Iowa City considers ban on happy hour

[The Straight Story]

Iowa City considers ban on happy hour

IOWA CITY, Iowa - The Iowa City city council will consider a ban on happy hours at a meeting next month.

The ordinance comes amid a wide-ranging examination of the city's take on alcohol.

The happy-hour ban would require any bar or restaurant with a liquor license or beer or wine permits to have a written schedule of prices -- filed with the city clerk -- in effect for at least a week, which means drink prices couldn't change by the day or hour.

The city has been considering banning price specials, and the council has said it wants to address underage drinking and binge drinking.

Previous steps, like outlawing two-for-one specials, have been sidestepped -- instead of charging $2 for two beers, bars could drop the price of each beer to $1.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-ap-ia-iowacitydrinking,0,2753917.story

[RB TexLa]

1. So they are starting a war on happy?

[sarcasmo]

2. Pretty soon we can be just like the middle east and ban everything.

Talk about stepping out of bounds.

[Donnachaidh]

3. Hey -- some entrepreneur can open up a gin joint in his basement

And tell the city to take a flying leap.

Did the local schools take out the information about prohibition from their books? The minute you start fiddle-farting around with regulating booze consumption, you're asking for trouble.

[YOY]

4. IS there something else to do in Iowa on most nights to serve as an alternative?

I mean besides reruns of Friends or Seinfeld.

[earthside]

5. Everything by Gov't Approval?

Is the whole free enterprise concept being repealed?

Should every decision about pricing and marketing in a private business be subject to the oversight and regulation of some level of government?

Land of the free? Where?

[lib2DaBone]

6. great...let's bring back prohibition. It worked so well before.

[monmouth]

7. OMG! Ladies Night....What will happen to that?????....n/t

[Gwendolyn]

8. Well, you could just side-step this tactic by offering a "happy week" each month.

Not sure if you'd go broke or rake in a fortune.

[tammywammy]

9. Note: Never move to Iowa City. n/t

[McCamy Taylor]

10. No problem. Just offer free or ridiculously low priced food at "Happy hour" time.

That lures people in, too. And if it is salty enough, they will buy beer. The state can not object to free nibbles.