Canton, Illinois (The Weekly Vice) -- A Canton, Illinois business will lose it's liquor license for 60 days after city officials say two topless women wrestled at a "midget wrestling event" held last month at a local bar and grill.
Outskirts Bar and Grill, located at 725 W. Locust st. in Canton, lost it's privilege to sell alcohol after the city liquor commission voted to yank it's liquor license on Wednesday.
Canton city liquor ordinances prohibit nudity.
The establishment's owner, Kim Scott complained that the decision was unfair, citing that she had a contract with a group of male wrestlers to perform (Micro Wrestling Federation) - not topless female wrestlers. Scott said that two women oiled up and began to wrestle while she was outside smoking and that she stopped the match just as soon as she became aware of the activity.
"The match didn't last very long, maybe four or five minutes," said Scott. "It was not intentional. Would I let it happen? No."
Mayor and liquor commissioner, Kevin Meade said the liquor commission's vote was "meant to send a message to other businesses in town that this won't be tolerated."
Outskirts Grill and Bar is licensed as a supper club establishment, which must limit it's liquor sales to no more than 40% of total revenue. Kevin Meade questioned the business' adherence to that requirement, stating "everything I see going on out there is a bar."
Scott's attorney, Aaron Wickenhauser, said Scott plans to appeal the decision to the State Liquor Commission.
"I have bartenders with families," said Scott. "They just lost their jobs."
The Weekly Vice Opinion:
Well, what do you all think about this little controversy? We agree that liquor laws have to be upheld, lest there be eventual chaos in some instances, but we have to question where the blame is being placed. Where is the entertainment group's blame here?
What do you think of the fact that a town's Mayor is also the liquor commissioner? Balance of power issue perhaps?
Well my take is this. The law is the law and like it or not, this form of entertainment is currently banned. But it's also my opinion that the business owner took appropriate measures to get the activity stopped just as soon as she became aware of it - and no one has yet disputed that she did.
That being the case, there is no proof that the business took any kind of illegal action and in fact only took action to stop an illegal act from taking place. In my view, the entertainment crew acted inappropriately and the business got that activity stopped within a few minutes.
Perhaps if the liquor commission wasn't being headed up by the Mayor's office, a truly healthy debate about that point could have been explored. Obviously it wasn't.
Lastly, the the Micro Wrestling Federation website doesn't seem to suggest to me that topless wrestling is an advertised service that a business owner would expect to take place. The group is indeed dominated by male entertainers and seems to be pretty much what Scott expected it to be. I think she should have been given the benefit of the doubt.
Danny Vice
www.theweeklyvice.com
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6 comments:
Now what we spose ta do on the weekends now?
Goddang it, just when life was gettin good, tehy had to go and ruin it.
Guess I'll take my coon dogs and go hunting.
C ya!
That's a good point. Why is the town Mayor doubling as the liquor commissioner. I suppose this is done in smaller towns, but Canton isn't that small of a town
By the way Danny, it would appear to me that you did more research on this whole thing than the Mayor did. I looked at the links you provided and agree. I wouldn't have inferred from it that women would strip down for any reason. It's not advertised as adult entertainment, there are no disclosures of adult entertainment that I see out in the open.
Perhaps the bar should go after the entertainment troop for damages. 60 days of damages to be specific.
I just about fell out of my chair laughing after seeing those two pictures put together. A picture is truly worth a thousand words, isn't it?
wrestling midgets. WOW. seriously I don't get why the license was puller id the bar took the appropriate measures to stop the "illegal action" Someone must have really ticked off the mayor.
These are a great bunch of little people, that love to entertain crowds. I'm sure it was a complete accident.
MicroWrestling.com
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