Voters in Oslo, Minn., voted strongly Wednesday to let the town's sole bar open its doors on Sundays.
When voting stopped at 8 p.m, 65 voters had said yea, 37 said nay, to let Johnny Bravo's open on Sunday, said Mayor Scott Kosmatka.
It required only a simple majority of 52 of the total votes cast, instead of the 64 percent majority that won the day, said Karen Cote, the city's clerk/treasurer.
The bar's owner, John Kirkeby, bought it in April and is the first owner who really wanted to open on Sundays, Kosmatka said. Kirkeby serves up homemade pizza, too.
"I was in favor of it," Kosmatka said of the vote. "My thoughts are to keep the money here in town, rather than send it to Grand Forks or Warsaw (N.D., across the Red River) or wherever. Besides, you can grab a pizza on Sunday afternoon. Our restaurant closes at 2 p.m. on Sundays, so now we have an option."
ADVERTISEMENT
The Oslo Cafe is open later on other days of the week.
It was a healthy voter turnout, too, for a special election, with a total equal to 78 percent of the 130 who turned out for the last general election, which establishes the registered voters, Cote said.
Every one of the 130 registered voters got a ballot in the mail, while four voters who hadn't been registered previously showed up at the polling site, which was open 12 hours, to vote by absentee ballot, Cote said.
Once Kirkeby gets in his paperwork and pays a $200 state fee, he can begin to open at noon on Sundays, per state law, Kosmatka said.
The bar had been known as Bottoms Up, and the issue of Sunday opening was never a live one in the city of about 360 on the Red River 25 miles north of East Grand Forks.
"It's never really been brought up before," Kosmatka said.
Reach Lee at (701) 780-1237; (800) 477-6572, ext. 237; or send e-mail to slee@gfherald.com
