A political fight between liquor stores and grocery stores over beer sales appears to be headed to the statewide ballot in Colorado. Grocery stores want to change state law to permit them to sell "full-strength" beer. But liquor stores and bars claim that such a change would put them out of business. The grocers, having failed to win in the legislature, say they are taking their case to the people. (Via the Durango Herald).

Ventura County, California -- north and west of Los Angeles -- has become a hotbed of anti-growth ballot initiatives -- measures passed by environmentalists or businesses to prevent other businesses from coming into a particular community. Most of these measures do this by way of requiring a vote of the people on certain kind of developments above a certain size. The latest is in the city of Ventura, within the county of the same name. Its target is Wal-Mart. But this measure doesn't offer a way to override the limit. It simply bans any store that sells groceries and is larger than 90,000 square feet.