HOT TRUB
April 18,
2001
Edited by: Peter LaFrance (peter.lafrance@beerbasics.com)
Presented by: American Brewer
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Vol. 2 No. 16
This news letter will post items of special interest to brewers, members of the
brewing and distilling community, and members of the media that cover the
beverage alcohol business.
Should you wish to contribute in any way to this venture please contact Peter
LaFrance at peter.lafrance@beerbasics.com
If you wish
to be dropped from this list please respond to this posting to peter.lafrance@beerbasics.com and include the word
remove in the Subject: line.
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Early yesterday morning A.P. reporter Todd Richmond from Milwaukee filed the following story. Although filed at 0018EDT, it does touch on intense competition for customers in markets large and small, and inspirational unique problem solving.
Faced with renewing the lease for his popular downtown nightspot, Jerry Rhodes, owner of Maloney's Pub, decided to build a two-story, five-bar $1 million extravaganza on an old bar's beer garden.
Inspired by the Milwaukee Brewers' new, $400 million Miller Park, he has outfitted his new place with a retractable roof that can open in 22 seconds. The $200,000 A-frame roof design with five fiberglass panels, let through about 50 percent of the day's light. Two panels at the top retract, leaving a 20-by-40 foot opening. Rhodes said he felt that the roof would keep the garden's outdoor ambiance alive.
Set to open in June, the new Maloney’s won't be completely open nature - workers have stretched screens across the opening to keep pigeons, sea gulls and pelicans “foraging from the bay” from swooping inside.
STRAIGHT
FROM THE WIRES:
(I trust you all saw the
following reported … Lousy headline I thought.)
“River of beer gets
Australians drunk diving
SYDNEY, April 16 (Reuters) - Residents of a small Australian town thought they had struck sunken treasure on Monday after a truck crashed and dumped thousands of bottles of beer at the bottom of a river.
About 24,000 bottles of beer sank in the Tweed River, near the town of Tweed Heads, after a truck trailer lost a wheel and crashed on a highway in New South Wales, Australian Associated Press (AAP) reported.
Police inspector Stan Single said local residents thought it was open season had spent the Easter long weekend diving for the beer -- some fully clad in scuba gear.
Several hundred people had been seen loading up their cars with one reported to have recovered 400 bottles alone.
"They obviously thought the owners had abandoned the load and they better get the rest," Single said of the treasure hunters, noting that removal of the beer officially amounted to theft.
07:50 04-16-01””
YOU CAN’T MAKE THIS STUFF UP:
It is true. There is nothing worse than a slow beer week. It seems as if all the taps have run dry and the brewers and sales reps have all gone back to their homes and loved ones. No mud, no dirt, no Lite beer product placements on “Survivor.” – So I look for goofy legal stories. Yes, there is alcohol mentioned in it.
Mormon Town Gets Party Ordinance
In a story filed yesterday morning by Associated Press reporter Catherine Blake, Provo, Utah is making legal news.
Next month, a new ordinance will require Club Omni, a smoke-free, alcohol-free dance club in Provo Utah to install surveillance cameras, metal detectors and security guards. The ordinance applies not only to Club Omni, but also to organizers of dance parties open to the public; even those held in students' homes. Violators can get up six months in jail and a $1,000 fine.
The dance hall security ordinance does not apply to bars that serve alcohol, because those are ``private clubs'' under Utah law and are open only to members or someone sponsored by a member. They are not open to the public.
The security ordinance allows exceptions for dances put on by churches, schools or government agencies. But a Little League team trying to raise money for uniforms would have to comply.
``I think surveillance cameras are OK because they will pick up drinking, smoking and drugs and spot out the person who is doing it,'' said Charity Harrison, a senior attending Monday night social dancing at BringhamYoung University.
Mormon Church owns the university, and all students must sign a pledge against alcohol, smoking and premarital sex. Thus, the A.P. reporter goes on to note that “No one seemed too concerned that the ordinance would cramp their style or that parties would not be held for fear of legal trouble.”
However, Caleb Proulx, a BYU sophomore, said he attended a vegetarian barbecue (?????) last year that was broken up by police for being too rowdy. ``The police will use this law to justify breaking up anything,'' he said. ``Provo is becoming a police state with heavy-handed, fascist laws.''
According to the A.P. story, “Councilman Stan Lockhart said he is not convinced the ordinance will accomplish its intent. ``I see them as using a sledgehammer to swat a fly,'' he said. ``We are either telling people we don't want public dances, or we're protecting the franchise of the one that's here because he's the only one that can afford it.'' “
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