State closes Champaign bar for expired liquor license

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (WCIA) — A downtown bar in Champaign hasn’t been selling alcohol since Aug. 4, but its state liquor license has been expired for much longer than that.

Now, the bar is closed, and employees are asking for help with lost wages.

Punch Bar has been operating without a state license since May. The city said they were unaware and the state’s Liquor Control Commission said the reason it hasn’t been renewed is out of its hands.

The state requires all places serving alcohol to have state and city liquor licenses. Jeff Hamilton with the Champaign City Manager’s office said Punch’s city license is in good standing, but its state license has expired since May 31.

Employees of Punch Bar didn’t expect August 4 to be their last day getting paid, but after nearly three months of illegally serving alcohol, the Illinois Liquor Control Commission put an end to it.

Nicole Sanders, a spokeswoman for…