A Carbondale bar will have to close its doors for two weeks, after two underage girls were found inside with alcohol.
At a hearing this week, the city's liquor control commission fined Stix Bar and ordered a two-week license suspension. City Attorney Jamie Snyder says it's not the first time Stix has had this problem - and it's not about college students.
"We're talking about 17-year olds. We're talking about two high school girls who traveled approximately an hour to an hour and a half from home in Redbud, Illinois, to come to Carbondale, to party at a place they knew they could get in."
The two girls were ticketed for being in possession of alcohol and for using a false ID to get into the bar. Stix Attorney Alfred Sanders says the bar shouldn't be held accountable for the girls' wrongdoing.
"But to fine them and shut them down for something they can't stop, you might as well close every bar in this town, because it's coming. It happens every night in this town."
In addition, the bar is being fined for letting too many people inside at one time. Sanders, disputes police claims of over-occupancy. He says with fog machines and people moving around, it's too difficult to accurately count.
"There is no way a person could count the people in that bar. I would venture to say, if you've got a room big enough to hold 316 people and they're moving around and the air is clear, you couldn't count them by standing up and just clicking. It's not possible."
But city leaders say this is an ongoing problem for Stix. Councilwoman Carolyn Harvey says the owners need to make changes.
"You know you have a problem, and I think it's up to you to figure out how to solve the problem - and I mean like quick, fast, and in a hurry."
