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Alcohol Sales Up For Vote In Greenup County
By: WOUB Contributing Writer
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Voters in Greenup County are headed to the polls to decide on whether or not to allow the sale of alcohol.
Greenup has been a dry county for more than 50 years. This is the first time the issue has been on the ballot in decades.
Supporters of alcohol sales argue allowing alcohol sales will help boost the local economy by attracting restaurants and related businesses.
“Greenup County is a county that's basically dying,” Jeremy Bates said. “We need to bring in an employment industry. We need to change things up. And that's what this is.”
Bates is the man behind the push for alcohol sales in Greenup County. He says it all comes down to his kids.
“I look at my pregnant wife, and I think about my kids," Bates said. "And my kids are raised here, and when they get old enough to go out on their own they're going to have to move away from Greenup County to have a lifestyle that I think they deserve."
Opponents believe alcohol sales will lower the quality of life in Greenup County.
“They like to talk about the money that it brings in, but they never want to talk about the extra cost,” Commonwealth Attorney Mel Leonhart said. “The extra cost to the jails, to law enforcement. I've been in law enforcement for 30 years, and they never talk about the cost to families.”
Polls close at 6 p.m.