DEXTER VOTES AGAINST EARLY LIQUOR SALES

DEXTER, Mo. -- The Dexter Board of Aldermen -- with Mayor John Pruitt casting the deciding vote -- Monday night ruled against allowing earlier liquor sales on Sunday. Unfortunately for those who oppose earlier sales, the vote was purely symbolic.

State law permits Sunday liquor sales to begin at 11 a.m., two hours earlier than Dexter's liquor-sales ordinance allows. And because local law can be no more restrictive than state law, the Board of Aldermen's rejection of earlier liquor sales was no more than posturing.

"It's our way of saying that we're really not for it," said Pruitt.

The split aldermanic vote -- Hart, Larry Warren and Tim Crutchfield voted against it; Mark Snider, Butch Waldrup and Mark Stidham voted in favor -- came despite City Attorney Buddy Lawrence's advice that the city is required to bring its ordinance in line with state law.

Hart, who regularly votes against or abstains on issues such as liquor license renewals, urged his fellow members to vote against earlier liquor sales.