Missouri Town Returns Federal Funds Set Aside To Fight Obsession With 'Morbid Music'

May 22, 2004

Donald Bradley of The Kansas City Star is reporting that city of Blue Springs, Missouri has returned almost half of a $273,000 federal grant it received in 2002 to fight a perceived growing Goth culture. Some feared the black clothes, morbid music and obsession with the occult — and Ozzy Osbourne — could lure a wave of youngsters into a world of depression, drugs and suicide.

Officials returned $132,000 of the money because the Goth situation was overstated in the beginning, Blue Springs Police Chief Wayne McCoy said Friday (May 21).

Community forums on Goth culture were never held because of a lack of interest, and no youth received treatment for Goth behavior. Both were provisions of the grant.

"My belief is that you guard public dollars very carefully," McCoy said. "The money wasn't being used so we gave it back."

The issue arose when parents and other residents called police to inquire about Goth and its influence on teens. McCoy said the callers feared what they didn't understand. Read more (free registration required).

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