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LETTER: Do your homework  

Regarding "Activists target smoking loopholes" (news story, Oct. 30): Oklahoma bar and restaurant owners act as if our state would be the first and only one to go smoke-free in public venues. Far from it. If Jim Hopper, president of the Oklahoma Restaurant Association, wants to eliminate his members' concerns about losing business if a smoking ban is enacted, he should contact any other restaurant association president in a state with a similar ban. He'd learn that profits at a majority of restaurants have actually increased.

The New York Times archives include articles printed before New York City's ban was enacted. Get the names of all the interviewed restaurant owners who were worried about their restaurant's potential profit losses. Call those same owners today and ask them how their profits are doing since the ban. Do your homework. And when your post-ban profits increase, remember to thank the groups that pushed for the ban.

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The Smoker's Tour Of Santa Cruz  

The Smoker's Tour begins just a few blocks from downtown, not far from a place where books get decapitated. "Absolutely no smoking" reads the sign above the parlor, but this has clearly been nothing more than a joke for several decades. With its crimson walls and year-round Halloween decorations tucked in a ceiling corner, this is a relaxing place to chat and an important stop on any smoker's bar crawl. Check for performances by local blues acts; the intimate concerts are a blast.

When the clock tower chimes, the smoker will want to hurry in to check out this next stop, which is ranked by local experts as a quality dive. The jukebox, like the patrons, is caught between a few decades, but despite the melting pot of tastes there's always a warm atmosphere and a line for the lone pool table. The drinks are fairly priced, and they mix a mean White Russian.

The night tour continues by ambling back toward the main drag, and close to 10:10pm the tourist will find a radical stimulus in the next stop, better known for its musical performances. If you ask for an ashtray at the bar upstairs, you'll be promptly told no and given one.

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ABOUHALKAH: Voters make good calls while lawyers whine  

•Liberty voters approved a tough smoke-free law that will protect residents.

The decision to ban smoking in all restaurants and bars overruled the City Council’s weak ordinance from early 2009, which allowed smoking in too many places. Give credit to a dedicated group of residents who hustled to get this initiative on the ballot.

Now, Raytown shamefully becomes the largest area city whose elected leaders have refused to approve smoke-free legislation, mostly because of a few bar owners’ objections. The Board of Aldermen should change that position.

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No-smoking, drinks-only tavern gives patrons a breath of fresh air  

Chad Smith's new tavern is a little different from his competition. It's a little less smoky.

Smith banned smoking inside the bar completely.

'I think the town is moving in that direction,' said Smith, owner of the Alcove International Tavern, which opened about two months ago at 730 22nd Ave. 'I think in three to four years, all taverns will be non-smoking, because that seems to be the trend.'

In 2003, a state law banned smoking in hospitals, schools, most retail businesses, elevators, buses and taxis, and several Alabama municipalities have enacted smoking bans that are even more restrictive.

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Liberty's Anti-Smoking Vote Raises Concerns for Businesses  

It has only been one day after Liberty voters agreed to beef up the town's existing smoking ban and already there are two big questions: will it drive smoking customers away, and how long will it be before smokers have no where to go?

Tuesday's vote is a very big deal for two Liberty establishments. One is a bar and the other is a bowling alley, but one of the business may be more hurt by the ban than the other.

Liberty's Corner Bar was exempt under Liberty's first smoking ban but that all changes now as the corner bar will also go smoke free on November 23. However, Tuesday's vote still has those who work at the bar confident that things won't change all that much.

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VIDEO: Business Owners Worry About Smoking Ban Effects -  

St. Louis County voters overwhelmingly passed a smoking ban that will now take effect in St. Louis City as well. Business owners have a little more than one year to get prepared, but there are concerns, already.

Owner of Harry's Restaurant and Bar, Harry Belli, says he speaks from experience. He laid-off 45 employees and lost thousands of dollars when he shut down Harry's West after Ballwin enacted a smoking ban. Even though this smoking ban covers all of St. Louis City and County, he is concerned because casinos have an exemption.

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“The Smoke-Free Debate Is Not Over,” Waco Coalition Says  

The Smoke-Free Waco coalition vowed Wednesday to continue to fight for a comprehensive smoking ordinance after the Waco City Council Tuesday rejected an outright ban on smoking in bars, restaurants and workplaces in favor of tightening restrictions in the city’s existing ordinance.

"In voting for this weak compromise, the Waco City Council is saying that some of our citizens are more valuable and deserve more protection than others. That's not right,” said Dr. Bradford W. Holland, the coalition’s spokesman and the president-elect of the McLennan County Medical Society.

"The smoke-free debate is not over in Waco. These laws are sweeping the nation, we are lagging behind, and one day soon we will need to revisit this issue,” he said.

The new ordinance eliminates exemptions that allowed smoking in restaurants with fewer than eight employees and between 10 p.m. and 2 a.m. in restaurants with fewer than 15 workers.

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No Smoking Outside the Bar, Either 

Although called the indoor clean air act, some local bar owners are catching flak due to people smoking outside their establishments. Apparently, the law's definition of indoors extends 25 feet from any entrance.

Robert Eddington, owner of Murphy's Bar and Grill at 160 S. Main, received a complaint from the Salt Lake Valley Health Department for "letting customers smoke within 25 feet of the door entrance." It was a pretty vexing charge for Eddington, who says the person smoking too close to the bar wasn't actually a patron, but a passer-by.

Despite attempts to modernize Salt Lake City's downtown nightlife, the staff of Murphy's feel they've been stuck with an unfair complaint. For manager Steve Evans, it doesn't help that the bar is so close to Temple Square.

"I think they give us a harder time just because we're so close to Mormon Disneyland ," he says.

Ironically, what attracted the complaint from the Health Department was not the smokers, but an attempt by the bar's staff to prevent cigarette butts from littering the sidewalk. "It seems the complaint was the ashtray, so I threw the ashtray in the dumpster," says Eddington. "Now that they have done their due diligence and saved the city from an ashtray, people can throw their cigarette butts on the sidewalk, in the planter boxes or in the gutter."

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Leading U.K. Restaurant Chains Post Impressive Sales and Units Gains, Reports Technomic  

Despite the global economic downturn, the leading 100 U.K. restaurant chains grew sales by 3.4 percent in 2008 to nearly £11 billion, and posted strong unit gains, expanding by 7.6 percent to approximately 15,000 locations.

The limited-service segment, accounting for 60 percent of sales for the leading 100 chains, led the group, up 4.7 percent to more than £6.5 billion, while the full-service segment, representing 40 percent of sales, grew by 1.6 percent to over £4 billion. . . .

The implementation of the indoor smoking ban in pubs generated new food customers who had previously avoided smoke. Mitchells & Butlers plc attributed its robust food sales to these new patrons.

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• Smoking ban exemptions are now the focus of criticism 

Steve Stenger, the County Council member who insisted that any ban include a casino exemption, said he expected the council to move next year to rescind it.

"With upwards of 65 percent of the people voting in favor of the ban, I think you can see the day coming to phase out that exemption," said Stenger, D-Affton. "Tuesday showed very clearly that most people do not want to be exposed to smoke in any public place."

Stenger predicted that the County Council would take action to eliminate the exemption shortly after the ban takes effect in 2011. If it chose, the council could change the ordinance on its own without submitting it to public vote again. . . .

The city and county exemptions drew attention on many fronts Wednesday.

Those who fought the bans said the casino exemption was unconstitutional, and could be used to invalidate the entire proposition.

At O'Connell's Pub off South Kingshighway, the talk was how to measure a bar's square footage so that it would be protected by the city's five-year exemption for bars under 2,000 square feet.

And in Maplewood, a restaurant owner who opposed the ban is adamantly against exemptions.

Bill Hannegan, an activist against both smoking bans, said opponents met Wednesday with lawyers to discuss ways to overturn them. . . .

And he said his group has discussed an initiative petition to address the most restrictive provisions of the city ban. His group, Keep St. Louis Free, views the city ban as more onerous than the county ban, which has the exemption for bars that make less than 25 percent of their revenue off food.

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St. Louis smoking bans raise questions at state level  

Following adoption of smoking bans in St. Louis and St. Louis County, one Missouri legislator who has previously supported a statewide ban said he now thinks differently.

Rep. Joseph Fallert, D-Ste. Genevieve, said he thinks now might be the time for smoking bans to be local initiatives. Fallert said after his initial proposal for banning smoking in public places statewide failed he has been watching the progress of such legislation in local jurisdictions.

He originally said he thought it was important to make it a state law to allay the fear of businesses losing revenue because of patrons going to other counties or municipalities; but with the success of these bans at local levels, he said he does not see the need for a statewide ban.

"There is no reason to jump in and make a huge change when things are already headed in the right direction," Fallert said.

With the passage of Proposition N, 50 percent of Missourians are now in a smoke-free environment, St. Louis County Councilwoman Barbara Fraser said.

Proposition N prohibits smoking in certain public areas in St. Louis city and county. For example, within city limits, the law prevents smoking in bars and restaurants, but in St. Louis County, any bar that makes less than 25 percent of its revenue from food can allow smoking.

The election, which had a 20 percent voter turnout, resulted in two-thirds of voters favoring the ban. The ban will go into effect Jan. 2, 2011.

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AUDIO: St. Louis County Smoking Ban Could Lead to Statewide Ban  

Lawmakers say a smoking ban St. Louis voters approved yesterday could lead to a ban statewide. Christine Slusser reports.

The new smoking ban takes affect in certain indoor public places in St. Louis County. The new ban may give momentum toward a statewide smoking ban. Jefferson County Democratic Representative Jeff Roorda says St. Louis has a huge impact on statewide issues.

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St. Louis County Voters Embrace Future; Vote "Yes" for Smoking Ban 

That crisp, clean air you're smelling this morning? Ladies and gentlemen, that's progress!

That's (dare we say it?) the future! . . .

Oh, and that Kirkwood vote also won somebody a bet with anti-smoking-ban crusader Bill Hannegan. (I'll take that case of Schlafly Pale Ale whenever you get a chance.)

One last note: The city and county smoking bans don't go into effect for another 14 months -- January 2011. So, smoke 'em while you can.

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Prop N passes by wide margin  

“We have made a major step forward on cleaner air and obviously a healthy environment for our citizens in the county and city, and hopefully for the whole state in the future,” said County Councilwoman Barbara Fraser, D-University City, who introduced the St. Louis County Council bill that put the smoking ban on the ballot.

Proposition N opponent Bill Hannegan, though disappointed, downplayed the result, saying that “it was always going to be tough in the county” due to its low smoking rate.

Hannegan, who heads the group Keep St. Louis Free, added that “the fight’s not over” and that the opposition could challenge the constitutionality of the casino exemption, bring up a conflict between the two smoking bans and state law, or push to amend the city’s smoking ban. . . .

Proposition N supporters gathered with posters and signs during the Monday rush hour at five street-side locations, including the intersection of Forest Park Parkway and Skinker Boulevard.

More than 200 Saint Louis University medical students and faculty gathered on their campus on Thursday to rally for the ban.

The Washington University community’s highest-profile supporter of the proposition is Martha Bhattacharya, postdoctoral fellow in developmental biology, who served as treasurer of pro-proposition County Citizens for Cleaner Air. Bhattacharya said last week she encouraged students to vote for the measure.

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Prestonsburg Smoking Ban Takes Effect  

If you want to smoke in Prestonsburg, you'll have to do it outside or at home.

Monday was the first business day since the smoking ban started.

Most supporters say it is a health issue, but others say their rights are being violated.

Harold Burchell smoked for 18 years. He gave up the habit, and is glad Prestonsburg restaurants are now smoke-free.

"I do believe people have a right to smoke, that would be their choice. However, I also understand the medical problems caused by smoking," Burchell said.

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