WHITECLAY, Neb. (AP) — Activists are calling for more reforms in a tiny Nebraska town even after a state Supreme Court decision closed the community’s beer stores that sold millions of cans of beer each year despite an alcohol ban on a nearby Native American reservation.
The Lincoln Journal Star reports that activists last week called for more action in Whiteclay, which borders South Dakota’s Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. Despite the town having only nine residents, its four beer stores sold the equivalent of about 3.5 million cans annually.
The reservation has faced a litany of alcohol-related problems , such as high rates of alcoholism and fetal-alcohol syndrome.
Activists are working with the Nebraska State Patrol to fight possible bootlegging in neighboring cities and to form a cold-case unit to investigate mysterious deaths. They’re also urging lawmakers to provide more funding to fight bootlegging.
