Sheehy Leads Fight Against Underage Drinking (Nebraska)

Nebraska's lieutenant governor on Wednesday put out a plea to stop drunken driving among the state's youth before homecoming season gets started.

Lt. Gov. Rick Sheehy said underage drinking is a big problem across the entire state, and it'll take the community to change those habits. Nebraska is in the top 10 for underage drinking violations in the nation.

"This is not a good top 10 to be in," Sheehy said, speaking the law enforcement and parents. "Alcohol causes accidents, and we want people to be safe. So we want people to make good decisions this weekend."

Dianne Riibe, with the advocacy group Project Extra Mile, said parents should reinforce an anti-drinking message in their homes.

"We know there has to be solid laws and policies in place and they have to be enforced solidly," Riibe said.

Local law enforcement will have more patrols out over the homecoming weekends.

Sheehy said the state is in a new grant cycle, and now that leaders have identified how big the underage drinking problem is, they can put more money towards coalitions and groups like Project Extra Mile.

Riibe said solid laws and strong enforcement seem to be putting a dent in the problem, but there's still work to do.

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