News The Oregon Liquor Control Commission reports that it has proposed the cancellation of the liquor license for Becken's Winning Hand Tavern at 5917 and 5919 Southeast 82nd Avenue. We don't know why Becken's has two different addresses for its storefront between Monique Salon and Liberty Buy-Sell, but it sounds like a rockin' joint. From the press release (emphasis ours): The liquor license for Becken's ...   More

News So much for just telling minors to "just say no." In a new campaign that seeks to tamp down underage drinking, the Oregon Partnership and the Oregon Liquor Control Commission are bypassing minors and instead directing their message at a focus group that's usually of age: parents. “There are a lot of anti-underage drinking campaigns, but what makes this one different is that it's really aimed ...   More

News In a release today, the OLCC announced sanctions issued against nine Portland establishments. Two amusing items: Wong's Chinese Restaurant in Tualatin "will pay a civil penalty of $4,620 or serve a 28-day suspension for permitting illegal activity when an employee sold marijuana to a patron ." Wong's, a strip-mall joint on Martinazzi Avenue, is described by online reviewers as, essentially, ...   More

News The Oregon Liquor Control Commission has shut down Ohm, one of the last vestiges of Portland's days as a big clubbing city. The Old Town nightspot established in 1999 was once at the center of the club scene that peaked in 2000 in Portland then slowly died. But Ohm kept going at its home on 1st Avenue near the west end of the Burnside Bridge. This months the OLCC sent owner David Elliot ...   More

News The Oregon Liquor Control Commission has extended its "temporary" 50 cent surcharge on each bottle of distilled spirits. The surcharge was supposed to end June 30. But thanks to a unanimous commission vote this week, the surcharge will now be in effect until at least June 30, 2011. The reasons for extending the surcharge two more years? To generate an estimated $27 million over that time period ...   More

News Here's a little alcohol-buying factoid: the penalty in Oregon for buying beer for someone who's underage can be as much as a year in jail and $6,000-plus in fines That tidbit comes courtesy of the drug and alcohol awareness Oregon Partnership nonprofit along with the Oregon Liquor Control Commission. The two groups are teaming up on a summer campaign starting Tuesday, July 7 to reduce the ...   More

News The oldest strip club in Portland was singled out for a spanking at the Oregon Liquor Control Commission's monthly meeting June 18-19. Mary's Club, the venerable strip club at 129 SW Broadway St., got busted for permitting employees to serve booze without a service permit. Mary's owner Vicki Keller was ordered to pay a $3,795 fine or take a 23-day liquor-license suspension. Other notables ...   More