THREE YEARS AFTER BEER SALES END, 'THERE'S A LOT OF HOPE FOR WHITECLAY'

LINCOLN - The unincorporated community of Whiteclay, Nebraska had a renewal of its liquor licenses denied by the Nebraska Liquor Control Commission in 2017 due to lack of law enforcement causing unimaginable alcohol-related consequences. Alcohol routinely caused people to be passed out on the side of the road and frequent public urination. John Maisch, a Nebraska native who teaches business law at the University of Central Oklahoma, has quantified some of the differences in a research paper he published last week between pre-denial of liquor licenses and post-denial.

One area of improvement in the community, according to Maisch, is that alcohol-fuelled violence has dried up. Additionally, the vagrants and drunks passed out on the street are gone. The surrounding communities have seen an increase in the number of people visiting due to safer conditions.

The surrounding areas have experienced widespread substance abuse and fetal alcohol syndrome. Yet, fewer people are addicted to one substance than in years past. Favian Kennedy, executive director of Anpetu Luta Otipi, the Oglala Sioux Tribe’s comprehensive alcohol, and substance abuse treatment program says that more than the stores are closing; the norms are changing too, albeit slowly. President of the Oglala Sioux Tribe from 2013-14, Bryan Brewer, now considers Whiteclay “a regular little town” – primed for business.

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