East Texas

By KENNETH DEAN
Staff Writer

ATHENS -- Henderson County commissioners passed two liquor election requests by 4 to 1 votes during Tuesday's regularly scheduled meeting.

Malakoff and a portion of Coffee City, not currently wet, will see voters determining whether liquor is sold for off-premise consumption and served in restaurants.

Henderson County election administrator Denise Hernandez said the November election will have Malakoff and Coffee City liquor options on the ballot.

"They were both approved by the commissioners to be on the November ballot," she said.

Ms. Hernandez said a father and daughter submitted the required petition in the Coffee City option and a group called the Citizens for Economic Growth submitted the petition for Malakoff. The proponents of a petition must get the signatures from 35 percent of the registered voters who participated in the last gubernatorial election. State law allows 60 days for the petitioner to garner the required number of signatures and she said both parties met the requirement.

In Malakoff and Coffee City, voters will have two choices on the November ballot:

Ms. Hernandez said the lone commissioner voting against the two requests was Precinct 1 Commissioner Joe Hall, who lives in the Malakoff area.

In the Coffee City election, Ms. Hernandez said the father and daughter evidently wanted to build a restaurant that would be located in a part of the city not previously wet.