Gloria, Fircrest Police Chief Cheesman and Carol.

One of the stops we made was at the Overtime Bar and Grill. It’s only been open about a month and it was packed. The owner has an EXCELLENT program he runs with his waitstaff. IF they encounter a patron who is inebriated and the server feels they should be cut off from further service of alcohol, the server tells the owner, Chuck Bayha. He then goes to the table to confirm the server’s opinion. IF the patron is indeed cut off, Chuck pays the server 20 dollars AND the tip if any is left BY the patron. This encourages the servers to pay more attention TO the patron and discourages over-serving in order to get a bigger tip. The patron is offered a cab ride. As we were getting ready to leave AFTER praising the HELL out of this guy, we noticed someone drive into the parking lot (ALMOST hitting the Chief’s car) and he got out and staggered to the door. We waited a bit and then he came staggering back out and leaned against the wall and waited for the cab that was called for him.

Chuck invited Carol and I to stop by for dinner some day soon. We WILL take him up on that. BUT it will be before dark…………

Overtime Bar and Grill 3118 6th Ave. Go there. Enjoy.

We spent most of the evening on 6th Avenue. MAN it was bustin loose. BUT almost ALL of the bars, which were VERY busy with revelers, seemed to have a VERY good handle on things. There are about two blocks where a LOT of very intoxicated people roam and stagger around on the sidewalks. We visited about five bars. Most of those bars had VERY good DUI records and we wanted to thank them. The bigger ones had a LOT of security and one even had two off duty Tacoma Police officers present.

We saw scantily-clad young ladies and young men staggering around laughing and having fun. Carol noticed a young man on a side street literately staggering from one sidewalk to the other and he stopped and leaned up against a car. She taped the chief on the shoulder and pointed him out. He and three officers and two liquor agents confronted him and it turns out he was just kind of lost and couldn’t find his friend. So TWO officers, one on each side helped him navigate his way to a bench and found his friend and they called them a cab.

We went into a bar that had just opened and talked to the owner/bartender. SO far, his record was good and the liquor board had no complaints yet. As we were talking to him, the agent gave him the “come here finger”. Turns out she spotted a guy with a mostly finished beer and a full one and he was nodding off, about ten seconds from blowing bubbles in his beer through his nose. Needless to say, the server got a brief review of over-serving and the gentleman was escorted out. He had taken a cab there and they called him a cab to get home. When he was able to focus, I thanked him for making a plan.

There was a young man who apparently mistook chief Cheesman for a doorman. Maybe it was because of his uniform. But he staggered up to the Chief and told him, “I need a taxi…….or two”. He was with a group of Air Force people who had just got back from a deployment. They were young, they were drunker than hell and they were NOT driving anywhere. So we propped a couple of them up against a wall while the Chief and the TPD LT started calling cabs. Within about ten minutes, two cabs pulled up and four went into the first one and three in the second. Laughing and hoot and hollering they went off into the night, drunk as a fiddler section, but safe.

As we were leaving, Carol, Gloria and I got back into the Chief’s car. As we pulled onto 6th Ave a young woman staggered into the middle of the street, RIGHT in front of us. One of the off-duty Police officers was on the other side asking her what she was doing and she kind of just stood there. The chief turned his lights on a hit the siren for a split second. She just stood there. She finally staggered to the other side  and the officer had a firm, but gentle talk with her.

When we got further down the AVE, we noticed a bar that seemed to have a lot of people in it but very few cars parked around. The chief thought it was kind of strange and asked if we wanted to turn around and check it out. So we went in and there WERE quite a few people but no cars. Turns out that most of the people there had WALKED there from the neighborhood. They had a good record so we thanked them for their efforts. The bartender had gotten a DUI a few years ago and no longer DUIs. She also shares her story with people she cuts off. There are a LOT of good people in the bar business, and we thank them for their efforts to keep their customers AND us safe.

The next bar we were going to visit was in University Place. As we got a few blocks from it, we could see a set of blue and red lights flashing.I said to the Chief, “Boy, that looks close to where we are going”. This was one of the good bars so we were a little surprised. When we got there, they were indeed in the parking lot of that bar. BUT it wasn’t just ONE set of lights, there were seven patrol cars, a fire truck and an ambulance. I said, OH OH. Turns out it wasn’t a DUI or a crash. (Thank GAWD) They had arrested a woman who HAD been in the bar but had left and apparently gotten into an argument with a guy over some crack cocaine in an apartment a little ways away and wound up stabbing him. Then she came back into the bar. MAN, she was HYSTERICAL and wound up taking a swing at the arresting officers. They frown on that. The bartender had called it in and pointed her out to the officers. The stabbed guy turned out to be OK, and the woman, although VERY noisley, was in custody. The agents told us that the bartenders have a spiral notebook where they document EVERYTHING, like when they cut someone off or refuse service. THESE are the type of people who SHOULD be in the hospitality business.

We visited a bar with a BAD DUI record and a BUNCH of citations from the Liquor Control board, including over-serving, after hours sales and staff drinking on the job. As a matter of fact one of the agents told us that she had gone there to issue a couple citations over issues she had witnessed and a drunk came out of the bar and started spinning doughnuts  in the (small) parking lot and wound up hitting her car and fleeing the scene. They were able to track him down and arrest him. The owner was not there, or possibly hiding in the back so we talked with his wife. She was VERY defensive and was jabbering about how they were doing better and they should give her credit for that blah blah blah. Then the Chief introduced us to her and she kind of calmed down and listened after we gave her a Sheena and Tony picture. Carol told her that when people leave a bar drunk THAT’S what’s at risk. Then I added. “You know, IF I could prove that the woman who killed our children had been over-served at a bar like this with credit card statements, where do you think I would send our lawyers?”. She didn’t have an answer. I thought to myself , think it over stupid. People who can’t grasp those basic concepts should NOT be in the hospitality business. I have heard their license is in jeopardy. GOOD!!!

Last night Carol, Gloria ( Tony’s mom, the other fatality that awful night) and I participated in Pierce County DUI Task Force Home Safe Bar program. We go out with law enforcement and Liqueur Control agents to bars in targeted areas and thank those with a GOOD DUI record and inform those bars with poor records how to do better.

Of course the night we decided to do this, there wasn’t just a FULL moon, but a SUPER moon. So after the briefing and Carol and Gloria doing a couple media interviews, we, and about thirty cops from several agencies  set out to make a difference. We did most of our visits in Fircrest, University Place and of course, 6th Ave.

Carol, Gloria and I rode with Fircrest Police Chief Cheesman. We were followed by LT Corey from Tacoma Police Department and two liqueur control agents.  Carol got to ride in the front seat because I know where the siren switch is……. The first bar we went to had a GOOD record. When we pulled into the parking lot, there was NOBODY there, they were closing early due to lack of business. Chief Cheesman remarked that I guess that’s why they have such a good record……. We did manage to speak with the owner as he was closing and complimented him ON their record. He DID point out that it was Cinco de Mayo and his is an ITALIAN restaurant. I thanked him and told him we’d come back on Columbus day.

We visited a couple more good bars and when we all walked in, of COURSE the servers and management were a bit intimidated, but loosened right up when they learned why we were there. They thanked Carol, Gloria and I for what we were doing and expressed condolences. We thanked them right back and gave them a Sheena sticker and a very nice picture of Tony Gloria had brought.

Carol stands with Governor Chris Gregoire after signing 2SHB2216 which triples sentencing guidelines for vehicular homicide. Governor Gregoire gave Carol the original pen and a big hug, thanking Carol for all the hard work we do to STOP this crime. Very exciting evening. We have a lot of friends in the legislative and law enforcement communities. We will continue to do everything we can and work with our friends to convince people that driving drunk is no longer going to be tolerated.

These bill signings are exciting and there’s a lot of congratulating, hand shaking and celebrating. But then we get home, it gets quiet and we are left with our thoughts and the reason we were there doing what we are doing. Then it gets sad. Again.

Today the State legislature passed a bill, 2SHB 2216 that will triple the sentencing for killing someone with your car when you are driving drunk. We feel that this is an excellent start to “change the culture” about driving drunk in this state. We want to thank Washington Association of Prosecuting Attorneys for their support, Rep Christoper Hurst for prime sponsoring this bill, the House AND Senate Committees who were so respectful hearing our testimony. We also need to thank ALL victim’s families and all our friends and family. We hope that the legislature will continue this most important work next session. I know that we will.

Today marks two years since Sheena and Tony were killed by a drunk driver.We will host a potluck/candlelight vigil at the Manitou Community Center 4806 So 66th Tacoma 98409.

I feel an overwhelming sadness that is much worse than last year, I don’t know why. All I know is that we will honor Sheena and Tony’s spirits and memories. We will have a flower/candle circle, lots of good food and friends. A couple elected officials may show up. We will laugh and maybe even cry a little. One thing I am sure of is that Sheena and Tony will be there with us. I know they are in a good place. I also know that as I go through this day, as 9:30 approaches, as things wind down my sadness and profound sense of loss  hangs over me like a little black cloud. This has jabbed my heart like a cold rusty knife blade. Every one of these anniversaries gives that blade yet another twist. DAMN drunk driving AND drunk drivers.