Liquor Board

The city liquor board last night handed down a five-day liquor license suspension to a strip club on The Block after a dancer in the bar was found guilty of fondling the genitalia of a male patron. Mouse Trap II, on the 400 block of E. Baltimore Street, was additionally fined $2,250. A liquor board inspector testified at the hearing that he saw a dancer with her hand inside the unzipped pants of a man on July 12. The club was also fined for selling to an underage patron that same night.

Don't try too hard to wring some sense from the Baltimore County liquor board's denial of a liquor license to a national restaurant chain that aims to open in Towson. It could drive you to drink.The board has ruled that a liquor license for a defunct Chinese restaurant on York Road in Towson cannot be transferred three blocks south to the vacant Mano Swartz building, where California Pizza Kitchens Inc. wants to build a new family eatery, because the pizza company's application for the transfer came six days late.

The city liquor board on Thursday fined two clubs on The Block after a man was found to have exposed himself in one and a dancer fondled the genitals of a patron in the other. Circus Bar at 427 E. Baltimore St. was fined $3,000 after a liquor board inspector said he observed a man with his penis exposed receiving a lap dance from a dancer June 16. The bar's owner testified that he immediately fired the dancer and told the board there was nothing more he could have done to stop the incident.

The liquor board Thursday suspended Tiki Barge's license for the month of July — peak season for the floating South Baltimore bar — for disturbing the peace and misleading statements from the bar's lawyer, according to liquor board chairman Stephan Fogleman. Since Tiki Barge shares a liquor license with Sorso Cafe and the restaurant Tabrizi's, all three businesses will not be able to serve alcohol for 30 days, pending an appeal. "When one goes, they're all affected," Fogleman said.

City liquor board commissioners will receive a $10,000 pay increase in May, raises that board commissioners say put them in line with similar state agencies. On Wednesday, the city Board of Estimates approved an increase from $18,000 to $28,000 for two liquor board commissioners. The chairman of the three-member board will make $500 more. Noting that this is the board's first raise since 1990, Commissioner Elizabeth C. Smith also said the raises for liquor board commissioners were committed to last year by the state legislature.

The Baltimore liquor board on Thursday denied a request to transfer a liquor license to the owner of a gluten free bakery in Remington. Liquor board chairman Stephan Fogleman said during his ruling that the board sees no immediate need for the business. Richard D'Souza, owner of Sweet Sin in the 100 block of W. 27 t h Street, wanted to open a restaurant next door to the bakery and take over a longstanding liquor license designated for that location. But D'Souza's bid was opposed by the Remington Neighborhood Alliance and the Charles Village Civic Association, whose members expressed concern over a likely increase in noise and an influx of Johns Hopkins students if the restaurant serves alcohol till 2 a.m. The Greater Remington Improvement Association supported the transfer.

Of Love & Regret, Brian Strumke's upcoming bar in Brewer's Hill, got an endorsement from the Baltimore Liquor Board Thursday. The board conditionally approved the bar's liquor license, pending a meeting with the Canton Community Association. Of Love & Regret is a creative and business collaboration between Stillwater founder Brian Strumke and Ted Stelzenmuller, chef and co-owner of restaurant Jack's Bistro in Canton, and is expected to open some time this Spring.  But the bar's license wasn't the most watched portion of Thursday board meet.

Baltimore liquor commissioners revoked the license of a Pigtown bar Thursday night, calling the owner's behavior "erratic" after testimony that he threatened neighbors, was uncooperative in a shooting investigation, tried to punch a dog and was videotaped running in traffic after a Ravens game. Sid's Tavern, in the 1100 block of Washington Blvd., will end its 76-year run beginning May 1. Liquor board chairman Stephan Fogleman said several problems involving Tareq Abdul-Ghani, owner of the bar and license for a little more than a year, were the primary reasons Sid's lost its license, including an Oct. 11 incident in which Abdul-Ghani was nearly hit by a car as he dodged traffic after the Ravens' loss to the Cincinnati Bengals, an incident caught on tape by a neighbor.

A task force created after allegations of wrongdoing by the Baltimore liquor board has recommended widespread changes in the agency's practices, including restrictions on potential conflicts of interest by employees.The 11-member panel did not suggest scrapping the patronage system under which inspectors to the Baltimore Board of Liquor License Commissioners, a state agency, are appointed by the city's state senators.But state law should be changed to spell out that inspectors be forbidden to solicit or receive political contributions, the task force said.

Baltimore's liquor board on Thursday levied a $3,500 fine on a downtown nightclub after its owner pleaded guilty to security breaches that led to a near riot during a hip-hop concert last month. Police had publicly petitioned to shut down Velvet Rope after that incident on Feb. 25 and a shooting authorities say spawned from a fight inside the club a week later. But Police Commissioner Frederick H. Bealefeld III and the bar's owner reached an agreement announced at the liquor board hearing, and Velvet Rope will operate under a new security plan and employ valet parking for certain events.