DEAR EDITOR: The proposed ordinance to halt the sale of alcohol between the hours of 2 a.m. and 6 a.m. has certainly brought out some fierce opposition comments from bar owners, including how this ordinance would put the smaller bar owners out of business.

My first thought on that was with 20 hours out of each day within which to earn enough to cover expenses and take in a good profit, if a four-hour period would literally shut them down, then who in the world is managing these places?

Not a teetotalling area by any means, the close-down concept would lead one to believe the high-rollers and big spenders on booze only come out from 2 a.m. to 6 a.m. Were this the fact, then the casinos, having only 2 a.m. to 6 a.m. to earn all their income, would not be surviving.

Yet in all fairness to everyone, perhaps a six-month trial period of stopping the sale of alcohol for four hours a day should be done. After this time, the statistics on whether or not the rate of drunk driving arrests and DWI accidents or fatalities has or has not sharply dropped should be used then to decide whether to make the ordinance a permanent one, as well as taking into account just how many alcohol outlets had to actually close down, due to the four-hour ban on alcohol sales.

I’d personally bet not one would have to close as the 2 a.m. to 6 a.m. drinkers will just do their drinking earlier and purchase take-home earlier.

Used to be, most people who’d been out drinking and dancing built up an appetite and would gather at Airline Motors for breakfast before going home – the only place open, serving food in the wee morning hours.

Other parishes already have the alcohol sales ordinance and their outlets are not closed down.

Lillian Ridlen
LaPlace