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Culture Tag

In August, I wrote about a proposed rule in Alabama whereby Alabama’s Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) Board wanted personal information on beer buyers.  The requirement that private citizens who buy beer for personal consumption provide their names, addresses, telephone numbers, and dates of birth was rejected; however, some troubling elements of the initial proposed rule stand. WAAY 31 reports:
For taprooms like Old Black Bear, the customer always comes first. So the idea of creating an extra burden for them at the register didn't seem right. "Just seemed like too much of a burden for them not to at least discuss it with somebody first to try and get our side of it," Owner Todd Seaton said. That burden was set to come in the form of a new requirement from the Alabama Alcoholic Beverage Control Board proposed earlier this month following a new law passed earlier this year. The law allowed breweries and brew pubs to sell beer for off-site consumption. The new rule would've required them to record the names, addresses, telephone numbers and birth dates for those looking to take beer off site for consumption. . . . .However after receiving a good bit of public comment, during a board meeting on Wednesday, the board decided against the rule . . . .

In this week's entry in the "public official says dumb things on social media, asked to resign" files, we feature the mayor of a tiny town in Pennsylvania who used his Facebook account to post messages and images deemed racist. According to Fox News, "[Charles] Wasko was elected mayor of the borough of roughly 4,500 residents about 100 miles west of Philadelphia in 2013. Running unopposed as a Republican, he tallied 202 votes, against 78 write-in ballots for others." Fox News continues:
Wasko isn't paid as mayor and votes only to break ties on the council. But he also oversees the police department in the borough, where the acting chief, Matthew Millsaps, said he was "disturbed" by the images. "This in no way reflects the ideology of this department," Millsaps said, noting the department has a Hispanic man and black woman among its eight officers.

As if the election season isn't scary enough, the start of October a few days away and Halloween-themed everything can be seen everywhere. In Southern California, Knotts Berry Farm pulls out all the stops in making its amusement park the scariest place on earth. However, according to some mental health advocates, the newest attraction was too much.
A popular Halloween attraction at Knott's Berry Farm and California's Great America was shutting down, officials announced Wednesday, after some took to social media calling the display "offensive" to those suffering from mental illness.

We followed the Washington Redskins name controversy rather closely, including legal action taken against them.  Now the Supreme Court is taking up a case that, while not directly related to the Redskins, may impact the team and its name. The Washington Post reports:
The Supreme Court will decide whether a federal law that bars the registration of disparaging trademarks violates free speech, a case with direct implications for the Washington Redskins in their fight to defend their famous team name. The justices on Thursday announced that they will consider whether part of the 1946 Lanham Trademark Act that prohibits registration of a trademark that “may disparage” persons violates the First Amendment, as an appeals court has ruled.
The Court didn't take the Redskin case, but instead took another with similar implications that was further along in the legal process.

I wrote just this past weekend about a "lurking clown" being arrested in Kentucky. Here's yet another "clown" arrest, but this time in Tennessee.  It doesn't appear that this clown was dressed as a clown or wearing a clown mask at the time of his arrest, but it is curious given all the other clown sightings across the South. WKRN reports:
A 64-year-old man claiming to be a clown threatening children in Coffee County has been arrested by Coffee County deputies. Coffee County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Lucky Knott told News 2 a man called the Coffee County Communications Center’s non-emergency line and identified himself as “the clown who has been threatening children.”

We've been covering the Charlotte protests here at LI, and the lasted development is quite a doozy.  They've released a list of demands that boggles the mind and steps perilously close to the federal definition of terrorism. Mediaite reports:
Protestors in Charlotte have made quite a few demands over when they’ll end their rallies, not the least of which are the “demilitarization” and “defunding” of the city’s police department. The death of Keith Lamont Scott sparked major unrest over the past few days, which created enough pressure on Charlotte police that they released their body cam footage of the fatal encounter. Even so, protest participants of are circulating an online set of terms for when they’ll call it quits completely, and…it’s a pretty sizable assortment.

Thirteen years in the making and the National Museum of African American History and Culture is now open to visitors. The bill, created by Rep. John Lewis (D-GA) and then Senator Sam Brownback (R-KS), now Kansas Governor, was authorized by President George W. Bush. Saturday, the museum held its Grand Opening Ceremony attended by President Bush and President Obama. "I was honored to sign the bill authorizing construction of this national treasure and I'm pleased it now stands where it's always belonged -- on the National Mall," said former President Bush at the opening ceremony. "A great nation does not hide its history. It faces its flaw and corrects them. This museum tells the truth that a country founded on the promise of liberty held millions in chains. That the price of our union was America's original sin."