http://www.tobacco.org/newsfeed/category/cigars.rss Latest top tobacco news headlines en-us http://www.businesswire.com/portal/site/home/permalink/?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20100208006494&newsLang=en http://tobacco.org/news/296609.html Super Bowl Weekend - Beverly Hills Cigar Club (BHCC) did it with Diddy, launching its new Golconda Churchill at the Sean "Diddy" Combs' celebrity-filled "I am King" Super Bowl event at the Sean John pop-up boutique on Collins Avenue in South Beach. "Goldwin Tobacco's Louixs, named for Louix XIV, the luxury-loving ruler of France, along with Golconda, perfectly match Diddy's `I Am King' theme. With these cigars, South Beach was a little hotter tonight." BHCC sponsored Diddy's and several other Miami events as part of the company's Super Bowl Cigar campaign. Celebrating at Diddy's event were NFL players Hanley Ramirez (Florida Marlins), Ryan Grant (RB Green Bay Packer), Aaron Maybin (Buffalo Bills), Andre Johnson (Houston Texans), Lamar Woodley (Pittsburgh Steelers), Amobi Okoye (Houston Texans), Arron Mavin (Ravens), Dan Connelly (New England Patriots), Lamarr Woodley (Pittsburgh Steelers), Eric Dickerson (Retired Rams) and Hanley Rame-Riez (Florida Marlins). Business Wire allison@bohle.com Mon, 08 Feb 2010 05:00:00 GMT http://www.philly.com/philly/entertainment/83784422.html http://tobacco.org/news/296588.html DONOVAN McNabb joined Ron Jaworski at Jaws' South Beach Cigar Party at the Hotel Victor in Miami over Super Bowl weekend. ESPN's Suzy Kolber, Merril Hoge, Mike Tirico and Sal Paolantonio, along with Desmond Howard, Jon Gruden and Mike Ditka were among the boldface names to attend the cigar and Johnny Walker Scotch pairing party to raise money for the United Way Jaws Youth Fund of Camden County and the United Way of Miami-Dade. Adam Geffner, co-founder of the Philly Cigar Club, also was in attendance as Jaws worked with the club to manage cigar partners. Philadelphia Daily News grossd@phillynews.com (Dan Gross Philadelphia Daily News) Mon, 08 Feb 2010 05:00:00 GMT http://www.wlwt.com/video/22468311/index.html http://tobacco.org/news/296570.html One of the last places to allow smoking downtown is closing its doors. WLWT-5 Sun, 07 Feb 2010 05:00:00 GMT http://www.cigaraficionado.com/Cigar/CA_Features/CA_Feature_Basic_Template/0,2344,3071,00.html http://tobacco.org/news/296446.html The bronze statue of the Boston Celtics legendary head coach and cigar smoker Red Auerbach at Quincy Market in Boston. Auerbach would most certainly not approve of the new tax proposals. Faced with a budget shortfall of nearly $3 billion, Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick has proposed raising the excise tax on cigars to 110 percent, a move one tobacconist believes would bankrupt the state's cigar business. According to administration officials, a $2 cigar that costs $2.76 now would jump to $4.46 if the new tax takes effect. Cigar Aficionado Wed, 03 Feb 2010 05:00:00 GMT http://www2.tbo.com/content/2010/feb/04/sp-biz-bits/ http://tobacco.org/news/296444.html The maker of Davidoff cigars has set up an e-mail address to receive resumes for those interested in a position at its future Pinellas Park warehouse. Oettinger Davidoff Group, based in Switzerland, is planning to relocate its U.S. headquarters from Stamford, Conn., to Pinellas Park within about six months. It is expected to hire up to 90 people at an average salary of $56,000. Davidoff is accepting resumes at jobs@ddcls .com, according to the Pinellas County Economic Development department. Tampa Bay Online Thu, 04 Feb 2010 05:00:00 GMT http://www.tampabay.com/news/business/cigarmaker-oettinger-davidoff-group-to-open-new-us-headquarters-in/1069895 http://tobacco.org/news/296443.html Lured by incentives and the Tampa Bay area's cigar history, the Oettinger Davidoff Group is moving its new U.S. headquarters to Pinellas Park. The Swiss cigar importer will begin hiring 90 people in the next six months at an average wage of about $55,000 a year, according to Pinellas County's economic development office. Most of the jobs will be front office and warehouse related. Oettinger Davidoff makes cigars at plants in the Dominican Republic and Honduras. The company will take over a recently vacated 100,000-square-foot-plus building to house both the headquarters and warehousing and distribution. St. Petersburg Times Tue, 02 Feb 2010 05:00:00 GMT http://www.thestate.com/local/story/1138266.html http://tobacco.org/news/296366.html A month ago, Columbia officials were ready to take a local business to court for violating the city's smoking ban - a first for a Midlands local government. Now, City Council members are poised to change the law Wednesday to exempt the business from the smoking ban. The amendment to the city's smoking ban would exempt cigar bars - defined as a bar that "generates 35 percent or more of its annual gross income from the sale on the premises of cigars, tobacco products and other paraphernalia." The amendment would apply only to cigars and pipes - not cigarettes - and the city's business license division would have to determine a cigar bar's eligibility by reviewing the bar's financial documents, which must first be approved by a certified public accountant. Columbia State abeam@thestate.com (ADAM BEAM) Tue, 02 Feb 2010 05:00:00 GMT http://www.midlandsconnect.com/news/story.aspx?id=411055 http://tobacco.org/news/296365.html City Council met this morning and discussed a proposed smoking amendment. If council members approve the amendment, cigar bars would have to show their business generates at least 35% of its annual gross income from cigars, tobacco products and other smoking materials. Citizens and a lawyer on behalf of the Tobacco Merchant spoke about the proposed amendment to the city smoking ban. City council members voiced concern that allowing this exception would "open a door" allowing other establishments to take advantage of what could be considered a loophole. WACH-TV Wed, 03 Feb 2010 05:00:00 GMT http://www.swnewsherald.com/news_frontpage/2010/01/012910olbv_smoking.php http://tobacco.org/news/296225.html Bridgeview board members voted to pass an ordinance on Jan. 20 introduced by the building zoning and economic development committee that will make it unlawful to own, operate or maintain a tobacco store that permits smoking inside. Under the new ordinance, it will also be illegal to open hookah lounges in the village. Southwest News-Herald Fri, 29 Jan 2010 05:00:00 GMT http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/norfolk/8487644.stm http://tobacco.org/news/296218.html A half-smoked cigar, abandoned when Sir Winston Churchill dashed away to an urgent wartime Cabinet meeting, has sold at auction for £4,500. The ex-prime minister's cigar, picked up by a member of the 10 Downing Street staff 69 years ago, had been expected to fetch up to £350. . . . After picking up the stub, Downing Street valet Nellie Goble grabbed a sheet of 10 Downing Street notepaper and scribbled a note to a friend. She wrote: "To Jack, with all good wishes from Nellie. Just a small souvenir to remind you at some future date of one of the greatest men that ever lived in England." "Jack" treasured the letter and cigar until his death in 1987 when it passed to his daughter. BBC Online UK Fri, 29 Jan 2010 05:00:00 GMT http://tobaccoreporter.com/home.php?id=498&art=3013 http://tobacco.org/news/296150.html Philip Morris USA's domestic volume cigarette sales last year, at 148.7 billion, were 12.2 per cent down on those of the previous year, 169.4 billion. Sales of Marlboro were down by 10.6 per cent to 126.5 billion, while sales of Parliament, Virginia Slims and Basic were down respectively by 26.9 per cent, 17.4 per cent and 23.9 per cent to 4.0 billion, 5.2 billion and 9.2 billion. Sales of 'other' brands were down by 6.8 per cent to 3.8 billion. Tobacco Reporter Fri, 29 Jan 2010 05:00:00 GMT http://www.thebluebanner.net/state-smoking-ban-forces-changes-on-local-establishments-1.1089193 http://tobacco.org/news/296087.html Following Gov. Beverly Perdue's signing into effect the no smoking laws in North Carolina, many businesses struggle to remain open. "We know from the 2006 Surgeon General's report that there is no safe level of exposure to second-hand smoke," said Karen Caldwell, a tobacco prevention specialist in Asheville. "The best way to protect everyone is to have smoke-free policies and laws." Many grassroots coalitions and nonprofit agencies influenced legislators to pass the non-smoking policies and emphasized the importance of smoke-free workplaces, according to Caldwell. "The state legislators finally came around and voted in favor of it, basically to protect the health of people," she said. Cigar bars and businesses with ABC licenses received information from state officials outlining policy changes, including which businesses are exempt. The Blue Banner ksbrooks@unca.edu (Kendall Brooks) Thu, 28 Jan 2010 05:00:00 GMT http://www2.journalnow.com/content/2010/jan/27/community-college-art-cigar-violates-tobacco-polic/ http://tobacco.org/news/296025.html A North Carolina college cracking down on smoking says a student-made artwork depicting an instructor with a cigar goes against the campus tobacco policy. The Sun Journal of New Bern reports that officials asked Craven Community College automotive instructor Robert Hall to remove the image. Students had airbrushed the hood of a drag racing car with a portrait of Hall gripping wrenches and smoking a cigar. "I think the depiction of a faculty member or anyone else smoking sends a message that we don't want to send," college spokesman Sandy Wall said. The school has cracked down on campus smoking AP Wed, 27 Jan 2010 05:00:00 GMT http://www.27east.com/story_detail.cfm?id=257562&town=Sag%20Harbor&n=Cigar%20Bar%20has%20liquor%20license%20suspended%20because%20of%20violence http://tobacco.org/news/295957.html The New York State Liquor Authority suspended the liquor license of the Cigar Bar in Sag Harbor last weekend after numerous fights in recent months, including three in a two-week period over the holidays. In a press release issued Friday, the State Liquor Authority, or SLA, said a special meeting was called to issue the suspension because of "the recent history of escalating violence at the premises, including the gang-related assaults involving weapons, the persistent pattern of sale[s] to minors, the numerous fights and ensuing arrests." Southampton Press mailbag@27east.com Tue, 26 Jan 2010 05:00:00 GMT http://www.morganhilltimes.com/news/262089-a-smokers-paradise http://tobacco.org/news/295951.html Cigar aficionados in South County have come to cherish the haven in downtown Morgan Hill where they can enjoy a cigar and conversation while drinking a glass of wine or beer. When former owner Wyatt Miller decided last May to close the Morgan Hill Tobacco Company after the city bought out his lease, a group of members took action. "When Wyatt announced one evening to the members that he was going to close this store, there was silence. The silence could've been heard a mile away," member Roger Hay said. "The people here were in shock. Afterward, there was a lot of rumbling that there must be something we can do." Meanwhile, Miller consolidated the Morgan Hill shop into his Hellam's Tobacco Shop in Monterey, one of the oldest still-operating tobacco retailers on the West Coast. . . . As for the health concerns associated with smoking cigars, Boyce said, "You shouldn't inhale them. (Unlike cigarettes) cigars are 100 percent tobacco. They're a pure, more natural product." Morgan Hill Times editor@morganhilltimes.com (Jodi Engle) Tue, 05 Jan 2010 05:00:00 GMT