RE: Boston Globe Online / Metro | Region / WPRI reporter's link to club stirs ethical questions

["Kevin Vahey" <k-vahey@attbi.com>]

The Globe interviewed the owner of the Middle East in Cambridge that 
under Mass law is excempted from sprinklers, but they chose to install 
them anyways.

hopefully laws will be rewritten, but given the track record of state 
reps ANYWHERE, I wouldn't hold my breath.


On Sat, 22 Feb 2003 2:44PM -0500, Donna Halper wrote:
>
>> Kevin wrote--
>>
>> If nothing had happened and Jeff had just done the report as planned, 
>> would he have said he owned the bar? Judging from his work at Channel 
>> 7, I think he would have, sadly we will never know
>
> And in the midst of the finger-pointing (was the club over-crowded, was 
> the insulation flammable, did the band shoot off pyrotechnics without 
> getting permission), one issue remains:  the club got a waiver to NOT 
> have sprinklers.  This is outrageous to me-- and it occurred long 
> before the Derderian Brothers bought it.  Older clubs don't have to 
> observe the newer laws and I think that's wrong.  I think all clubs 
> should have sprinklers-- it may be expensive, but the fire chief said 
> nobody would have died if there were in fact a working sprinkler system 
> in that club.  One wonders how many of the older clubs are fire 
> traps...  And kudos to NECN for raising that issue.  I believe WBZ 
> Radio also had an "expert" on who discussed that very thing.