At the stroke of midnight, John Ebener will deliver the New Year’s toast at the 9th Street Pub in La Salle and then he’ll lay down the law: Nobody who’s been imbibing is to get behind the wheel.
For the third straight year, Ebener will throw a New Year’s bash that includes free rides home, with him or a hired driver taking the wheel. Ebener has owned the pub for decades and had never offered car service as a special to reel in patrons. Now, he has to.