THANKS TO WINNING COMBO IN LINCOLN CO'S DRUG WAR

Citizens can be proud of two recent accomplishments in the Lincoln County
Sheriff's Department's war to keep drugs off our streets. One program
focuses on education while the other validates quality of the department's
drug interdiction effort.

The Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE) program has touched many lives
in its Lincoln County history, and 589 local sixth graders were added last
week to the list of graduates. Through DARE Officer Sudie Palomarez's work,
the program attempts to educate and steer the students away from drugs
before they become more susceptible to peer pressure.

While DARE probably will not be 100 percent successful, Palomarez, the
sheriff's department and program sponsors are to be commended for their
hard work to inform children about the dangers of drugs and the value of
living drug-free lives.

The sheriff's department's other recent honor was Narcotics Officer Dustin
Bairfield's and his drug dog Ricky's victory in a national canine narcotics
detection competition.

The canine team placed first among a field that included over 80 canine
narcotics teams from across the United States. Bairfield and Ricky, along
with fellow officer Chris Picou and his dog Rico, won the combined team
regional competition.

While DARE focuses more on the education aspect of the drug war, the
narcotic officers' work is geared toward prevention. Their efforts form a
winning combination in which all Lincoln Countians can share in the victory.