Bars, restaurants and bottle shops are being asked to halt alcohol sales again this year to counter an unofficial St. Patrick's Day celebration created by Penn State students called State Patty's Day.
Thirty businesses in downtown State College agreed last year to not serve alcohol in exchange for $5,000 each from a partnership of university and community groups. The subsidy was meant to help account for lost revenue.
A neighborhood group said when compared to the 2012 State Patty's Day, the 2013 event saw a 40 percent reduction in event-related emergency room cases, and a reduction in crime of 35 to 40 percent.
The Centre Daily Times said Thursday that the State College Coalition of Neighborhood Associations is asking taverns to do the same this year.
