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• Mixed Causation Is Jury Question in Asbestos Cases Involving Smokers 

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has ruled that two plaintiffs alleging that exposure to asbestos caused their illnesses cannot have their cases dismissed on summary judgment simply because the plaintiffs' doctor opined that their illnesses are attributable both to exposure to asbestos and to smoking.

According to the plaintiffs' attorney, the court's ruling in Summers v. Certainteed Corp. and Nybeck v. Union Carbide Corp. could impact many cases beyond asbestos litigation by setting the standard of review of summary judgments as a de novo review, rather than an abuse of discretion standard of review.

Justice Max Baer, writing for a majority including Chief Justice Ronald D. Castille and Justices Debra Todd and Seamus P. McCaffery, overruled a prior Superior Court ruling, Quate v. American Standard Inc.

In that 2003 case, the Superior Court ruled that when a plaintiff has symptoms that could arise from exposure to asbestos, as well as from another malady, "'the existence of those non-asbestos-related medical conditions negate his ability to establish the necessary causal link between his symptoms and asbestos exposure,'" Baer said.

The Supreme Court rejected the bright-line rule implied in Quate -- that plaintiffs should be precluded from recovery when their breathlessness and other symptoms could be attributable to diseases, some of which are caused by asbestos exposure and some of which are due to other causes.

Baer said such issues of causation, when backed by "reasonably certain expert opinions," should survive summary judgment and go to juries to determine causation.

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Derry Store Temporarily Closes After 4th Robbery  

The Choice Cigarette Discount Outlet in Derry Township, Westmoreland County, has become the choice target of robbers for the fourth time since the New Year.

Police said the most recent incident at the Route 217 store occurred Sunday night when an armed man entered the store wearing a light-colored hooded sweatshirt, jeans and white bandana over his face.

A clerk at the store told Channel 4 Action News that she was fired because she did not open the store Monday.

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Pa. court sides with cops over on-duty tobacco use 

A western Pennsylvania police union has won a ruling from the state Supreme Court that borough officials may not unilaterally ban officers on duty from using smokeless tobacco in nonpublic work spaces or smoking in some official vehicles.

The decision made public Thursday said Ellwood City's 2006 ban on tobacco use on borough property will have limited application to members of the police union, unless they agree to it through contract negotiations.

"While local legislation which promotes clean air and warns of the risks of tobacco use may be laudatory, it may not serve as a barrier to negotiations over this topic when it constitutes a working condition subject to mandatory bargaining," wrote Justice Debra McCloskey Todd for the unanimous court.

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State Supreme Court strikes down tobacco ban for Ellwood City police 

In a decision written by an Ellwood City native, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court on Thursday overturned the borough’s total ban on police officers using tobacco products while on duty.

Supreme Court Justice Debra McCloskey Todd, who grew up in the borough and graduated from Lincoln High School, wrote the opinion for a unanimous court.

The decision overturned a 2006 ordinance banning the use of any tobacco products in any borough facilities, including police vehicles, and requires that the borough will have to negotiate any ban of smokeless tobacco products with the police union.

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BOROUGH OF ELLWOOD CITY, v. PENNSYLVANIA LABOR RELATIONS BOARD (PDF) 

ARGUED: March 2, 2009

No. 45 WAP 2008

Appeal from the Order of the Commonwealth Court entered January 4, 2008 at No. 473 CD 2007, reversing the Order of the Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board entered February 20, 2007 at No.

PF-C-06-116-W

ARGUED: March 2, 2009

CONCURRING OPINION

MR. JUSTICE McCAFFERY

DECIDED: JULY 21, 2010 . . .

Now, in this case, the Commonwealth Court and this Court have devoted their considerable resources and attention to figure out whether general smokeless tobacco usage and limited smoking by police officers is an issue subject to collective bargaining or whether it resides in the amorphous gelatin of “managerial prerogatives.” I believe I rest on solid ground in opining that such judicial review is not exactly what the General Assembly had in mind when it enacted Act 111. Rather, in my opinion, it is beyond peradventure that issues such as the one in the instant case begin with the collective bargaining process and should end with the arbitrator’s decision. “No appeal therefrom shall be allowed to any court.” 43 P.S. § 217.7. Thus, I believe that the majority’s perception of a broad

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• Pa. court sides with cops over on-duty tobacco use 

A western Pennsylvania police union has won a ruling from the state Supreme Court that borough officials may not unilaterally ban officers on duty from using smokeless tobacco in nonpublic work spaces or smoking in some official vehicles.

The decision made public Thursday said Ellwood City's 2006 ban on tobacco use on borough property will have limited application to members of the police union, unless they agree to it through contract negotiations.

"While local legislation which promotes clean air and warns of the risks of tobacco use may be laudatory, it may not serve as a barrier to negotiations over this topic when it constitutes a working condition subject to mandatory bargaining," wrote Justice Debra McCloskey Todd for the unanimous court.

The court overturned a 2008 Commonwealth Court ruling that had upheld the complete prohibition, but officers still are prevented from smoking in public places or inside borough buildings and vehicles used for mass transit because of the Pennsylvania Clean Indoor Air Act of 2008.

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BECKES: Pregnancy and Tobacco Use -- A Dangerous Combination 

But, did you ever wonder about the effects of tobacco on pregnant women and their unborn children?

When a pregnant woman uses tobacco and/or is exposed to tobacco smoke during her pregnancy, she places her health, and the health of her developing child, at risk. . . .

About 29 percent of women in Erie County report using tobacco during pregnancy. This means that in 2009, about 936 babies were born to women who used tobacco while pregnant, and are at risk for related health complications.

One of the best gifts a woman can give herself and her developing child is to quit using tobacco and remind others that it is not OK to use tobacco around her.

If you are pregnant or thinking about becoming pregnant, and you use tobacco, now is a good time to quit.

For information about available programs, contact the Northwest Pennsylvania Tobacco Control Program at 451-6709, the Pennsylvania Quitline at (1) 800-QUIT-NOW (1-800-784-8669), or visit Quitnet.com. All programs are available at no cost.

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Examiner Exclusive: From New York City to City Tobacco, Rudy vists Edwardsville cigar lounge 

"I was sitting near the front window, when a black Lincoln pulled up," said Dino Riviello, co-owner of City Tobacco. "We were talking baseball when Rudy walked into the store. He was very friendly, and after some handshakes, he sat down and talked baseball."

Rudy Giuliani, the former two term Mayor of New York City and former Republican Presidential candidate was in the area stumping for fellow Republican Lou Barletta.

Barletta is seeking to oust Democratic Congressman Paul Kanjorski, who is seeking election to a fourteenth term in Congress from Pennsylvania's 11th Congressional district. The 11th contains all of Carbon, Columbia, and Monroe Counties. It also encompasses parts of Lackawanna and Luzerne Counties, including the cities of Scranton, Wilkes-Barre, and Hazleton.

After picking out a few cigars, "America's Mayor" proceeded to the lounge area and sat down in a high backed leather chair.

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KELLY: Smoking section  

Caroline has done a lot of living in her 84 years. Since leaving religious life, she has been a cotton-picker, waitress, long-distance bicyclist, political activist, battered wife and five-time candidate for president of the United States.

"I should have written at least two books by now," she said Thursday as we sat outside her apartment at a Lackawanna County Housing Authority property in Olyphant. A Marlboro rested between the index and middle fingers of her right hand, but she never lit up over the hour we sat chatting.

On Thursday, the housing authority implemented a ban on indoor smoking at its 19 developments. The new rule is rooted in a recommendation from the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development, which subsidizes low-income housing.

The authority sees the ban as a way to improve the health and safety of its residents and properties. Caroline sees it as just another instance of government meddling in the lives of private citizens.

"It's outrageous," . . .

And after all, he said, it is public housing.

"So is the White House," Caroline said, pointing out that President Barack Obama has struggled to quit smoking.

"I'll go outside to smoke when I see Obama standing outside the White House smoking."

I e-mailed the White House to see if Mr. Obama is still smoking, and if so, where he does it. As of Friday, I hadn't received a reply.

I'm not holding my breath.

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State Budget Hurts Working Families While Protecting Big Tobacco and Big Business  

The Coalition for Labor Engagement and Accountable Revenue (CLEAR Coalition), an unprecedented coalition of labor organizations representing over 1.1 million hardworking Pennsylvania families, expressed significant concern about the final 2010-2011 state budget adopted today by the General Assembly.

"It is disheartening that lawmakers chose to balance this year's budget on the backs of some of Pennsylvania's most vulnerable individuals like our senior citizens, children, and individuals with physical and mental disabilities rather than enacting common sense tax reforms," said Rick Bloomingdale, President of the PA AFL-CIO.

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Pennsylvania snuffs tobacco taxes for second straight year 

-- Gov. Ed Rendell got some of what he was looking for in the $28.05 billion budget that lawmakers sent to him Wednesday: more money for public education and economic development and a promise from lawmakers to enact a tax on natural gas drillers this autumn.

But for the second year running, the Democratic governor was denied one of his key goals -- bringing Pennsylvania into the ranks of 49 other states that impose a tax on cigars and smokeless tobacco products. He will leave office in January without having obtained it.

"It's unfathomable," Rendell said recently of legislative opposition to the new taxes that, along with a planned dime-a-pack increase in cigarette taxes, would have been used to help close a $1.2 billion budget hole.

With two major cigar distributors in Northampton County, Lehigh Valley lawmakers played a role in helping to derail the tax this year.

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Smoking is out at Widener 

Widener University's campus-wide ban on smoking is officially in effect, though gauging its effectiveness is difficult in the summer with hardly a soul in sight.

The new ban, which includes smokeless tobacco, applies to faculty, staff, students, visitors, contractors and guests and covers all university facilities, outdoor areas, and university owned vehicles.

"We've been ramping up for about a year," said university spokesman Dan Hanson. "We have posted the information and the policy on our Web site, handed out reminder cards with the July 1st start date and there are signs all over campus."

To comply with the policy, tobacco users will have to find their way off campus.

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Philadelphia using stimulus funds to fight obesity, smoking 

In the bleak cityscape of Philadelphia's poorer neighborhoods, the corner store is both convenience and curse, stocking milk and cheese, as well as junk food and cigarettes.

Thanks to federal stimulus money recently pumped into the city, such stores may also start carrying healthier foods, like fresh produce.

In March, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced awards of more than $372 million to 44 communities to combat obesity and smoking.

Philadelphia's share - $15 million to battle obesity and $10.4 million toward smoking cessation over two years - was disbursed by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

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PA Cigarette Sales Up 

Since New York State tacked on an additional $1.60 tax to packs of cigarettes, Smokin' Joe's Tobacco Shop and the Tobacco Junction in Great Bend, Pennsylvania have seen an increase in business. Exactly how much of an increase is difficult to tell, because the stores won't talk about it. In a statement, Smokin' Joe's says it expects its sales to increase because that has been the trend every time New York hikes its tobacco tax. At one point today, about 75% of cars in the Smokin' Joe's parking lot were from New York State. Here's an example of the price difference. A carton of Newport cigarettes in Great Bend is about $56. At a Hess gas station on the Vestal Parkway it costs about $85, a $29 difference.

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• Pennsylvania snuffs tobacco taxes for second straight year 

HARRISBURG -- Gov. Ed Rendell got some of what he was looking for in the $28.05 billion budget that lawmakers sent to him Wednesday: more money for public education and economic development and a promise from lawmakers to enact a tax on natural gas drillers this autumn.

But for the second year running, the Democratic governor was denied one of his key goals -- bringing Pennsylvania into the ranks of 49 other states that impose a tax on cigars and smokeless tobacco products. He will leave office in January without having obtained it.

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