Butte Bristles at Booze Ban

Ever since he proposed limits on this city's long-standing tradition of public drinking, Sheriff Ed Lester has heard a barrage of insults. "Teetotaler" and "prohibitionist" were bad enough. But "do-gooder"?

In this 134-year-old, rough-and-tumble mining town, even the top lawman cherishes being a part of its rugged image. "It's just something I never envisioned myself to be," the sheriff sniffed.

Mr. Lester finds himself in the middle of a raucous debate in Butte, one of a few U.S. municipalities that allows drinking in public. His proposal is part of a municipal identity crisis, pitting the city's hopes of encouraging new investment against a desire to stay true to its roots as a blue-collar outpost that likes its whiskey straight and its government hands-off.

Earlier this year, after getting complaints about noise and vandalism in Butte's historic uptown area, the sheriff proposed a ban on public drinking between the hours of 2 a.m. and 8 a.m. The long-forsaken uptown with its cluster of remaining bars was the round-the-clock heart of Butte when it was a copper-mine boomtown a century ago. Today, as new residents and businesses have begun to move in, the late-night carousing out on the streets has gotten more notice.

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