Like this week, when we learned the results of Jesse Hertz’s blood alcohol test the night he crashed his truck on the Haines Highway two months ago.

Jesse’s dead. Printing the results risks alienating readers who believe we may be rubbing salt in a wound that’s scarcely had a chance to begin healing. The information is bound to be hurtful to readers who don’t want their memory of a vibrant, positive young man tarnished. On a personal level, that’s the last thing I want to do.

But as a newspaper editor, I weigh effects of a choice not to print the information that Jesse was drunk when he drove up the highway. It would be a more comfortable choice.

But it would also be a cop-out, and a tacit acceptance of the damaging role alcohol plays in our lives every day. According to Haines court statistics compiled in 1996, alcohol is a factor in at least 54 percent of local criminal cases. Statewide, drunk driving causes half of all fatal car accidents. That’s too much heartache and pain for us to remain silent.

Although strides have been made by awareness programs like the Walk for Sobriety, we believe more must be done to educate our young adults to the consequences of drinking. And we all could use a moment’s pause before getting behind the wheel when we’ve had a few drinks.

New studies show that drunk drivers most often start drinking in early teen years. Putting a drug and alcohol counselor in the schools – an idea that has been broached previously – would be a good start and a signal to students that the community is serious about curbing such self-destructive behavior.

Another sign to young people would be a new investment in programs that give youths and young adults healthy alternatives to drinking. A well-funded teen center with a schedule of regular, outside activities and creation of a boroughwide parks and recreation department would be a show of faith in our young people. Simpler, short-term options exist as well, from individual mentoring to expanded weekend hours at the pool.