Want to know why some boundaries of the proposed AIA were drawn where they are?

Donald Lachman, who seems to be behind every major project or trend in the area, explained that one point of the AIA was to draw the boundaries to prevent customers from walking an extra block to purchase the high-octane alcohol. That, he said, is why the borders are extended far past some trouble spots.

Want free entertainment? Watch a Tacoma City Council meeting and check your e-mail. If you're lucky enough to be on a mass mailing list and the topic has piqued the interest of a certain councilwoman¹, you can read an e-mail, look at the councilwoman as she types on a laptop and then see her response pop up in your inbox.

And it happens again half an hour later.

I don't know why, but I find this funny.

^{1 -- Let's call her Julie A. Wait, no, that's too vague. Let's call her J. Anderson.}

Tacoma Councilman Rick Talbert said at Tuesday's council meeting that he supported the first AIA but knew it would push the problem southward (and into his district, which encompasses the Eastside).

“We were the first in the state and it was the right thing to do. And I said then, ‘When I come back to you in two years, four years or six years, I’m going to expect that same support.’ And, of course, there’s been nothing but from support from this body since it began.”

Lincoln Business District approached Talbert in 2003 shortly after the passage of the original area, he said, because they noticed an increase in littered high-octane-drink bottles. Talbert met with police and representatives from the business district, but they agreed it was too early to start discussions about another AIA.

The next year, Talbert said, police officials approached Talbert and Councilwoman Connie Ladenburg and said the problem was getting worse. Talbert said he got neighborhood groups involved, and soon he and others decided to push the liquor board for a large AIA.

“It’s not going to solve all the problems, and I’m not going to be naïve enough to think that the areas outside that boundary might not begin to see the same problems. But by taking such a large approach and taking so far to the south, east and west of where you see the concentration of problems … The message to the folks who are searching for this type of beverage is that Tacoma is just not the place to go. It’s just too difficult.

Unfortunately, the state won’t allow us to draw a line around our boundaries and say, ‘No more of this.’"

The bottles of Boone's Farm and MD 20/20 splash a rainbow of color inside the back refrigerators of Nite-N-Day Deli Mart on Tacoma's Eastside. The electric blues, reds, oranges and greens seem belie the products' controversial nature.

The wines -- along with malt liquor, which the store also sells -- will be gone if the proposed Alcohol Impact Area goes into effect.

Owner Chan Chong realizes the AIA is aimed to clean up the streets, but he points out that it seems to target the poorest area of Tacoma. He wouldn't have much of a problem if the ban on high-octane beer and wine covered the entire city, he said.

"Some of my customers only have 99 cents for a beer when they come in," he said. "This will just limit their choice of what they can get."

Paul Namkung is bracing himself for a big financial hit. His convenience store, K&J Food Mart on Tacoma's Eastside, falls within the proposed limits of the new Alcohol Impact Area. The store stocks 40-ounce bottles of Mickey's, Olde English 800 and Steel Reserve and other high-octane beers. If the proposed AIA is passed, he will be forced to stop selling them.

They drinks make up for about 20 percent of his store's revenue, he said. And, Namkung adds, it's not like he owns a large chain of stores that could absorb the drop in revenues. It's a one-store show.

"I don't like it," he said. If drinks with a high alcohol content are the problem, "then why is the state running liquor stores? Those drinks have a lot more alcohol."

And as much as he doesn't like it, he seems to have accepted the new rules.

"It will hurt people like me," he said, "but if the city wants to make these new rules, there's no stopping them. They'll just do it."

Thank you, Associated Press, for this gem:

SEATTLE (AP) — Comforted by buckets of fresh cantaloupe, apples and carrots, the Woodland Park Zoo’s 29-year-old Asian elephant, Chai, was artificially inseminated over the weekend.

This is in from my man Geoff Corkum at the Rainiers: You can be Rhubarb.

What: Tacoma Rainiers mascot tryouts
When: 10 a.m. Saturday
Where: Tacoma Rainiers administrative offices
3560 Bridgeport Way W., Suite 3E
University Place

The Tacoma City Council tonight will give a first reading to a proposed Alcohol Impact Area. With the coordinates provided by the city and a little help from Google Maps, it's obvious that the new district will swallow up much of the city:

I just met with Kathleen Olson, the chairwoman of the Global Neighbor Project. She was just giving me some background on the organization, which hopes to raise $50,000 this year as part of a three-year commitment for the eastern Lesotho village of Sekameng.

It seems like a really, really cool organization, and I plan on giving you updates throughout the year on it.

Now that's what I'm talkin' about...

The Tacoma City Council tonight will give a first reading to the proposed Alcohol Impact Area in the Lincoln District. I'll be at the meeting tonight, and I'll also swing by some stores in the impacted area to see what they have to say about pulling the product from their shelves.

I'll also be meeting about the Global Neighbor Project.

And I'll leave you with this video clip. Nothing like being on the receiving end of one of Nelson Muntz's haw-haws.