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Archive for “Booze” news
Not So Fast With Your Dreams of Cheap Wine, Philly
By Chris Freind 4/12/2013
Comments 7
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
After 13th DUI, Bucks County Man Will Finally Serve Prison Time
By Joel Mathis 3/27/2013
Comments 0
Lawrence Konyves has picked up 13 DUI convictions over the last 29 years, but something new happened to him this week: He went to prison. NBC 10 reports Konyves had a pretty slick method for avoiding prison after his previous arrests—he'd simply check into a halfway house after each arrest, showing judges that he intended to fix his problem: Those judges, in turn, would usually credit that halfway house as "time served" toward any prison sentence they imposed. After a dozen times through the system, though, authorities caught on. "Somebody just didn’t pay enough attention to this guy and say
Do Party Buses Make Old City Seem Like A Big Frathouse?
By Joel Mathis 3/26/2013
Comments 0
The Inquirer reports that Police Capt. Brian Korn wants to put some Old City party bus freaks on a leash, saying the alcohol-fueled bus rides through that venerable, not-at-all alcohol-fueled portion of Philadelphia creates a fratty atmosphere. Really."This lends itself to an 'Animal House' atmosphere, which of course is not a very inviting atmosphere for the non-fraternity type of visitors Old City businesses like to attract," Korn said in a letter to the director of the Old City Special Service District. The story doesn't suggest the city is ready to take further action against revelers , describing Korn's letter as
Liquor Privatization Bill Passes in House
By Simon van Zuylen-Wood 3/21/2013
Comments 0
Tom Corbett is halfway to reaching one of his major campaign promises: privatizing liquor and wine sales. Tonight, the House passed a bill to phase out state stores, and gradually hand over liquor licenses to private sellers, 105-90, after 7 hours of debate.
Under the plan, grocery stores could sell wine; beer distributors could sell wine and liquor; and, after the first year of implementation, licenses to sell wine and liquor would be up for sale for other private entities such as big-box stores.
The bill now moves to the Senate, where Majority Leader Dominic Pileggi has 30-60 days to bring the
Chesco Father and Son Tag Team to Throw Debauched St. Paddy’s Day Party
By Simon van Zuylen-Wood 3/19/2013
Comments 1
This is certainly not how my father and I bonded. Drunken teenagers, the smell of marijuana, a partygoer passed out and covered in vomit, and at the center of it, the 18-year-old and his dad who threw the rager. And now, of course, a joint arrest to top it all off. Click here for more lurid details about the hardest partying family in East Goshen Township, Chester County. [Inquirer]
UPDATE: PA Liquor Privatization Passes House Committee
By Joel Mathis 3/18/2013
Comments 0
The Inquirer reports:
The House Liquor Control Committee is scheduled to hold a hearing Monday to consider Gov. Corbett's privatization plan, which calls for auctioning off the state's 600-plus wine and spirits shops to the private sector. Proceeds from the sale - estimated at about $1 billion - would be given to public schools through an initiative to help them pay for early-childhood education and school security, among other things.
If it passes muster in committee, the bill would then be sent to the House floor for debate. Majority Leader Mike Turzai (R., Allegheny), privatization's most vocal supporter in the legislature, has
Video: Union Chief Goes Berserk Over LCB Privatization at State Capitol
By Simon van Zuylen-Wood 3/14/2013
Comments 2
Mayor Nutter wasn't the only one getting interrupted this week. Yesterday, state liquor employees union chief Wendell Young IV loudly and repeatedly heckled a pro-LCB privatization press conference being held by business leaders in the state capitol.
A sampling of his comments:
"It's a picture of profit before people, folks."
"Only a bunch of business guys could sit there and smile while putting this many people out of work."
"Aw, bullshit, not gonna be any money [for education]."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wcKUGredHrY
It’s Official, “Always Sunny” Folks Opening a New Bar in Rittenhouse
By Simon van Zuylen-Wood 3/13/2013
Comments 0
It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia husband-and-wife team Rob McElhenney and Kaitlin Olson, along with a gaggle of fellow alumni of St. Joe's Prep, are teaming up to open a second bar, at 1904 Chesnut St. Their first, Mac's Tavern, in Old City, opened in 2010. The location most recently hosted a series of unsuccessful bars and clubs like Kokopelli and Pearl. [Philly.com]
