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Whether the state took an improper route to nab the admitted smoking ban violator is just one of several arguments Des Moines County District Court Judge Mary Ann Brown will consider before ruling whether the smoking ban violates the U.S. and Iowa constitutions.
Though the hearing lasted just two hours Tuesday morning, with the arguments largely made up of the written briefs the attorneys previously submitted to the judge, the owner of Otis Campbell's Bar and Grill said he'd take what he could get.
"I'm grateful that it got this far now," Duncan said after the trial. "I believe in the system."
Brown asked few questions during the hearing but thanked the attorneys at the end of their arguments. She did not offer a time frame for making a decision but said it will be "as quickly as we can."
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WATERLOO - Black Hawk County has been warned by state health officials to enforce a smoking ban on courthouse grounds.
The Iowa Department of Public Health has received complaints about violations of the Iowa Smokefree Air Act near the courthouse entrance. In a letter to county officials, the agency warned the county could be subject to fines for future violations.
Building Maintenance Supervisor Louis Cutwright said it was unclear whether those apparently violating the law were employees, who could be subject to disciplinary action, or members of the public doing business at the courthouse.
A group of downtown business owners in Iowa City wants to move panhandlers farther away and make an open air mall smoke-free from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. . . .
The group also wants the city to ban smoking in the open air mall, saying it would reduce loitering outside their stores and keep sidewalk cafe patrons from enduring nearby smoking. By allowing smoking after 10 p.m., bar patrons could smoke outside after the cafes had closed.
Copper Creek Golf Club in Pleasant Hill has been hit with a 30-day suspension of its retail cigarette/tobacco permit.
“We’ve received a letter from the attorney general’s office stating that the Copper Creek golf course clubhouse had a second violation for selling tobacco to minors,” Joni Haag, city clerk and finance director, said at the Oct. 27 meeting of the Pleasant Hill City Council. “Rather than paying a $1,500 fine, they would rather serve a 30-day suspension, which is their privilege.”
The suspension will run from Nov. 15 to Dec. 14.
Copper Creek Golf Club’s second violation occurred in late June.
In response to Jason Todtz' rebuttal to Harkins' letter "Smoke not welcome here" on Oct. 26, I support Todtz' right to freedom of speech, his right to work, or not to work, in any business or occupation, his right to frequent, or not, establishments open to the public. I even support a smoking ban in government buildings where the public must go.
However, I do not support the notion that he, nor anyone else, including our government, has a right to tell private business owners that they cannot allow legal activities within their premises. That is what the Iowa smoking ban has done. If I were Todtz, I would be very concerned about the repercussions of this type of legislation.
A Sioux City bar has gone dry, at least for 30 days.
Dalton's Pub lost it's appeal to delay its liquor license suspension. That's after they were busted for breaking the state smoking ban.
A Cedar Rapids man is being accused of igniting a gas pump fire while lighting a cigarette.
Cedar Rapids police said Monday that Dale Ford has been charged with public intoxication and reckless use of fire.
Police spokeswoman Sgt. Cristy Hamblin says Ford was arrested and charged on Saturday and released.
She says Ford walked up to a woman he knew who was pumping gas into her car at a convenience store on Sept. 13. Hamblin says Ford lit a cigarette igniting vapors from the fuel pump.
A lead enforcer of Iowa's tobacco compliance effort said Wednesday most businesses are abiding by state laws ensuring smoke-free workplaces and a ban on minors buying cigarettes.
"We're seeing outstanding compliance by the Iowa businesses," said Lynn Walding, administrator of the alcoholic beverages division within the state Department of Commerce.
Spot enforcement checks at Iowa establishments that sell tobacco products found 92 percent compliance with the state law prohibiting sales of cigarettes or other tobacco products to minors under the age of 18 during fiscal 2009. That was unchanged from the previous year but in stark contrast to the 50 percent compliance rate in 1995 before state officials stepped up enforcement to meet a federally mandated 70 percent compliance threshold, he said.
With the Tuesday filing of the last brief for contesting the constitutionality of the Iowa Smokefree Air Act, West Burlington bar owner Larry Duncan will finally have his day in court.
The owner of Otis Campbell's and Aunt Bea's has been arguing since before the statewide smoking ban went into effect that it was unconstitutional. He's also argued he has been denied his day in court since the ban's July 1, 2008, enactment.
Still, the brief filed Tuesday by Duncan's attorneys says the case never should have come to this.
The attorneys, Burlington's Darwin Bunger and Stratford's George Eichhorn, argue Duncan was still denied due process, as his constitutionality concerns first should have been addressed by a judicial magistrate and not the Iowa Alcoholic Beverages Division.
I am writing to compliment the Iowa legislature on approving the smoking ban. It has been over a year and a half since the ban went into effect and I couldn't be happier. I love the freedom of going into a restaurant and not leaving with the lingering scent of smoke.
Owners as well as customers are reaping the benefits. I've spoken to a few owners, and they have agreed that restaurants now have a more family friendly atmosphere, and the smoke-free environment is bringing in some serious revenue.
For 48 years, Don Brandt was known as the "Voice of the SCC Blackhawks" and the "Voice of the Burlington Grayhounds" on KBUR.
But he also was a dedicated member of the Burlington School Board, having served several stints over the course of four decades. . . .
"He was very passionate about his work as a school board member, especially in terms of advocacy for students," Book said.
That passion for students was displayed when Brandt voted in a unanimous decision to ban smoking on Burlington School District property in 2003.
"Don had a knack for looking at an issue and dissecting it while looking at it from all sides," Book said.
A Clinton bar's seven-day suspension of its liquor license is scheduled for next month for smoking ban violations.
The Iowa Alcoholic Beverages Division released a settlement agreement with Manning's Whistle Stop, 416 N. 2nd St., on Friday, setting the suspension to begin at 6 a.m. Oct. 5 and end at 6 a.m. Oct. 12. The agreement included a $1,000 fine.
Echoing current arguments in politics, the state points to laws defining equal protection and rights versus privilege in stating its case in support of the Iowa Smokefree Air Act's constitutionality.
The Iowa Attorney General's Office filed its nearly 60-page response to West Burlington bar owner Larry Duncan's petition in support of judicial review with the Des Moines County District Court late Friday afternoon.
The state's argument tackles Duncan's attorneys' brief on two fronts: Defending the constitutionality of the Iowa Smokefree Air Act in spite of the bar owner's claims to the contrary and supporting the Iowa Alcoholic Beverage Division's right to revoke the bar's liquor license.
Since the statewide smoking ban went into effect on July 1, 2008, Duncan flagrantly violated it at his business, Otis Campbell's, until his liquor license revocation -- which has since been conditionally stayed while the case is pending -- at which time he agreed to follow the law while he fought its constitutionality in court.
In arguing that Duncan and others like him are not being denied equal protection under the state and federal Constitutions, the assistant attorney general John Lundquist used, among other cases, the state's Supreme Court decision that ended the ban on same-sex marriage.
More than 3,300 complaints were lodged in the first year after Iowa banned smoking in most public places.
According to a report issued Monday by the Iowa Department of Public Health, about 1 percent of Iowa’s 82,000 businesses have received notices of potential violation since the Smokefree Air Act went into effect July 1, 2008.
The act prohibits smoking in nearly all public places, including restaurants and bars. Exceptions include gaming floors of casinos and up to 20 percent of hotel rooms. The report showed 2,100 of 3,318 complaints were validated and 1,417 notices of potential violation were sent to businesses.
Don McCormick, a spokesman for the health department, said not every complaint results in a notice. For example, several people might complain about the same violation, which would result in only one letter to that business.
Businesses in Linn County, one of the most populous counties in Iowa, received the second highest number of notices,
The Cedar Rapids Downtown District wants to decrease the litter in the area, and a key target will be cigarette butts.
Director of Operations Vanessa Solesbee says butts have become ubiquitous on downtown streets, something area patrons should not have to put up with. She noted the increased number of butts is due to the ban on indoor smoking enacted last year.
Solesbee says her organization will use a $500 grant from the national community organization Keep America Beautiful raise awareness among bar owners of the litter problem.