Well, I have some news. I wouldn't call it good news, but I would certainly call it better news than what the news could have been.
We have finally negotiated a settlement with ABC: we will be closed from Monday, January 4th through Thursday, January 28th, and that will basically be the end of it.
As you no doubt recall, they had been trying to revoke our liquor license and put us permanently out of business. So, this is better than that.
There are also a few years of "probation" on top of the suspension (basically meaning that if they hit us with a second accusation of being a "disorderly house injurious to the public welfare and morals", that would be really bad), but this 25 day suspension should be the end of this battle.
As the saying goes, "Our long national nightmare of peace and prosperity is finally over."
We could not have gotten a deal even this good without your help! Your letters and hard work of keeping the pressure on our elected officials were instrumental in facilitating this negotiation. So thank you all so very, very much for backing us in this fight!
Of course, it still cost us a fortune.
This all started in April 2007 when we kicked the hornets' nest by attempting to convert DNA Lounge to an all ages venue; that led directly to the retaliatory "lewdness" charge in August 2008. As I detailed on the Legal Defense Fund page, this fight has cost us well over a hundred twenty thousand dollars so far. That doesn't count all the money we've spent on lawyers and consultants since last February, nor does it count the truly staggering amount of lost revenue we're looking at by losing almost the entire month of January.
I think we've gotten around $25k in donations to our legal defense fund so far, which has been a fantastic and generous outpouring of support! But, obviously, we could still use some help... So if you can, please donate! It's going to be a cold, hungry January this year...
