At last, a real last call

Out here in the dusty Mexican borderlands, we’ve just been given the Grand Go-ahead, permission to keep on truckin’ so-to-speak as the liquor sales now extend to 2 a.m.
And to think the Mormon-dominated state Legislature passed the law on its first attempt, pushed by the unlikely argument that it’s a tourism bill. That’s right, Vegas and San Diego get all the conventions instead of Phoenix because their last call is 2 a.m. Right. Still, when just four of the 50 largest U.S. cities had a 1 a.m. last call and three of them - Phoenix, Tucson and Mesa - are in Arizona, things needed to change.
Personally, I’m thrilled, though I’ve made it ‘til 2 a.m. just once in the week it’s been in effect. It’s great for us Downtowners, in the middle of three distinct bar districts. National touring bands will be able to play full sets. Leaving work at 11 p.m., I’ll no longer have to rush to get in a decent amount of stool time.
So just what happened on the fateful night? Or the first weekend? Apparently not too much. Here’re some excerpts from newspapers around the state:

TUCSON - A voice broke into the music at Maloney's Tavern early this morning and delivered the message marking a change in Arizona nightlife:
“It's one o'clock in the morning. And we are not closed.”
At 12:01 a.m. today, a state law approved in May took effect and pushed “last call for alcohol back” back one hour to 2 a.m.
Tucson did not jump into the new era with both feet, a spirited hiccup and a proverbial lamp shade on the head - at least not if the scene on North Fourth Avenue was any indication.
Even on this often-rambunctious corridor of college bars, last night's scene could best be described as sporadic festiveness.

TUCSON - The night dragged on early Saturday as crowds faded and thinned at university-area bars during Tucson's first weekend of the state's new 2 a.m. last call.
“People aren't making it until 2,” Keith Caywood, 22, a supervisor at O'Malley's on Fourth, 247 N. Fourth Ave., said just after after 1 a.m.
There, the bar was emptier than it was around midnight under the old formula. Caywood added that crowds had been dying out between 1 and 1:30 a.m. since the new law took effect last Tuesday.
The scene was similar up and down North Fourth Avenue and Downtown, where other bars saw crowds dwindle after 1 a.m.
After three days of a 2 a.m. closing time, Congress had seen patrons clear out pretty quickly after last call, O'Brien said.
“Everyone lost their steam pretty early. They don't know how to pace themselves,” he said.

PHOENIX - Leave it to the 20-somethings to break in Arizona's extra hour of elbow bending.
While millions of Arizonans slept, thousands of young bar warriors strapped on their beer goggles until 2 a.m. Wednesday, shattering the old 1 a.m. last-call barrier like a champagne glass falling on marble.
“I love it,” said Roy McDowell, 23, out with friends at Anderson's Fifth Estate in Scottsdale. “It's an hour more of drinking, an hour more of fun.”
Bar owners and taxi companies were loving it, too, with various businesses up 20 to 60 percent over a typical night early in the week.
Still, law enforcement agencies statewide reported “nothing out of the ordinary” on the highways, said Michael Hegarty, deputy director of the Governor's Office of Highway Safety.
At bars and restaurants across the Valley, crowds enjoyed the extra hour with countdowns at 1 a.m., champagne toasts and shouts of “Happy New Law!”
Aside from the crowd at Amsterdam, Phoenix residents could have heard a pin drop early Wednesday. The sidewalks seemed to have rolled up, and many bars were nearly empty.
The scene was quiet in Ahwatukee Foothills, where seven dedicated holdouts clung to their barstools inside Rock Bottom Restaurant & Brewery.

TEMPE - Police: a quiet night for first 2 a.m. last call. Weekend will be true test of extra hour's effect on public.
Local authorities dealt with the same problems at a different hour Tuesday night as Tempe bars kept the taps flowing until 2 a.m. for the first time.
Police officials from ASU and Tempe said they did not expect that an extra hour of liquor sales would lure more bar-hoppers downtown.

PRESCOTT – The sidewalk along Whiskey Row appeared largely deserted early Sunday morning even though bars tested a new law allowing them to serve liquor until 2 a.m. and close at 2:30.
Whiskey Row and adjoining streets also seemed peaceful, except for a fight involving several people that broke out at 1:45 a.m. in the 200 block of West Gurley Street.

YUMA - Police spokeswoman Leanne Worthen said there would not be any extra officers on the streets, but a few officers would start their shifts later in the day and stay on duty until about 3 a.m.
“This provides us a little more overlap that takes us to 3 a.m.,” Worthen said. “This may or may not continue.”
The law took effect Wednesday, meaning bars could stay open until 2 a.m. starting that day. Worthen said there was no difference in the number of incidents reported to police.
The officers working later into the evening will still be doing normal patrols, rather than focusing on locations serving alcohol, Worthen said. She did not anticipate any extra problems because of the new hours.
“It's hard to say how people will respond to (the new hours),” Worthen said. “I don't know that there will be any difference.”
Rick Good, owner of Jimmie Dee's Bar, 38 West 2nd St., said his bar closed at 1 a.m. Wednesday, even though it could have stayed open later.

SIERRA VISTA - The tardy “last call for alcohol” this morning wasn't a lapse in judgment from your local barkeep.
Today marked the beginning of a one-hour extension for liquor sales statewide.
“It probably makes more sense in a big city where there are shift workers,” said Kevin Cole, owner of Bisbee's Hot Licks Barbecue and Blues Saloon.
Cole didn't anticipate a rise in bar-related problems because of the extra hour.
“If somebody is going to drink to excess, they're going to do it by 1 a.m., as easily as by 2 a.m.,” he suggested.
Sierra Vista Capt. Mike Cline said he isn't worried about any increased local problems from the bar crowd.
Since Sierra Vista has no singular night-life district, no changes in shift staffing will take place, Cline said.

For those of you out there who aren’t familiar with (or don’t remember) a 1 a.m. last call this must all sound ridiculous. I’ve been out in cities all over the country, sometimes calling it a night before midnight, sometimes stretching past 3 a.m.
It’s all about the options, baby.