1 to 10 of 68
Archive for “Booze” news
Mayor Nutter’s New School Aid Plan Will Make Drinking, Smoking More Expensive
By Joel Mathis 5/15/2013
Comments 1
CBS Philly reports:
Mayor Michael Nutter today announced a funding package that will give the School District of Philadelphia an additional $95 million in the next fiscal year, even more than the $60 million the school district had requested from the city to fill its latest budget hole (see related story).
The mayor says the package includes an increase in the liquor-by-the-drink tax from 10 percent to 15 percent, effective July 1st. That is expected to raise $22 million.
In addition, the city is adding an additional tax of $2 per pack of cigarettes, over and above the city and state taxes currently placed on tobacco
Watch Out: It’s Going To Be Easier To Commit DUI From Now On
By Joel Mathis 5/14/2013
Comments 0
This just arrived in my inbox as a CNN "breaking news" email, so no links quite yet:
The National Transportation Safety Board today recommended that all 50 states lower the benchmark for determining when a driver is legally drunk from 0.08 blood-alcohol content to 0.05. The idea is part of an initiative to eliminate drunken driving, which accounts for about a third of all road deaths.
Lowering the rate to 0.05 would save about 500 to 800 lives every year, the safety board said.
The NTSB cannot mandate changes, but the agency is influential on matters of public safety.
Under current law, a 180-pound
Duh: Philly Is One Of America’s Best Beer Towns
By Joel Mathis 5/07/2013
Comments 0
Via CBS Philly comes news that CNN Travel has named Philadelphia to its list of eight best "beer cities" in the country. Which, duh, right?
"Philadelphia is a beer explorer's must-see town, despite state controls that regulate purchases of packaged beer," the site reports, citing Yards Philadelphia Pale Ale and Victory Hop Devil IPA as the best local brews. Additionally:
Philly Beer Week is the city's most hoppening event, but the Greater Northeast Philadelphia Beer Festival, begun in 2011, is already proving a worthy companion. One caveat to all this beer-fueled euphoria: complicated state controls regulate the purchase of packaged beer. Don't let
Will PA Senate Save Liquor Privatization? Will Liquor Bill Save Tom Corbett’s Career?
By Joel Mathis 4/30/2013
Comments 0
Is the day at last at hand? That sweet, glorious day when you'll be able to walk into a local liquor store and be able to buy the kind of liquor you want at reasonable prices? That sweet, sweet day known as the privatization of Pennsylvania's state-owned liquor stores?
Maybe. CBS Philly says the Pennsylvania Senate will begin consideration of privatization this morning, more than a month after the House passed its own bill.
The man on the hot seat today is Bucks County Republican Senator Chuck McIlhinney, chairman of the Senate committee that will vet the House Liquor bill. McIlhinney has
Today in Celebrity DUIs: Reese Witherspoon and Al Michaels
By Simon van Zuylen-Wood 4/22/2013
Comments 0
First, Al, who gets bored when not broadcasting Sunday Night Football:
Santa Monica police smelled alcohol and heard “slurred speech” when they pulled over legendary sportscaster Al Michaels late Friday, and later arrested him on suspicion of drunk driving.
And now, Reese Witherspoon, who was not driving under the influence, but was out to try and squash the charge her husband was about to get.
“Mrs. Witherspoon asked, “Do you know my name?” I answered, “No, I don’t need to know your name.” I then added, “right now.” Mrs. Witherspoon stated, “You’re about to find out who I am.
Witherspoon ended up getting booked for
Texts from Spring Fling: Behold Penn’s Drunkest Secrets
By Simon van Zuylen-Wood 4/22/2013
Comments 0
For three years now, Penn's gossip-ish blog Under the Button, has published drunken student texts sent during Spring Fling, and in the week immediately following it. Here are some of the best.
Something few of us have experienced, at least not in two languages.
The Bilingual Apologist:
(703): 看法 没事
(703): I’m sorry I drunk dialed you 13 times.
Something many of us have experienced
The Safari Autocorrector:
(631): Axtyally rhino I wanna kill him
And we can just speak for ourselves when it comes to this one:
The Third Base Coach:
(404): NO WAY OMG YHE DREAM US RESL. IM SO PROUD OF UOY. HIS FINGERS ARE IN YOU
Temple’s Annual Spring Fling Turned Deadly Yesterday [Updated]
By Simon van Zuylen-Wood 4/18/2013
Comments 0
During Temple's annual Spring Fling event, a 19-year-old woman died after falling off an apartment roof during a party.
Officers found a gruesome scene: The woman, according to investigators, somehow had fallen over a 10-inch ledge on the roof, which was crowded with dozens of partygoers, and plummeted into a narrow alley between buildings, likely "ricocheting" on her way down.
When officers arrived at the apartment, a little west of the school's campus, they found the deck still crowded with students, and beer in the house. It is unclear, however, if the death was alcohol related. The woman went to another local
Not So Fast With Your Dreams of Cheap Wine, Philly
By Chris Freind 4/12/2013
Comments 6
Tom Corbett and the Republican-controlled PA House are either very smart, or very dumb. As they push their liquor privatization bill through Harrisburg, they are either trying to pull a fast one on Pennsylvanians who expect better selection and lower prices (which they know cannot happen with this bill). Or they’re very dumb, and actually believe the bill they’re peddling will accomplish those things.
Now the City Wants to Tax You Even More to Drink Alcohol
By Simon van Zuylen-Wood 4/05/2013
Comments 1
Mayor Michael Nutter and City Council President Darrell Clarke are leaning toward raising the tax you pay when you drink in bars and restaurants. Their logic: hiking the "liquor-by-the-drink" tax from 10 percent to 15 percent will help meet the School Reform Commission's request for $60 million in additional funding. (Every 50 cents you pay for a five-dollar beer already goes to public schools.) In 2012, the city made $49 million from the tax; at 15 percent, it would have raked in about $73 million.
Or would it have?
In 2008, Ed Rendell appeared on a Pittsburgh-area radio station to talk about
High School Teacher Apparently Driving Around Delco, Drinking Beer with Students
By Simon van Zuylen-Wood 4/04/2013
Comments 0
When they were pulled over by police a couple weeks ago, a 17-year old-girl, a 17-year-old boy, and a 33-year-old high school English teacher claimed they had been at the Granite Hill Mall, seeing "The Last Oz." Just one problem: "The Last Oz" isn't a real movie. Instead, it appears the trio was having some quintessential suburban fun: taking a boozy joyride.
Katherine Leigh Preusser, 33, an AP English teacher at Ridley High school was in the passenger seat of a car, along with two Ridley students. Joining them for the ride were "three open cans of beer, a metal box
