06 business liquor laws

By BOBBY BURCHHerald Staff Writer

Areawineries,liquorstoresandbarsareguzzlingdownthedetailsofseveralrecentchangestoKan-sas’liquorlaws. KansasGov.SamBrownbacklastmonthsignedintolawanex-tensivemeasurethatamendssev-eralstateregulationsonvendorsandproducersofalcoholicbever-ages. Localentrepreneursclaimthenewprovisions,whichgointoeffectJuly1,willallowKansasbusinessestothrivewithoutthecumbersomeregulations.AmongthoselaudingthechangesisMikeGerhardt,ownerofPomeontheRangeOrchardsandWinery,2050IdahoRd.,Williamsburg. Gerhardt,wholaunchedhiswin-eryin2004,saidthenewlawwillallowhimtosellandserveglassesofwinetovisitorsattheorchards.Andwhilehe’suncertainthewin-erywillpartakeinsuchofferings,Gerhardtsaidheisthankfulthestateisofferingsomeconsistencyinitslaws. Untilnow,Gerhardtsaid,Kan-sas’winelawshavebeensubjecttotheKansasAlcoholicBeverageControldivision’sinterpretationofthelaw. “Whatyouweredoingoneweekwouldnotbelegalthenextweekbecausesomebodychangedtheirmind,”hesaid.“It’sbeenadetri-menttothegrowthoftheindus-try.” Beforethenewlaw,wineriesinKansascouldofferfreesamplestoprospectivecustomers,buttheexpensesoftenoutweighedthereturns,Gerhardtsaid.Suchexpensespartiallystemmedfroman“agriculturalproductrequire-ment,”whichnecessitatesthat60percentoftheingredientsusedinthemanufacturingofKansaswinearegrowninthestate. “Uptothispoint,theselawshavebeensorestrictivethatwemadethedecisionnottodocertainthings,”Gerhardtsaid,addingthathiswinery’ssaleshavebeenham-peredtoabout500casesofwineayear. Thankstothenewlaw,however,theproductrequirementhasbeenlessenedto30percent.Thechangehelps,Gerhardtsaid,butthere-

quirementstillpresentsobstaclesforKansasbusinessesthatout-of-statewinerieswon’tencounter. “Therestillwillbeachallengeat30percent,”Gerhardtsaid.“IfyougototheliquorstoreandbuyabottleofKansaswine,ithasrestrictionsthatit’sgottobeacer-tainamountofKansasproduct,butifyougobuyanythingelsethere’snocontrol.” Inaddition,Kansas-producedwinenolongerhastobearalabelindicatingthatamajorityofitscontentsweregrowninKansas.

Drinking establishmentsUnderthenewstatelaw,barsandotherdrinkingestablishmentsinKansasmaynowoffercustom-ersdifferentpricesforalcoholicbeveragesthroughouttheday.Such“happyhours,”whichhavebeenillegalinKansasforthepast26years,alsowillallowdrinkingestablishmentstoofferdifferentdrinkpricesfordifferentgroupsofpeople.AnexampleprovidedbytheKansasABCis“ladiesnight.” Areabarownersseemthrilledattheprospectofofferingcustom-ersahappyhour,aswellasotherpromotions. “I’mplanningontryingtocomeupwithaspecialforwomentocomeandtakeadvantageofit,”KimSlankard,ownerofthe700Club,232N.MainSt,Pomona.

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ABOVE: Carla Stout, Pome on the Range employee, pours samples of wine for Michelle Williams and Daven Cadue, both of Ozawkie, Friday at Pome on the Range Orchards and Winery, 2050 Idaho Road, Williamsburg. Kansas House Bill 2689, passed May 25, allows farm wineries, like Pome on the Range, the ability to offer wine by the glass.

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ABOVE: Bartender Teresa Doty, Po-mona, mixes a drink Friday at the 700 Club, 232 N. Main St., Pomona.

LEFT: A bottle of Pome on the Range cherry-flavored apple wine sits on display at the orchard and winery near Williamsburg. Kansas House Bill 2689, passed May 25, allows farm wineries, like Pome on the Range, the ability to offer wine by the glass.

Photo by Matt Bristow/The Ottawa Herald

Wyatt Hamilton, 14, Williamsburg, and Elston Horne, Williams-burg booster club president, along with other volunteers, help organize hay bale seating around the recently renovated band-stand Friday in preparation for this weekend’s Jayhawker Days in downtown Williamsburg. The weekend festivities feature live music, carnival rides, a parade and much more.

Jayhawker preparations

By CRYSTAL HERBER Herald Staff Writer

Whooping cough is be-comingagrowingproblemacrosstheSunflowerState,andFranklinCountyisnoexception. Severalconfirmedcasesof the highly-contagiousdisease have been re-portedinFranklinCountythis year, Midge Ransom,Franklin County HealthDepartmentdirector,said. “Wehaveconfirmedcas-es and we’re investigatingand trying to contain thedisease,”Ransomsaid.“Wedon’thaveneartheKansasCity population or John-sonCountypopulation,butwe have several cases ofwhoopingcough,asdosur-roundingcounties.” To combat the disease,thehealthdepartmentisof-feringthevaccineonawalk-inbasistopeopleofanyagefor a small fee, dependingontheperson’smedicalin-surance. In the past week,Ransomsaid,theclinichasadministered between 25and30vaccinations. Whooping cough, alsoknown as Pertussis, isspreadbyclosecontactwithaninfectedperson,accord-ingtotheNationalLibraryof Medicine. The disease,whichisaccompaniedbyadeepwhoopingsoundwhenthepersonbreathes,canaf-fectpeopleofanyage,butis more severe, and some-timesdeadly,ininfants. Kansasalreadyhasseenagrowingnumberofwhoop-ing cough cases in 2012.The Kansas Department ofHealth and Environment

has reported 56 confirmedcases this year. RansomsaidFranklinCountyhealthworkershaveseenmorecas-esin2012thantheytypicallysee in a whole year. Therewere171confirmedcasesofthediseasein2011,accord-ing to the department’s an-nualreport. Mostpeoplereceivevac-cinations as infants, but,Ransom said, adults needatleastoneboostershotatsomepointintheirlives.Aboostershotcanbeadmin-isteredatanyage,shesaid,and is offered at the localhealth department. Adultsworking around childrenand infants especiallyshould get a booster shot,shesaid. Some people choose nottohavetheirchildrenvacci-nated,orareselectiveaboutwhich vaccinations theirchildren receive, believingvaccinationscouldleadtoavariety of development de-fects, experts say. Ransomsaidsuchpreferencesareagrowing trend both acrossthe U.S. and in FranklinCounty. People still shouldgettheirchildrenandthem-selvesvaccinated,shesaid.

Whooping cough cases rising across county, state

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“Wecertainlyseevacci-nationasaway topreventthe spread,” Ransom said.“Itnotonlyprotectsthein-dividual,butyoudolessentheseverityofdisease. “We’re protecting ourcommunity and protectingourneighborswhenwegetvaccinated as well as our-selves.” Mildsideeffectsareas-sociated with the whoop-ing cough vaccination, in-cluding pain, redness and

swelling at the injectionsite,headache,bodyachesand swollen glands. Suchafter-effects generally aretemporary and do not af-fectregularactivities. If a person develops apersistent cough or hasbeenincontactwithsome-one who is positive forwhooping cough, Ransomwarned,thepersonshouldseekmedicalattention. Anotherpieceofadvice: “Stay away from peopleifyou’recoughing,andcov-eryourcough,”shesaid.

Slankard,whohasownedthe700Clubforabout15years,saidshe’sbeenof-feringdailydrinkspecialsforyears,butthenewlawmightfostermorebusiness. “If[customers]cansavealittlebitit’sworthit,”shesaid.“I’mthesameway,youknow—anywhereIcangetadeal.”

Liquor stores Housebill2689allowsalcoholretailersinKansastonowservefreesamplesofliquortocustomerswhileontheirpremises. Andsimilartoareabars,liquorstoreownershavealsoexpressedinter-estinofferingtastetestingtopotentialpatrons. “We’dbeinterestedinparticipating,”KirbySnider,ownerofBlueSkyLiquor,1410S.MainSt.,Ottawa,said,addingthatcertainportionsofthebillhavenotyetbeenmadeclear,includ-ingthenumberofsamplesandportionsizes.“Thelawhaspassedbuttheexactde-tailsofwhatwecandohavenotbeendefinedyet.”

raiLway cars Ameasureknownasthe“DinnerRailcarLiquorLicense”billpassedtheStatehouseinMarchandallowspassengertrainstoservealcohol. StateRep.TerriLoisGregory,R-BaldwinCity,whorepresentsapor-tionofFranklinCounty,authoredthebill. “IamverypleasedtoseeSubHB2689passtheHouse,”Gregorysaidinapressrelease.“Thislegis-lationwillhelpbringnewbusinessandjobsimme-diatelytoKansaswhileboostingvisitorsattouristdestinationsinDouglasandFranklincounties.ItwillbegreattousethehistoricrailroadanddepotinBald-winCity—animportantpartofourstate’shistory—whileshowingoffsomeofthestate’slandmarks.” Afterbeingsignedintolaw,themeasureadded“railwaycar”inthecur-rentdefinitionofadrink-ingestablishment. ANebraskarailcompanyhasexpressedinterestinrunningadinnercarfromBaldwinCitytoOttawa.

couGH: Precautions(Continued from Page 1)

Liquor: Law changes(Continued from Page 1)

By CRYSTAL HERBER Herald Staff Writer

A Franklin County costsavingsplanisexpectedtohave a trickle-down effectontaxpayers. County officials haveexplored the benefits ofimplementing a direct de-posit system and deter-mined it could save thecounty—andtaxpayers—money in the long run. Bydirectly depositing moneytovendors,thecountywillsave on checks and post-age,ShariPerry,FranklinCountyclerk,said. “Atthispoint,Ithinkit’sastepintherightdirection,”Perrysaid.“Ithinkthatwewillhavemoreofacostsav-ings,justbydoingthedirectdepositforvendors.

“I think every little bitprobably is going to help,sothat’swhyI’mgoingthatway.” Perry, who collaboratedwithDebbieHough,Frank-lin County treasurer, inthe endeavor, said directdeposit would be ideal forthose paid monthly by thecounty,includingsuchven-dorsaspestcontrolservic-esandleaseholders. Thecountyusesseveralarea vendors for servicesandgoodseachmonth,Per-ry explained, and sendingout checks to each vendorquicklyaddsup.Thecoun-ty already uses softwarecapable of facilitating di-rectdeposits,sosettingupthe system wouldn’t takelong, Perry said. The set

upwouldcomeatnocosttothe county, except for thetime it takes employees tocompletetheprocess. Theclerk’sofficealreadyhasbegunasystemtosavetaxpayersmoneybyreduc-ing the number of checkswritten to vendors, Perrysaid. Individual checks tovendors previously werewritten from each countydepartmentthatusedtheirgoodsorservices.Achangewas made to decrease theredundancy in the system,Perrysaid. “We’ve combined thatnow, it doesn’t make anydifference what fund it is,it just totals them all to-gether,sowe’vealreadycutdownonthataspectof it,”Perry said. “I think we’ve

alreadytakenastepintherightdirectionbyjustcut-tingbackonthoseandmak-ingthemallcombinedandsendingoutonecheck.” Perry proposed the di-rect deposit change to theFranklin County Boardof Commissioners at itsWednesday meeting. Theboard agreed the planwould be a good way tosavethecountymoney,andvoted4-0infavor. The next step, Perrysaid,isforherofficetocon-tact vendors to determineif they are willing to par-ticipate. The cost savingsdependsonhowmanyven-dorschoosetoparticipate.Theprogramwouldnotbemandatory,Perrysaid,butisachangethatwouldhave

near-immediate benefitsforvendors. “It’s something thatI think it would be ben-eficial to vendors becausetheywillhavetheirmoneythe next day,” Perry said.“[Theywould]not[be]wait-ing for it to come throughthemailtogetit.”

The direct deposit sys-tem also could be used tosend funds to organiza-tions in the county thatrelyonpartialortotalsup-port fromtaxpayermoney.Such groups include Prai-rie Paws Animal Shelterand the Franklin CountyHealthDepartment.

County moving toward direct deposit with vendors to save money