The Grail bar fights to stay alive

The Grail bar’s attorney and employees argued Monday that it never serves alcohol to minors, it shuns gangs and it’s a healthy business for Kootenai County – and that it’s not the nuisance law enforcement says it is.

After three hours of testimony, the Kootenai County Commission voted to continue the hearing on whether to revoke the Huetter bar’s liquor license. No date has been set for the continuation, in which both the county and the bar will call more witnesses.

“They want you to revoke The Grail’s license based on hearsay,” the bar’s attorney, Susan Weeks, told the commission, referring to a recommendation from the Kootenai County Sheriff’s Department.

A county attorney said that the bar abused its liquor license by repeatedly violating the law. In the past few years, the Sheriff’s Department says, it has received nearly 500 calls for fights, noise and underage drinking. The county also links the bar to reported gang activity.

In January, the commission refused to renew The Grail’s liquor license, citing several violations of Idaho law, including overserving a man who was later involved in a head-on collision on Seltice Way. The Grail appealed the decision, which resulted in Monday’s hearing.

Weeks contends that 271 of those calls to the Sheriff ‘s Department were actually made by The Grail in an attempt to comply with the law; many of the calls related to false identification. She added that the Sheriff’s Department has never cited the bar for serving minors and that its deputies cannot point to any gang-related reports.

Questioned by Deputy County Attorney Pat Braden, several Grail employees said they had no official training in identifying gang members other than what was provided by owner Lang Sumner.

Security manager Amy Hickmen testified that most of the staff has served in the military and that the bar has no problems with minors or gangs. She added that the Sheriff’s Department contradicts itself by saying it wants The Grail to follow the law. Hickmen said the department has asked the bar to stop calling in reports and to stop confiscating fake IDs. When questioned by the county for more specifics, Hickmen said she couldn’t remember the names of deputies who made those requests.

Former Huetter City Councilwoman Robbin Simmons supports the county’s action, saying that noise at the bar is out of control and that The Grail has chosen to be a bad neighbor in the town that’s only two blocks long.

Huetter city attorney Scott Poorman said the City Council and mayor support the county’s move to revoke the liquor license. He said the county shouldn’t fear putting The Grail out of the liquor business because it claims to have a full menu and can continue operation as a restaurant.

But the commission’s refusal to renew the liquor license came just days after The Grail lost its fight to keep its restaurant endorsement. That meant that the bar is no longer open to anyone under legal drinking age. The Grail’s license doesn’t expire until later this month, so it can remain open.