Indianola is no longer under an emergency order. The board voted 3-0 on Wednesday night to lift the order that had been in place since July following a mass shooting in the Church Street and Second Street area. Blues Corner Café owner Ronnie Ward asked the board to lift the 1 a.m. curfew and move that back to 2 a.m. Ward serves both food and alcohol at his establishment. Alcohol sales, Ward said, end at the point of curfew, but he said that he sells food well into the morning hours. Former City Attorney Kimberly Merchant told Ward that she would have to research whether city ordinance allows for him to remain open all night, given that he does sell alcohol. She told Ward that she would have an answer for him on Thursday, but that was prior to her being replaced by another attorney later in the meeting. According to The Enterprise-Tocsin’s research in the city’s ordinance book, it says, “All establishments within the corporate limits of the city having an on-premises permit for the consumption of beer, wine or alcoholic beverages must be closed and all persons other than employees removed therefrom during the following hours: (1) On Sunday, from 2:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.; (2) On Monday, from 2:00 a.m. to 6:00 a.m.; (3) On Tuesday, from 2:00 a.m. to 6:00 a.m.; (4) On Wednesday, from 2:00 a.m. to 6:00 a.m.; (5) On Thursday, from 2:00 a.m. to 6:00 a.m.; (6) On Friday, from 2:00 a.m. to 6:00 a.m.; and (7) On Saturday, from 2:00 a.m. to 6:00 a.m.” Also on Wednesday, the board voted 3-0 to reinstate the privilege license of Mongoose Pool Hall. The pool hall’s license had been suspended back in the fall following a police raid that netted drugs, guns and gambling machines. Owner Robert Rice said at the time that the guns and drugs belonged to others, while admitting that he did operate gambling machines in the facility. Those machines were confiscated by police.
