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Contact your state Representative in support of Senate Bill 308 Yesterday, a critical self-defense bill, Senate Bill 308, passed in the House Judiciary Committee. S. 308, introduced by state Senator Sean Bennett (R-38), would remove the prohibition on a Concealed Weapon Permit (CWP) holder carrying a concealed firearm into a restaurant licensed to serve alcohol. Under S. 308, a CWP holder would still be prohibited from consuming alcohol while in the restaurant if he or she is carrying a concealed firearm for personal protection. S. 308 is now eligible for consideration on the House floor. With only a couple of...

The two owners of Amy’s Baking Company Bakery Boutique & Bistro took over the restaurant’s Facebook page last night to fight unruly commenters, and man, was it embarrassing. If you recognize the name of the restaurant, it was recently featured on an episode of Gordon Ramsey’s Kitchen Nightmares. The owners were dumped by Ramsey after being too difficult to work with.

By an overwhelming two-to-one vote of 76-38, the North Carolina state House passed a bill allowing permitted concealed handguns on college campuses.  As with other states, private universities will be allowed to post signs that ban permitted concealed handguns.  Disappointingly, it would also not allow concealed handguns in classes, which means it would ban guns to and from student's cars.  With 44 Democrats in the state House, not even all the Democrats voted against the bill.  From WRAL television: State House lawmakers voted late Monday night to allow concealed weapons on college campuses, state property, greenways, bike trails, at sporting...

People would be able to carry concealed weapons into restaurants that serve alcohol under legislation approved by the Louisiana House on Thursday. The House voted 62-24 for the measure, sponsored by state Rep. Henry Burns, R-Haughton, amid protests that gun rights proponents are going too far. State Rep. Terry Landry, D-New Iberia, a former State Police commander, said legislators should stop allowing outside forces from “using Louisiana as a testing ground,” an apparent reference to the National Rifle Association. He said the state is becoming “a laughingstock.” Landry said the state has a high national rating when it comes to...

Charlotte, NC --(Ammoland.com)- Some misguided state senators in South Carolina are working to delay passage of Senate Bill 308, the Restaurant Carry bill introduced by state Senator Sean Bennett. By introducing countless frivolous amendments, several senators are delaying passage of this critical self-defense bill. While some have claimed that they support S 308 during the debate, countless frivolous amendments have been introduced, such as limiting the capacity of a Concealed Weapons Permit (CWP) holder’s carried firearm to six rounds or mandating that it only be a single-action firearm. Every amendment offered is designed to delay passage of S 308, which...

Because restaurants typically operate on razor-thin margins, President Obama's signature health-care reform law has largely been criticized by the industry for imposing onerous new costs that will potentially wipe out whatever profits they make. Under the Affordable Care Act, companies with 50 or more employees have to provide them health insurance if they work 30 hours or more, or else face a $2,000-per-employee penalty. That led many restaurant operators, such as the CEO of Olive Garden and Red Lobster parent Darden Restaurant's (NYSE: DRI ) , to say worker hours would have be cut to avoid paying for expensive health-insurance...

The dinner bill for three friends at Chilly D's Restaurant stung, but it wasn't the price - printed on the top of the receipt were the words "Fat Girls". "I got the bill, I was looking at bill [and] I was like, 'Why does this receipt say 'fat girls?'" customer Christine Duran said. The friends had dined out at the Stockton, Calif., restaurant, which is a part of the Cameo Casino Restaurant, on Thursday. The bill lists charges for three tri-tips with fries and three sodas, for a total of $25.50. A bartender named Jeff had apparently typed in "Fat...

Darden Restaurants Inc. won’t be looking as good as expected next week when the restaurant company is set to release its second-quarter earnings, it said Tuesday. The Olive Garden, Red Lobster and LongHorn Steakhouse parent lowered its profit and revenue projections for the quarter ended Nov. 25, blaming sour promotions in its eateries, Superstorm Sandy, its purchase of the Yard House USA chain and even its efforts to mitigate the coming costs of healthcare reform, also known as "Obamacare."

Smokin' Jonny's BBQ opened less than a year ago, but pricey corn on the cob has already disappeared from the menu. Rising beef prices are causing owner Jon Sekiguchi headaches as well. His Gardena restaurant sells beef ribs only on the weekends, when customers are more willing to splurge. And he's struggling to find affordable beef sausage for his $6.95 smoked sausage sandwich. Scorching weather this summer in the Midwest left crops parched and livestock famished. Restaurants, already struggling with high fuel costs and a sluggish economy, are starting to feel the pinch of higher food costs. "It's a tough...

George Dalmon, a former rugby player, and his friend Andy Miles were banned from all-you-can-eat restaurant, Gobi, In Brighton, after the manager branded them "a couple of pigs". The men would each eat five bowls of stir-fry during their regular meals at the Mongolian barbecue, which invites guests to create their own dishes from the buffet.

New York Daily News: 'One star' Well, the reviews are in on the new Joanne Trattoria restaurant (Italian, expensive) that mega pop-star Lady Gaga recently opened on the Upper West Side of Manhattan with/for her parents. That sounds like a nice gesture, and hard not to respect the gratitude.  Shame about the food though, which sounds like overpriced hog slop: When a wan Caprese salad with mealy tomatoes and cloying balsamic costs $18, should a server quip that cheese is sourced from “whoever gets it to us cheapest”...? When a restaurant charges $18 for fried calamari, should the dish arrive...

On top of a series of scathing reviews, the New York City restaurant owned by Lady Gaga and her family this week scored miserably during a Department of Health inspection that found six "critical" violations, including failing to protect food from potential contamination, The Smoking Gun has learned. The October 2 inspection of Joanne Trattoria on Manhattan's West Side found eight separate sanitary infractions, totaling a whopping 42 violation points.

<p>A Chinese restaurant in Kentucky has reportedly been forced to shut its doors after allegedly serving up roadkill.</p> <p>WKYT.com reports that the Red Flower Chinese Restaurant in Williamsburg was shuttered on Thursday after a customer called the health department when she saw a dead deer being wheeled into the kitchen.</p>

WILLIAMSBURG, Ky. (WKYT) - A Chinese restaurant forced to shut its doors after getting caught with a dead deer in the kitchen. It happened Thursday afternoon at the Red Flower Chinese Restaurant in Williamsburg. "We were actually joking about the, you know, the whole Chinese restaurant. You know some rumors that you hear," says Katie Hopkins, a customer of the Red Flower restaurant. But, Hopkins and her friends never imaged what would happen next, after finishing up a buffet lunch. "Two of the workers came in wheeling a garbage can and they had a box sitting on top of it....

NEW YORK (Reuters) - An Iranian-American man who U.S. officials say has links to Iran's security forces pleaded not guilty in federal court on Monday to plotting to kill the Saudi Arabian ambassador to Washington in a bomb attack. , 56, who was arrested on September 29 in New York, faces several charges including conspiracy to murder a foreign official, conspiracy to use a weapon of mass destruction and conspiracy to commit an act of terrorism. Another man, Gholam Shakuri, was also charged in the plot but is believed to still be in Iran. U.S. officials said he is a...

... Popular Helsinki restaurant Muru set up a temporary eatery some 80 meters below ground in a limestone mine in the southern Finnish town of Lohja ...

Potty training is often considered an unpleasant task facing parents, but under current social norms, it has to be done. And like most bathroom activities, it’s usually a private event. One mother of twins in Utah, though, took her training public, placing her daughters on potty training toilets — you know, the plastic seats with a little toilet lid — at a public restaurant’s table. KSL-TV reports Kimberly Decker, who was in the restaurant at the time, snapped a photo of this disturbing scene and posted it on Facebook.

Breastaurants begone: Female diners are carving out their own space in the restaurant industry, with actress Eva Longoria’s women-focused steakhouse SHe the latest entry. The “Desperate Housewives” star is closing her restaurant Beso and nightclub Eve in Las Vegas and reopening the space as a haven for the ladies, complete with small plates and a catwalk for fashion shows.

Los Angeles County prosecutors declined today to file a felony case against a man who publicly claimed responsibility for vandalizing a Chick-fil-A restaurant in Torrance with the words "Tastes Like Hate" in protest of the company president's comments against same-sex marriage. "... It is the conclusion of the District Attorney's Office that this is not a matter for which felony prosecution is appropriate," wrote John Zajec, the head prosecutor in the Torrance office. "The matter is therefore referred to the Torrance City Attorney's Office for consideration of possible misdemeanor prosecution." A representative from the Torrance City Attorney's Office could not...

A gun bill left over from the flurry of gun bills that cleared the General Assembly last year was resurrected Thursday. This one, HB111, would allow anyone with a permit to carry a concealed weapon to bring that gun into a restaurant that serves alcohol, which is currently illegal. The bill also clarifies what part of park property that firearms would be allowed. A law that went into effect in December already allows that, but it gave local governments the option of banning guns from playgrounds, athletic fields and facilities, and swimming pools. Gun-rights advocates say some cities and towns...