Liquor Stores

Billy Yang's father never wanted this for his son. He didn't want him to toil behind the counter of an L.A. liquor store. That was the job Jae Yang, an immigrant, did for 20 years -- only so his children could go to college and lead more interesting lives. But in December masked robbers shot and killed the father. So 28-year-old Billy quit his white-collar marketing job and took over St. Regis Liquor, a bodega a couple of blocks from the Beverly Center on the Westside.

A recently released study by a group of USC researchers has found a direct correlation between the number of alcohol outlets in an area and the rate of violent crime. The study--conducted by Richard A. Scribner, David P. MacKinnon and James H. Dwyer--was the first to scientifically examine the relationship between the density of liquor stores and bars and violent crime rates in the communities they serve. It was carried out over four years.

A city administrator Friday denied a zoning permit to sell beer and wine at a South Los Angeles site where a black teenager was killed in 1991 by a Korean American grocer. In his ruling on Numero Uno Market, zoning administrator R. Nicolas Brown cited the high crime and concentration of existing liquor stores in the area as major factors. Brown's decision did not indicate how much weight he placed on the site's link to the fatal shooting of 15-year-old Latasha Harlins.

Two suspects wanted in the shooting of a liquor store owner and a customer during a robbery were identified Wednesday as Long Beach residents, officials said. Neil De'ontrai Duffey, 18, and William Deshawn Cartlidge, 19, are suspected of shooting store owner Mote Malhas, 55, of Culver City and customer Cesar Castillo, 57, of Buena Park during the 11:30 a.m. robbery Tuesday at Sunshine liquor store in the 8400 block of Western Avenue, police said.

When small-business consultant Nitin Bhatt began working on a make-over of Avalon Liquor & Gifts on Catalina Island, he asked owner Patrick Johnson to fax him a list of documents. There was only one problem: Johnson did not have a fax machine. "Here's my first recommendation," Bhatt said. "Since the store was founded by his parents 45 years ago and Pat's worked there since he was 13, they have not changed the way they do things.

A proposed ordinance to rezone a mile-long corridor of Pacific Coast Highway in Lomita was approved unanimously Tuesday by the city's Planning Commission, despite opposition from residents who say the change will force out small businesses and dramatically increase traffic. About 150 residents crammed the council chambers to voice opposition to the ordinance, which would prohibit or restrict a variety of businesses, including small motels, nail shops, auto repair shops and liquor stores.

An Anaheim liquor store owner who worked 16-hour days the last seven years was found dead at the business by a customer Friday morning, authorities said.. The body of Haeng "Hank" Shin Kim, 57, of Westminster was found around 9:30 a.m. only inches from the doorway of his Lucky 7 Market, 3268 W. Lincoln Ave., authorities said. "When we got here, there was blood all over the place," Anaheim Police Sgt. Rick Martinez said.

Los Angeles police cited 24 Valley liquor stores on charges of selling alcoholic beverages to an underage decoy Tuesday night. Vice officers sent a 19-year-old police reservist into 84 stores in North Hollywood, Studio City and Sun Valley, Capt. Bruce Mitchell said. Of those, 24 sold the decoy a six-pack of beer without checking his age. The store owners face a misdemeanor charge of selling alcohol to a minor.

Pulod Davlatnazarov was a new employee at Limelight Liquor store on La Brea Avenue in Hollywood when the man with the wire-rim glasses walked in. Davlatnazarov, 39, an immigrant from Tajikistan, was working in the tiny storage room in the back of the store amid soda bottles, cans of beer and stacks of goods. His co-worker, Vladimir Akkerman, 69, was in front at the counter.

It's Thursday night, the end of the Iraqi workweek, and Fami Ameen is scrambling in his crowded Assassin's Gate liquor store as customers clamor for everything from beer and whiskey to ouzo and arak, the popular local alcohol. Call Ameen an unexpected beneficiary of the "surge." For decades, Iraq had a reputation as a modern, secular society that liked to drink and knew how to party, from wild hotel discotheques to genteel members-only social clubs.

Quick, which of the following is not allowed in New York: riding the subway without pants, performing a play in public while naked, or buying wine at the grocery store? If you chose the last option, perhaps you've been following one of the liveliest debates to emerge from otherwise dry budget talks in the state capital, Albany, where politicians struggling with a dire fiscal crisis see wine as an antidote. New York remains one of 15 states that limit wine sales to liquor stores.

A suicide bomber edged his way into a crowd of Iraqi officials and U.S. forces gathered for a meeting north of Baghdad on Thursday, killing as many as 12 people, including an American soldier. It was one of three attacks nationwide that shattered what had been the peaceful start of the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha, which began Wednesday for Sunni Muslims. Shiites begin celebrating the four-day holiday today.

It's Thursday night, the end of the Iraqi workweek, and Fami Ameen is scrambling in his crowded Assassin's Gate liquor store as customers clamor for everything from beer and whiskey to ouzo and arak, the popular local alcohol. Call Ameen an unexpected beneficiary of the "surge." For decades, Iraq had a reputation as a modern, secular society that liked to drink and knew how to party, from wild hotel discotheques to genteel members-only social clubs.

Pulod Davlatnazarov was a new employee at Limelight Liquor store on La Brea Avenue in Hollywood when the man with the wire-rim glasses walked in. Davlatnazarov, 39, an immigrant from Tajikistan, was working in the tiny storage room in the back of the store amid soda bottles, cans of beer and stacks of goods. His co-worker, Vladimir Akkerman, 69, was in front at the counter.

If potential home buyers indicate they enjoy a nip now and then, real estate agent Dana Blackburn knows what to do. "All my drinking clients, I try to get them to live on the west side," she said as she left the lone liquor store in St. George. There's a supply problem facing those who imbibe in this city of 126,000, where spectacular red rock scenery, sunny weather and affordable proximity to Las Vegas have contributed to a population boom. St.

At the urging of a nonprofit health organization, Santa Ana officials are considering a proposal to limit liquor licenses in poor neighborhoods. Although the number of businesses licensed to sell liquor in Santa Ana has dropped in the last decade, residents and community activists say impoverished neighborhoods are still swamped with bars and with stores selling alcohol.

A man and teenager were shot by a cashier after they allegedly tried to rob a liquor store, police said Saturday. The two, a 16-year- old boy and Keyhn Kenneth Rivers, 19, were hospitalized but were expected to survive, said Lt. John Romero of the Los Angeles Police Department. Both were booked Saturday on suspicion of attempted murder. The cashier, who was also a licensed security guard, was not shot despite an exchange of gunfire. Police were searching for a third suspect in the robbery.

Elizabeth McClellan remembers walking past the liquor stores that dotted her South Los Angeles neighborhood, where addicts smoked crack cocaine and drank alcoholic beverages wrapped in brown paper bags. She and her neighbors began organizing with the help of a then-newly formed advisory group called the Empowerment Congress. Eventually, they were able to reduce the number of area liquor stores and crimes.

Two brothers operating a La Habra liquor market were shot and an employee pistol whipped Friday when five robbers wearing baseball caps and bandanas burst into the store and opened fire, strewing money all over the floor, authorities said. Lal Singh, 38, was in critical condition at UCI Medical Center in Orange while his brother, Kuljinder Singh, 30, was in stable condition at County-USC Medical Center in Los Angeles, authorities said.

They would march into the liquor store like pirates ready to gorge on ill-gotten goods. Ten times in the last month, the same group of robbers walked in and hauled away beer, chips and other food. Brandishing a knife, the robbers warned the store's owner: "We know where you live." But the owner of the Washington Boulevard shop would not back down. Instead, he installed video cameras around the store to capture images of the robbers.