Gov. pressed to keep alcohol ban

LINCOLN — Gov. Dave Heineman is a teetotaler who, on a trade mission to Cuba, turned down several rum-laced mojitos handed to him as welcoming gestures.

But he's also an elected official who gets healthy financial support from the liquor industry — in his latest campaign filing, he listed at least $19,500 in contributions from folks like Anheuser-Busch and the Associated Beverage Distributors.

Now the governor faces what appears to be an organized effort to convince him to overturn a decision to lift a ban on alcohol in Nebraska's state parks.

A spokeswoman said the governor hasn't made up his mind on whether to approve the lifting the 15-year-old ban, which the State Game and Parks Commission authorized in May on an 8-1 vote.

The governor, as well as the Nebraska attorney general, must review and approve such regulatory changes. They have until Jan. 1, when the ban is scheduled to be lifted.

Heineman plans to visit Lake McConaughy to hear first-hand the pros and cons of lifting the ban — a ban inspired by a series of alcohol-related arrests, keg parties and deaths at the huge lake in western Nebraska.

Heineman has received several hundred letters, e-mails and comments on the topic, both in person and on his radio call-in shows, said his spokeswoman, Jen Rae Hein.

The letters have been overwhelmingly in favor of keeping the ban, she said, which might be the result of an organized effort.

One anti-alcohol youth group from Ogallala has met with Heineman in Lincoln, and representatives of the Central Public Power and Irrigation District, which owns Lake McConaughy, asked the governor during a meeting in Holdrege, Neb., to retain the ban.

Statewide anti-alcohol groups, such as Project Extra Mile, also support keeping the ban.

Central spokesman Tim Anderson said the ban has helped quell “keg parties and rowdiness” that had ruled on the plentiful beaches at Lake McConaughy and should be retained for public safety reasons.

Keith County Sheriff Kevin Mueller said he recalls the “almost riot conditions” that deputies and game wardens confronted before the alcohol ban went into effect in 1995.

Once, a small band of deputies had to retreat from a beach fight between two rival gangs from Denver, he said. Another time, an angry mob blocked emergency personnel from reaching a couple who had been run over by a drunken driver on a beach, Mueller said. The mob tipped over the offending vehicle.

“It got to the point that our emergency responders ... would not go down there unless law enforcement was present,” the sheriff said. “Our cars would come out of there looking like they've been pelted by hailstones because of being hit by beer bottles.”

Mueller and Anderson said the main worry now is a lack of law enforcement personnel to enforce a new alcohol policy on the lake, which has 77 miles of beaches.

Only two game wardens are stationed there, and Mueller's department has seven deputies and four to six part-timers.

It's not just a western Nebraska concern — at a meeting Thursday in Lincoln, Lancaster County Board member Ray Stevens said his county faced “another unfunded mandate” in taking on an expected increase in alcohol-related calls at state recreation areas.

Mueller said extra patrols at Lake McConaughy will mean less attention to the rest of his county.

But an official with the Game and Parks Commission said his agency will keep a close eye after lifting the ban and pointed out that the new regulations are quite different from the pre-1995 rules.

The old rules allowed drinking at state parks at all hours and in all areas.

The new rules would prohibit alcohol consumption between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. and ban alcohol containers larger than one gallon in size, to keep out keg parties, said Roger Kuhn, the game commission's assistant director for parks.

If parks officials see an alcohol problem for a couple of weeks at a certain park area or an entire park, the new regulations allow them to post signs and shut down alcohol use immediately in those areas, Kuhn said.

The commission acted after consulting with nearby states, which all allow alcohol — as do federally operated campgrounds — with some restrictions, he said.

“We're basically trying to allow those who are responsible drinkers the ability to do that, and eliminate the late-night keg parties we saw prior to 1995,” Kuhn said.

Park officials hope park attendance will rise, increasing revenue in a time of stiff state budget cuts.

Public opinion appears to be split about 50-50 on the issue, spokeswoman Hein said. Most people who approach Heineman in public seem to support lifting the ban, while letters and e-mail mostly oppose it, she said.

He'll see the same split views at Big Mac. The main promoter of the lake, the Ogallala-Keith County Chamber of Commerce, is officially neutral, while the Keith County Board opposes lifting the ban.

Hein said the governor planned to tour the lake July 30, then meet privately with a small group of local officials, both for and against lifting the alcohol ban. He plans to decide before the November elections.

Contrary to reports that Central was being excluded from the Big Mac meeting, Hein said that invitations haven't gone out yet. Even if Central were excluded, the organization has made its views known to the governor, she said, and it shouldn't be viewed as a snub.

World-Herald staff writer Leslie Reed contributed to this report.

Contact the writer:

402-473-9584, paul.hammel@owh.com

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