Rumors of a new Hooters restaurant were finally nailed down last week, after the city planner's office confirmed that site plans had been approved at the end of October.

The franchise owners hope to have a fully functioning restaurant in place by March 1, pending a building permit from the city, of course.

A lot of people had some contention with our describing the restaurant as "beach-themed." Truly, I think most people, whether they've been to the restaurant or not, know what Hooters restaurants are all about: great hot wings.

Just kidding.

Hooters may be most known for its lightly dressed serving staff; waitresses are often clad in white tank tops and tiny orange shorts.

While franchise owner Kerry Fernholz said the restaurants are becoming more family friendly, I received an e-mail and comments from families who were less than happy about the restaurant. One e-mail in particular addressed the location; having a Hooters in the city isn't all bad, he said, but he was not pleased about having it in such a visible location on State Street.

And speaking of the Hooters theme, the irony of last week's Hooters news running on the same page as Julie Fedorchak's column about young women's body image was not lost. Fedorchak wrote a commanding column titled "Girls gone mild," about preserving childhood innocence in a world where women's and girl's images are highly sexualized.

The e-mail writer noted the irony of the placement of the two articles, and further wondered whether markets such as Bismarck were difficult for Hooters restaurants to break into.

I asked the franchise owners why Hooters had been in Fargo for so long, but hadn't expanded out to other North Dakota cities. Fernholz and his partners are in fact the new owners of the franchise, as of August; he said the previous owner must not have been as excited about other market opportunities as the new owners are, and that was that. No indication about whether it was difficult to break into the Bismarck market.

Regardless, the owners of the franchise are excited and confident that their "beach-themed" restaurant will work in the city, as well as Grand Forks, where they plan to build another Hooters. In fact, Fernholz said they are looking at other markets, perhaps beyond North Dakota.

Debit card in the mail

Consumers who receive unemployment benefits from the state may soon begin receiving those benefits on a US Bank debit card instead of a standard check in the mail.

Job Service North Dakota partnered with US Bank Reliacard to offer the service as a way to curb postage savings and for convenience, said Darren Brostrom, associate director of unemployment insurance programs with Job Service. Postage for checks comes to around $60,000 a year, Brostrom said.

The card will be the only method of payment.

Brostrom said the method is much quicker than receiving checks; money will be available on the debit card immediately, instead of consumers waiting for the checks in the mail, then waiting to cash them. There is no daily spending limit on the card, Brostrom said.

If the card is stolen, Brostrom said consumers won't be liable for any more than $50 spent.

The system is already utilized in the Department of Human Services; Job Service applied for and received an $85,000 grant to implement the program.

(Reach reporter Crystal R. Reid at 250-8261 or crystal.reid@bismarcktribune.com.)