Public-private deal may work for liquor sales


Your editorial concerning state liquor laws (July 29) was very informative. One problem you mentioned is the insufficient number of liquor licenses available to restaurants. This has hobbled the restaurant industry in Pennsylvania, and it's a drag on the economy. Yet you say there are about 1200 licenses held by people who are not using them. That's absurd.

One possible solution would be to establish a requirement that such licenses will be withdrawn if they are not put to use within a certain time frame, perhaps two years. If you put an effective date of, lets say, 2018, on the rule, that would give the holders of these licenses three years to act. I think that's fair, and it would free up a lot of licenses. I would also suggest that the state increase the number of licenses it issues gradually, starting at some point in the future, lets say 2020.

Our state liquor store system also needs to change. On the plus side, the state stores have improved in recent years. The new outlet near Kmart is actually quite good. They have an excellent selection and a competent, helpful staff. But there are too few such stores.

Some states have a hybrid system, part government owned, part private. That might work for us. One approach could be to allow supermarkets to sell liquors in underserved areas. You could define underserved as being more than, let's say, 10 miles from a state outlet. That would benefit rural areas and increase tax revenue.

Our laws are a mess. But it is not an intractable problem. Solutions that increase revenue and boost the economy are possible. And it can be done without undue harm to stakeholders in the current system.

Victor Commisso, Cornwall

Tigers? Or, 'Why we didn't go to the fair this year'


Why did the Lebanon Area Fair — held to "celebrate the county's agricultural roots" and all things farm related – include Tiger Encounter? We read these tigers were "raised in captivity," which means they were probably taken from their mothers at birth so they could bond with humans.

Did you ever try to teach your cat a trick? Imagine the training techniques used. Those tigers too stubborn or slow will either become victims of a canned hunt for rich people — not as rich as the Minnesota dentist who illegally murdered Cecil the Lion in Africa but who can afford to "hunt" their trophy tiger in an enclosed area — usually some ranch down South. Or they end up as "parts" sold to China for "medicinal purposes."

If you want to see a tiger, go to an accredited sanctuary like Big Cat Rescue in Tampa, Fla., or watch their YouTube videos. And please — whoever chooses future animal acts for the fair — stick with the fair's focus and choose domesticated animals. No more wild African animals.

We loved last year's dog act — as we recall, all the dogs had been rescued from shelters, so we thoroughly enjoyed watching those animals who looked like they were loving their work.

Did anyone who watched Tiger Encounters get the impression those caged wild animals enjoyed entertaining them? There are 7,000 healthy dogs and cats euthanized every day in U.S. shelters because they have no homes.

In all our years attending the Pennsylvania Farm Show, the largest such show in the U.S., we've never seen African wild animals —– only Pennsylvania critters who had been injured or abandoned being rehabbed by state environmental groups.

Seems like what's good enough for the country's biggest farm show should be good enough for the Lebanon Area Fair.

Barbara and Martin Haubrich, Palmyra

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