Former U.S. Sen. Harlan Mathews, a Democrat who represents Middle Tennessee on the state Alcohol and Beverage Commission, said it would be more fair to allow grocery stores to sell wine - and for liquor store to be able to sell beer.

"I don't need to be messing about with that when I have these huge budget issues I'm dealing with," he said. "But I certainly don't think it will hurt anything, and I think it provides an enormous convenience for a lot of people."

(Information taken from Feb. 11, 2009 Associated Press article by Erik Schelzig) (less info)