Not many know Debi Austin by name. But it's hard to shake the image of her in the public service announcement where she takes a drag from a cigarette through a hole in her throat. The Stanislaus County Office of Education is counting on Austin, a longtime smoker who had her larynx removed because of cancer, to deter local students from using tobacco. "It's amazing how many of our young people are smoking," prevention director Vicki Bauman said. "They're resilient and they think they're untouchable. Sometimes you have to use the shock factor." Thursday, nearly $330,000 in tax money from...
