HALLE-LOUIE-JAH!

Twelve members of the City of Milwaukee Common Council cut their vacations short to vote unanimously to renew the Class "B" Tavern license of Bar Louie, 1114 N. Water St. in a special meeting this morning.
The restaurant opened a year ago, and exceeded sales expectations. However, a problem in the main office in Chicago, where an employee (since fired) was exceedingly lax in attending to paperwork issues, led to a late filing for the license renewal.
Since the application had been on file only since July 5th -- instead of the required 30 days -- the council was not able to approve the License committee's recommendation to grant the license at its July meeting, and the last day of business for the operation was July 30th at midnight. Complicating matters was the fact that the council ordinarily is in recess during August.
Council president Willie Hines, Jr., however, called a special meeting for this morning at the request of district alderman Bob Bauman and four other aldermen, and the measure passed. Both president Hines and Ald. Mike D'Amato brought their children along for the event.
Bar Louie management, grateful to have its employees back at work after a week (rather than after five weeks) plan to open today at noon, and will offer free appetizers and a signature cocktail to patrons. In addition, attendees can claim bumperstickers to celebrate the event. (I came up with the idea during my day job.) The stickers read "Halle-Louie-jah! I reopened Bar Louie Milwaukee 08-07-07.
Jim McCabe, the president of the Milwaukee Brewing Company, will offer a keg of one of his signature beers for the crowd to enjoy. It is the aptly named "Louie's Demise," which his firm has brewed for 10 years, and was named after the central figure in a 19th century tavern brawl.
Manager Ari Domnitz, who is also the registered agent for Bar Louie said a portion of the day's proceeds will be donated to America's Second Harvest Wisconsin.
See you there!
--Michael Horne