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Ceremony at Misericordia made more haunting with ages of Holocaust victims

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Your view: Nanticoke mayor, council doing fine job

<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212; The owner of the Ali Baba Lounge, labeled a trouble spot by neighbors, appealed the state&#8217;s refusal to renew its liquor license and put the downtown property up for sale.</p><p>However, the nightclub will remain open as the appeal works it way through Luzerne County Court, attorney William Byrne said Thursday.</p><p>&#8220;We&#8217;re going to continue to operate,&#8221; said Byrne of Hoegen &amp; Associates of Wilkes-Barre, who has been representing the license holder Nabil Abualburak Inc.</p><p>The property at 219 S. Main St. was listed for sale at $2.1 million by <a href="https://www.lewith-freeman.com/real-estate/luzerne-county-mls/commercial-sale/property/19-1277-219-s-main-street-wilkes-barre-pa/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Lewith &amp; Freeman Real Estate Inc.</a> The sale price includes the liquor license.</p><p>Byrne said the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board refused the license renewal on Wednesday. He filed his appeal a day later in county court, saying the board&#8217;s decision was contrary to the testimony and evidence presented at hearing in November.</p><p>At the hearing neighbors complained about fights and drunk and disorderly patrons. Wilkes-Barre police testified that a fatal shooting occurred outside the South Main Street nightspot. No one has been arrested in the ongoing homicide investigation.</p><p>The appeal bought the nightclub more time. It had been granted authority to stay open pending the hearing after its license expired on Aug. 31, 2018.</p><p>In March of this year, the PLCB proposed a conditional licensing agreement that would have put the license in safekeeping until it was either sold or transferred.</p><p>Instead, Ali Baba&#8217;s owner asked that the license be renewed and that led to Wednesday&#8217;s order from the PLCB ending the operating authority as of 11:59 p.m. Thursday.</p><p>PLCB spokesperson Shawn Kelly explained that the appeal &#8220;automatically grants&#8221; the license holder authority to operate as the case works it way through the court.</p><p>&#8221;During this process, the licensee can continue to work with the PLCB to reach an arrangement that is acceptable to both parties,&#8221; Kelly said in an email. &#8220;Once the county court of common pleas renders its decision, either side can appeal to Commonwealth Court.&#8221;</p><div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta>Ruling on liquor license also appealed</subheadMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Jerry Lynott</p><p>jlynott@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Jerry Lynott at 570-991-6120 or on Twitter @TLJerryLynott.</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Ali Baba nightclub appeals refusal to renew liquor license, lists Wilkes-Barre property for sale