Chapel Hill debates whether to order a beer

Mickey J. Smith, a speech and theater teacher at Forrest School, takes a bite from his barbeque sandwich at Sambo's in Chapel Hill, where the town board is to decide whether restaurants should be allowed to serve beer with meals.

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"Let's get it over with," Alderman Bucko Bryant said Tuesday during a joint non-voting workshop session of the Board of Mayor and Aldermen and the town's Beer Board.

Other officials agreed.

"We've kicked this around for six months," Bryant said.

But how the decision is made appears unclear, although comments tend to indicate that no town ordinance will be adopted to permit the sale of beer for on-premises consumption.

"The only person who has wanted it is that lady who comes to the meetings," Alderwoman Pam Elliott said of Tina Wesson, proprietor of Sambo's restaurant.

See Friday's Tribune for the complete story.