Jump to full article: Ottumwa (IA) Courier, 2009-04-15
Author: MARK NEWMAN Courier staff writer
Intro: It's hard to play the game fairly if the other side is changing the rules.
That's the feeling of Denny Whitson, past commander of the Veterans of Foreign Wars post in Ottumwa.
"They're making the laws as they go along," he told the Courier Wednesday.
He recently received word that an administrative law judge has recommended the state licensing board take the club's liquor license.
"The law says on the first offense you'll be charged $100 if found guilty, the second offense fine is $200, the third is $300. This is [on the books] as a simple misdemeanor; but the health department has partnered with the state liquor board."
The board has handed out liquor license suspensions and fines, he said. But Whitson believes his stance against a law he called unfair, and his willingness to fight for his fellow veterans, made the Ottumwa VFW a target.
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