there to be no alcohol in your system while you're on my clock.

But hey, this is Madison, where I still haven't figured out our ethics on alcohol.

Tax Booze, Save Lives

I've reported previously that a a simple penny-per-ounce hooch tax could raise $29 million per year to help ease South Dakota's budget woes. A new metastudy from University of Florida epidemiologist Alexander Wagenaar finds that simply increasing the tax on alcohol to keep up with inflation could save thousands of lives and save millions in health care costs:

Wagenaar and his colleagues identified 50 papers published over the last 40 years that looked at how changes in alcohol prices affect health outcomes. These studies were mainly conducted in the United States, Canada and Scandinavia.

Their analysis showed that, on average, a doubling of the alcohol tax was associated with a 35 percent decrease in alcohol-related mortality (such as death from liver disease), an 11 percent decrease in deaths from traffic accidents, a 6 percent decrease in sexually transmitted diseases, a 2 percent decrease in violence and a 1.4 percent reduction in crime [Rachel Rettner, "A Hike in the Price of Booze Could Make Us All Healthier," LiveScience.com, 2010.09.24].

Wagenaar says, "The strength of these findings suggests that tax increases may be the most effective way we have to prevent excessive drinking—and also have drinkers pay more of their fair share for the damages caused and costs incurred."

Plug the South Dakota budget hole; make South Dakota's drinkers pay a fairer share of the cost of their irresponsibility; reduce death, disease, and destruction—sounds like a good plan from every direction.
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Update 2010.09.28: Then again, my teetoalling may be shortening my life expectancy. Cheers!

Chadron Rejects Madison Pro-Booze Thinking, Keeps 1 a.m. Closing Time

Over a twelve-month period, good college town Madison saw significant expansions in the availability of alcohol:

1. Grocer Dan Roemen shut down Mr. Movies to make room for more liquor sales space, a move not viewed favorably by local readers.
   
2. The Madison City Commission voted to permit alcohol consumption in city parks.
3. The Madison City Commission extended closing time for bars from 1 a.m. to 2 a.m.

On that last note, Madison bar owners argued that their boozy patrons were hopping in their cars at the 1 a.m. closing time and driving to Wentworth, Nunda, and other locations with later-closing bars. It's not safe to send all those paying customers—er, neighbors—out on the highway at that hour!

The same arguments were lodged before the Chadron City Council last month as it considered an identical measure. Bar owner Darin Garman warned that Crawford, Hay Springs, and Alliance would make the change and draw Chadron's late-night drinkers to the highways.

Yet the Chadron City Council . Why did this Nebraska college town say no to later booze?

"Eighty to 85 percent of the students we see having problems, alcohol is almost always a factor," Randy Rhine, [Chadron State University] vice president for enrollment said during discussion of the proposal to add an hour to the time bars are allowed to remain open. "Alcohol is probably the number one substance abused on our campus."

"I can't see it benefiting anyone to be out that much later ...with that much alcohol in your system," said Dr. Kristi Johnson. "I don't understand what it's going to gain for our community."

...[A]dding an hour to the hours of bar service will "increase all the risk factors," for alcohol abuse, said CSC nurse Ann Dockwiler. Every year the college has about a dozen incidents involving taking a student from a residence hall to the emergency room because of an alcohol overdose, she said, and many more cases which aren't serious enough to require an ER visit, but still have to be monitored by staff members. "It's a huge issue for us," Dockwiler said.

..."There seems to be a huge risk, and benefit to a very few," noted council member Steve Duncan.

"I'm of the opinion that nothing really good happens after midnight," said council member John Gamby.

"I think 1 a.m. is long enough," said council member Rob Harvey [George Ledbetter, "City Nixes 2 a.m. Closing, Retains Dog Licensing Rule," Chadron Record, 2010.08.23].

Chadron is a town about our size. They have lots of college students, just like Madison. And, at peril of stereotyping, one might argue that, a little more isolated out on the high western plains, folks there might have a little more excuse to seek solace in a stiff drink than us Madisonites on the lush green side of the 100th meridian.

Yet Chadron says whoa at 1 a.m., and Madison doesn't. Go figure.
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Bonus What-If: Consider that if Madison hadn't extended its closing time, and if the local bars had sent everyone home at 1 a.m. on Labor Day Weekend, then by the time fireman Scott Johnson responded to that fire call and then blew into the breathalyzer around 3 a.m., the alcohol might have settled out of his system enough not to warrant a DUI arrest.

Fire Dept "Apology" for DUI Hits Wrong Notes

The Madison Police Department is maintaining an official "No comment" stance on the September 4 DUI arrest of volunteer fireman Scott Johnson, but the Madison Fire Department is not. Here is their Letter to the Editor from Tuesday's MDL:

We as the Madison Fire Department are writing this letter to express our concerns on the Sept. 4 issue with one of our fellow firefighters.

The city of Madison and surrounding area have received volunteer fire protection for at least 126 years at very little cost. We as firefighters are on call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. We do not get weekends or holidays (Labor Day) off. We do not receive overtime pay or a paycheck for what we do.

In the early morning hours of Sept. 4, the madison Volunteer Fire Department was dispatched to a fire call. Also dispatched was the Madison Police Department. While on the fire scene, a Madison police officer suspected one of our truck drivers had been drinking. Fire Department officers and fellow volunteers did not notice any unusual actions from this individual which would lead to the suspicion of alcohol.

The fire was determined to be a false alarm and all firemen and trucks were returned to the fire station.

After the fire truck was backed into the Fire Hall, two Madison police officers entered the building and arrested one of our fellow firefighters.

We, as concerned firefighters are asking: If this police officer suspected liquor or a substance abuse, why was this firefighter not confronted at the scene? Why was he (the fireman) allowed to drive the truck back to the Fire Hall?

We as firefighters have been instructed not to respond to a fire call if under the unfluence of liquor or other substances. Our Fire Department Constitution and Bylaws deal harshly with this circumstance.

But as volunteer firefighters, we make mistakes like everyone else. Being volunteer firemen, we are on call 24/7, but we still like to have our free time to relax and do what we like to do.

In this particular, unfortunate incident, this firefighter thought his fun time has depleted and felt he was capable of responding to the fire call. As the state of South Dakota now knows, a mistake in judgment was made on his part in the early morning hours of Sept. 4. We, as his fellow firefighters, have learned from his mistake and will monitor our free time more closely.

The Madison Volunteer Fire Department wants to apologize to the citizens of Madison and the surrounding area for any concerns this incident may have caused. We also want to assure our community that we are still the same dedicated, trained and ready to serve fire department that we have always been.

Members of Madison Volunteer Fire Dept.
Madison, Sept. 10
[published as a Letter to the Editor, Madison Daily Leader, 2010.09.14, p. 3]

I'll say this: apologies generally go over better if you just say, "I'm sorry," without shifting blame to others or making excuses for mistakes. Keep paragraphs 7, 9, and 10, and you've got a decent apology. Throw in the rest, and you have problems.

This letter is a remarkable breach of public protocol here, with one city department questioning the actions of another city department in the press. I'm trying to think of a good analogy... hmm... imagine what would happen if the English Department at MHS wrote a letter questioning the professionalism of the science department... or the football team.

The letter also presents an amusing legal conundrum. Through attorney Dan Brown, Scott Johnson pled not guilty yesterday, setting up a preliminary court hearing September 30. That plea might make us wonder just what "mistake in judgment" Johnson's letter-writing colleagues are talking about.

But the core issue here is Madison's wrong, wrong, wrong attitude toward alcohol and drunkenness. In this letter, our firefighters, rightful role models for our kids, perpetuate the all-too-Madison message that drunkenness is good fun to which everyone is entitled. And too many other Madisonites are backing that message in their excuses and blame-shifting.

I'm not asking you, Madison neighbors, to abstain completely. (Well, actually, I wouldn't mind if you did, but I know that's about as likely as my doing shots at Teezers Friday night.) Enjoy a good stout ale, a glass of decent wine. But help me tell our kids that drinking to intoxication is never, ever justifiable. Help me tell them that neither the most stressful day nor the dullest Friday night in Madison is good reason to get drunk.

Is that so much to ask?

Madison Fireman DUI Exposes Community Misunderstanding of Duty

The DUI arrest of an on-duty Madison fireman has generated a lot of conversation among my neighbors. It has also brought to the surface some ugly attitudes.

I have spoken with the Madison Police Department. (Note: none of the officers I have spoken with this summer appear to have been drinking.) Their official position on this matter: no comment. The matter is under adjudication, and it is not the police department's place to be arguing the case in public. Their duty binds them to stay out of the public fracas and not respond to the rumors and insults being flung their way.

Madison police have noticed some residents giving them a distinct cold shoulder since the fireman's DUI made the news. The men in blue have seen neighbors they've helped in the past year now decline to wave when they pass on the street.

Folks, in case you've forgotten, the police and the firemen are on the same team. They're all the folks who come save our skins when we're in trouble. They're all good people who make a commitment to sacrifice their time and leisure to protect us. And whether they are paid or not, they have a duty to remain fit for service, to obey the law, and, as public servants, to set a good example for our kids and the community. Men and women in either uniform are expected to uphold those clear standards. Men and women unwilling to do so need not apply.

No small contingent of my neighbors apparently disagree. The only public comment I've seen so far are two letters to the editor taking the fire department's side. The first comes from one of my favorite neighbors, Richard Wiedenman:

The Madison Fire Department is one of the most efficient departments in the state. Being a volunteer unit on call day or night, one shouldn't be critical of their off-duty activities. Mistakes can be made.

Let's hope they keep up the good work, as they have in the past, thanks to the volunteers.

— R.V. Wiedenman, Letter to the Editor, Madison Daily Leader, 2010.09.09, p. 3

Wiedenman is also to be praised for an efficient letter. My only response: Fireman Scott Johnson wasn't arrested for his off-duty activities. His citation happened while he was on duty. If you're too drunk to drive, you're too drunk to run firefighting equipment, and showing up for duty in that state warrants criticism.

(Of course, teetotaler that I am, I'll contend that we have every right to be critical of drinking to excess. There is no excuse for such irresponsibility, on duty or off. But that's a separate argument from the legitimacy of giving a fireman a DUI.)

Henry Hauck writes a bit more, and more bitingly:

The problem of volunteer firemen having alcohol on their breath is simple: Request the people with a fire to call in 24 hours prior to the volunteers coming. That would allow the volunteers to better schedule their life in order to volunteer.

We could also consider giving them a raise so they would no longer be a volunteer. Then we could demand specific behavior.

No, I do not condone drinking and driving at any time, but to allow a volunteer to drive to a fire after a few drinks and then allowing him to drive back so he could be given a ticket is not right.

I hope that the police person does not have a house fire because maybe all the volunteer fire persons may go to the hospital for a blood alcohol test prior to responding. I suggest that.

Folks, if I have a fire, please come as you are!

—Henry Hauck, Letter to the Editor, Madison Daily Leader, 2010.09.10, p. 3

Hauck's letter gets ugly. He goes beyond Wiedenman's simple request that we stay out of people's personal lives and respect the work they do for the community. Hauck starts threatening police officers with retribution. Hauck's is the sort of illogical snideness that makes our community look bad.

Hauck says he doesn't condone drinking and driving at any time. Unfortunately, he proves he's just saying that as a rhetorical ploy. He shows he doesn't really believe that by urging firefighters to drive drunk to his house if there's a fire. Sure, great idea, Mr. Hauck: and perhaps as they weave their way to save your house, they can kill a few innocent motorists or pedestrians along the way?

By the way, just to be clear: firemen, police, EMTs, Search & Rescue, if I have an emergency, don't drive drunk to get here. Better yet, don't get drunk in the first place. Thank you.

Hauck also fails to understand the idea of duty. Hauck apparently believes a petty personal grudge, based on resentment at another public servant performing his duty, warrants not carrying out one's own duty.

But who cares about law or duty or personal responsibility, right? We're Madison firefighters! We win trophies! We deserve to get drunk whenever we want, right? And if you torque us off, we don't have to come put out your fire! (Oops: my fire insurance premium just doubled.)

I don't hear any firemen saying that, but Hauck's letter exhibits the ugly entitlement mentality I'm hearing from too many of my neighbors. There appears to be a sense that since the firemen volunteer for this work, they are entitled to drink and do whatever else they want without criticism or accountability... and that they are entitled to pick and choose which members of the public they serve.

Hauck and too many other Madisonites appear to miss the point. Volunteering to fight fires or serve the public in any other capacity does not entitle you to special treatment. It actually binds you to a higher standard of conduct. you have to stay fit, physically and mentally. You have to be ready to serve (and serve anyone) at a moment's notice. No one forces you to be a firefighter. Public service is your choice... and choices have consequences. Choose to serve, and you accept a duty. Choose to drink and drive, and you accept the judgment of the law when you're caught. It's that simple.
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Update 17:10 CDT: And in other news, Governor M. Michael Rounds has declared September Alcohol and Drug Addiction Recovery Month in South Dakota.

Buzzed Madison Woman Rear-Ends Truck Waiting for Train

I guess it's Drunken Idiots Week here in Lake County. First my fair city makes headlines with a volunteer fireman getting a DUI at the wheel of the firetruck. Now on Wednesday on Highway 34, another driver hitting the hooch nearly drives herself and another motorist into a train:

At about 4:45 p.m., Allen D. Krogstad, 45, of Wentworth was westbound on the highway and had stopped his Ford F-150 pickup at the crossing for a passing train.

Rebecca S. Lamma, 50, of Madison was also westbound on SD-34 and came up to Krogstad's vehicle while it was stopped.

Both drivers were alone in the vehicles.

Before she could come to a full stop, Lamma's Chevrolet Impala struck the pickup in the rear at an estimated 35 mph.

Krogstad was sent to Madison Community Hospital with reported neck and back injuries.

Lamma had admitted to the consumption of alcohol and was tested at 0.061. She was cited for no driver's license, careless driving and following too closely [Chuck Clement, "Wentworth Man Injured in SD-34 Accident," Madison Daily Leader, 2010.09.09].

I can only imagine the fear the pickup driver felt: Holy crap: that lady's not stopping. The train's in front of me. I've got nowhere to go. Thank goodness for Ford engineering. I'm sure those neck and back injuries are no picnic, but that guy's lucky the coroner wasn't disentangling his neck and back from the undercarriage of the train.

As for the woman "following too closely"...

1. It's 4:45 p.m. It's not even happy hour yet. Why on earth are you drinking?
   
2. No driver's license? I know the computers were down and the line was long at the Lake County driver's license station Tuesday, but really, what are you doing on the road in the first place?
3. It's not like the guy in front of you romped on the brakes suddenly to avoid a turtle. That's a gosh-darn train in front of you. You weren't even drunk-drunk, just buzzed: so how do you not see a train that ought to be visible from a half-mile away?

Perhaps we should be thankful that Ms. Lamma has demonstrated the safety advantages of having only two lanes on Highway 34. Were the road a four-laner, Ms. Lamma might have been driving even faster and would have plowed Mr. Krogstad and herself right into that train. Or she might have been in that second lane and not had the convenience of using Mr. Krogstad's pickup as a speed bump to save her from the train.

The moral for my fellow Madisonians: put down the beer, the phone, or whatever the heck else is taking your eyes off the road.
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Update 09:33 CDT: Dang, maybe Madison should have applied for some of the $1.4 million Uncle Sam just gave 50 South Dakota communities for alcohol prevention.

Madison Firefighter Arrested for DUI in Firetruck

I'm trying to sort out who's dumber: Madison volunteer fireman Scott Johnson, for getting arrested for driving while intoxicated after responding to a fire call, or Fire Chief Jerry Johnson, for muttering an incoherent and irrelevant defense of fire department policy instead of calling stupid stupid.

KJAM reports that fireman Scott Johnson got a DUI citation from a local cop who saw Scott Johnson at the fire call, suspected he might be drunk, followed as Scott Johnson drove the firetruck back to base, and gave Scott Johnson the breathalyzer.

Strangely, Chief Jerry Johnson offers this defense of fire department policy to require all available personnel to respond to fire calls:

By "available," certainly, uh, people are all volunteers, and, uh, they have, uh, they go out of town, they like to camp, they like to hunt, they like to fish, they go to football games, they go to basketball games, uh, they go out of town to other activities just like everybody. So when I say "available personnel," uh, I mean, uh, uh, you know, available personnel [Madison Fire Chief Jerry Johnson, interviewed on KJAM radio, 2010.09.08].

Now maybe KJAM just picked the wrong clip here. Maybe Chief Jerry Johnson has much more to say about fireman Scott Johnson's arrest and alleged drunkenness.

But Jerry, are you really trying to justify someone showing up drunk for work? Are you really saying intoxication doesn't somehow render someone unavailable for a fire call? Are you really trying to equate camping, hunting, fishing, and attending sporting events with getting drunk?

Oh, wait, this is Madison: maybe camping, hunting, fishing, and sports events really are synonymous with drinking.

It sounds to me as if the Chief Jerry Johnson is excusing irresponsible behavior by saying that our firemen are just volunteers who need to go have fun just like everybody else. And I would agree that firefighters, just like police and doctors and everybody else, do not sacrifice their right to rest and relaxation.

But I would assume that our volunteer firefighters would figure out some rational "on-call" regimen. I would assume that they would accept some responsibility to be totally available at certain times. I would assume they would not leave to hunt or fish or shop out of town without at least telling the chief they're going to leave the department short a man for a day or two.

And I would think someone who volunteers to fight fires and protect public safety would say, "You know what? I agreed to do a job. I can't do that job if I'm too drunk to drive. Ergo, I'd better not get drunk."

I honestly don't know what Chief Jerry Johnson was trying to say. But I hear in his radio clip an inkling of that very Madison attitude that getting drunk is just what we do, and it's no big deal.

Chief Jerry Johnson appears to miss the point that this is a big deal. There is never an excuse, policy or otherwise, for getting drunk... let alone driving our firetruck while so incapacitated. That Chief Jerry Johnson felt the need to say anything else defies common sense.
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Update 10:11 CDT: Chief Jerry Johnson tells KELO, "I cannot and will not dictate to our firefighters how they spend their free-time, that is their choice." Bull, Jerry. You can certainly tell your volunteers they need to be ready and able to perform their duties at any time they're on call. You can tell them they can't break the law. You can tell them serving in your department means not endangering public safety by getting drunk and driving drunk.

Herseth Sandlin Fined Staffer Ten Times Court Penalty

If I'm reading the court record properly, the court slapped drunk driver Tessa Gould with a $516 fine ($136 suspended) and $220 in court costs, along with a month's revocation of drivers license, three months of DUI classes, and a year's probation.

And what punishment did her boss dish out?

Gould's arrest came two days before Noem won the Republican House nomination. She started working as Herseth Sandlin's state director in 2004 and became chief of staff in 2007, according to congressional data published by Legistorm.com. She was paid $121,000 in the last fiscal year.

Herseth Sandlin put Gould on unpaid leave until her case was resolved June 28, said Russ Levsen, Herseth Sandlin's senior campaign adviser. The congresswoman, he added, took the issue seriously and sent a message that it was unacceptable [Jonathan Ellis, "Driving Records Hit Campaigns," that Sioux Falls paper, 2010.09.01.

Do the math: Legistorm reports Gould received $29,499.99 from her boss in Q1 of this year. In Q2, Gould got $22,944.43. The suspension without pay Levsen mentions appears to have cost Gould $6555.56. Yeah, I'd say the Herseth Sandlin campaign takes such infractions seriously.

So Gould's bender cost her over $7000. That must have been really good beer.
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Bonus audio: Listen to the boss explain the situation herself. Of course, expect the Republican spin machine will criticize the good Congresswoman for sounding intense and "not taking any crap" on this issue.

Madison: Free Beer! Commission Considers Repealing Hooch Samples Ban

Update: The City Commission agenda is labeled July 13... but a neighbor tells me the commission met last night. Hmm....

Five years ago, I suggested a number of alternative slogans for our fair city, including "Madison: Free Beer!"

The City of Madison may be taking me up on that. At tonight's city commission meeting, our fearless leaders will consider repealing Section 4-11, which bans off-sale licensees from giving free samples of alcoholic beverages.

So seriously: are Madison's booze peddlers going to make the case that there isn't enough demand already, that they now need to hand out free samples to drum up business?

Business Seeks Profit Over Public Safety -- An Anecdote

These DUI laws are just killing us.

A representative of the alcohol industry said that to me this week. Struggling mightily to keep my seat and my civility, I asked, how so?

The rep explained that South Dakota's sobriety checkpoint program has been getting more intense and driving up DUI arrests. A guy gets one of those, said the rep, and he doesn't want to risk that cost again.

I asked if the checkpoints just caused people to enjoy their adult beverages at home more, but the rep apparently sees enforcement of state laws as driving down sales for his industry.

We need more politicians who think like businessmen, the rep said.

No, we don't. Not when thinking like a businessman means easing up on drunk drivers.

Giebink Trades House Race for Police Chase

Looks like Greg Kniffen is on his own leading the Dem charge against Gene Abdallah and Roger Hunt in District 10:

A Sioux Falls attorney is in custody after she led a sheriff's deputy on a high-speed chase that reached 100 mph at one point.

The Minnehaha County Sheriff's Department says a deputy attempted to stop a speeding vehicle around 2 a.m. Friday on East 26th Street in Sioux Falls. The driver, Mary Ann Giebink, ran two stop signs along Six Mile Road and continued to speed through the Pine Lake Hills housing development [Kushida and Dunsmoor, "SF Attorney Arrested for DWI, Marijuana," KELOLand.com, 2010.05.07].

Giebink is technically still a Democratic candidate for the South Dakota House of Representatives. But "first DWI, aggravated eluding, speeding, stop sign violations and possession of marijuana" just don't make a good campaign slogan.

When it comes to booze and pot, I'm a big Nancy. But for Pete's sake, if you just have to get lit up, can you just do it at home?

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Update: $5000 bond, ankle monitor... and bad pix in jail stripes. District 10 Dems, fire up the Independent draft movement.

SD Youth Risk Survey: Sex, Drugs... But No Questions about Rock and Roll

Well, at least the kids are wearing both straps on their backpacks, like the covergirl from the new South Dakota 2009 Youth Risk Behavior Survey Report. We all know single-strapping is a youth health menace.

2170 high schoolers responded to the survey and told us some other unhealthy activities they are involved in:

• 22% rode in a car with a drunk driver in the last month.
• 27% were in a physical fight in the last year.
• 52% were bullied.
• 7% attempted suicide in the last year.
• 9% were forced to have sex.
• 26% had five alcoholic drinks in a row in the past month. That's 65% of the kids who report drinking any alcohol during the past month. In other words, 2 out of three kids drinking are drinking for the clear purpose of getting schnockered.
  
• 36% had sex during the past three months (I know, sex isn't inherently an unhealthy activity...)
• ...24% of those sexually active students drank or did drugs before doing the deed, and 38% didn't use a condom (o.k., that's unhealthy).
• 49% skipped breakfast three or more times in the past week.

On the good side:

• 77% didn't smoke during the past month.
• 58% of those who have smoked recently have tried to quit.
• 64% played some team sport during the past year.
• 77% watched less than three hours of TV a day.
• 80% were on the computer or the XBox for less than three hours a day.
• The percentage riding with drunk drivers (22%) has gone down every survey year since 2003, when the percentage was 37%. The state is apparently getting the message across to some kids and parents.
• Smoking has been trending downward, too.

Read the full PDF-format report here. Then tell your kids no beer for graduation.

DSU's Chris Olson Warns Youth: Put Down the Beer... or the Keys

DSU instructor Chris Olson was in an awful car wreck nine years ago this week. Alcohol was the cause. The crash killed his fiancée Tana Thompson and put him in a wheelchair for the rest of his life.

Chris wasn't the driver in that crash—Tana's brother Marty was at the wheel. But Chris takes his own share of the blame for what happened. Chris has made this video about his experience, his mistake, and his loss for South Dakota's Parents Matter campaign.

Watch the video. As we head for prom and graduation, show your kids. Show them Chris's own story about his long relationship with Tana and what he lost because of a single bad decision.

Year of Unity: What About Whiteclay?

Hat tip to John Andrews at South Dakota Magazine!

Kevin Abourezek of the Lincoln Journal Star draws our attention to new efforts to rehabilitate Whiteclay, the Nebraska border village that sells around 4 million cans of beer annually, mostly to residents of South Dakota's Pine Ridge reservation. Bruce BonFleur of the ABOUT Christian ministry has started a used clothing store and soup kitchen in Whiteclay and is trying to get resources to raze abandoned buildings and start a recycling center and some Lakota-owned businesses.

Some Nebraska officials are trying to help, and they met last month with some South Dakota legislators, including House Speaker Tim Rave, to see what could be done.

Rave agreed that solutions in Whiteclay and on the Pine Ridge Reservation would require support from state and federal leaders.

...Rave also said he didn't think South Dakota leaders would support spending money on solutions in Whiteclay this legislative session, considering the fiscal crisis his state is facing [Kevin Abourezk, "A Search for Solutions at Whiteclay," Lincoln Journal Star, 2010.01.31].

Hmmm... is that how the Year of Unity is going to play out? We'll talk a lot, but we won't put our money where our mouth is? But you know us poor white folks: we can't even afford three cents more a gallon for gasoline to fix our roads.

I know someone is going to hit the comment section and say we can't solve the Indians' problems by throwing money at them. But we found the resources to haul firewater across the frontier to introduce our red brothers to the "blessings" of "civilization"; we should be able to find a few pennies in our budget, even in tight economic times, to support solutions to the problems we caused.

Large Majority Say Sunshine Liquor Expansion Not Good for Madison

Hey, we broke 100 on the latest Madville Times poll! Thanks, everyone!

I asked, "Will Sunshine's new liquor store be good for Madison?" You said...

Yes	37 (37%)
No	64 (63%)

Votes so far: 101

Does this poll mean Dan Roemen's new adult business is bound to fail? Not at all. You don't need to sell your product to everyone. 53% of Midwesterners are regular drinkers (see this PDF, p. 41). Only 6% of Americans are problem drinkers. But just 6% can buy a lot of booze.

The poll does mean that I'm not the only who recognizes that building yet another prominent alcohol outlet, in Madison's only grocery store, isn't exactly the Unexpected™ that we want folks to discover in Madison. More booze may be a perfectly profitable business decision for Sunshine. But it is also bad for Madison's image, bad for our kids, and bad for our economy.

Per Kristen's suggestion, I'll pass these comments on to Mr. Roemen. I may send him some other grocery recommendations... written on the back of my Hy-Vee receipts.

Poll Reminder: Sunshine Liquor Good for Madison?

We're halfway through the latest Madville Times poll, which asks whether Sunshine's new liquor store will be good for Madison. As you can see from the running tally in the left sidebar, nays are outpacing ayes at the moment.

But there are three days to go: poll closes Monday at breakfast time. If you've voted already, thanks for contributing to Madison's best (and only!) public market analysis. If you haven't voted, please do! Even if you're not from Madison, feel free to vote and share your comments (at the original poll post, please) from afar on the benefits and costs of adding another major liquor outlet to Madison's economy.

Tell your friends—let's give Sunshine as broad a sampling of public opinion as we can muster. Sunshine doesn't have a suggestion box, so this is the best chance you'll get to air your opinion. Vote now!

Vote in New Poll: Sunshine's Liquor Expansion Good for Madison?

You know I'm no fan of alcohol, but I want your opinion: will replacing Mr. Movies with an expanded liquor section at Sunshine/JubiShine be good for Madison? Register your answer to that question by voting in the newest Madville Times poll in the left sidebar.

You can look at the question from numerous angles. For instance, will the new liquor store...

• ...increase jobs?
  
• ...fulfill an unmet need for local consumers?
• ...generate more sales tax revenue?
• ...draw more out-of-town shoppers?
  
• ...contribute to more alcohol-related problems?
• ...decrease property values?
• ...force competitors out of business?
• ...hurt Madison's image?
  

Do your socioeconomic calculus, vote in the sidebar, and, if you like, explain your vote right here in the comment section. Tell your neighbors, and let's get a big sample on this one! Poll deadline is Monday, Jan. 11, at 6 a.m.

Screw Death Panels: Try Drunk Panels!

2009 ends with no response from Sarah Palin or anyone else to my challenge to show an example of an honest-to-God government death panel in any country with universal health care.

The British certainly haven't thrown Grandma under the bus. But a Tory British think tank recommends their National Health Service throw drunks under the bus... or at least charge them for being idiots:

Excessive drinking over New Year's Eve could cost Britain's National Health Service as much as 23 million pounds, according to a report on Thursday which recommends drunks be charged a hospital admission fee of 532 pounds ($845.9).

"Alcohol misuse in Britain is at a level where it constitutes a public health epidemic," said the report by the right-leaning Policy Exchange think-tank.

Direct costs to the state-funded NHS, which provides free health care for Britons, are nearly 3 billion a year, with hospital admissions for alcohol intoxication doubling in a decade, it added [Stephen Addison, "New Year Drunks Should Pay for Hospital Care," Reuters via Yahoo News, 2009.12.31].

Happy New Year! Pass the 7-Up.

Madison Coffee House Seeks Alcohol License

We have a buyer! Well, a leaser, at least. Madison's lone and currently dormant coffee house, Common Grounds, appears to now be in the hands of Shaun and Jenny Bader of Burnsville, Minnesota. According to an application in tonight's Madison City Commission agenda packet (see page 21 of the PDF), the shop will be renamed Mochavino—

—Mochavino? Yes, evidently the Baders have decided that the reason the Common Grounds business model didn't rake in big bucks in Madison was that it didn't sell wine and malt beverages.

Sigh.

On the positive side, maybe the reopened shop will recoup the job losses from the closing of Mr. Movies. Also in the plus column: we may be convincing a couple of young professionals to give up the hustle and bustle of the Cities (or busy suburban Burnsville) to come to Madison... or come back! Shaun is a network engineer; Jenny sells jewelry. She used to sell jewelry through Gems by Jenny on South Egan Avenue. Jenny still has connections to the neighborhood: her public Facebook profile indicates she is friends with various Madison folks, including City Commissioner Nick Abraham, who will be voting on her new business venture tonight.