Baltimore Mayor, State Disagree on Liquor Store Riot Aid
BALTIMORE (AP) -- Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake is making it harder for certain neighborhood liquor stores to get state aid for recovering from riot damage.
The Baltimore Sun reports that Rawlings-Blake said Wednesday she'll require owners to get written approval from their local City Council members and community associations to reopen as liquor stores.
The action affects 23 businesses that were grandfathered in when the city banned new liquor stores in residential neighborhoods in the 1970s.
City officials say liquor stores are detrimental in impoverished areas, including those that saw looting after the police-involved death in April of Freddie Gray.
Rawlings-Blake previously said the city won't help the non-conforming liquor stores. But state officials say those businesses deserve as much help as any of the 380 businesses damaged by riots.
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