Bethel city council delays voting on updated alcohol laws

BETHEL, Alaska (AP) – An Alaska city council has postponed voting on updated alcohol laws because the measures contained too many amendments.

KYUK-AM reported Wednesday that council members in Bethel delayed the votes Tuesday because the amendments raised more issues than could be handled immediately.

The proposed amendments include modifying liquor store business hours, changing alcohol offense fines and raising a limit on customer sales from two to five bottles per day.

The bottle limit increase was favored 4-3 by councilors.

Some councilors who opposed the limits on purchasing bottles also supported efforts to curb public consumption of alcohol.

A change to the city’s open container law would allow police to enforce the ordinance based on possession of an open receptacle, rather than the existing standard of observing the act of drinking alcohol.

Information from: KYUK-AM, http://www.kyuk.org