McTavern's gets month to plead its case

CROWN POINT | A popular Hammond bar, which has had more that 100 calls for police service in the past year, has one more month to plead its case before the Lake County Alcoholic Beverage Board.

License holders for McTavern's Lounge and Deli, 7443 Indianapolis Blvd., have to appear before the board on Dec. 3, or their license will automatically be recommended for termination.

Hundreds of Woodmar-area residents have signed petitions stating that the bar, site of two homicides in the past year, is a nuisance.

Another longtime Hammond establishment faced similar opposition.

Board members are recommending that the license for R&L Sears Cut-rate Liquors, 5707 Columbia Ave., be terminated. The packaged liquor store has been the site of more than 40 calls for police service this year, though the store's operators say that list is misleading. Of those calls, 17 were made by employees complaining about people loitering outside the building and another eight were from the store's security firm.

Hammond City Attorney Kristina Kantar said the store has been cited for selling to minors.

The local board's decision will be forwarded to Indianapolis, where a state commission will make a final decision as to whether the liquor license is pulled.