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• Judge ends nearly all exceptions to Omaha smoking ban  

A judge Thursday snuffed out virtually any exception to Omaha's workplace smoking ban -- apparently making it illegal for people to light up in tobacco stores, hotel rooms, nursing home rooms, restaurant patios and even laboratories that conduct studies on smoking.

In a 16-page order, Douglas County District Judge Mark Ashford ruled that the city hadn't provided any reason for permitting smoking in those places and, therefore, the judge couldn't uphold those exceptions to the citywide ban on smoking in workplaces.

But before smokers stage any tobacco-rights rallies on the steps of the courthouse, city attorneys have some advice:

Let the smoke clear.

They say the questions raised by Ashford's ruling on a lawsuit filed by Will Prout, owner of Big John's Billiards, should be cured by the statewide smoking ban that takes effect June 1. Other attorneys agree that the city may be off the hook on June 1, but they say the state should brace itself for similar challenges to exemptions to the state's smoking ban.

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