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Another skirmish over Omaha's smoking ban 

A judge on Tuesday repeatedly questioned whether there's more smoke than fire to a pool hall owner's challenge of Omaha's ban on smoking in workplaces.

Douglas County District Judge Mark Ashford pointed out that a statewide smoking ban will take effect in June 2009 and questioned whether that would essentially make Big John's Billiards' challenge to Omaha's smoking ban moot.

The judge also stressed that he has no ability to overrule the Nebraska Supreme Court, which overturned the City of Omaha's exceptions allowing smoking in places that have keno. . . .

However, Theodore Boecker, an attorney for Big John's, said the Supreme Court's elimination of Omaha's exemptions for keno halls has harmed his client by creating an uneven playing field.

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EDITORIAL: Dangers outweigh need for exceptions to smoking ban 

Sixty-three percent of Washington voters decided the state would be better off eliminating secondhand smoke from public places. It was a wise decision -- one that needs no revision.

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Uniform smoking rules unlikely for Evansville, Vanderburgh County 

With the adoption of separate city and county ordinances banning smoking in most public places, the controversy seemed to be over.

But zero hour — Jan. 2, 2009 — is approaching.

That's the date the principal difference between the two ordinances will leap off the pages of code books and literally into the air around us.

That's when exemptions for bars, taverns and clubs in the county will expire, and all businesses in the county's jurisdiction will become smoke-free. But in the city, similar exemptions for restaurants, bars and taverns will continue.

"I knew this was coming," said City Councilman H. Dan Adams, a retired cardiac heart surgeon who was elected at large last year after speaking out for a tough smoking ban. "Maybe the city needs to go the way of the county. If there is a discussion in the City Council, I'll be frank about how I feel."

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Another Cripple Creek Casino Allows Smoking 

Another Cripple Creek casino is allowing smoking in spite of the statewide ban. The Gold Rush Casino started letting customers smoke in an area they call a cigar bar.

Smoking was banned in all Colorado businesses including bars and restaurants, but the state's casinos were given an exemption, that loop hole was closed. As of January this year smoking was outlawed in casinos as well.

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Casinos Ticketed For Smoking; Despite Loophole  

According to Colorado law only cigar bars can allow it, but some casino owners say they sell enough tobacco to be considered a cigar bar.

Last month Midnight Rose, Double Eagle and Bronco Billy's were given tickets by the city's police chief after a civil complaint was filed. Gold Rush got their ticket on Saturday. The only casino who quit allowing smokers is Double Eagle.

The casino owners who were ticketed may have felt they hit the jackpot.

"There's a way around everything," said Pattie Chavez, a smoker.

Owners found what some would call a loophole around Colorado's State-Wide Smoking Ban Law.

"That's obviously what the casinos think," said Cripple Creek Councilman Gary Ledford.

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Editorial: Iowans will prevail through smoking ban 

The smoking ban is now in place, let the games begin.

For some restaurants, the ban may prove to be a boon. . . .

The state's casinos used millions of dollars in tax revenues (and a powerful lobbying effort) to convince the legislature of the need to be exempted from the smoking ban.

In case you missed previous editorials, we still believe the casino exemption stinks. But at least our casinos aren't going to become cigar bars.

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Alderman wants to keep 'Jersey Boys' smoking 

Downtown Ald. Brendan Reilly (42nd) wants to follow the lead of his vanquished opponent, Burt Natarus, by exempting live theater from Chicago's smoking ban.

Reilly said he would introduce the amendment at Wednesday's City Council meeting and push for speedy passage to allow the Chicago production of "Jersey Boys" to put cigarettes back into the hands of actors playing Frankie Valli and the boys.

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Theatre exemption to smoking ban to be proposed 

Live theatrical performances may get exempted from Chicago's smoking ban.

The exemption would involve the hit stage production "Jersey Boys." After one theatergoer complained, the characters were forced to stop smoking this week.

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EDITORIAL: Smoking ban still stirring debate  

It may sound flippant to describe the controversy over smoking as a "burning issue," but that description continues to be apt, as these reader comments(at right) and Your Voice column (below) prove.

A year and a half after Ohio voters approved a comprehensive ban on smoking in public, the debate continues to flare. It has spread to Northern Kentucky, where three county judge-executives have declared an intent to push for some restrictions on smoking. . . .

As we said in a June 30 editorial, there may be some merit in clearing up the law's language, but we think the new bill interprets those exemptions far too broadly, particularly on family businesses. And as you can see, opinion among readers is divided. What do you think?

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• Smoking out the loopholes: Bar, club owners fight ban 

Bar patrons are talking over tall mugs of beer, nothing unusual about that. But there are ashtrays – ashtrays! – on the tables. And a slight smoky haze hangs in the air, as people happily puff away on cigarettes and cigars. Three years after voters overwhelmingly approved Washington's toughest-in-the-nation smoking ban, a handful of bar owners, clubs and others continue to seek ways around it.

Among their recent efforts:

•An American Legion post in Bremerton has a case before the state Supreme Court, arguing that the ban was never intended to apply to private clubs.

•Frankie's owner Frank Schnarrs has been in court for two years, arguing that his upstairs bar is actually a members-only club, and that the servers are volunteers.

•Cigar fans gathered tens of thousands of signatures this year in an unsuccessful effort to restore smoking in cigar stores and smoke shops.

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• Lobbyists pressure MPs to relax ban 

Pro-smoking group Forest will today pressure MPs to amend the smoking ban and allow licensed smoking rooms in pubs and clubs.

Speaking at a House of Commons reception hosted by Tory MP Philip Davies the group's director Simon Clark plans to highlight the plight of pubs to an audience of MPs.

Handing them each a complimentary Montecristo No. 2 cigar, he will say: "Many pubs and clubs have suffered serious economic hardship and for many smokers the social impact has been equally severe.

"It is very unfair, especially on older smokers. For some mental health sufferers the impact of the ban has been devastating.

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Some local businesses will sidestep smoking ban 

Not every business went lights-out today.

Places such as the Tobacco Bowl and the Red Poppy are still alive and puffing.

Businesses earning 80 percent or more of their gross revenue from the sale of tobacco products are exempt from Iowa's statewide smoking ban.

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Confusion About Jackson's New Smoking Ban  

Jackson restaurant and bar owners have unanswered questions about a partial ban on smoking on those establishments.

After months of debate, the city council approved the ban Tuesday.

Under the ordinance, smoking will be banned in all restaurants and any bars that are attached to those restaurants.

But so-called stand alone bars which are not attached to other buildings are exempt.

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• Public smoking becomes illegal throughout Germany 

Lighting up in bars and restaurants become illegal across Germany's 16 states on Tuesday, spelling the end of the country's status as one of Europe's last smokers' havens.

North-Rhine Westphalia and Thuringia became the last two regions to implement public smoking bans on July 1, all other states having done so piecemeal since late 2007.

In Berlin, where a ban took effect on January 1, smokers were granted a six-month period of grace that expired on Tuesday and those who breach the ban now face fines of 1,000 euros (1,575 dollars). . . .

But the country's biggest anti-tobacco lobby, Pro Rauchfrei, has said efforts to stamp out public smoking are doomed because the absence of a single federal ban and the number of exemptions allowed by the courts have created too much confusion.

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Setting it straight  

Smoking: Stevens Point has a smoking ban, but the ordinance exempts certain public places, including bowling centers, restaurants with a seating capacity of 50 persons or less, taverns and private clubs. This information was incorrectly reported in an article that appeared on Page 1A of Central Wisconsin on Sunday. . . .

The Daily Tribune regrets the errors.

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