Tobacco.org

Hoopeston bar fined under state smoking ban  

One of the first rulings under the state's new administrative review process for smoking ban violations upheld a Vermilion County Health Department fine against the Hoopeston bar, Deano's on Main.

Health department officials cited the business earlier this year when inspectors entered Deano's for a routine food inspection and a customer was smoking inside the business. The health department had received multiple complaints about smoking ban violations at Deano's prior to the inspector's visit, according to health department officials.

Rather than paying the fine, the business requested an administrative hearing handled by the Illinois Department of Public Health. The administrative law judge upheld the $100 fine.

Lori Dean, owner of Deano's, said the law is ridiculous, and 90 percent of her patrons are smokers. The day of the food inspection, she said, there was only one elderly customer smoking a pipe.

Jump to full article »