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Downtown bar owners ‘very happy’ over drink special ruling

Downtown tavern owners weren’t popping champagne bottles but were “very, very happy” about the Wisconsin Supreme Court finding their voluntarily ban on weekend drink specials didn’t violate anti-trust law.

“We were very concerned (about losing) because you never know what will happen,” said Bruce Meier, whose family has owned the Kollege Klub for 55 years.

Twenty-four bars have spent in excess of $500,000 in legal fees to defend a class-action suit filed in Dane County Circuit Court in 2004 on behalf of University of Wisconsin students, said Scott Stenger, spokesman for the Wisconsin Tavern League.