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Waukee businesses prepare for smoking ban  

Brett Anderson thinks a statewide smoking ban will improve business at his restaurant. But that doesn't mean he's happy about it.

Anderson owns Vern's Restaurant & Lounge, which sits on Hickman Road near the Waukee/Clive border. He spent $150,000 to design the restaurant to accommodate smokers and non-smokers. The two sections of the restaurant are separated by the kitchen and by glass doors. They have separate ventilation systems.

But on Tuesday, all bars and restaurants in Iowa will be completely smoke-free.

"All that investment is for naught now," Anderson said.

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• Casinos going green to save energy, money, but smoking can get in the way  

Even in an industry closely identified with devil-may-care gluttony, going green makes business sense as consumers increasingly demand sustainable products and services . . .

The trend is reaching even casinos in Las Vegas, long criticized by environmentalists for its extravagant use of natural resources.

In April, the Palazzo Las Vegas resort became the world's largest building project to receive a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, or LEED, certificate from the U.S. Green Building Council. . . .

Casinos typically face a big obstacle to LEED certification: the need to satisfy customers who smoke. LEED requires separate smoking areas and systems to contain and remove smoke and monitor air quality, said Ashley Katz, spokeswoman for the green building council.

Absher said those requirements make the casino the only section of the 76-acre, mixed-use CityCenter project that MGM doesn't expect will qualify for LEED certification, despite the casino's other sustainable features.

"We will meet all the other standards," he said. "But we cannot overcome this. Smoking is something that is very important to our customer base at this point."

It's especially hard to limit tobacco use in a tribal casino, given its iconic status in American Indian culture. But Turtle Creek developers tried to do the next best thing by installing a purifying system.

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• Casinos trying to clear air of cigarette smoke 

But in an age when an estimated 80 percent of Americans don't smoke, tribal casinos are investing in smoke-clearing equipment to keep non-smokers happy and playing the slots.

"It's a business decision casinos are making," said Sheila Morago, executive director of the Arizona Indian Gaming Association.

"People say they don't want smoke in their faces. And engineers keep coming out with newer and better (smoke-removal) systems."

The Gila River Indian Community is spending approximately $500,000 on a state-of-the-art smoke-clearing system at a casino under construction south of Chandler. . . .

Retired Tempe physician Leland Fairbanks, now president of the Mesa-based Arizonans Concerned About Smoking Inc., explained that toxic particulates from tobacco smoke may remain in the air after the smoke itself is blown out of a room.

"And it isn't the smoke that kills anyone; it's the toxins," he said.

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May ballot includes tougher smoking ban 

The fate of where smokers can and can't light up is in the hands of Kerrville city voters.

A referendum to tighten the city's smoking ordinance is on the May 10 ballot. Early voting for the city election begins Monday.

Proponents of the referendum hope to snuff out smoking in city parks, on downtown streets during public gatherings, in bars and private clubs and within 20 feet of any building entrance.

The tougher ordinance would let restaurants allow smoking if there is a completely enclosed smoking area separated by walls and doors with separate heating and air-conditioning ventilation.

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Upper West Side Couple Settles Suit Over a Neighbor’s Smoke 

The war over secondhand smoke at the Ansonia has ended.

A couple at the Ansonia, a historic Upper West Side apartment building, who had sued a neighbor over her wafting cigarette smoke have agreed to settle their lawsuit, one of the plaintiffs said on Monday.

The plaintiffs -- Jonathan Selbin and his wife, Jenny, both lawyers -- had sued their fourth-floor neighbor, Galila Huff, claiming that smoke seeping from her condo into the common hallway was jeopardizing the health of the Selbins' young son.

Mr. Selbin confirmed the settlement and said Ms. Huff had agreed to take steps to minimize the spread of her smoke.

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• Ansonia Smoking Lawsuit Is Settled  

The war of the cigarettes is over at the Ansonia. The lawyer-couple who sued their neighbor at the historic Upper West Side apartment building because, they claimed, she was jeopardizing the health of their 4-year-old son with her smoking, have agreed to drop the lawsuit.

Jonathan Selbin, the class-action lawyer who, with is wife, Jenny, also a lawyer, sued their neighbor, Galila Huff, confirmed the settlement.

"True," Mr. Selbin said.

"She agreed to use the donated air filters and a smokeless ashtray, which is all we ever asked her to do," he said. "Period." . . .

Within days of publicity over the lawsuit, a company called Aerus, formerly known as Electrolux, offered to install a free air filtration system in both the Selbins’ and Ms. Huff’s apartments that the company said would clear the smoke.

Joe Urso, CEO of Aerus, said that the filtration system had been installed and that he believed it was instrumental in driving the settlement.

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EDITORIAL: Lawmakers waffle on smoking ban 

There is no hurry. That's the disturbing message that a bipartisan conference committee of Pennsylvania lawmakers delivered last week on the subject of a statewide smoking ban. They are so wrong, and impatience for a ban seems to grow by the minute.

Rep. Ron Miller, R-York, said he needs the extra time to work on an amendment regarding requirements for ventilation equipment that will clear smoke out of a bar or club.

Hello? The same Surgeon General's report that concluded secondhand smoke can have deadly effects also concluded there is virtually no ventilation system that can effectively clear a room or a building of cigarette smoke. . . .

one conference committee member, state Rep. Bob Belfanti, D-Northumberland County, a leading proponent of smokers' rights. "This is still the United States of America, with a capital USA, and I do believe that everyone has rights," he told the Harrisburg newspaper.

Smokers' rights, huh? The whole trouble with the "rights" argument is that it clashes with the "rights" of the nonsmoking majority.

That's why 15 states -- Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Rhode Island, Washington and Vermont -- plus the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico prohibit smoking in almost all public places and workplaces, including restaurants and bars.

It's time for Gov. Ed Rendell to once again lay down the law to the lawmakers. He should threaten to veto any measure that includes exceptions beyond private clubs and some floors of casinos. That's bad enough.

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Butt out or step back 

Local shops and restaurants are skeptical about having to shut down indoor smoking rooms and tuck away all tobacco products in accordance with B.C.'s new smoking regulations, which came into effect yesterday.

Trevor MacKay, manager of Cheers Bar and Grill in Abbotsford, said he does not think the ban is a bad idea, but is disappointed with the closure of Cheers' almost new smoking room.

"We spent nearly a quarter million dollars three years ago to build a brand new addition to the restaurant for smokers. It is totally sealed off with top of the line ventilation and now we have to close it," said MacKay.

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EDITORIAL: Tobacco law smokes pubs 

A nasty stench is emanating from the province of B.C.’s latest tobacco law, and it’s not second-hand smoke.

A few years ago, ‘new’ tobacco laws required drinking establishments to go smoke free indoors, but they could either build a ventilated smoking room or a patio to accommodate smokers.

At the time, drinking establishments cried foul, correctly believing their bottom lines would suffer, then reluctantly followed the new regulations.

Many, like the Port Pub, spent thousands of dollars on new ventilation systems and smoking rooms as recently as four years ago in an attempt to accommodate their smoking customers. After some growing pains, the system seemed to be working.

But the government reared its draconian law-making head once again . . .

If government officials were going to outright ban smoking indoors, they should have done so years ago. It would have saved many businesses a lot of money.

At the very least, the provincial government should compensate those establishments that now have very expensive, fresh air indoor playpens that used to be smoking rooms.

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Partial smoking ban proposed as compromise  

Key lawmakers said today they are nearing a deal to put more limits on public smoking in Pennsylvania, but they delayed voting on a proposal for at least four weeks.

A House-Senate conference committee is eyeing a plan drafted by Rep. Ron Miller, R-York, to allow establishments to permit smoking only if they meet certain conditions.

Businesses, casinos and fraternal clubs that want to allow smoking would have to prominently post signs indicating they are smoking establishments and meet air-testing requirements that have yet to be determined. Children would not be allowed inside those smoking establishments.

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Partial smoking ban proposed as compromise  

Key lawmakers said today they are nearing a deal to put more limits on public smoking in Pennsylvania, but they delayed voting on a proposal for at least four weeks.

A House-Senate conference committee is eyeing a plan drafted by Rep. Ron Miller, R-York, to allow establishments to permit smoking only if they meet certain conditions.

Businesses, casinos and fraternal clubs that want to allow smoking would have to prominently post signs indicating they are smoking establishments and meet air-testing requirements that have yet to be determined. Children would not be allowed inside those smoking establishments.

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Pub smoking rooms against the law as of Sunday 

Tough new anti-smoking rules go into effect on Sunday, putting smoking rooms in many bars across the province into legal limbo.

Many pub owners are furious that they spent thousands installing specially ventilated smoking rooms two years ago when the first phase of the Tobacco Control Act went into effect.

On March 31, all those rooms will be against the law.

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Bars must go cold turkey 

Starting March 31, smoking will be prohibited in virtually all indoor public places, including establishments such as Friendly Mike's that have invested thousands of dollars in Workers' Compensation Board-approved smoking rooms. The changes cover a number of regulations for tobacco, including how retailers can display products.

The proprietor of Friendly Mike's, John Toussaint, expects his business and other bars will see a decrease in business starting next week.

"For us as a pub, it's going to affect business for at least six months, maybe longer," he said.

Toussaint has heard of studies that show clients eventually return, but he is still wary. Following past anti-smoking regulations, the bar business took a hit.

"Our business was definitely down and never recovered," he said. . . .

In recent years, he has tried to accommodate them by working with engineers to install a smoking room, complete with a $30,000 furnace and four exhaust fans near the ceiling each costing $800. A new ceiling and other renovation work added to the price tag.

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LETTER: Smoking compromise  

I am a social smoker and would actually like to have a ban on smoking in public places, but the problem is that there is no way it will stop with just smoking. Would it lead to a ban on obese people . . . .

Whatever happened to compromise? Why not create legislation that will require better ventilation so that no one ever inhales another's smoke?

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Panel approves ban on smoking in public places  

A state Senate committee voted Monday to extend a 2003 smoking ban to bars and other public places where Oklahomans can still light up.

The Legislature banned smoking in most public places five years ago, but granted some exceptions. Restaurants, for instance, were allowed to build smoking rooms for their smoking customers.

Under the bill, approved by a 5-3 vote on Monday in the Senate Business and Labor Committee, restaurants that invested in separate smoking facilities would have until 2013 to go completely smoke free.

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