Staff Report

The wet/dry election is less than a week away. It will be a time where the community of Pineville will decide whether or not to allow the sell of packaged liquor inside the city limits. On Wednesday, church-goers and ministers took to the streets, around the courthouse square, to show their dislike for the election.

There were approximately 175 people at the event. First Baptist Church, Binghamtown Baptist Church and New Heights Baptist Church were three of the eight churches in attendance at the rally. Pastors from the churches prayed for the city of Pineville and spoke out against a wet vote.

Pastor Ron Howard of First Baptist and William Boyd Bingham were two of the pastors that spoke directly to the audience at the event. Bingham told a story that involved one man killing another because of the effects of alcohol.

The pastors also talked about how cities such as Cumberland had not flourished because they voted wet and how Pineville and other surrounding communities would be negatively affected.

The wet/dry election will take place on Tuesday. If the citizens vote yes, then the sale of packaged liquor will be allowed within the city limits of Pineville.The petition started circulating around the city of Pineville in January and was submitted to the clerks office in February.

The petition that was turned in had approximately 100 names on it. There only had to be 71 certified names to meet the percentage requirement for the petition. The petition passed through the legal process and the date for it was set during a fiscal court meeting.

The city of Pineville was voted moist about six years ago. This vote made it legal to sell “by-the-drink” alcoholic beverages with city limits. Though this is legal, there are no restaurants in Pineville that meets the 100-seat requirement needed to sell alcohol.