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On the Town: Two Omaha cigar bars ready to roll 

Sniff, sniff. Cigar smokers smell victory at hand as two new cigar bars -- Ravenite Cigar Bar & Lounge and Havana Garage -- get ready to open.

The Nebraska Liquor Control Commission recently approved rules to facilitate a new state law that exempts cigar bars from the statewide public smoking ban.

Under those rules -- which are still waiting approval from the governor and attorney general -- to become a cigar bar, businesses would have to obtain a special liquor license, install a walk-in humidor (a special room with temperature and humidity controls for storing and displaying cigars), generate at least 10 percent of their gross revenue from tobacco sales (except cigarettes), and would be prohibited from allowing cigarette smoking and selling food. (Tobacco shops also are exempt from the statewide smoking ban.)

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Mesa State tobacco ban meetings tonight, Thursday 

Mesa State College Associated Student Government members will sponsor forums at 6 tonight and 6 p.m. Thursday to discuss three potential on-campus tobacco policies.

The meetings will take place in the Wubben Weldon lecture hall.

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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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Gambling revenues are down one month after smoking ban 

It's been about a month since the Montana Clear Indoor Act took effect in bars, casinos and restaurants across the Treasure State. According to a Billings gaming distributor, gambling revenues are down 16% to 18% across the state.

On October 1st, the Reno Club in Billings joined hundreds of others businesses in going smoke-free. Now that the smoke has cleared, businesses are taking a hard look at the bottom line.

"My gambling is down about 20% and that could be recession, it could be the weather, it could be just about anything," Reno Club owner John Blair said.

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• Housing authorities ban indoor smoking 

Alan Pape doesn't like going into smokers' apartments. But as the maintenance mechanic for the North Bend City/Coos-Curry Housing Authorities, it's part of the job.

"When you have to stand in them for two or three hours at times and breathe in second-hand smoke -- I know it's not good for me," Pape said.

By March, Pape won't have to worry about nicotine-stained walls or smelling like an ash tray at the end of the day.

The two boards of commissioners for the housing authorities adopted a no-indoor-smoking policy for the apartments and buildings they own. The Woodland Apartments Preservation Inc. and Powers Housing Development Inc. -- apartments managed by the housing authorities -- also passed the same policy. The agencies provide section 8 and low-income housing North Bend, Coos Bay, Myrtle Point, Coquille and Port Orford. Woodland and Powers have units in Empire and Powers. Ned Beman, the executive director of the Housing Authorities, said the policy will likely impact 475 residents. He estimated that about 21 percent smoke.

The policy bans smokers from lighting up inside units or other buildings owned by the agencies. Those who smoke will be allowed to -- but outside at least 10 feet from a neighbor's door. It goes into effect on March 1.

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Prospective smoking ban in the works  

A campus-wide smoke ban is being discussed in an ASG committee meeting.

At least 365 campuses in the United States are smoke-free, according to the 2009 report taken by American Nonsmokers’ Rights Foundation.

ASG Sen. Dallen Terrell, who is researching the potential legislation, said he wants Texas State to become 366th. He said the initiative for a campus-wide smoke ban is meant to direct and advise students to healthier lifestyles. Terrell said people who smoke on-campus absorb efforts for the university’s beautification and intrude on students’ right to a healthy, intellectually conducive environment.

“When you obtrude on others rights (to clean air), your rights normally cease,” Terrell said. “Infamous smoking tables like the ones outside Elliot Hall blatantly disregard that a smoking policy even exists.”

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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: City staff want to expand smoking ban  

City of Eugene staff are asking the City Council to change the current smoking ordinance, which bans smoking within 25 feet of a door or window. They want the ban to include the areas around city buildings that provide services to children, like the library, Amazon Pool and Peterson Barn.

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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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Tobacco Deal With Tennis Organisation May Breach UK And International Law 

Six years after the ban on tobacco advertising and sponsorship in the UK, a London-based sports body stands accused of breaching the law by promoting a cigarette brand on its website.[1] The Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) which represents the world's top male tennis players, is responsible for the sponsorship contracts for the various international tournaments. The next ATP World Tour tournament, which is due to take place in Basel, Switzerland from 31 October to 8 November, is sponsored by Davidoff, a cigarette brand manufactured by Imperial Tobacco. The Swiss indoor tournament is believed to be the only one in the world to be sponsored by a tobacco company.

British-based Imperial Tobacco acquired the Davidoff cigarette brand in 2006 and has exploited the weak law in Switzerland which still allows events to be sponsored by tobacco companies, although tobacco advertising on television is banned. However, the televising of the event means that tobacco advertising will be beamed into the homes of more than one billion people worldwide, [2] contrary to Article 13 of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control which has been signed by 160 countries worldwide. [3]

ASH has written to the ATP urging the organisation to end its ties with the tobacco industry when the current contract comes to an end and is seeking clarification from the Department of Health regarding the possible breach of UK law.

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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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VIDEO: Smoke-free hospital grounds idea 

Smoking could be banned in hospital grounds in Wales, it has emerged.

Health Minister Edwina Hart described the level of smoking she saw at one maternity unit as "quite amazing".

But she told the Welsh assembly health committee that no firm conclusions had been reached on making hospitals entirely smoke-free.

Ms Hart also said there was a "low-level discussion" with the UK government on the possible outlawing of tobacco vending machines.

She warned that policing a ban in hospital grounds might be difficult as staff could "get an absolute mouthful".

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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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• Austria tops teen smokers ranking  

Austria has the highest percentage of 15-year-old smokers, 25 per cent, in Europe, according to a Vienna doctor. Manfred Neuberger, the head of the preventive-medicine division at Vienna Medical University, added the number of Austrian youth who smoked had been steadily increasing since 1997 and that 145,891 Austrians aged 11 to 17 smoked.

Noting the average age at which young people began smoking had fallen to 11, he said: "The younger one begins, the worse the consequences will be.”

Neuberger claimed the government had been doing too little to get young people not to smoke. "It is easier to buy cigarettes than groceries,” he said, adding the government should use the 60 million Euros in cigarette taxes that young smokers paid annually to pay for a prevention campaign.

Neuberger called protection of non-smokers in Austria "a health and political time bomb” and said the country was on the level of the Czech Republic, Slovenia, Hungary, Albania and Serbia in that regard. The doctor cited polls in Styria and Upper Austria that had shown 91 per cent of people who visited nightspots felt harmed by secondary smoke and 60 per cent of them wanted the law on smoking toughened.

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