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• Judge allows smoking ban lawsuit to advance 

Ninth District Judge Nancy Guthrie issued a ruling Tuesday afternoon denying county attorney Keith Gingery's motion to dismiss the lawsuit.

In her ruling, Guthrie said the case meets several state criteria that warrant judicial review and should be allowed to continue in court.

"The court finds that [the Smokefree Air Rule] is a final order of an administrative agency with no further administrative remedy available and it is thereby subject to judicial review by the court," Guthrie said in the ruling.

Flat Creek Development, which owns the Virginian Saloon, and three other organizations filed the lawsuit on the grounds that the Teton District Board of Health does not have the authority to approve such a rule, that the regulations are vague and that smoking is a legal right.

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