Westwind Lane woman charged with allowing underage drinking
by JESSICA L. FINCH Associate Editor

A Westwind Lane woman is facing charges after Amherst police responded to a complaint of an unsupervised, underage drinking party at her home on Saturday.

Police determined alcohol was present at the residence and charged Rosette Barone, 50, with a misdemeanor.

Amherst Police Assistant Chief Timothy Green said the law concerning this activity is complex, but the woman allegedly allowed children younger than 17 to drink by knowing that it was going on in the home.

Barone was processed at headquarters and released on an appearance ticket.

Police also arrested a 17-year-old man for possession of alcohol. His name was not released.

The patrol responded at 10 p.m. and found more than 20 youths at the party. The teens were kept on the premises and their parents contacted to pick them up. It was not determined how many were actually drinking.

Green said that in these situations each of the youths' names are documented and a letter is sent to the home from the Youth Bureau as a follow up.

"As a society we are trying to send a message to teens about not drinking. We don't need parents doing this," Green said.

He said the department receives a lot of calls about underage parties and patrols respond to the complainants.

Westwind Lane is located off Sweet Home Road, in the Sweet Home School District. Superintendent Geoffrey M. Hicks said the school follows up on these reports.

"We take a look at it and determine if the conduct deserves school penalty, and sometimes it does," Hicks said.

If students are found drinking on or off campus they are subject to further disciplinary action because of the guidelines pertaining to them. Hicks said that is also the case for other extracurricular activities.

"Even if they post a picture on MySpace of them drinking it can be a violation to school rules," he said. "The students are responsible for their behavior."

Hicks said High School Principal Joleen Reinholz would follow up with the police about the incident.

Information about Barone's court appearance was not available at press time.