The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, June 02, 2004, Page 2, Image 2
Alcohol ban
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
Council has arranged a free con
cert series, which started Memorial
Day weekend, to take place every
Saturday evening through Labor
Day weekend in Finlay Park.
While the ban suspends the
privilege of bringing alcoholic
beverages from responsible
adults, it also brings vendors rev
enue so that they will continue to
support free events.
Mark Rekers, a third-year ac
counting student, said he sees
both sides of the argument clearly.
He said there must be a problem
with alcohol abuse in parks if the
Council has put this ban into ac
tion, but added, “I believe that this
ban may be necessary to ensure a
safe environment for our families,
even though it may seem unfair
to penalize everyone because of
the irresponsibility of a few.”
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The Columbia Action Council’s lineup
for their concert series at Finlay Park.
June 5: Eugene Dykes (Big
Band Jazz)
June 12: Sabor! (Latin Jazz
Orchestra)
June 26: Danielle Howie (Rock
& Roll)
July 3: Still Cruzin’ (Dance
Show Band)
July 10: Big John & the Rhythm
Brothers (R & B/Beach)
July 17: Elliott & The
Untouchables (Blues)
July 24: Gospel in the Park
(local choirs)
July 31: Tokyo Joe (Rock &
Roll)
August 7; Caribbean Calypso
(Calypso)
August 14: Friends Band with
Fred & Bunny (Variety Dance)
August 21: Ross Holmes (Big
Band Smoothies & Blues)
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S.C. Legislature allows voters
to decide fate of minibottles
in controversial referendum
BY JIM DAVENPORT
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Voters will decide the fate of
minibottles in a November ref
erendum.
The House on Tuesday reached
the two-thirds vote needed to get
the question on the ballot. It re
quired 82 votes and passed 84-25.
That vote came after bar and
restaurant workers from across
the state packed the Statehouse
and its parking garage Tuesday
to lobby for passage. A smaller
group of opponents were also on
hand to try and kill the meas
ure.
South Carolina is the nation’s
only state requiring that liquor
drinks served in bars and restau
rants be poured from the small
bottles normally seen on air
planes. Minibottles have been a
fixture in the Palmetto State
since 1974 and are mandated in
the state’s constitution. In the
referendum, voters will be asked
whether the state constitution
should be changed to allow sell
ing liquor from containers other
than minibottles.
The legislation failed twict
last week to muster enough
votes, but Rep. Alan Clemmons,
R-Myrtle Beach, and others ral
lied support over the weekend.
“I’m thrilled that the people
now have a chance to have a
choice,” Clemmons said.
“Now people can have a voice
in the matter and be heard,” said
House Speaker David Wilkins, R
Greenville.
some legislators were scepti
cal. They said the issue should
not go before voters until a sep
arate measure spells out how
minibottles will be replaced.
“If the voters approve it, we
will come back next year to pass
enabling legislation,” Wilkins
said.
Others lawmakers said the po
tential for lost tax collections ul
timately could end up closing
down local alcohol and drug
abuse offices.
“This is another vehicle to
downsize programs for poor peo
ple,” Rep. John Scott, D
Columbia, said.
Wilkins and Clemmons said
passage of the referendum — and
the elimination of minibottle
rules—will increase state high
way safety.
People visiting the state’s
beaches aren’t accustomed to the
strength of drinks poured from
the 1.7-ounce minibottles,
Clemmons said. “We have out-of
state folks who are used to a cer
tain amount of alcohol in their
drinks coming into South
Carolina and ordering a drink
and getting more alcohol than
they are used to,” he said.
Jake’s
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Street in Five Points, is better
known for its 50 beers on tap and
its outdoor television screens
than for its efforts to further a
Columbia aesthetic. In 2003, read
ers of The Free Times voted
Jake’s the best Five
Points/Shandon bar of the year.
Young trees grow alongside
the outdoor tables, creating the
laid-back atmosphere many pa
trons enjoy between drags of
their Camels and conversation
al pauses over Budweisers and
Screwdrivers. In the garden, traf
fic noise is hushed, and ever
green plants screen the patio
from the Five Points clamor.
Kent Ragin, 23, a regular pa
tron, likes the bar’s fountain, a
gurgling fixture of the new gar
den.
The Columbia Choice awards
were the initiative of the
Columbia Tree and Appearance
Commission, a 1993 brain child
of the Columbia City Council in
tended to promote and protect
Columbia’s natural resources
and visual beauty.
The Commission enlisted the
nonprofit organization Columbia
Green, which promotes horticul
ture and conservation, to select
juries of professionals in fields
related to aesthetic development,
such as architects and landscap
ers. The Columbia Choice
awards are now in their third
year.
Although the awards remain
relatively unknown, Debbie
Price, Columbia director of
Forestry and Beautification, said
they are “a positive way to rec
ognize those who are going above
and beyond what city ordinance
requires.”
“If the beautification of busi
nesses develops into a competi
tion within Five Points or city
wide, that would be a wonderful
result,” Price said.
The streetscape outside of
Jake’s has perhaps elicited little
notice despite the new presence
of plants, and owners guess the
Columbia Choice award will like
ly have little, if any, impact upon
business at Jake’s.
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gamecocknews@gwm.sc. edu
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