Till death do us part

Till death do us part

 I attended the Delaware County Alcohol and Tobacco Commission board meeting in January at the request of a friend who lives near the bar Bygones.  I was appalled by my neighbor’s treatment at the hands of ATC board member and state excise police officer John Barchak, as she attempted to speak against the liquor license approval. 

 I was beginning to fear that the liquor license would receive the perfunctory rubber stamp until spirited comments led to a sudden tabling of the meeting over the protests of several attendees; on the premise that there was a board member absent and a new board member present.

 Board member Terry Moore, grinned as he declared that “a motion to table is non-debatable.”

 But Terry, a motion can always be withdrawn if one so desires.

 Sadly it seems that Muncie has become so utterly desperate for any source of revenue that we will marry our community to any economic activity regardless of risks, merits, or negative consequence of that marriage of convenience.   

 And in the distance I can hear the vows of that ill-fated ceremony. 

 Hence the conclusion is foregone to let Bygones be Bygones, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and health, for loud noise and deadly toys, for scattered trash and hidden stash, for late nights and gun fights, till death do us part.

 The next ATC meeting is Thursday, February 2 at 8:15 am in County building, room 309.

 Speak now or forever hold your peace.

Neighborhood nuisance

Note:  The following letter was printed in the Muncie Star Press on 01/05/12.  Based upon recent events, it seems even more evident that the bar is a neighborhood nuisance and should be shut down.

Neighborhood nuisance

In December The Delaware County Alcohol and Tobacco Commission tabled its consideration of the renewal of Bygone Bar’s liquor license for one month to gather more information.

According to the Star Press, “emergency personnel were sent to Bygones, 2108 N. Walnut Street, at least 35 times in 2011. At least seven of those calls since March 26 were gun-related, increasing the concerns of neighbors.” 

A Star Press “Our View” from December suggested that it was time for the Bygones Bar to be a good neighbor.  They wanted to give the bar the benefit of doubt, but noted that if the bar were to continue as a source of neighborhood fear, then the ATC must revoke its liquor license. 

One would think that the bar would be on its best behavior during the “information gathering” phase, and yet there was another “shots fired” incident at Bygones this past Sunday at about 3:00 am.  If the management cannot or will not control their patrons for one month while they are being scrutinized, then how can they be expected to do so for an extended period?

Citizens should not have to live in fear of stray bullets or reprisal.  The Alcohol and Tobacco Commission should revoke Bygones liquor license immediately.  They have proven that they are NOT a good neighbor; they are a neighborhood nuisance.

Let’s give them some time without a liquor license to contemplate what it means to be a good neighbor, or sell the establishment to someone else who does.