Hey, there! Log in / Register
Weymouth bar whose owner declared coronavirus BS has license lifted by state board that disagrees
By adamg on Thu, 09/10/2020 - 3:38pm
The state Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission voted last week to indefinitely suspend the liquor license of a Weymouth bar where inspectors say they found an unmasked bartender, customers swigging liquor without food and an owner whom inspectors said told them that coronavirus "is a bunch of bullshit" and "that no government is going to tell me how to run my business."
Current state Covid-19 regulations prohibit patrons from sitting at the bar at all, ban patrons from getting drinks without food and require employees to wear masks at all times, and patrons to wear them while not sitting at a table. According to a report by two ABCC inspectors, however, when they popped into KC's Pub and Grill on Washington Street on Aug. 14, they found numerous violations of the emergency Covid-19 regulations, including patrons sitting inside with just drinks and maskless patrons wandering into the bar area from an outdoor smoking area - where they'd been consuming drinks with no evidence of food present.
The inspectors wrote that when they found owner Nick Akoury, he acknowledged some violations, but added;
"I think coronavirus is a bunch of bullshit. I thought we were past all this? I stopped watching the news a long time ago, to be hones I think it's all bullshit."
Mr. Akoury further stated to investigators, "No government is going to tell me how to run my business."
At a Sept. 1 hearing, the commission writes, Akoury said he started out following the state bar requirements but at some point just gave up. In its ruling, issued Sept. 4, the commission said it would consider giving him the license back if he can provide, in writing, proof of "good cause" that he will abide by the rules again - which will need to include submission of a detailed Covid-19 re-opening plan to the state Department of Labor Standards.
Neighborhoods:
Topics:
Free tagging:
Ad:
Support Universal Hub
Help keep Universal Hub going. If you like what we're up to and want to help out, please consider a (completely non-deductible) contribution.
Comments
So hilariously dumb
So this guy clearly believed in the government enough to abide by liquor licensing laws and town bylaws but suddenly on this one issue, the government has no valid authority? I wonder if he also didn't pay payroll taxes or liability insurance or ID patrons?
The state is making small
The state is making small businesses and restaurants who are already hurting jump through hoops to abide by some stupid set of rules that do nothing whatsoever to protect anyone from catching a cold. You think putting a table at the bar and a plate of fries on it will keep corona away? Lmao i feel bad for any places that the government shuts down while still has to pay their rent bill
I still don't understand
why when you stand up inside a restaurant, you have to have a mask on but when you sit in a restaurant, you don't have to wear a mask. Does covid only spread from people when they are standing?
Neither is particularly safe
Neither is particularly safe indoors, but when you stand and breath/talk the particles you emit travel further than when you're sitting and are more likely to make it to another table. You can try this at home, take a spray bottle, sit at a table and spray. Now stand and repeat. Notice its wetter further away. Now do it while sitting under a vent and see what happens. Now do it next to a half wall like a barrier you might see between tables and see how when standing the water makes it over the wall.
No the difference is subtle enough that you won't catch me eating indoors anytime soon. But let's not ignore simple physics to make that point.
You aren’t completely wrong
But the correct change to policies is to just not have indoor dining, which obviously has its own issues. Particularly with our national response strategy of (tbd).
So state policies end up being imperfect attempts to balance controlling infection, trying to avoid economic depression, and making life tolerable enough to avoid the devastation of the pandemic ending through social fatigue (i.e. herd immunity strategy and the tens of thousands of deaths across the state that would go with it)
god, you don’t get it, do you
god, you don’t get it, do you?
in a pandemic, you should not be spending hours with people outside of your home in inclosed, indoor spaces for long periods of time, especially without masks in poorly ventilated bars.
good luck in life
There'e evidence--reported in
There'e evidence--reported in the NYTimes today--that 19 causes brain damage, even to those who have no symptoms. Harry--I think you're fucked.
You're right: there is no evidence that fries repel the virus.
I suspect part of the rationale for requiring food is that people who are only drinking are more likely to let their guard down about mask use and social distancing, which are in fact proven to reduce the spread of the virus. And we're still without wide-scale testing and contact tracing, key steps in containing the spread of the pandemic, as well as its recurrence after a return to a more open, normal society. Thank our lethally incompetent, knowing-about-the-threat-yet-downplaying-it-anyway President for that. He takes no responsibility at all.
I'm friends with hundreds of restaurant industry people: I don't want them to lose their livelihood and a giant chunk of our restaurants and bars go out of business. And I certainly desperately miss the essential pleasures of dining and drinking out, my biggest, most joyful hobby for the last 30 years, never mind the end of my restaurant critic gig.
Even so, I'm not ready to gamble on dining and drinking inside of restaurants and bars yet, though I do do patios. I have close relatives at elevated risk.
good!
What a f**king moron!
OWNER: No government is going to tell me how to run my biz!
OWNER: No government is going to tell me how to run my biz!
ABCC: Hold my beer...
(h/t KellyJMF)
Ever think that because THE
Ever think that because THE STATE RUN FACILITIES were responsible for 97% of all TRUE COVID 19 deaths because of mis management they may be trying to cover their butts now?
Yes, the restrictions on restaurants and bars are not designed
to protect the health of both industry workers and their customers, but part of a vast, insidious conspiracy to cover up other pandemic infection vectors that have been kept secret from us. Our public health officials are only interested in covering their asses, not the idealistic mission to which they've devoted decades of education and toil.
Is that you, Q? Love your work: so patently insane, but the social-media numbers!
ALL CAPS !!
Says a troll who gets his news from trolls
well...
https://www.theonion.com/teen-who-died-from-coronavirus-probably-had-und...
https://local.theonion.com/tell-the-world-i-also-had-asthma-conservative...
*true* cases?
Honey, please present your public health credentials.
Wait. My comment deserves to
Wait. My comment deserves to be published. Why can"t there be the same people who catch this stuff happening be asked to do the same thing on the trains and buses? I know from daily experience the entire Orange Line especially after 1:00 is putting everyone at risk for Corona virus.
Ann Marie has questions...
August 4 12:30 a.m. - Ann Marie Collins, 47, of Braintree, was arrested at KC Pub and Grill on Washington Street and charged with assault and battery on a police officer, two counts of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, resisting arrest, and disorderly conduct.
good!
It sounds like she is a public menace
Pachyderm in the house
The only real solution to this is to close all the bars, pay them to stay closed, and pay their staff to stay home/look for other work.
Anything else is a half-assed joke. Studies of indoor air quality in bars led to smoking bans because a single patron smoking a ciggy or two can turn most places into indoor Beijing.
I doubt many have changed their ventilation practices.
Hospitals have been empty since May, end the charade
The Boston Hope Field Hospital at the Convention Center closed in early June due to lack of interest. The Cape Cod Field Hospital closed in early May without ever seeing a patient. Long established Boston hospitals were laying off staff during the scare. That all happened before summer began, now we enter fall. So what exactly are Baker's rules still seeking to accomplish at this late stage with much of the world reopened?
With the rapid demise of professional sports, particularly the three major Boston teams, and most office space no longer needed, Walsh should begin pushing back on Baker before Boston becomes even less recognizable. Are burned out, looted storefronts and a surge in violence in nonwhite neighborhoods really the legacy Walsh wants to leave?
I'm stretching as I
yawn.
I thought we had 4.5 major sports teams:
MLB, NFL, NBA, NHL, and MLS.
One could argue
The Patriots and Revolution don't play in Boston.
Then again, this article is about Weymouth.
Two New York NFL teams play in Jersey.
And the KC, MO Chiefs play in Kansas, or so the stroke-victim-in-chief tells me. It makes me question whether Fenway/Kenmore is *really* part of Boston.
"rapid demise of professional sports"
Last I heard, the Celtics were very much alive, though (like all the other NBA teams) not playing in Boston. I look forward to their upcoming series against the Clippers or Lakers.
meh
i wouldn’t look past the heat that quickly
His license has been
His license has been reinstated as of this afternoon. The fact of the matter is that it's damn near impossible for a small staff to enforce all of the new rules, especially when their customers are drinking. Granted, it's not wise for an owner to complain to inspectors, but it's understandable. After all, it's a lot to manage and small business owners are bound to be stretched thin under the stress.
What's next? Is the
What's next? Is the government going to tell businesses what temperature they need to store food at? Where does it end?