ANCHORAGE — An Alaska town’s first liquor store in more than 40 years has opened, and the police chief there worries he won’t have enough officers to handle an expected spike in alcohol-related calls.
The AC Quickstop opened to a small crowd Tuesday in Bethel, a community of about 6,200 people located in southwest Alaska and founded by Yup’ik Eskimos. The new business is owned by Alaska Commercial Co., which has 31 stores in remote communities around the state.
AC general manager Walter Pickett said the Bethel store had about 50 customers within the first hour of business.
Bethel Police Chief Andre Achee said he worries about having enough officers in his short-staffed department because of the easy access to alcohol.
