Alcohol in Western Kentucky -- Profiling the economic and moral debate
Western KENTUCKY - Last week, the owners of a Marshall County hotel in Kentucky were charged with running a modern day speakeasy, or an illegal bar. Police say beer and hard liquor were up for sale at Ken-Bar Inn in Gilbertsville, Kentucky. That's just a river bend away from Paducah where a bar there would be totally legit. The problem? Marshall County, Kentucky is dry. Chris Taylor profiles the still-waging economic and moral debate in western Kentucky that is prohibition.
Seven counties in far western Kentucky are completely dry, where the sale of alcohol has remained illegal since prohibition in the early 20th century. Most of those run Kentucky's border along the Ohio River. Roughly a quarter of the region's 19 counties are fully wet; two are considered moist, which means they have cities that allow alcohol sales; and five others allow restaurants to serve.
According to Kentucky Sales and Excise Tax Executive Director Richard Dobson, the Commonwealth doesn't track alcohol sales by region or county. Most cities and counties simply charge annual licensing fees. Last year, statewide alcohol sales totaled $91 million. That breaks down to $51 million in beer, $28 million in liquor and $12 million in wine sales. Since being such an economic boon, ending alcohol prohibition is often a contentious and hard-fought debate about principles and morality versus padding the pocketbook. Though, it's one that in the last decade is slowly trending towards acceptance, but not always.
As WKMS Reporter Angela Hatton found out, Kentucky was once a hotbed of distillation prior to prohibition with nearly 200 small distilleries found in the Commonwealth alone. Last year, she toured a freshly launched, small-time Christian County distillery using an antique approach to making whiskey.
Hatton- The pungent, woody aroma of a smokehouse. That's the smell that hits you when you walk into Paul Tomeszewski's barn. A concrete floor and corrugated metal walls give the site the look of a warehouse, but a collection of gauges, jars, and giant vats denote a chemistry lab. Tomaszewski is cooking a batch of dark-fired corn whisky. Tubs full of charcoal-tipped white corn wait to go into a 50-gallon soup pot.
Tomeszewski details his distillation process, from boiling the musty-smelling sour mash into a new batch of corn to adding malted barley and letting it ferment. Last year, he opened Christian County's first distillery in over a century.
While Tomeszewski is taking advantage of Christian County's wet status, neighboring Trigg County last year legalized the sale of alcohol in a very close county-wide vote, but not without a highly publicized debate. A church-led group called Trigg Citizen's Against Alcohol made many claims that ending prohibition there would lead to all kinds of safety and social repercussions.
What they were saying in the beginning was there are going to be drunks in the street and all these incidents are going to go up.
That's Grow Trigg organizer Ken Culwell. He and his wife Jan helped organize a campaign resulting in Trigg's recent alcohol liberation. Culwell recalls the two groups debated feverishly last year in the run up to the ballot, which saw the ordinance pass by a mere 36 votes. It's now the end of Trigg's peak tourism season and Trigg County Sheriff Randy Clark says compared to before
Clark- There's been such a minute difference I don't think you could attribute it one way or the other to alcohol.
That's despite strong sales. The latest tax receipts project over a million dollars has been spent on alcohol in the county, exceeding the Grow Trigg's initial estimates. Jan Culwell says their group convinced voters using an economic argument: predicting sales would help grow their local economy.
Jan Culwell- It's been less than a year since the ordinance passed. It's been far less than a year since any sales were made. But I do see incremental growth. Jobs have been added here in Trigg County. Unemployment is down.
Ken Culwell says the jobs created at the two new local restaurants and several packages stores now open and serving in Trigg are a direct effect of ending prohibition. He says one of the restaurants, Timbers, had closed there years earlier.
Ken Culwell- They said they closed because they were tired of operating a non-profit business and now they re-opened and they're doing well. Just drive by there on a Saturday night and you have to wait to get in.
But that's not all, many temporary jobs were created in the construction sector as well, as businesses spent an estimated half million dollars constructing or renovating buildings. Taxes from alcohol sales will benefit local law enforcement. Sheriff Clark is looking forward to using the money, which is currently predicted to be over $60,000.
Clark- We don't have enough deputies at this time to provide a 24-hour patrol and I would like to see that, the county judge and the magistrates would like to see the revenue put in that direction to get enough personnel and also to improve our vehicle situation: some of our cars have quite a few miles on them.
Local ABC Administrator Jay Geiger says Trigg County and Cadiz have an added alcohol sales tax on top of annual license and permit fees and in addition to what the state takes out.
Geiger- We have a six percent county tax or if the business is in the city there's a six percent tax that's paid to the city. Those businesses in the city don't also pay a county; it's either-or. We're averaging somewhere in the $14-15,000 a month amount in revenue.
Geiger says Trigg businesses are required to fill out a monthly sales report along with the public's share of the revenue. He says the county modeled their tax structure off of nearby Dawson Springs.
Geiger- They recently went wet and we patterned our ordinance and this monthly report from the one that Dawson Springs had. It's worked out pretty well.
Geiger says the county is actively tracking the revenue because the issue was so contentious among locals. But for many in Trigg, the air seems to be clearing after the heated debate unsettled many. Ken Culwell says he's heard from several citizens who voted against the initiative.
Ken Culwell- Devout religious ones are still against it. But some that voted no will say, hmm a million dollars in gross sales, that's okay.'
Amidst the clamor raised by the Grow Trigg and Trigg Citizens Against Alcohol debate, WKMS reporter Jacque Day covered a story originating in neighboring Caldwell County about a church there threatening its Trigg County members with excommunication for supporting Grow Trigg. She spoke to Mark Graff one year ago after Blue Spring Baptist Church Pastor Patrick Yates and another church member came to his home.
Day- Graff soon learned the reason for their visit: a petition he'd signed in support of legalizing alcohol sales in Trigg County, where he lives.
Graff- They'd acquired the names from the petitions.
Day- At this point Graff said he thought they might present the church's reason for opposing the repeal of prohibition in the county. He wasn't ready for what did happen.
Graff- He said this is the way the church feels, he handed me the covenant and he said I either need to go to church on Sunday, repent my sins, ask for forgiveness, apologize to the church and say that I'm changing my point of view and my vote on the situation or I'll be stricken from the rolls.
Day- He says the exchange left him dumbfounded.
Graff- I just basically looked at him and said I'm not going to change my stance on this situation I guess you're just going to have to do what you feel you need to do.
The church did expel Graff from their member list. A year later, Graff hasn't found a new church home since the Blue Spring incident.
Graff- It left a really bad taste in my mouth, and I just haven't had the desire to get into church politics again basically.
Graff says although Blue Springs' harsh reaction hurt him personally, the move probably didn't help the church's cause.
Graff- It was an ugly mess, but in a way I'm glad they did because the vote only passed by 32 and they had kicked out almost 20 members. So you can't help but feel that they made sure that the vote went through with a 32 margin.
Graff says he can no longer feel tension in the community since after the vote passed. That may prove many are simply accepting the fact and moving on, while others are actually changing their minds - even some local politicians. Graff says he recently spoke to a Cadiz city council candidate about the issue.
Graff- He had said in the beginning he was against the alcohol and we asked him how he felt about it now and he said there's no way we would go back. He said the revenue that's coming in from it is doing so much for the police department and the local area. He said there's no way he would be an obstructionist to such a thing.
Graff feels Blue Springs Baptist's roster purging isn't exemplary of Christian principles.
Graff- The church's biggest role is to go out and find sinners and members and try to bring them in to help them. If a church just goes out and looks for the best individuals in the world and the ones that aren't doing anything wrong, they're not going to find a lot of members.
According to Graff, churches should stay out of public policy and focus on the individual.
Graff- They should stop at being a moral compass for someone.
While Christian groups not unlike Blue Springs adamantly oppose alcohol, many others - often times less outspoken - take a more moderate approach. One Murray State campus ministry talks God over a draft twice a month. It's called Pizza, Beer and Jesus or it was last year anyway. A venue-swap this year to the Big Apple Caf may prompt the group to rename itself because the restaurant doesn't serve pizza. Nonetheless, St. John's Episcopal Rector Matt Bradley invites anyone of any faith or even atheists to sit down for a philosophical chat and sip a brew every second and fourth Tuesday evening of the month.
Bradley- Folks have been gathering around a drink for conversation and debate for a long, long time and we sort of stand in that tradition.
Bradley says his ministry is geared toward young adults who may be intimidated by church or put off by stereotypical Christian viewpoints.
Bradley- It sort of problematizes that understanding that all Christians have the same viewpoints on things and the ideas is that it lets people sort of think, Huh Well maybe there's something different going on here.' And we hope that when they actually come and they meet and talk with us that they find out that we do really have a different take on things.
Bradley says nowadays college students are hesitant to go to church and newcomers are often on the defensive.
Bradley- So you bring it out into a neutral environment where people can gather around drinks in a relaxed setting and talk about big issues and it winds up really letting people come out of their shell and talk over what's really on their minds and you know, I think there's scriptural precedent to be quite honest.
Bradley alludes to Jesus' first miracle turning water into wine at a wedding as a prime example.
Bradley- And it's not for some sacramental purpose. It's because it's a dinner party and I think that's something we identify with celebrating relationships and so I don't find anything in that innately to be contrary to Christian tradition.
Bradley's approach to alcohol is less Puritan in nature than the regional Christian norm. As many groups rally to keep its ban, citing abuse and the decay of family values, Bradley thinks these are only symptoms of deeper issues.
Bradley- Jesus wasn't big on instituting policy. Jesus would have us reflect on our lives and say, What is it to you is scary about alcohol? Okay, let's address those root causes instead of addressing what is basically a symptom of the cause.
Addressing those root causes is where Bradley sees his church's role in society: acting more as mediators rather than overseers. As the trend of populated pockets in western Kentucky adopting alcohol referendums continues, the moral debate will certainly wage on between the region's predominately conservative and Christian demographic and those arguing for economic benefits and convenience. While one side argues prohibition keeps communities safe and family-friendly, others will argue revenue funds public safety and grows the community.