WESTERN RACINE COUNTY DARE PROGRAM SAVED

RACINE COUNTY - A day before two busloads of people were expected to
protest a County Board meeting over the elimination of two popular
education programs, county officials announced Wednesday that the
programs had been saved.

Contributions from a local business, combined with some restored
county money, will keep the Drug Abuse Resistance Education and
Officer Friendly programs running in Western Racine County schools
through 2005.

The programs, which cost about $170,000 annually, had been eliminated
from the Racine County Sheriff's Department 2005 budget. The funding
covers the salaries and benefits of two Sheriff's

Department deputies.

In response to the proposed cuts, more than 1,000 residents signed
petitions in support of DARE and Officer Friendly. The programs are
estimated to reach about 8,000 elementary and middle school students
throughout the county.

About 200 people were expected to appear in support of DARE and
Officer Friendly at the Racine County budget public hearing tonight at
6:30 p.m. at the county's Ives Grove office building.

Raegan Dexter, who help organize efforts to retain the programs, said
supporters of the program were still planning to attend the meeting -
though they'll be in a different mood.

"We're going with a smile on our face, not a frown," said Dexter, who
is executive director of the Waterford Area Chamber of Commerce.

The DARE and Officer Friendly programs are important because they
teach children lessons, like the dangers of drinking and drugs, while
also learning to trust police, Dexter said.

"Anything that is proactive and can plant seeds in these kids' heads
is a positive role model," he said. "I don't see a downside to any of
that."

County Executive Bill McReynolds credited Sheriff Robert Carlson and
Pick 'N Save grocery stores with saving the programs.

Pick 'N Save has agreed to hold special events in its Waterford and
Burlington stores to raise money for the two programs, said Dave
Spiegelhoff, director of operations for five Pick 'N Save stores in
southeastern Wisconsin.

Spiegelhoff said the stores would contribute a "significant amount" to
the programs, but declined to say how much Pick 'N Save had agreed to
donate. Promotions to help pay for DARE and Officer Friendly would
begin early next year, he said.

"Any time you can start educating kids on drug awareness, it's an
important, viable program in the school district," Spiegelhoff said.

The sheriff's department needed to find another $85,000 to maintain
the DARE and Officer Friendly programs through the end of 2005. It had
already budgeted about half of the cost of the programs to keep them
running through the end of the current school year.

Noting that communities across Wisconsin were cutting their DARE
programs to save money, McReynolds said this likely would be the last
year that the county would contribute to the local DARE and Officer
Friendly programs.

"The leaders on the west end said they need a year to put a plan
together to encourage private sector donors to adopt the programs,"
McReynolds said Wednesday. "We'll let the community decide after a
year if they can fund DARE and Deputy Friendly."

He added that the efforts to save the two programs are part of the
"mixed message" that government gets from residents who are also
pushing for lower taxes.

"I hear every day that we've got to cut taxes, government has to be
more responsible," McReynolds said. "Government can be responsible and
can cut taxes, but there are going to be some things that are going to
go away. We can't reduce our costs without eliminating services. If
that (lower taxes) is what the citizens of county want ... then there
are programs that are going to suffer, and things are going to go away
in county government."