State shutdown could impact Fishermen's Picnic

The state government shutdown is hitting close to home. Fishermen’s Picnic is just around the corner. WTIP’s Jay Andersen spoke with Grand Marais Mayor Larry Carlson this morning about the local impact.

Jay: The city council approved the American Legion’s request for a temporary liquor license so they can have a beer tent. But what happened?

Mayor: It certainly was approved but the state has to sign off on that also, and with that in mind, the permit that we approved becomes somewhat meaningless without that verification from the state.

Jay: The state’s license bureau is not open, so how’s that going to affect us?

Mayor: Oh, that affects us – that’s a big deal for Fishermen’s Picnic. But also the ATV club applied for a raffle permit and that was approved by the city but that is invalid until approved by the state. This is ridiculous. The state has got everything screwed up. If you have a business and your card to buy liquor as a bar, that expired the end of June, so those are no longer appropriate.

Jay: Anything else that’s going to affect Grand Marais in the next week or so while this thing goes on?

Mayor: There was an application for a liquor license for the Harbor Light. We can approve that, but that doesn’t give them a liquor license. We’re a microcosm of the mess in Washington, even. We’ve got three weeks and something better be done. That’s our biggest part of the year.

Jay: I’m just going to end this by saying I’ve been talking to Mayor Larry Carlson…

Mayor: How about the irate mayor?

Jay:  OK, we’ll do that. Thank you and keep in touch.