Newton County voters passed alcohol by the drink overwhelmingly in Tuesday's election.

While we understand that many people choose personally not to drink alcohol, we're pleased that voters saw fit to approve referendums that will allow us to recruit some more upscale restaurants to the county, providing better options for consumers and more taxes for the county's coffers.

Even if you don't believe that Newton County will be able to recruit such restaurants, there was little downside to allowing by-the-drink sales, because the alcohol ordinance passed by the Newton County Board of Commissioners strictly limits sales to only a few areas and will specifically prevent the formation of bars.

However, we do believe we can attract such establishments, and the onus is now on the backers of the ordinance to get moving and bring some fine restaurants to the county.