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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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Her acceptance of the ban but uneasiness about government intrusion appears to be a common thread among some residents in a state that last year banned smoking in most workplaces, restaurants and bars.
A coalition of bar owners challenged the ban in court but later dropped their lawsuit. Others have called for lawmakers to revise the law, but Democratic leaders who hold majorities in the Legislature have been adamant that no changes will be made in the near future.
Iowa is among 22 states that prohibit smoking in bars and restaurants, though its law exempts casinos, fairgrounds and veterans organizations. Bans will take effect in four other states this year, and three states ban smoking in restaurants, but not bars.
Despite vocal complaints from some bar owners, compliance with the law has been high, said Lynn Walding, the administrator for the Iowa Alcoholic Beverages Division.
Iowa's largest apartment complex is making nearly 25 percent of its 1,076 apartments smoke-free, owner Keith Denner said Tuesday.
The move is designed to improve the health and safety of residents, said Denner, who owns and manages the Sun Prairie and Vista Court Apartments in West Des Moines, which are adjacent to each other and include 40 buildings.
"This is supply-side economics at its best," said Bonnie Mapes, director of the Iowa Division of Tobacco Use Prevention and Control.
"This is not government-driven. It's a business decision"
The fight to stomp out the smoking ban has hit a road block. A coalition of bar owners that had banded together challenging the ban's constitutionality has dropped their lawsuit. Arguments were supposed to be heard June 30th in Des Monies, but the case has been dismissed.
It all boils downs to money. The coalition that was made up of members from COBRA, IBOC and Choose Freedom Iowa couldn't pay the high legal bills anymore to go up against the smoking ban. "As you know we were fighting for everyone in the state and there wasn't enough people supporting it. . . .
Having the lawsuit dismissed, doesn't mean the fight is over. West Burlington bar owner Larry Duncan isn't apart of the coalition, but plans are for his group "Freedom Fighters" and all those involved in the lawsuit to join forces. That means when Duncan goes to district court in Burlington, he'll represent all bar owners. "We're trying to include everybody going after the same purpose, not only all the civil rights, but also interstate commerce, tobacco is not illegal," according to Duncan.
As you know we were fighting for everyone in the state and there wasn't enough people supporting it.Joe Sturgis who was a member of the coalition of bar owners that had banded together to challenge the constitutionality of Iowa's smoking ban.
An Ottumwa veterans group leader is vowing to defy state officials who plan to yank the liquor license at the city's Veterans of Foreign Wars Post.
Denny Whitson, a Vietnam War veteran, said Wednesday that he regards a statewide smoking ban as unconstitutional. He is urging the 460 members of VFW Post No. 775 to continue smoking and drinking after a liquor license revocation takes effect for repeated violations of the no-smoking law.
"It's entirely up to the membership of the club. But as far as I am concerned, if they revoke our liquor license, the members can come in and bring their own bottle if they want. They can smoke and drink, but we won't have employees," Whitson said. . . .
The issue of allowing smoking in a private club is complicated, Walding said. Private clubs are exempted from the smoking ban only if they have no employees. They must also meet a list of other requirements, such as being operated solely for a fraternal or patriotic purpose.
There are other complicating circumstances at the Ottumwa post.
a man living next door passed out with a lit cigarette.
Firefighters were called to the apartment house Saturday night. Three people were taken to the hospital, including 10-year-old Czu Toffoi and her grandparents.
Czu died a day later. Her grandparents remain in critical condition at University Hospitals in Iowa City.
Police say the neighbor passed out in his bedroom with a lit cigarette after drinking. They say the fire was an accident and no charges will be filed.
West Burlington bar owner Larry Duncan's liquor license was revoked effective as of 2 p.m. Wednesday.
While that means no more beer, wine or alcohol will flow within the walls of Otis Campbell's, Duncan said the battle may be lost, but the war against the Smokefree Air Act is not over.
West Burlington Police Chief Alex Oblein said the revocation not only gives Duncan the right to challenge the administrator's final order, but Duncan also can file for a stay with the district court while awaiting a ruling.
"The goal and the intention is to gain compliance with the law, not to hand out penalties,"
City officials will not intervene to stop bar owners from allowing patrons to violate the state's smoking ban.
Rather, Burlington City Council members say the ball is in the state's court to enforce the Iowa Smokefree Air Act. The law went into effect in July 2008.
"Unless the state changes the way this law is enforced, we can't take action against bar owners. With that said, this council needs to encourage people to abide by the law. If you throw your nose up at the law, what do you get? Anarchy," Councilman Matt Murray said on Monday.
Murray's comments were made after learning four Burlington bars have been issued administrative hearing complaints for allegedly turning a blind eye to patrons lighting up in their establishments.
A former driver for a Grimes concrete company contends he was fired because of a combination of racial discrimination and retaliation for his complaint about illegal smoking in the business.
Kevin McNeil, an African-American, had worked for Concrete Supply of Iowa since June 2007.
He contends in Polk County District Court papers that a year's worth of racially charged incidents culminated last July when he protested another driver's public smoking in violation of the new state law that prohibited smoking in most businesses.
He was fired three days later.
McNeil's lawsuit, filed this week, alleges that Concrete Supply trampled his civil rights and violated public policy by punishing someone who turned in alleged lawbreakers.
The case is one of the first times an Iowa judge will be asked to extend whistleblower protection to someone who complained about public smoking.
Iowa's fire marshal has pinned his hopes on cigarettes to reverse an unexpected jump in the number of statewide fire deaths.
State lawmakers last year mandated the sale of new cigarettes that are less likely to cause fires when discarded, dropped or left near combustible material. The law takes effect next month.
"We are hoping this is going to reduce the number of fatalities," Fire Marshal James Kenkel said.
Ten people were killed this year in Iowa by fires blamed on careless smoking, double the number from 2007. The overall number of fire deaths stands at 48, which is 18 more than last year.
Lake View lives another day.
A controversy over anti-tobacco billboards featuring this small northwest Iowa town was resolved when Lake View leaders complained and state officials listened.
Lake View Mayor John Westergaard was aghast last month when he realized Lake View had been featured as part of a statewide marketing campaign sponsored by Just Eliminate Lies, or JEL, a youth-led anti-tobacco group that works with the Iowa Public Health Department.
The billboards feature an ominous message, one that shines a light on the estimated 1,200 people who die from tobacco-related illnesses in the United States each day.
"Lake View. Tobacco can kill this town in 1 day," the signs read.
This month, the Public Health Department shocked Westergaard again. The Lake View signs have been replaced. . . .
Most of the complaints he has received have been over the lack of communication between state officials and town leaders prior to the billboards being erected. "That was an oversight on our part. We didn't feel the message was controversial."
In the future, the agency will work with town leaders before bringing such an ad into the community. But it will continue to launch new anti-tobacco campaigns in Iowa.
"Big tobacco is in your town already," Buttermore said, referring to advertisements at local convenience and grocery stores. "Nobody is raising a fuss over those signs."
Lake View. Tobacco can kill this town in 1 day.JEL's anti-tobacco sign featuring Lake View, IA (pop: 2100) created a big fuss.
Big tobacco is in your town already. Nobody is raising a fuss over those signs. Garin Buttermore, the JEL youth coordinator, referring to advertisements at local convenience and grocery stores.
Today Senate Minority Whip Steve Kettering (R-Lake View) sent a letter to the Iowa Public Health Department Director, Thomas Newton requesting a response to a series of billboard advertisements paid for by the Just Eliminate Lies campaign. Below is the letter.
Wednesday November 19, 2008
Dear Director Newton,
I was dismayed upon learning that an organization, your Department supports financially, recently put up billboards near my hometown of Lake View. The billboards, paid for by JEL, are potentially hurtful to my community and the citizens that I represent.
As you may know, Lake View is a small community that relies on a strong tourist economy
Iowa's first lady requested and received a $50 ticket Friday for illegally smoking in a state-owned vehicle.
Mari Culver had admitted Thursday that she broke the state's smoking ban, which her husband, Gov. Chet Culver, signed into law last spring.
"As First Lady Culver indicated yesterday, she regrets having smoked in a state vehicle, and promises it will not happen again," spokesman Phil Roeder said in a prepared statement Friday afternoon.
Roeder said the Iowa Department of Public Safety issued the ticket, and Mari Culver immediately paid the fine. "She expects to be treated no different than anyone else," he said.
The issue arose Wednesday morning, when a Des Moines Register reporter noticed Culver openly smoking in a sport utility vehicle the state provides to her family.
A smoke-free Urbandale sports bar was on a roll before the statewide smoking ban snuffed out part of its business, its owner said.
A group of Iowa bar owners told lawmakers during a Legislature's Administrative Rules Review Committee meeting last month that their businesses have suffered a significant decrease in revenue since the smoking ban began July 1. But at least one metro-area bar owner who was smoke-free before the ban said he is now seeing a loss in sales.
Jeff Fogelson owns the Game Sports Bar at 3719 86th St., which has been smoke-free since it opened 2 1/2 years ago.
That was his niche, but no longer. Fogelson said the smoking ban stole his thunder and now is likely to steal his business. He said former patrons have decided to frequent other sports bars, ones closer to home and work, which are now haze- and cough-free under the smoking ban. . . .
Kristin Brewer, who owns Brewer's bar in Ames with her husband, said the smoking ban hasn't affected sales there. The bar, which recently celebrated its fifth anniversary, has been smoke-free since it opened.
"Some customers, they say they go to other places that are now smoke-free under the ban, but there's still some of that smoky residue," Brewer said.
The Game was non-smoking before the ban; now it's losing business
Jeff Fogelson complied with the new Iowa smoking ban even before it was introduced. Now, he says state legislators have pulled the rug out from under him.
Fogelson owns The Game Sports Bar, 3719 86th St. in Urbandale, which has been smoke-free since it opened 2years ago.
That was his niche. No longer.
Fogelson said the smoking ban stole his thunder - and now is likely to steal his business.
Former patrons have decided to frequent other sports bars, he said, ones closer to home and work, that are now haze- and cough-free under the smoking ban.
Fogelson said he estimates sales are down 20 percent since the ban went into effect July 1, but has not run the numbers.