California Department Of Alcoholic Beverage Control

A Long Beach police detective said Thursday that a $100,000 grant from the state will help police crack down on liquor stores that sell alcohol to minors. The grant from the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control "will allow the Police Department to dedicate one officer, full time, to the enforcement" of state liquor laws, Detective Joel Cook said.

Employees at 20 stores and restaurants in Westlake Village, Thousand Oaks and Newbury Park were cited during a police sting operation over the weekend for allegedly selling alcohol to minors, authorities said. Sheriff's deputies enlisted several 18- and 19-year-olds to attempt to purchase alcohol Friday and Saturday nights at about 100 businesses. Employees who sold alcohol to a minor were cited and released at the scene.

The California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control has revoked the liquor license of a Sun Valley bar because of illegal drug activity, authorities said Monday. The action was taken Friday against El Noa Noa bar at 7607 Vineland Ave. after investigators found drug activity there, said Lonnie Corley, supervising investigator. In February 1997, undercover officers from the Los Angeles Police Department found bar owner Javier Ramirez in possession of cocaine for sale, Corley said.

The Redondo Beach Police Department cited three businesses for allegedly selling alcohol to minors during an undercover operation, police said. Two teams from the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control and the Police Department used underage decoys to check 25 establishment for illegal sales, said Officer Bob Remington of the Redondo Beach department.

The Redondo Beach Police Department cited three businesses for allegedly selling alcohol to minors during an undercover operation, police said. Two teams from the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control and the Police Department used underage decoys to check 25 establishment for illegal sales, said Officer Bob Remington of the Redondo Beach department.

California's prestigious wine trade is nervous about a crackdown on long-ignored industry practices that include providing abundant free samples for formal tastings at wine shops. Suppliers have routinely--and illegally, in some cases--furnished ample quantities of wines to shop owners for tastings, and "the ABC has looked the other way," said Randy Kemner, owner of Wine Country, a Signal Hill retailer. No longer.

Two items in the newspapers last week deserve to be read side by side. First, attorneys for Vertigo, the trendy downtown Los Angeles nightspot that openly discriminates against the attire-impaired, are appealing efforts by the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control to force the club to admit nerds. Vertigo makes no bones about sorting the stodgy from the chic. A guy at the door eyeballs supplicants eager for entry and makes the decision based entirely on their clothes.

State auditors are looking into allegations that the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control has engaged in "discriminatory enforcement" by stepping up raids on minority bars--particularly gay ones. The audit marks the latest round in a battle that began last fall between the ABC and factions of the gay, black and Latino communities after a dramatic increase in raids, primarily on gay bars and often during prime business hours.

Employees at 20 stores and restaurants in Westlake Village, Thousand Oaks and Newbury Park were cited during a police sting operation over the weekend for allegedly selling alcohol to minors, authorities said. Sheriff's deputies enlisted several 18- and 19-year-olds to attempt to purchase alcohol Friday and Saturday nights at about 100 businesses. Employees who sold alcohol to a minor were cited and released at the scene.

Gov. Pete Wilson has appointed former state Sen. Ed Davis (R-Santa Clarita) to the Alcoholic Beverage Control Appeals Board. Davis, 76, retired from the Senate earlier this month after 12 years and now lives in Morro Bay. He was chief of the Los Angeles Police Department from 1969 to 1978. The board hears appeals by holders of liquor licenses who have been disciplined by the state Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control. It also hears appeals from those who have been denied licenses.

The California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control has revoked the liquor license of a Sun Valley bar because of illegal drug activity, authorities said Monday. The action was taken Friday against El Noa Noa bar at 7607 Vineland Ave. after investigators found drug activity there, said Lonnie Corley, supervising investigator. In February 1997, undercover officers from the Los Angeles Police Department found bar owner Javier Ramirez in possession of cocaine for sale, Corley said.

Tempers were running high Thursday in Hermosa Beach when business owners learned that they were not included in a meeting scheduled next week between state and city officials to discuss the city's problems with the state Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control.

City officials have rescheduled a meeting with the State Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control for Sept. 10. to discuss the city's allegations that the agency is overzealous in its enforcement of alcohol licenses in the city. Officials from Gov. Pete Wilson's office, a representative of county Supervisor Don Knabe and Hermosa Beach business owners and city officials are expected to attend the meeting. It had been scheduled for Aug.

Hermosa Beach city officials have postponed a Monday meeting with the state Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control and county Supervisor Don Knabe because they want a representative from the governor's office to attend the meeting. Knabe offered to arrange the meeting after city officials complained in writing to the governor that the ABC was unfairly cracking down on Hermosa Beach restaurants and bars. No one from the governor's office had been invited.

There's no want for something to do in the new Hermosa Beach. Bars buzz with beach-goers on the new Pier Plaza on lower Pier Avenue. The weekend dinner crowd has its choice of more than a dozen restaurants within a block of the Hermosa Pier. There are T-shirt shops, gift shops and plans to bring stores with name-brand familiarity to downtown.

State auditors are looking into allegations that the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control has engaged in "discriminatory enforcement" by stepping up raids on minority bars--particularly gay ones. The audit marks the latest round in a battle that began last fall between the ABC and factions of the gay, black and Latino communities after a dramatic increase in raids, primarily on gay bars and often during prime business hours.

A former investigator for the state Alcoholic Beverage Control agency's Inglewood office has been sentenced to three years' probation and 200 hours of community service after pleading no contest to bribery charges. Debra L. Bender, 30, also must pay a $300 fine stemming from allegations that she solicited $2,000 from a Hawthorne liquor store manager while she was an agent in exchange for assuring that his liquor license transfer "would have no problems," prosecutors said.

Assemblyman Tom Umberg (D-Garden Grove) joined local law enforcement officials Thursday in denouncing plans to lay off a majority of state liquor law enforcement agents this month, saying that fewer agents in Orange County would lead to lax oversight of liquor sales. Nearly three quarters of the investigators for the state Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control, including 10 of 13 in Orange County, are scheduled to be laid off as part of Gov. Pete Wilson's plan to close a $14.

State authorities obtained a court order Friday forcing Anheuser-Busch to halt its "Buy the Beer, Get the Gear" television advertisements, in which consumers are offered merchandise for drinking Budweiser. Los Angeles Superior Court issued the temporary restraining order at the request of the state Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control. A hearing is scheduled July 15 in Los Angeles, department spokesman Carl DeWing said.

California's prestigious wine trade is nervous about a crackdown on long-ignored industry practices that include providing abundant free samples for formal tastings at wine shops. Suppliers have routinely--and illegally, in some cases--furnished ample quantities of wines to shop owners for tastings, and "the ABC has looked the other way," said Randy Kemner, owner of Wine Country, a Signal Hill retailer. No longer.