COUNCIL TO HOLD HEARING ON BAR

Revoking the liquor license of a South Cape Girardeau bar is a step toward making the area around the 400 block of Good Hope Street safer, Police Chief Rick Hetzel said.

Hetzel presented a recommendation to the City Council on Monday to revoke the liquor license of Taste Lounge, which has been the starting point of a number of assaults in the past year.

The council voted to hold a hearing June 5 to discuss the matter. Mayor Al Spradling III cast the lone dissenting vote against the hearing, which will come only 25 days before the bar's liquor license is up for renewal.

But that 25 days gives the council time to think over the matter, said Councilman Richard "Butch" Eggimann. "Depending on what happens, it gives us more time to reflect. It is a major decision," said Eggimann.

The issue isn't new. Police have consistently been called to the Taste Lounge for assaults, drug violations, thefts, peace disturbances, property damages and trespassing complaints.

Even owner Michael Pryor has said the matter is getting out of control, Hetzel said. Pryor did not attend the council meeting. He could not be reached for comment Monday night either.

The most notorious incident at the Taste occurred in June, when a crowd estimated at 150 threw rocks, bricks and parts of concrete blocks at police while they were making an arrest near the bar.

The latest occurrence of multiple assaults was on the last weekend in February, when two were shot and six were arrested.

Calls are getting more serious, and unless the matter is resolved soon "invariably someone will be seriously hurt," Hetzel said.

Policemen from other sectors of the city are called to respond to fights and assaults at the Taste because crowds of 150 or more routinely gather. Once police arrive to disband a fight, they also might have to deal with angry people who have been drinking. Sometimes one fight can turn into several, Hetzel said.

"If we do delay this, then our officers will be in jeopardy -- and the rest of the city -- while they deal with these calls," said Councilman Tom Neumeyer.

Neumeyer made the motion calling for a hearing.

In roughly three years the Taste has made the area grow progressively worse, said Dolly Schlue, who lives in the 300 block of Good Hope Street. "They should have revoked the license a year ago," she said.

But despite new ordinances Schlue doesn't see police enforcing them.

She said she called police four times last Saturday about 15 men standing around a car parked on Good Hope Street listening to a blaring stereo.

Loitering and noise ordinances should have been enforced, but Schlue said she watched three times as police cars drove past without stopping.

"One time I called and a girl told me that police had been there," she said. "I told her that she probably didn't know that I was watching them."

During one of the police passes, Schlue said she heard all 15 laugh at the patrol car.

After her fourth call, police stopped and got the group to move along, Schlue said.

Schlue, a retired, lifelong resident of Cape Girardeau, thinks police in Marion, Ill., have come up with a solution officers here might try: Repeat offenders of the noise ordinance have their stereos seized, she said.

"It's time that we do something here besides lip service," Schlue said.

Relatives and friends have encouraged her to move, but Schlue said she can't.

"I've lived a whole lifetime here," she said. "I like my home. I just don't like what goes on around it."

Hetzel said he is aware of the residents' concerns for their neighborhood. He has been meeting with South Cape Girardeau residents since June to talk about ways to address the problem. Public safety is an issue for everyone, he said.

The residents "are tired of people littering their yards and walking up on their porches," he said. The people in the neighborhood "have just as much right as anybody else in the city" to have a safe, quiet neighborhood.

Revoking the liquor license for the Taste is one of the mechanisms the city has at its disposal for addressing the problems of assaults, noise and loitering.

Similar issues have been addressed with other bars around town. The city revoked a liquor license for Peppy's and put Jeremiah's bar on a six-month probation when problems arose.

Laura Johnston may be contacted at 335-6611 ext. 126 or at ljohnston@semissourian.com.