At 2:22 a.m., an officer responded to the 300 block of Euclid for a report of a theft/shoplift. At the conclusion of the investigation, a 20-year-old man was cited and released for theft and underage possession of alcohol.
March 5, 2017
At 12:15 a.m., an officer was dispatched to the 800 block of Hialeah County for a welfare check on a female. Officers located the female. Investigation into the incident led to a 17 year old female being issued a citation for underage possession of alcohol. The juvenile female was referred to Helena Municipal Court.
March 14, 2017 -
At 4:41 p.m., an officer responded to the 100 block of Rodney for a report of a juvenile in possession of alcohol. At the conclusion of the investigation, a juvenile was cited and released to a guardian for underage possession of alcohol.
March 17, 2017 -
At 7:51 p.m., an officer responded to the 1200 block of Last Chance Gulch for a report of juveniles consuming alcohol. At the conclusion of the investigation, three juveniles were cited for underage possession of alcohol. Two of them were also cited with underage possession of tobacco.
[Havre Daily News – Havre Police Department]
March 2017 -
A 19 year old male of Havre, was arrested on a charges of minor in possession and DUI after a caller reported a non-injury motor vehicle crash Saturday at 11:44 p.m. near 10th Street West and Second Avenue West.
[Independent Record – Helena PD incident report]
April 21, 2017-
11:05 p.m., an officer responded to the 3300 block of Tricia for a report of possible underage drinking. At the conclusion of the investigation, a 19-year-old Helena resident was cited for Underage Possession of Alcohol.
A 15 year-old stumbled into my ER at 2 am, barely conscious, supported by his terrified mother. He was out with friends, dropped off at home, seemed tired, and went to bed. The mom of one of his friends just called, and her son is in another ER unconscious, poisoned by something someone allegedly slipped into his drink. "They must have done the same thing to him," my patient's mother tells me.
I attach monitors, start oxygen, hang IV fluids, and draw a "coma panel"—a myriad of tests meant to pick out what toxic substance could have poisoned this patient. I didn't have to wait long for the answer.
Alcohol. No date rape drugs, no heroin, just alcohol. All the other tests came back negative, and the patient slowly woke up, and went home to shake off a really bad hangover. Apparently, the patient's friend in the other ER had only alcohol in his blood, too.
The saddest part was the mom, who wouldn't believe me. "Isn't there something else wrong with him?" she asked me. "He swears he didn't drink anything." I struggled to think of a gentle reply, but I couldn't find words. Finally, I sighed and said, "I don't know how you get a blood alcohol level that high without drinking."
Judge denies bail reduction in Yellowowl meth case
SEABORN LARSON
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
A district judge on Thursday denied a request to reduce bail for a man charged with giving a 12-year-old girl methamphetamine.
Bengamin Ray Yellowowl, 25, requested his bail be reduced to $50,000 with a condition of GPS monitoring if he were to bail out. District Judge Thomas McKittrick denied the motion, citing the seriousness of the offense, prior felony convictions and adding his belief that Yellowowl is a flight risk.
At Thursday’s hearing, McKittrick allowed prosecutors to present a photo obtained by the police of Yellowowl injecting a young girl with a syringe.
Yellowowl is charged with felony child endangerment, felony sexual abuse of children and unlawful transactions with children, a misdemeanor. If convicted, he faces a possible 110 years imprisonment.
Yellowowl was arrested in January after a Great Falls police officer pulled Yellowowl’s car over and allegedly found a jittery
12year-old behind the wheel. According to court documents, Yellowowl later told officers he and the victim were dating for about a month and they had been having sex since October.
When police brought the girl to the hospital, she reportedly admitted to using meth and drinking alcohol with Yellowowl earlier that night, charging documents state.
Dear Abby: I have seen letters in your column from parents who want to ensure their children’s and teenagers’ safety when visiting their friends’ homes. A question parents need to ask the hosting parents is what their drug and alcohol policy is.
We wrongly assumed (and trusted) that our daughter’s friends’ parents did not facilitate access to alcohol or drugs to minors. We realized — too late — that from the time she was 15, our daughter had access to unmonitored alcohol and was sometimes encouraged to consume it in these homes.
Many parents think it’s OK if teens drink alcohol under supervision, as long as the parents are there and they have possession of the car keys. They wrongly rationalize that the teens are going to do it anyway, so why not under supervision?
What these good-time parents don’t consider is that a teen who may have a genetic predisposition to addiction may have just gotten a switch turned on in his or her developing brain. You can’t look at people and know if they are prone to addiction. In our case, our daughter’s addiction became a long, difficult struggle, which led to the untimely death of our smart and talented daughter at age 24.
— Grieving Mom in Reno
Dear Grieving Mom: I am sorry for the tragic loss of your daughter. In most states, providing alcohol to minors is against the law, not only for public safety, but also for the reason you stated.
Years ago, I spoke with a gentleman who was active with the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence (NCADD), when he repeated something he’d heard at an AA meeting. He said the subject being discussed at the meeting was what it felt like having that “very first drink.” One of the members stood up and said, “It was like someone switched a light on in my head, and I said to myself, ‘So that’s what it’s like to feel normal!” ’ This is why it is imperative that families with a history of addiction make their children aware of it and clearly understand why it’s important they avoid addictive substances even if their friends are indulging.
[Great Falls Tribune – February 25, 2017 – The Edge (pg A4)]
In the category of “most Missoula thing ever” comes this latest entry, from a recent Missoulian story. The lucky hipsters of the town with a brewery on every corner are anticipating the arrival at the Southgate Mall of a “sip ‘n’ stroll” specialty grocery store.
The chain, which focuses on natural, organic and locally grown products, lets you grab a $2 pint of local beer or $3 glass of wine to “enhance the shopping experience.”
This is a trend we can totally get behind. Finally a way to liven up the dreaded grocery shopping trip. Heck, this might even turn a chore into the new happy hour.
Are you ready to have a conversation with your teen?
Join other parents on our Facebook page and visit ParentingMontana.org [parentingmontana.org] for tools that give parents the actions to take and at times ideas of the words to say engage their children, to build relationship, and strengthen communication.
We encourage you to LIKE our Facebook page via the button above. We also have a growing community in our Facebook Group and we’d love to see you there too! Click below to join.