Daily readers of The Alpena News have learned over the past four days how the disease of drug addiction infects us all. For individuals, addiction acts like a “dirty merry-go-round,” as one sheriff put it. The addiction consumes every aspect of their lives until it starts taking things ...

ALPENA — Stopping addiction before it begins and rehabilitating those dependent on narcotics may help prevent widespread addiction and decrease crime and the number of health emergencies in our community, Northeast Michigan public health officials say. That’s why local law enforcement, ...

ALPENA — Heroin sent her to jail, got her kids taken away, and pushed her to the brink of death. Jesika Brown wasn’t ready to give up hope. Now approaching three years in recovery, she is expecting another child. “There is hope,” Brown said. At first, her recovery mantra was “one ...

ALPENA — A vicious circle or a dirty merry-go-round. That’s how Presque Isle County Sheriff Joe Brewbaker described the long-term fallout from the temporary high drug addicts enjoy. Drug use causes the collapse of relationships, employment, and reputation, Brewbaker said, and it often ...

ALPENA — A network of dealers and distributors relentlessly imports methamphetamine and other drugs into Northeast Michigan, police say. Each year, the Huron Undercover Narcotics Team seizes thousands of doses of illegal drugs. The team arrests an average of more than 100 people per year for ...

ALPENA — What was left of a boat that caught fire and sank in Thunder Bay last month was lifted to the surface, towed to shore in Alpena, and hauled away to be scrapped on Tuesday. The couple who owned the boat are still counting their blessings that they were able to abandon ship and avoid ...