Last call for late drinking

For all the talk about the need to stay open late to allow Republican National Convention delegates -- and their media followers -- to drink, there's been a somewhat surprising lack of plans to keep the doors open, at least where official "parties" are concerned.

According to the schedule of lobbying-related parties I wrote about last week, only one event is scheduled past the normal 2 a.m. closing time. Each night the Warehouse Productions Party is being held from 10-3 a.m. in Minneapolis.

Nothing is scheduled late (or early, depending on your perspective) in St. Paul. And that, apparently, includes the non-official locations. The Saint Paul Area Chamber of Commerce, is holding a news conference this afternoon to try to get the city to lower its $2,500 "fee" for bars and restaurants that want to stay open until 4 a.m.

The Chamber, which will be joined at the news conference by bar owners, says "the current fee places Saint Paul venues at a competitive disadvantage with neighboring cities." That would refer, of course, to Minneapolis, where there's a $100 fee to stay open late.

(h/t: Tom Weber)

Update Here's Tom's story.

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