Good Deeds Deserve Recognition

Drug Free Marion County is recognizing businesses that consistently operate with excellence while striving to make the community safer during April's Alcohol Awareness Month.

What's the criteria?

Area residents are encouraged to nominate package liquor stores, drug and grocery stores and restaurants and bars with sales clerks, wait staff and bartenders who:

1. Consistently follow the mandatory carding law; and
2. Refuse to sell to intoxicated persons and prevent adult patrons from purchasing alcohol for minors.

"With more than 1,700 businesses selling alcohol in Marion County, the action and policies of restaurateurs, servers and sales clerks play a critical role in preventing underage and high-risk drinking," said Nancy Beals, prevention project coordinator for DFMC.

To nominate a business for a Drug Free Marion County Good Neighbor Award, email Julie Saetre at jsaetre@drugfreemc.org with the following information:

• Name and contact information for the nominated business
• Reason(s) for the nomination (specific examples are encouraged)
• The nominator's contact information (phone and email address)

Please submit all nominations by 5 p.m., Wednesday, April 20.

Lafayette: Fake IDs on the Rise 

New York Lawmaker Investigates Alcohol-Energy Drinks

New York Senator Jeff Klein is continuing his fight against the sales of potent alcoholic beverages to minors.

The distribution of Four Loko, Joose and other caffeinated-alcoholic beverages had become popular throughout the country, but was banned in New York in November 2010 after the state liquor authority determined the health and safety concerns of the product.

During the same month, Klein and his staff conducted an undercover sting operation involving the illegal sales of the caffeinated alcoholic beverages to minors in the Bronx, issuing 11 violations throughout the borough.

In December 2010, the 11 to 12 percent alcohol by volume Four Loko products were re-released in New York by manufacturer Phusion Projects LLC without the caffeine, guarana and taurine, however, the sales to minors in Bronx convenience stores continued.

Last month, Senator Klein, along with the 45th, 47th and 49th precincts, re-launched an investigation to crack down on sales to minors and out of 23 bodegas and convenience stores investigated, an overwhelming 17 were issued violations for sales to an undercover minor.

Klein was joined by public health advocates from across the state to propose new legislation that would eliminate the easy access that minors have to the high-alcoholic beverages.

For the full story, click here.

Publishing Your Letters to Congress

Did you know you can self-publish your letters to members of Congress and have them appear online? Check out Congress.org.

Speaking of Sunday Sales in Georgia

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution weighs in on the "messy" fallout of Sunday alcohol sales, should the bill pass in Georgia.

The Kroger Co., based in Cincinnati, Ohio, continues to lobby and spend money on the outcome in Georgia and also in Indiana. With fiscal 2010 sales of $82.2 million, Kroger is one of the nation's largest grocery retailers.

"We're being cautiously optimistic," Kroger Atlanta division spokesman Glynn Jenkins said about the bill in Georgia which would allow localities to decide whether to permit the Sunday sales of alcohol.

For the full story, click here.

UW Player in NCAA Play Despite Alcohol Charge

University of Washington basketball player Venoy Overton has been given a continuance on a charge of furnishing alcohol to a minor.

The action in Seattle Municipal Court means the charge will be dismissed if he avoids another criminal charge for a year and completes 24 hours of community service.

The 22-year-old was charged March 8, accused of giving alcohol on Jan. 8 to two 16-year-old girls he met online.

Coach Lorenzo Romar suspended Overton for the Pac-10 Conference tournament, but allowed him to return for the NCAA tournament. The senior guard's college basketball career ended with the Huskies' loss to North Carolina.

If Overton violates the terms of the continuance he could be sentenced to up to a year in jail on the alcohol charge.

Butler Blue II Martini Featured in Houston

Butler University's mascot became an icon to hype for The Intercontinental Hotel in Houston. Marketing slicks came up with the $10 Blue II martini to offer while Butler fans and the bulldog mascot stayed in Houston. About $3,000 was raised - or 300 blueberry-vodka drinks sold - to donate to Butler's Mascot Puppy Fund and the Houston SPCA, a local animal shelter.

Alcohol and Mental Illness

Prosecutors in Rochester, New Hampshire, said that a local man doused his girlfriend with lighter fuel and set her on fire, burning her so badly her skin was "bubbling and falling off" when police found her at the hospital. The man arrested has a history of alcoholism and mental illness. After the arrest, he told officers he drinks 40 to 50 beers per day.
 

For the full story, click here.

Charlie Sheen's Addiction Issues: Not Winning

For addicted people, Charlie Sheen is not so funny. Click here for a serious take by Shari Rudavsky at The Indianapolis Star and republished in USA Today.

Weigh in on the Project RAD Poll

Should lawmakers leave the mandatory carding law alone now that the state has strong evidence that it's working?

Take our poll on the Project RAD website and weigh in.