Loganville, in a special called meeting on Monday, became the first in the metro region to let its residents decide if they want the retail sale of beer, liquor and wine on Sundays.
The 5-1 vote also approves another referendum in November: whether restaurants can sell alcohol by the drink on Sundays. Mayor Ray Nunley said residents asked for both as part of a push for economic development in the city that straddles both Gwinnett and Walton counties.
"We would like to entice some better restaurants to come into town, like a Red Lobster or a Longhorn Steakhouse," Nunley said. "We don't feel like we can do it unless we sell liquor on Sundays."
The Legislature just approved such referendums on the local level after a five-year fight on Sunday sales. Gov. Nathan Deal has said he will sign the bill, though he has not yet done so.APRIL HUNT
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Superior Court Judge Doris Downs said she is "seriously considering" a run for District Attorney in Fulton County next year. Downs told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution she is up for election in 2012 and weighing whether she wants to tackle reforming the backlogged court system from the chief prosecutor's seat.
Downs, who was chief judge and a 13-year prosecutor, has been on the bench since 1996 and is a force behind both the drug court, the mental-health court and the "rocket docket," which quickly moves low-level felonies from arrest to trial.
STEVE VISSER
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