The document discusses a proposed bill in Kansas that would allow grocery stores and convenience stores to sell liquor and stronger beers. There is debate around the potential economic impacts. Supporters argue it would increase competition and consumer choice, while opponents argue it would hurt small liquor store businesses. The owner of a convenience store chain says the bill is about helping consumers and the state economy by reducing cross-border shopping in Missouri where prices are lower. However, a liquor store coalition argues it will drive locally-owned stores out of business. Lawmakers are considering the bill but have not taken a position yet.

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THE MORNING SUN • Thursday, February 17, 2011 5A
LOCAL
Law may keep liquor buyers in Kansas
BY MATTHEW CLARK
THE MORNING SUN
As state lawmakers look into a bill
that would greatly change how liquor
and “strong” beer is sold, one south-
east Kansas convenience store owner
said that it’s not about putting others
out of business.
Gratz Peters, owner of Pete’s
Corporation which operates 25 con-
venience stores in southeast Kansas,
said that the issue is about the con-
sumer and the state’s economy.
He said that can be emphasized
in border counties like Crawford and
Cherokee counties, which border
Missouri—astatethatalreadyallows
wine, liquor and “strong” beer sales
at grocery and convenience stores.
“Current Kansas liquor laws con-
tributetothecross-bordershopping,”
said Peters. “It’s simple economics to
the consumer. Those laws protect the
liquor store because you cannot own
a chain of liquor stores and it stifles
competition.”
The bill would allow those grocery
and convenience stores to sell harder
alcohol and opponents say that such
ameasurewouldput“momandpop”
liquor stores out of business.
“Thiswilldrivelocallyownedstores
out of business to larger out-of-state
corporations,” said Spencer Duncan,
spokesman for the Keep Kansans in
Business coalition, a group of liquor
store owners opposed to the mea-
sure.
But, Peters said that Kansas con-
sumers find it easier to go across the
border to Missouri because of the
lack of competition keeping prices
higher in Kansas.
In addition, lawmakers acknowl-
edge that the tax structure between
the two states is another disadvan-
tage for Kansas.
“Taxes are cheaper in Missouri for
gas and liquor and that won’t change
in this bill. The issue is creating more
outlets and more convenience for
people to go,” said state Sen. Pete
Brungardt, a Salina Republican and
chair of the Senate Federal and State
Affairs Committee — the committee
hearing testimony on the bill.
Peters, however, contends that
grocery and convenience store own-
ersarenottryingtoforceliquorstores
out of business.
“The liquor store owners take it
personal and they want to spin it to
be about greedy grocery stores and
conveniencestorestryingtoputthem
out of business,” said Peters. “This is
aboutthenegativeeffectsthatKansas
liquor laws have on the consumer
and the state economy.”
But, Duncan countered by saying
that the bill would have an adverse
effect on the economy, specifically
stating that wholesalers would have
to increase their costs by $7.5 million
to $10 million each year by adding
more delivery trucks, fuel and ware-
house space.
“Guess who will pay for that?” said
Spencer. “The taxpayer will because
those businesses are not just going to
eat those costs, they are going to pass
it along.”
For Peters, the message remained
competition.
“I can tell you, you can ask any
customer of beer, wine and spirits in
thesebordercountieswheretheybuy
at,” said Peters. “Likely, most of them
will tell you that they buy in Missouri
and that is because we have limited
competition and that leads to higher
prices.”
Matthew Clark can be reached at mat-
thew.clark@morningsun.net or at 620-
231-2600, Ext. 140
cery and convenience stores
have formed their own coali-
tion, the Coalition for Jobs and
Consumer Choice. That group
does include giant chains such
as Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.
On Tuesday, Gary Haag,
who operates BP gas stations in
Topeka and Lawrence, testified
on behalf of that group and said
that current laws hold Kansas
back in economic competition
for sales.
“Rather than unfairly giving a
leg up to one particular minor-
ity, Kansas should pass this law
to make all retailers more com-
petitive,” said Haag.
The bill would create three
separate license structures.
Currently, liquor stores have to
hold a special license allowing
them to sell liquor. There are
766 such licenses in Kansas and
that number could not increase
between July 1 and Dec. 31,
2014. Grocery and convenience
stores could obtain one during
that timeframe if a liquor store
closed or sold its license. After
Jan. 1, 2015, the state would
resume issuing unlimited retail
liquor licenses.
State Sen. Pete Brungardt,
a Salina Republican and chair
of the Federal and State Affairs
Committee, said that he has not
polled the committee to gauge
their interest, but he said it was
there.
“The committee is interested
and there are some amend-
ments being drawn up,” said
Brungardt. “I’ve had some con-
versations, but I really don’t
know where everyone stands.”
The committee’s ranking
minority member, Sen. Oletha
Foust-Goudeau, a Wichita
Democrat, said she is presently
in a “wait-and-see” mode.
“One side says that its eco-
nomic growth and job creation
and, certainly, our state is look-
ing at different ways to generate
revenue,” said Foust-Goudeau.
“But, anything in this building
will face opposition.”
Testimony from “neutral”
parties is scheduled to begin on
Thursday morning.
Matthew Clark can be reached at
matthew.clark@morningsun.net
or at 620-231-2600, Ext. 140
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1A
LIQUOR: Stronger liquor mulled for grocery, convenience stores
“We aren’t paying half for a
newmachine,”saidHite.“But,I
think this is a very cost-efficient
way to go.”
Hite said that the graders are
nearing the point to where they
cannot be repaired because of
their age.
“You get to the 13,000- or
14,000-hour range, and that’s
when you start seeing the need
for a complete overhaul,” said
Hite.
Commissioners said that
rebuilding seemed to be the
best way to go, simply because
of the cost for outright replace-
ment.
“This does seem to be a
very smart way to go,” said
Commissioner Linda Grilz.
One sticking point is that
Caterpillarenginesarecurrently
on order, which could extend
the time that the county will
wait to have one of its graders
repaired.
Commissioners have asked
foraworksessionwithrepresen-
tativesfromFoleyEquipmentto
discuss options.
Matthew Clark can be reached at
matthew.clark@morningsun.net
or at 620-231-2600, Ext. 140
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1A
COUNTY: Considers replacement of two road graders
fire near Hepler that claimed a
homeonChristmasEve,andon
Sunday another Hepler house
was hit by fire.
However, Horton said that
Hepler residents should not
worry about whether these
more recent fires were arson-
related.
“I think they have not been
suspicious in nature,” Horton
said. “We have a lot of fires in a
lot of small towns, and it’s not
necessarily suspicious. We’ve
had some electrical and chim-
ney fires. If the fire department
is not concerned, then there’s
no reason to worry.”
Horton further noted that
theserecentnon-suspiciousfires
often happen in cold weather,
and it has not just been asso-
ciated with Hepler. He noted
thatwinterweather-causedfires
have also occurred in Mulberry
and Pittsburg.
Ultimately, Horton said that
he did not believe Hepler had a
serial arsonist on its hands, but
that people should remain alert
for suspicious behavior.
“Everyonealwaysneedstobe
diligent, and watch their own
neighborhoods. We are work-
ing the arson case in Hepler,
but we’re also looking for who’s
responsibleforadozenhaybale
fires.Thatshouldnotmakepeo-
ple panic in the streets,” Horton
said.
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1A
HEPLER: Authorities not too concerned about series of blazes
Pittsburg man hurt in auto accident
THE MORNING SUN
A Pittsburg man was taken
to Via Christi Hospital after
becoming involved in an acci-
dent Wednesday afternoon.
Pittsburg Police said Joseph
Strong, 37, of Pittsburg, was
traveling north on Grand St. on
his 2007 Yamaha V-Star motor-
cycle behind a 2001 Mitsubishi
SUV, driven by Dustin Angel,
26, of Pittsburg.
Whenthevehiclesapproched
Grand and Sixth, Angel slowed
to turn onto Sixth. The report
said that, as Angel slowed to
turn, Strong tried to pass on the
left and hit Angel’s vehicle as
Angel was making a left turn.
Crawford County EMS treat-
ed Strong’s injuries —which
were not specified — on the
sceneandlatertransportedhim
to Via Christi Hospital. Angel,
norhispassengerswereinjured
in the accident. The incident
remains under investigation.
Cable firms fighting
Web’s ‘cord-cutting’
BY RYAN NAKASHIMA
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
LOS ANGELES — Cable
TV and other companies that
provide subscription services
are striking back at the notion
that people are dropping their
TV packages en masse to
watch video over the Internet.
Industry gains in the fourth
quarter returned to normal
following a spate of cancel-
lations spurred by the end of
discounted pricing.
Subscriber losses from top-
rankedComcastCorp.andNo.
8 Cablevision Systems Corp.
reflected one-time items, such
as the defection of custom-
ers angry over a two-week
blackout of Fox programs on
Cablevision in October.
Comcast’s loss of 135,000
video subscribers was about
a third less than expected as
it held onto more customers
with better programming, and
fewer people dropped service
with the expiration of promo-
tionalpricesofferedduringthe
2009 transition to digital over-
the-air broadcasts. Comcast
ended with 22.8 million video
customers, and Cablevision
had 3.3 million.
Those losses were more
than erased by gains at such
rivals as AT&T Inc. and
Verizon Communications
Inc., which offer video ser-
vices over phone lines. The
phone companies reported
fourth-quarter results last
month, while Comcast and
Cablevision announced them
Wednesday.
Alongwithanexpectedgain
of about 100,000 video sub-
scribers combined at satellite
operators DirecTV and Dish
Network Corp., which report
next week, the established
pay TV industry is on track
to add 200,000 to 250,000 TV
subscribers in the final three
months of 2010, according to
Nomura Securities.
The gains are “another
piece of evidence that cord-
cutting is not impeding sub-
scriber activity,” said Nomura
analysts Mike McCormack
and Mike Liddell in a research
note.
Cord-cutting refers to the
phenomenon of people drop-
ping pay TV packages with the
growth of online video offer-
ings through Hulu, Netflix and
other services.
CablevisionsaidWednesday
it lost 35,000 video subscrib-
ers in the quarter, ending
with 3 million when exclud-
ing the 306,000 subscribers it
picked up by buying Bresnan
Communications in mid-
December. But it attributed
almost all of the loss to its dis-
pute with Fox. The two-week
standoff, during which some
World Series baseball games
were blacked out to custom-
ers, saved it money in pro-
gramming fees but cost it cus-
tomers, the company said.
“We thought that taking the
hitwasworthit.Butwethought
it was a one-time kind of hit,”
Cablevision Chief Operating
Officer Tom Rutledge told
analysts on a conference call.
Last month, No. 4 video
provider Time Warner Cable
Inc. said it lost 141,000 video
customers to end at 12.3 mil-
lion, but AT&T’s U-verse
added 246,000 to nearly 3
million, and Verizon’s FiOS
added 182,000 to end at 3.5
million.
“The notion that people are
disconnecting their pay TV
connections in favor of Netflix
has always been a good story
but there’s been very little evi-
dence that it’s actually hap-
pening in any material num-
bers,” Bernstein analyst Craig
Moffett said.
Netflix Inc. added 3.1 mil-
lion customers in the last
quarter, rising to more than
20 million, but its service is
cheaper, doesn’t include
live programming and still
requires paying for a separate
Internet connection.
The results showed the tra-
ditional pay TV industry was
not succumbing to cord-cut-
ting activity and has returned
to normal following the end
of discounted pricing, analysts
said.
Some cable operators had
offered TV services for as little
as $10 a month in the summer
of 2009 to ease the transition
to digital that made analog
rabbit ears useless for receiv-
ing over-the-air broadcasts.
When those prices reverted
to normal after a year, many
peopleswitchedbacktorabbit
ears - just new ones capable of
receiving digital signals.
Industrywide gains in video
subscribers also signaled to
some analysts that people
could afford paying for TV
again as the economy recov-
ered.
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