OMAHA — About one in eight deaths of Nebraskans ages 20 to 64 in recent years can be attributed to alcohol use, according to a study published last week. The study, from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, looked at wide-ranging deaths that could be linked to drinking, such as motor vehicle wrecks, suicides, falls and cancer. Lincoln hospitals feeling crunch due to respiratory illnesses Lincoln Fire and Rescue adds 2 new engines, 1 ambulance to fleet Chris Wagner, the executive director of Project Extra Mile, a coalition that aims to reduce alcohol consumption, said the Nebraska numbers were not surprising. “I think it’s not shocking, sadly, when you look at our state,” he said. “We’re really typically in the top five worst binge-drinking states in the country, and that’s where a lot of these harms come from. “It’s primarily because alcohol is relatively cheap in our state, and it’s pretty much everywhere,” he said.

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Another CDC report released Friday found that the nationwide rate of alcohol-related deaths increased 26% to about 13 deaths per 100,000 Americans in 2020, the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. That’s the highest rate recorded in at least 40 years, said the report’s lead author, Merianne Spencer. Excessive drinking is associated with chronic dangers such as liver cancer, high blood pressure, stroke and heart disease. Drinking by pregnant women can lead to miscarriage, stillbirth or birth defects. And health officials say alcohol is a factor in as many as one-third of serious falls among the elderly. It’s also a risk to others through drunken driving or alcohol-fueled violence. The alcohol-related death rate had been increasing for the past two decades, by 7% or less each year. The year 2020 marked a jump of more than 3½ times. Bryan buys former insurance campus in Lincoln’s Firethorn development as office space UNMC to participate in trial of monkeypox treatment Such deaths are 2½ times more common in men than in women, but rose for both in 2020, the study found. The rate continued to be highest for people ages 55 to 64, but rose dramatically for certain other groups, including jumping 42% among women ages 35 to 44. The study that looked at state deaths determined that about a quarter of deaths of Nebraska adults ages 20 to 34 from 2015 to 2019 can be attributed to excessive alcohol use. That figure was similar to the nationwide number. Nebraska also closely matched the nationwide percentage of alcohol-related deaths for adults ages 35 to 49 and 50 to 64 years old, which are 17.5% and 9.5%, respectively. Wagner said people usually think about the harm of alcohol and driving but don’t often consider the effects of alcohol on their long-term health. He said people can make healthier choices to help themselves, but to decrease the state’s 700-plus annual alcohol-related deaths, policy changes should be made to increase the price of alcohol and decrease the availability, among other measures. “We’ve seen in Nebraska over 20-plus years, lawmakers have consistently enacted policies that benefit the alcohol industry and those that sell alcohol, but don’t take into account public safety and health consequences,” he said. “We’ve been moving in the wrong direction for a number of years.” The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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The basketball courts at Antelope Park went from gray to filled with color this fall. The project to resurface the courts at Normal Boulevard and South Street and repaint them as a reproduction of the painting “Red Sea” by African American artist Felrath Hines was funded by private donations. The original painting is part of the permanent collection of the Sheldon Museum of Art. KENNETH FERRIERA, Journal Star Lincoln Mayor Leirion Gaylor Baird gives the state of the city address Tuesday. JUSTIN WAN, Journal Star Lincoln East’s Gabby Pace (center left) and Kooper Barnes (center right) dance as part of the Spartans’ pregame routine before an A-5 district game Wednesday at Doris Bair Complex. KENNETH FERRIERA, Journal Star Nebraska interim defensive coordinator Bill Busch celebrates after the team made a stop against Indiana in the first quarter on Saturday at Memorial Stadium. JUSTIN WAN, Journal Star Johnson-Brock industrial technology teacher Ashton Bohling is one of 20 nationwide winners of the 2022 Harbor Freight Tools for Schools Prize for Teaching Excellence. KENNETH FERRIERA, Journal Star Nebraska’s Marcus Washington breaks a tackle from Indiana’s Bryant Fitzgerald (31) in the third quarter on Saturday at Memorial Stadium. NOAH RIFFE, Journal Star Flowers ring a tree on Randolph Street where six people died in a car crash last week. KENNETH FERRIERA, Journal Star …