Channel 14
remains
under fire
By John Fulwider_ ;
Senior Reporter
Though the fall Cablevision channel
lineup has been shaken up, the fate of
public access remains on the slate — for
now.
At the Thursday night meeting of the
Cable TV Advisory Board, members
voted 7-2 to again recommend that the
City Council eliminate public access.
While the controversial channel’s
future remains uncertain, questions about
other channels were answered.
Rick Kiolbasa, a Cablevision spokes
man, said The Cartoon Network would
be offered as part of full basic service
beginning Nov. 1.
CNN will retain its place on Channel
22. Cablevision officials had said the
network might be moved to a higher
service tier, at a higher cost to custom
ers.
WGN-Chicago, now on Channel 8,
will be moved to Channel 14 to make
room for a new ABC affiliate. Public
Access, now at Channel 14, will move to
Channel 20. Faith and Values will move
to Channel 49, part of the second tier of
service.
More than three-quarters of the meet
ing was spent discussing Channel 14.
Much of the debate was about the “Closet
Comedian” Scott Harrold of Lincoln.
In the past, Harrold has shown nudity
on his program, which airs at midnight
Friday and Saturday. On last week’s
show, Harrold, wearing clown makeup,
was shown masturbating.
Some board members expressed frus
tration that nothing could be done to
prevent Harrold’s program from airing.
Board member Kent Behlen said he
thought the board could approve or dis
approve “questionable” programming.
But Steve Huggenberger of the City
Attorney’s office said the board had no
legal authority to remove a program.
Such controversy is not uncommon.
Huggenberger said similar stations in
Austin, Texas, and Madison, Wis., en
joyed very active use, but were “fraught
with problems” including people com
mitting suicide on camera.
That seemed to relieve (or concern)
board member Margaret Griesen.
“I guess it can get worse,” she said.
A long line of people wait to get inside the Brass Rail shortly before last call Saturday nioht. J«rffHaier/DN
Bars
Continued from Page 1
a wake-up call.”
Male and female amateur strippers
groove to the heavy dance beat on Thursday
nights. On most Friday and Saturday nights,
it becomes nearly impossible to move as die
young crowd packs the first and second
floors of Kaboom’s.
About six security guards with rippling
muscles stand throughout the dimly-lit club
waiting to intervene before a brawl begins.
Despite their efforts, 23 assaults were re
pented to police and four violations were
turned in to the state liquor commission in
one vear.
But the dance club’s bad reputation is
undeserved, said Manager Pat Doering.
“It’s silly to say that it’s more dangerous
down here. We’ve never had any knives or
guns,” Doering said. “Sure we’ve had a few
fights, but tell me a bar in Lincoln that
hasn’t.”
Police officers devote most of their time
to patrolling Kaboom’s, Peschong said, even
though there are 65 other venues in down
town Lincoln that serve alcohol. Officers
on bicycle patrol make random checks in
side all bars, but after last call they are
almost always outside Kaboom’s.
“Kaboom’s generates a lot of our
workload at bar closing time,” Peschong
said. “Probably more so than any other bar
in the downtown area.”
About three blocks east of Kaboom’s,
police responded to 120 calls from Iguana’s.
However, the majority of the incidents oc
curred in the street or away from the bar.
“Kaboom’s is a problem bar,” Peschong
said. “Iguana’s is not a problem bar. Itisone
of the best run bars in downtown Lincoln.”
There are no security guards under the
pink awning at Iguana’s. But the bar’s repu
tation is clean with police and the state
liquor commission.
“We feel like we can take care of every
thing,” said Becky Smith, a co-owner of the
bar. “We don’t have a security system. We
try to really take care of problems before
they start.” _
The Hurricane, the bar with the third
highest police calls, stands to lose its liquor
license because of repeated violations of
serving alcohol to minors. While die bar has
only 71 police calls, it has six separate
infractions with the state liquor commis
sion in the last vear.
Owners of the bar, which is the only club
in the city with national live music acts,
maintain they are being unfairly singled
out.
“We have become a target in Lincoln by
certain members of the Lincoln Police De
partment,” Co-owner Jack Hanrahan said.
“At the same time we know we have made
mistakes, but we feel those are behind us.”
Police insist there is no such bar hit-list.
The Lincoln City Council will review
the Hurricane’s case Monday afternoon.
The state liquor commission will hear the
bar’s case Wednesday.
Most of the bars’ citations came on col
lege nights, when the minimum entrance
age is 19. Those nights have been canceled
since May, said Hanrahan, who lives in
Kansas City, Mo., where he operates eight
other clubs.
"Personally, I don't think you can run a
college night without putting your liquor li
cense at risk," Peschong said. "You probably
will make more money, but you might not
have your liquor license in the long run.”
Hanrahan said he wished people who
enjoy The Hurricane — from college stu
dents to business executives — would tes
tify to keep the club open.
“We are asking the city council for a
second chance to prove what we can do with
The Hurricane,” he said. “There have been no
riots, crowd problems or violent altercations.”
The number of calls at other Lincoln
taverns aren’t a major concern for police.
O’Rourkes — which hosts a mellow, fc .
diverse crowd — had 50 calls in the past
year, but no liquor commission violations.
The Brass Rail, which attracts primarily a
young fraternity and sorority crowd, re
ported 45 police calls, two of which were
reported to the liquor commission.
Morgan’s Upstairs, which occasionally
features live bands, had 42 police calls and
four state violations.
roiice saia i^aoooms could be the next
bar reviewed by the City council and the
state liquor board. Peschong said police
have tested patrons outside the dance club
with a blood alcohol content as high as .30.
“Why did someone pump so much alco
hol into someone?” Peschong said. “Some
one is not doing their jobs inside the bars.”
Doering, Kaboom’s manager, said the
high number of police calls cast an unfortu
nate negative light over his establishment.
“It’s kind of a Catch 22,” he said. “If we \ .
call them, it goes down as a police call. If we
don’t call them, the police land of frown on
that and we look like vigilantes.”
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