Burbs

King County Metro has revealed which bus routes will get "enhanced" service first under the sales-tax increase approved by voters November 7. The winners, which will see service improvements starting next February, are the 8 from Queen Anne to Capitol Hill; the 44 from Ballard to Montlake; the 101 from Capitol Hill to Renton; the 120 from downtown Seattle to Burien; the 140 from Burien to Renton; the 194 from downtown to Sea-Tac International Airport; the 234 from Kenmore to Bellevue; and the 245 from Kirkland to Factoria. That's two routes in Seattle, three commuter routes to and from Seattle, and three routes that are entirely in suburbs. ERICA C. BARNETT

Booze

The state Liquor Control Board seems poised to recommend a special liquor license for "nightclubs." The new license would apply to establishments that serve hard alcohol but which are not restaurants, and would replace the "restaurant" license that bars are currently required to obtain.

On the positive side: A statewide license for bars would legally differentiate bars from restaurants, eliminating the ridiculous requirement that bars serve a certain number of entrées and be open certain hours to serve booze. That would potentially allow more bars to open in cities, most of which are now over the state-mandated legal limit (currently one for every 1,450 residents).

On the negative side: that pesky word "nightclub." In meeting minutes, the Liquor Control Board says "nightclub-type establishments [cause] problems." Defining all bars as nightclubs thus perpetuates the weird stigma attached to bars in Washington State. "The fact is that a huge proportion of the population actually enjoys going to these places," Red Door owner and nightlife activist Pete Hanning says. "We want to support being able to have bars in our state." ERICA C. BARNETT

Brawl

A brawl broke out in the early hours of Sunday, November 12, at Jillian's Billiards Club on Westlake Avenue North. Jillian's, one in a chain, is a favorite of the frat-boy crowd. The Seattle event sales manager for Jillian's says the fight started between a group of six patrons. Staffers kicked out the customers when they started throwing punches and the scuffle continued in the parking lot. When police first arrived to break up the fight at 1:24 a.m., they reported 20 people were involved; by the time backup officers responded at 1:30 a.m., they found "over 100 people in the streets," according to the police. The officers had some trouble getting the large, loud crowd to disperse, culminating in one officer requiring three stitches after an Asian brawler in a button-down shirt hit him in the face with a silver Nokia cell phone. SARAH MIRK