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Fitch Takes Actions on Children's Trust Fund Tobacco Settlement Bonds Ser 2002, 2005 & 2008 

Fitch Ratings affirms 11 and downgrades two classes from Children's Trust Fund Tobacco Settlement (Puerto Rico) asset-backed bonds series 2002, 2005 and 2008, as follows:

Tobacco Settlement asset-backed bonds current interest serial bonds

--$11,315,000 due May 15, 2010 affirmed at 'BBB+'; Outlook Stable;

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Puerto Rico Puts Off Tobacco-Settlement Bond Sale as Rates Rise 

Puerto Rico postponed its offering of $238 million of bonds backed by the U.S. commonwealth's share of payments by cigarette makers to states and local governments, citing ``market volatility.''

The 50-year, tax-exempt bonds were to be issued by the Children's Trust, a nonprofit created by Puerto Rico to sell the rights to revenue from the 1998 master settlement with tobacco companies. A portion of the sale, proceeds of which were to help plug a budget deficit, was to have included high-risk, high- yield securities without a credit rating.

It is the second time in eight weeks that Puerto Rico has put off a bond sale because of higher borrowing costs.

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• Puerto Rico smoking ban in effect 

People caught smoking in bars and restaurants in Puerto Rico faced fines Friday as a ban on lighting up in enclosed public spaces took effect.

The law was approved last year over the objections of some in the tourism industry. It also prohibits smoking in private cars with children under 13 inside.

Violators face a penalty of $250 for a first offense and up to $2,000 for repeat violations.

Opponents say the ban threatens tourism on an island where many people like to smoke while betting in the nearly two dozen casinos, which are considered key to Puerto Rico's $3 billion tourism industry.

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• Only a few are fuming as strict smoking ban looms in Puerto Rico 

Touted as the Caribbean's toughest smoking ban, Puerto Rico's "clean air act" not only prohibits smoking in enclosed public areas, but also in private cars carrying children under 13 and in open-air terraces or outdoor bars with one or more employees.

Puerto Rico's governor signed the law this year over the objections of some in the $3 billion tourist industry, who feared it might turn away tourists. In 2005, Floridians made up 17 percent of Puerto Rico's 1.3 million U.S. tourists who stay in hotels, the only group officials track by residence. An additional 2.3 million visitors arrived on cruise ships or stayed with relatives last year.

Studies suggest tourism officials may not have much to fear from the smoking ban. The University of Florida's Bureau of Economic and Business Research found that sales at Florida restaurants increased by 7 percent after the state's smoking ban went into effect in 2003. A July 2006 report examined sales tax receipts in New York City and New York State between 1999 and 2004 and found that city and statewide smoking bans had no financial impact on bars and restaurants.

In San Juan, even smokers were not fuming over the ban. . . .

The legislation was not prompted by high smoking rates on the island. Only 13 percent of adults smoke in Puerto Rico, making it the third-lowest rate in the United States. Only Utah, with 11 percent, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, with 9 percent, have lower rates. In Florida, 22 percent of adults smoke.

Still, smoking-related illnesses cost Puerto Rico $1.1 billion in lost productivity and health-care expenses, said Antonio Cases, director of the Tobacco Control and Prevention Division of Puerto Rico's Health Department.

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• Caribbean's toughest smoking ban coming to Puerto Rico 

Night after night for almost seven years Loraine Cardona inhaled clouds of acrid cigar and cigarette smoke at the Diamond Palace Casino in Condado, San Juan's hip tourist district. A supervisor at the blackjack tables, Cardona wheezed though bouts of bronchitis, pneumonia and asthma, while players puffed into the wee hours of the night.

''If there were seven players in front of me, four of them would be smoking. It was as if I were smoking four cigarettes at once,'' said Cardona, 34. ''My skin smelled like nicotine.''

The smoke hung so heavy that managers at the Diamond Palace took a gamble of their own and banned smoking six months ago. In March, however, all of the island's restaurants, bars and its 17 other casinos will follow the Diamond's suit. Touted as the Caribbean's toughest smoking ban, Puerto Rico's ''clean air act'' not only prohibits smoking in enclosed public areas, but also in private cars carrying children under 13 and in open-air terraces or outdoor bars with one or more employees.

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World's Oldest Person Celebrates 115th 

The world's oldest person celebrated his 115th birthday Monday, offering advice on healthy living at a party where he was serenaded by a well-known Puerto Rican singer.

Emiliano Mercado del Toro, who was a boy when the United States seized Puerto Rico from Spain in 1898, attributed his long life to a healthy diet and avoiding alcohol. "I never damaged my body with liquor," said Mercado, who quit a 76-year smoking habit when he was 90.

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PR's Smoking Ban Is Caribbean's Toughest 

Puerto Rico's governor has signed into law a ban on smoking in enclosed public places - the toughest anti-tobacco prohibition in the Caribbean.

The measure, which passed in the legislature of the U.S. island territory last month over the objections of some in the tourist industry, was signed Thursday by Gov. Anibal Acevedo Vila. It is scheduled to take effect in March 2007.

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Thank Puerto Rico for Passing Smokefree Workplace Legislation 

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Puerto Rico Passes One of Nation's Strongest Smoke-Free Laws, Says Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids 

By signing into law one of the strongest smoke-free workplace laws in the United States, Puerto Rico Governor Anibal Acevedo Vila today delivered a historic victory for public health and the public's right to breathe clean air. The new law covers all Puerto Rico workplaces and public buildings, including restaurants and bars, as well as cars carrying passengers younger than 13. Puerto Rico's leaders have taken appropriate action to protect workers and families from secondhand smoke, which is a proven cause of lung cancer, heart disease and other serious health hazards. No one should have to choose between a good job and good health.

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Puerto Rico, Utah, Uruguay Join Growing Movement for Smoke-Free Air 

Across the United States and around the world, there is growing momentum to protect the public’s right to breathe clean air, free from the proven dangers of secondhand smoke. Just this week, Puerto Rico, Utah and Uruguay have enacted or implemented strong smoke-free workplace laws that include restaurants and bars. Today in Puerto Rico, Governor Anibal Acevedo Vila signed one of the strongest smoke-free workplace laws in the United States. On Wednesday, the Utah Legislature approved legislation extending that state’s already strong smoke-free law to bars and private clubs. Also on Wednesday, Uruguay implemented the strongest smoke-free law in Latin America, covering indoor workplaces and public places including restaurants and bars.

These actions are driven by the strong public support for smoke-free environments and the overwhelming evidence that smoke-free laws protect health without harming business. Secondhand smoke isn’t just annoying, but a proven cause of lung cancer, heart disease and other serious health hazards. . . .

It’s time for every state and community in the country to protect the public’s right to breathe clean air.

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• Puerto Rico Moves Closer to Smoking Ban 

lawmakers on Thursday passed what would be the toughest anti-smoking law in the Caribbean. The governor said he will sign the restrictions over the objections of some in the tourism industry, banning smoking in bars, restaurants and other public buildings because of health concerns for the employees.

Violators of the law, set to take effect next year, would face a fine of $250 for a first offense, but it is unclear how strenuously it would be enforced.

The law would set Puerto Rico apart from its Caribbean and Latin American neighbors. . . .

would also ban smoking in cars carrying passengers younger than 13.

Opponents see the law as a threat to tourism on an island where many people like to puff on a giant stogie, drink in hand, while betting in one of Puerto Rico's nearly two dozen casinos. The gambling halls are key to the territory's $3 billion tourism industry.

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• Smoking in Puerto Rico 

The Puerto Rican Senate has passed a law that would ban smoking in bars, casinos and other public places -- as well as in private cars with children aboard.

The bill, which prohibits smoking in cars carrying passengers under 13 years old, was adopted unanimously on Feb. 6. It now heads to the House of Representatives for approval.

Gov. Anibal Acevedo Vila -- who vetoed an earlier bill because it was too broad -- was expected to sign the legislation into law soon.

"To earn a living, many employees are obliged to breathe so much secondhand smoke," Sen. Maria de Lourdes Santiago Negron said. "They have the right to breathe clean air."

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• Senate OKs smoking ban in bars, restaurants 

The Puerto Rico Senate on Monday unanimously approved a House bill intended to ban smoking in certain areas such as public buildings, agencies, public corporations, as well as public and private elevators.

The bill also bans smoking in restaurants, cafeterias, bakeries, fast-food restaurants, bars, pubs, clubs, and liquor stores.

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Guinness Confirms Longest Stogie Record 

A Dominican man living in Puerto Rico rolled a 62-foot-long cigar earlier this year and now it's been declared the world biggest.

Patricio Pena's 20-pound stogie, rolled at a vegetable market in Puerto Rico's capital, easily beat the previous world record of 45 feet.

Pena, who has lived here for about three years, received confirmation that his mammoth cigar was the largest from the Guinness Book of Records on Wednesday, his 44th birthday.

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62-Foot Stogie Rolled in Puerto Rico 

A cigar maker in Puerto Rico has hand-rolled a 62-foot-long stogie, which would be the world's largest if confirmed by the Guinness Book of World Records.

Patricio Pena, 43, took about four days to manufacture the cigar in a plaza outside a farmer's market in the Santurce district of San Juan, finishing the project late Saturday. . . .

Puerto Rico, a U.S. Caribbean territory of about 4 million people, once had an important tobacco industry but it has faded over the past century as the economy has shifted away from agriculture and toward industrial manufacturing.

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