Well, at least it's a start.  The hospitality industry has been the hardest hit during this pandemic.  With the continued closures of bars and restaurants, it's been difficult to make a living in that industry.  Take-out is still available, but that is only a fraction of what is the normal income for bars and restaurants.  And, on top of that, places that get most of their revenue from liquor sales have really been feeling the impact.

Dakota County which is located in the Southern part of the metro, has voted to waive the liquor license fee for 2021.  The vote was unanimous.  The waiver includes bars, restaurants and also entertainment venues.  The  hope is that this will at least alleviate some of the crunch that that industry is feeling.

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What would be great, is if the other counties in Minnesota would follow suit.  This really seems to be the logical thing to do.  They already paid for 2020, and had sometimes less than 50% of their normal revenue.  So, 2021 will still be an issue even if everything opens up close to the beginning of the year, and let's be honest, that doesn't look good.  I hope I'm wrong, but it seems as though this shut-down could be extended into at least the beginning part of January.

Dr Fauci, from the CDC recently stated in an interview with Yahoo Sports that he thinks that sporting events and filled stadiums could be possible by September of next year.  While that sounds good, it still sounds like almost an entire year of what we have going on now.  That's not great news. So for now, it's still a waiting game.  Maybe some of the other counties in Minnesota will follow Dakota County's lead.

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