National briefs - roadblock results good or bad?
Pub Date: 7/1/2006
NM Town: Ambiguous Stats No Reason For Questioning Efficacy of Roadblocks
In news that should shock most semi-educated human beings and math departments everywhere, numbers aren t an effective way to measure things, say the Clovis, N.M., police.
The number of DWI arrests in Clovis continues to vary from year-to-year, with no statistical pattern to show that the implementation of DWI roadblocks, or "sobriety checkpoints" as their proponents refer to them, has had an impact on cutting down on drunk driving. The number of DWI arrests in 2005 reported by Clovis police (238) increased 12 percent over 2004, but the figure was below 2002 and 2003.
This statistical ambiguity hasn t stopped the Clovis police from declaring the roadblocks a success. Though the most recent checkpoint netted one DWI arrest, public information officer Lt. Jim Schoeffel will not let numbers stand in the way of sound reasoning.
"The fact that we don't see more (arrests) is a good thing. If we saw more (arrests) then obviously It's not working It's not necessarily a negative that the numbers aren't high," he said.
One must wonder, using this convoluted logic, if the roadblocks nabbed a high number of DUI offenders, would that prove the program is a failure?
It is interesting to note that the checkpoints inevitably lead to a slew of other ¦citations , which are often crucial for otherwise cash-starved small town coffers. Indeed, it appears that many, if not most, of the people caught up in the dragnets are passing through on their way to and from Texas. Additionally, officers who work the checkpoints are paid overtime through state grants, which is monetarily appealing to law enforcement officials.
New Executives At Castle Brands
ABL Diamond Associate Member Castle Brands announced on May 15 two key executive appointments. John Soden has been named as international managing director and will be responsible for international strategy at Castle Brands, as well as international sales and marketing activities.
Soden was previously with Irish drinks group C&C, and has significant experience in international markets including Europe, Scandinavia, Australia and duty-free.
Seth Weinberg was named to the newly created position of senior vice president and general counsel. He will be responsible for securities, finance and corporate governance issues and SEC reporting, as well as mergers and acquisitions transactions. He was formerly a corporate specialist with the law firm Levin Naftalis & Frankel LLP.
The company said that the two men would report to president and chief operating officer Keith Bellinger, and Mark Andrews, chairman and CEO.
A-B On The Acquisition Front
It was announced May 19 that Anheuser-Busch has purchased the Rolling Rock brand from InBev USA for $82 million. While the deal does not include the Latrobe Brewing Co. in Pennsylvania, it does include the Rolling Rock Brand, which includes Rock Green Light, and their recipes.
Rolling Rock has been produced in Pennsylvania since 1983 and has been distributed nationally since the late 1980's. Its iconic bottle and logo have made it an easily recognizable symbol to beer drinkers.
The purchase signals A-B's recognition of the fastest growing segment of beer, craft brewing. A-B already owns stakes in Redhook Ale Brewery in Seattle and Widmer Brothers brewery in Portland, Ore.
To Your Health: Beer And Whiskey May Provide Health Benefits
A report from the King's College and St. Thomas' Hospital in London states that research has shown that drinking beer in moderation may prevent the onset of osteoporosis, a condition in which the bones become weak and easily fracture.
The research that the report references, was performed on healthy volunteers between the ages of 18 and 50. Researchers believe that the ethanol in the beer blocked hormones that can lead to weaker bones.
Professor Powell also explained that drinking in moderation is the key, and that drinking too much beer can have adverse effects.
In other alcohol-related health news, a study out of Japan has found that whiskey congeners may prevent the onset of diabetes. Their experiments showed that antioxidants in the congeners of whiskey might lower the fasting glucose level and improve the level of insulin production.
NABCA Elects New Chairman
Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board (PLCB) Chairman Jonathan Newman has been chosen to head the National Alcohol Beverage Control Association (NABCA) by its voting members at its annual conference. Prior to taking office in June 2007, Newman will serve as the National Alcohol Beverage Control Association chairman-elect through May 2007.
Taking control of NABCA for 2006 after his election as chairman a year ago is Oregon Liquor Control Commission (OLCC) Chairman Philip D. Lang. As the OLCC chairman for eight years, Lang, 76, has led a board of five commissioners in setting policy direction for the state agency. The former speaker of the Oregon House of Representatives, he was appointed to the OLCC by the governor.
NABCA is an organization comprised of the 18 control states and Montgomery County, Maryland. Its mission is "to support and benefit alcohol control systems by providing research, fostering relationships, and managing resources to address policy for the responsible sale and consumption of alcohol beverages."
Canadian Court Delivers Ruling On Host Responsibility
As it becomes clearer that minors rely heavily on friends and family to access alcohol beverages, many U.S. states are considering tougher laws that punish adults that host underage drinking parties or supply alcohol beverages to minors in their homes.
Our neighbors to the north are dealing with a similar problem and the Supreme Court there has just shed some light on where they see responsibility falling.
The Supreme Court of Canada ruled in early May that party hosts don't generally have a legal responsibility to watch the amount of alcohol their guests drink. The ruling stems from a case in which a woman who became a paraplegic after a drunken driver crashed into her, sued said driver and the two hosts of the party at which the driver was in attendance.
The ruling upholds earlier lower findings against the driver but not the hosts. The ruling clarifies that the hosts of private parties are fundamentally different from the owners of a bar. Bar owners are charged with the responsibility of making sure that their patrons are not over served. A relatively more static environment with trained servers and employees, bars tend be easier to monitor than private house parties with unmeasured drinks and perhaps only one or two people charged with overseeing the gathering.
It is important to note that the court did not indemnify hosts under any circumstances from ever bearing any responsibility. The judgment specifically warns that a host does not bear responsibility for a guest's actions, "unless the host's conduct implicates him or her in the creation or exacerbation of the risk."
Brewers Fight To End Civil War-Era Excise Tax
At the recent NBWA/BREWERS Joint Legislative Conference in Washington, D.C., hundreds of independent brewers and distributors joined forces to lobby to repeal the federal excise tax on beer in order to give their businesses a break from the tax burden.
The federal beer excise tax was created during the Civil War to support the Union Army. Brewers paid a tax for each barrel of beer sold. That tax was increased in 1990, which for some large brewers doubled their tax obligation. While many of the taxes that were levied in the 1990 legislation have been repealed, the beer excise tax remains in place.
According to the Beer Institute, up to 44 percent of the cost of each beer sold to consumers is for taxes.
Tesco: The Next Wal-Mart ?
Tesco, a British supermarket and convenience behemoth, has picked the name Fresh & Easy for the name of its retail operation set to launch in the United States.
The company made public its plans to venture in American markets in February and, according to the Financial Times, advertisements are now appearing in the Los Angeles and Phoenix areas seeking staff for Fresh & Easy stores. That report is the first to confirm the locations of the new stores.
Tesco, which prides itself on its philosophy of keep things simple, apparently plans to find its niche with smaller, convenience store formats, rather than wade into the already crowded pool of supermarket chains, currently dominated by Wal-Mart and Safeway.
The prospects of a hybrid convenience store and supermarket is a new concept and Tesco s intentions to retail alcohol beverages are still unknown at this time, as is much else about the pending launch of Fresh & Easy.
Proposed Taxes In New Jersey Would Squeeze The Little Guy
The National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence-New Jersey (NCADD-NJ) and the addiction support group Parent to Parent, held a joint news conference at the New Jersey State House on May 17 to press legislators to pass an increase in the alcohol tax and use the revenue to fund more addiction treatment in the state.
The push has the support of Governor Jon Corzine, who has proposed a nickel-a-gallon increase in the tax on beer and a dime-a-gallon increase on wine and spirits. Gov. Corzine's budget includes his proposed increase in the alcohol tax, which anticipates generating $12 million. His spending plan also calls for spending $2 million for capital improvements at addiction treatment facilities.
New Jersey has so mismanaged state funds in recent years that Corzine may very well have to deal with a $5 billion budget deficit starting on July 1.
DISCUS News
The Distilled Spirits Council (DISCUS) has been named a finalist for the American Business Awards Best Corporate Social Responsibility Program for its new system of public reporting on alcohol advertising complaints.
To make the industry s advertising complaint review process more transparent and understandable to the public, in 2005 DISCUS began publishing semi-annual public reports detailing complaints against specific spirits advertisements, decisions of the industry s internal review board and actions taken by each advertiser.