BOLLINGER COUNTY OKs SUNDAY SALES

MARBLE HILL -- Bollinger County joined neighboring counties Tuesday by opting out of Missouri's ban on Sunday sales.

By a nearly 3-to-1 margin, Bollinger County voters elected to allow merchants to sell most items on Sundays. Previously, under the so-called Blue Law, stores could sell on Sunday only articles of "immediate necessity."

"Bollinger countians voted at the ballot box like they've been voting with their pocketbooks for years," said Marc Massengale, Marble Hill Chamber of Commerce president. "People have been going out of town on Sundays to get what they want for the longest time."

The vote was 991 in favor of exempting the county from the Blue Law and 340 against. That was a margin of 74.5 percent to 25.5 percent.

The Bollinger County Commission put the Sunday sales issue on the primary ballot after it received two complaints in late February alleging the new Dollar General Store had violated the ban on Sunday sales.

Despite the complaints, the law was not enforced. That among other things prompted officials to sense apathy among county residents concerning the issue. Turnout was 18 percent.

Cape Girardeau County opted out of the Blue Law in 1984, Madison County followed suit in 1988, Perry County in 1993 and Wayne and Stoddard counties in 1995.

"With this vote it shows any outside businesses that are wanting to come to Bollinger County that they won't be restricted from operating on Sunday," Massengale said, adding that the lopsided tally showed that county residents are ready to move ahead economically.