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Tasting rooms, breweries NOT blamed for problems
There's also been an increased police presence and fake police. With that, you'll always see an increase in alcohol related arrests. It is what it is.— August 4, 2016 7:37 a.m.
Tasting rooms, breweries NOT blamed for problems
(2 of 2) Look, it's easy to get in front of a community group and throw blame around and try to attach causality to an uptick in alcohol-related incidents. Here, it's near impossible to say there's causality since there isn't even correlation given the vast majority of these oh-so-dangerous tasting rooms were not open in 2015. But hey, I'm just a resident that doesn't take one cop's word for it because I spend my life undoing wrongful convictions they so often perpetuate. And to Mercy's closing statement: "There were many more comments against these places being built than in support of Wear's statements." I just checked and there are 33 total comments. Many of them are the same people continuing to contribute. I'd call it 5 in favor of tasting rooms, 4 against them, and 7 neutral (complaining about Belching Beaver's name, the encroachment of the sidewalk by businesses of which OB Brewery is one, and explaining the process by which you would complain if you were so inclined). So to say the comments are largely against is not entirely true but maybe Mercy and I are interpreting the comments differently. Regardless, counting these comments is a poor way to determine whether the community, on a whole, wants these tasting rooms. In conclusion, you can call me biased. I love craft beers. I love the craft brewery scene and I love sampling them. I've been to all these terrible, end-of-the-world places. But because of this, I'm probably more exposed to this scene than many others. So I challenge all of you nay-sayers out there. Mercy. Barb from the other article's comments. Whoever. Stop by Culture on a busy Friday after work and grab a pint (or a water if craft beer isn't your thing). Observe the crowds that come in. I think you'll be hard pressed to find a rowdy crowd like the 7/11 fans on the sea wall. Hopefully see you next Friday.— July 24, 2016 10:46 a.m.
Tasting rooms, breweries NOT blamed for problems
(1 of 2) Lt. Carter says alcohol-related crime is up 400% and blames it on tasting rooms that either recently opened or are YET to open? Apparently, places not yet open are causing an increase in the alcohol problem in OB before they are selling alcohol? Really?? It's difficult to discern from this article whether the Lt. is relying on 2016 data for the first 6 months or 2015 data. Either way, OB Brewery and Helm's weren't even open until May/June of 2016. So, let's break this down. Culture - open in 2014ish? Full of moms and dads, strollers, and dogs. Sells only beer. Closes at 10 most days. Would love to see how many crimes link back to this but I'm sure the stats don't include the establishment that got the person intoxicated. Hard to believe it would result in more than a small handful. Hess - open in late 2015ish? Same limited hours, limited booze (beer only). Certainly don't see as many people in here as other establishments in North OB. Whatever, lest we forget Lucy's is open AND crowded at 7am but who cares. Lucy's isn't the problem since it isn't new so we can't and shouldn't complain. We only complain about new establishments because we hate change in OB. We all want to go back to more failed clothing stores and porno theaters. Are there other new tasting rooms I'm missing that should be counted in the 400% increase? OB Brewery? They opened less than a month ago - not nearly long enough to have any stats. Helms? Not even open long enough to be captured by this alleged data. Oh, I guess I forgot the wine tasting place (so did the cop) but that place is empty nightly. Belching Beaver hasn't opened. Kilowatt hasn't opened. Oh, I know - Pizza Port! All those troubled 7 year olds are getting way too intense playing arcade games after their soccer game. Shut that place down. WHAT AM I MISSING? Publish the data and let us dig through it. Unless and until I have a look, I'll only believe the police are throwing blame because they are catching heat for not responding to calls in a timely fashion (or sometimes not at all). Countless people have non-alcohol related assaults to report on OB Crime Watch Facebook page that never see police. Too bad they aren't included in the data because no cop showed up. As to the different requirements for tasting rooms vs. full blown liquor stores? Makes perfect sense. We don't know what people do with a bottle of liquor when they leave 7/11. We (or the owners/servers/managers, not me specifically) know what a person consumes in a tasting room because it is served on site. 7/11 sells a bottle of vodka? Next thing you know a dozen 18 year old run-aways are chugging it by the sea wall. Let's get rid of liquor stores, CVS, and the dreaded 7/11s.— July 24, 2016 10:45 a.m.