Colle Attorney: Tony's may open soon By Kevin Cirilli COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER I kncso63@psu.edu Tony's Big Easy and two other downtown bars could reopen as early as this weekend, as the nightspots' attorney said he expects the court to rule within the next two weeks. "You have a good possibility of hearing by the end of this week," said Robert Hoffman, attorney for Sammark Inc., which owns the bars. Tony's Big Easy, Lulu's Nightspot and Candy Bar and Lounge, all located at 129 1/2 S. Pugh St., lost their liquor license July 14 because Sammark's previous attorney, Francis X. O'Brien, did not file a concise legal response regarding the revocation of its liquor license. Sammark President Tony Sapia and co-counsel, Karen Muir, could not be reached for comment. Sammark's attorneys filed a motion asking Commonwealth Court Judge Dan Pellegrini to reconsider his ruling on Sammark's license. Last December, Centre County Judge David Grine sus tained the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board's (PLCB) July See TONY'S, Page 2. Residents voice woes on parking By Peter Panepinto and Spencer Malloy COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER I pppsol7@psu.edu Four State College residents appeared in front of the State College Borough Council Monday night to voice their concerns regarding restricted parking in residen tial areas on the west side of State College. The residential areas, which included Bayfield Court, Stratford Court, North Ashwicken Court and South Ashwicken Court, would have had severely restricted parking along the streets outside their homes, if the council had not adopted an alternate ordinance. Residents felt the original ordinance was unneces sary and could cause traffic problems. Shelton Alexander, who has owned a condo at 1816 Bayfield Ct. for the past 20 years, said there hadn't been any restrictions before, so there shouldn't be any changes now. "There shouldn't be no problem for trash collectors to get in and out," Alexander said, "unless they don't know how to drive." Patrick Hagge, who lives at 1521 Ashwicken Ct., said he disagrees with the original parking regulations because moving parking to another area would increase traffic. "I oppose the measure because there aren't any overflow lots," Hagge said. "Just take out one or two parking spots to allow sanitation vehicles in and out." Hagge suggested increasing the non-parking zones to allow municipal vehicles into the cul-de-sac. He said restricting parking areas on the cul-de-sac and moving parking near South Gate Drive would interfere with school buses and public transportation. After discussing the residents' grievances, the coun cil approved an alternate ordinance, which will only restrict parking between 2 a.m. and 3 p.m. on Mondays instead of restricting parking throughout the whole week In other business, Brenda Black, a Halfmoon Township resident representing the Citizens for Health Care Reform, requested "special permission" to use the municipal building's Council Chamber for a Sept. 24 public forum. State College loses long-running rock radio station By Evan Trowbridge FOR THE COLLEGIAN A local rock radio station with a 40- year history went silent last night without giving any warning to its lis teners. QWK Rock, WQWK-FM 103.1, transformed into WRSC 1390 on Sunday night at 12:06 a.m. The sta tion's last song was "Not Going Away" by Ozzy Osbourne. Immediately after the song ended, talk radio began playing. Around midnight Monday, QWK Rock's Web site was replaced by a modified version of its former logo and the words, "The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated" AILY See RESIDENTS, Page 2 underneath the symbol. Later that morning, the station began broad casting music online. "I have to look to the future, and, as sad as it is, QWK Rock isn't it," said Troy Craig, QWK Rock's former pro gram director and co-host of its morning show. Staff at Forever Broadcasting, which owns QWK Rock and WRSC, were not available for comment and did not return phone calls. A secre tary said Monday morning she had taken more than 50 calls from listen ers and read them a prepared state ment. Although Forever Broadcasting did not make an official statement, Craig speculated that the change Nathan A. Smith/Collegian Tony's Big Easy, Lulu's Nightspot and Candy Bar and Lounge, 129 1/2 S. Pugh St., are empty earlier this summer. Michael Felletter/Collegian Signs on a Happy Feet stand-up inside Mike's Movies and Music, 210 E. Calder Way, advertise the store's closing Aug. 23. The store has been in downtown State College since 1984. Mike's Movies to liquidate stock By Peter Panepinto COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER I pppsol7@psu.edu With the rising popularity of movie rental and purchase options such as Netflix and iTtmes, the last local movie store in down town State College will begin closing its doors forever. "No one delivers ice anymore. You get it right out your fridge," Mike's Movies & Music 14-year owner Alan Abruzzo said. "There are a lot of different venues to get movies. It just became not cost effective to keep [the store] open anymore." The 210 E. Calder Way store, which has been in downtown State College since 1984 may be for financial reasons. "It's not a new thing. Rock radio can be tough to sell," he said. "It is not geared to appear to a well-to-do business owner. It is designed to appeal to blue-collar workers." The station did not have a problem getting good ratings but had a harder time selling advertisements than other broadcasters, Craig said. QWK Rock had been the No. 1 radio station in listenership ratings in and around the State College area, Craig said. Once Forever Broadcasting stopped subscribing to the Arbitron ratings, which provided the station with a listenership total, it became harder to size up their audience Published independently by students at Penn State and has served until recently as downtown's only major movie renter and vendor, is going out of business. The store ended movie rentals on July 30, and the shop's inventory is currently being liquidated. Mike's Movies & Music will no longer operate after August 23. "It had just run its course," Abruzzo said. Abruzzo, who also owns and operates another movie store in Bellefonte, said the downtown store's revenue made up only one percent of his business. It's expensive to have a store downtown, Abruzzo said, and the rent in Bellefonte is much cheaper. Considering his employees makes and sell advertising, he said. QWK Rock with 1390 WRSC's tradi- QWK Rock is currently broadcast- tional talk radio. ing online at its Web site, A liberal talk radio will take over at www.qwkrockcom. 1390 AM. Future plans, according to pre- Michael Stapleford, the owner and pared statements from Forever president of Magnum Broadcasting, Broadcasting, include replacing See RADIO, Page 2. www.psucollegian.com Madeira files appeal notice The Centre County DA opposes a judge's decision to dismiss a charge against a Collegian photographer. By Kevin Cirilli COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER I kncso63@psu.edu District attorney Michael Madeira filed a notice of appeal Friday oppos ing a judge's decision to dismiss the remaining charge against a Collegian photographer who was cited while covering last October's downtown riot. Madeira said he believes Judge David Grine applied "a standard that's too difficult" for the prosecu tion July 22 when he dismissed the remaining failure to disperse charge against Michael R. Felletter, citing "unclear evidence." Felletter, who said he thought the See MADEIRA, Page 2. Timeline October 25, 2008: Michael Felletter, while photographing a riot for the Daily Collegian, has his driver's license taken by a State College Police officer. November 6, 2008: Felletter is charged with five counts of fail ure to disperse and one count of disorderly conduct in connection with the Oct. 25 riot. January 21, 2009: Prosecutors drop all charges against Felletter, but announce their intention to re-file January 28, 2009: The county re-files five counts of failure to disperse and one count of disor derly conduct March 5, 2009: Only one count of failure to disperse is bound over to trial. Abruzzo especially sad to close the shop, he said, calling them "really good people." Assistant manager Jacci Kaschak said her coworkers are a "close-knit group" and they're all sad to see the store close. "We're all depressed about it," Kaschak said. "It's a lot more like a family than just a working environment." Kaschak, who has worked in the movie store for more than four years, said her coworkers always hung out after work, cele brated each other's birthdays and exchanged Christmas gifts during the holi day season. She said she would miss not seeing the See MOVIES, Page 2. Tuesday, Aug. 4, 2009
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