
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, July 13, 1990                   TAG: 9007130766
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: A4   EDITION: EVENING 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE: RICHMOND                                LENGTH: Short

WILDER ASKED TO GET RID OF ABC OFFICIAL

Restaurant and liquor interests, angered by a two-year crackdown on state liquor law violations, are lobbying Gov. Douglas Wilder not to reappoint Jay Cochran Jr. to the state Alcoholic Beverage Control Board, an industry official says.

Bill Miller, first vice president of the Virginia Restaurant Association, said some liquor license holders have asked the governor to get rid of Cochran. He said the liquor board's "healthy working relationship" has eroded since Cochran was appointed in June 1988 to head the board's enforcement arm.

"All of a sudden, [ABC agents] became less cooperative, more antagonistic," Miller said. "We're very hopeful we'll get some objectivity back with Wilder's appointment."

Under Cochran, the board has cracked down on a variety of liquor license violations, including sales to underage drinkers and gambling and illegal drug operations. The number of ABC enforcement actions increased by 50 percent from fiscal 1987 to 1989.

- Associated Press

by CNB