http://www.tobacco.org/newsfeed/state/NE.rss Latest top tobacco news headlines en-us http://www.ketv.com/health/16668216/detail.html?rss=oma&psp=news http://tobacco.org/news/267382.html Smokers and bar owners have a few days to get used to Omaha's near-total smoking ban before prosecutors begin going after violators, but efforts are under way to enforce this week's district court order. A judge signed an order on Monday to abolish exemptions to the ban that the City Council passed. The ban, which took effect in October 2006, allowed keno bars and Horseman's Park to phase out smoking. KETV/TheOmahaChannel.com webstaff@ketv.com Fri, 20 Jun 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_page=2798&u_sid=10362762&u_rss=1& http://tobacco.org/news/267314.html Any grace period Omaha businesses had before police started enforcing citywide smoking restrictions is over. North Shore Tavern owner Dave Nelson said he was burned Wednesday by the smoking ban that went into effect Tuesday. Three of his customers and a bartender were cited Wednesday for violating the ban. Police had said Tuesday that restaurants, bars and workplaces would have time to adjust to the ban. But Nelson said he didn't know how to interpret the so-called grace period. Omaha World Herald danny.valentine@owh.com (DANNY VALENTINE WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER) Fri, 20 Jun 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://www.kmtv.com/Global/story.asp?S=8519558 http://tobacco.org/news/267276.html Just as tougher restrictions on indoor smoking go into effect, a group is asking a judge to let them intervene in the case, to have the ban declared unconstitutional. The group is made up of Big Red Keno, Horsemen's Park, the Beer and Loathing Bar in Dundee, and Linda Brennan, a housekeeper who works in homes where people smoke. KMTV Action 3 News CBS kathy@action3news.com Wed, 18 Jun 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://www.southwestiowanews.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=19783158&BRD=2703&PAG=461&dept_id=627131&rfi=3D6 http://tobacco.org/news/267194.html With a judge's order Tuesday, Omaha's tougher restrictions on indoor smoking in public places went immediately into effect. But never fear, smokers: Police won't be aiming any squirt guns at your cigarettes just yet. Nor will officers cite renegade smokers until it's clear that all restaurants, bars and workplaces have figured out, or should have figured out, that the ban is in effect. That grace period won't last long, however, an Omaha police spokeswoman said. Once news spreads, Lt. Darci Tierney said, police will enforce the law at the previously excluded businesses -- mostly bars and restaurants that offered keno Council Bluffs Daily Nonpareil Wed, 18 Jun 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://www.kolnkgin.com/news/headlines/20382059.html http://tobacco.org/news/267126.html A judge's order has abolished exemptions to Omaha's public smoking ban. The ban that took effect in fall 2006 let people smoke in keno bars and at Horseman's Park, for example. But in May the Nebraska Supreme Court said the exemptions were unconstitutional. The high court agreed with Marylebone Tavern co-owner Michelle Hug that the exemptions weren't fair to her bar, where people could no longer smoke. AP desk@kolnkgin.com Wed, 18 Jun 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://www.theindependent.com/news/x784976110/Smoking-ban-takes-effect-tonight http://tobacco.org/news/266289.html Grand Island's new smoking ban goes into effect this weekend. The ban impacts all indoor areas of all public places -- places where the public is invited in to do business or work. The Grand Island City Council approved the ban in March to take effect a full year ahead of a similar statewide ban. "The ordinance goes into effect June 1," City Attorney Dale Shotkoski said. June 1 begins at midnight Sunday. To many folks, midnight Sunday may still feel like part of Saturday night. "Midnight to 1 (a.m.), if bars are open, it will be in effect," said Capt. Robert Falldorf of the Grand Island Police Department. Grand Island Independent webwhiz@theindependent.com (Tracy Overstreet The Grand Island Independent) Sat, 31 May 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://www.journalstar.com/articles/2008/05/30/news/nebraska/doc48402d2d5094c136274185.txt http://tobacco.org/news/266166.html The Nebraska Supreme Court ruled Friday that the exceptions to Omaha's smoking ban for keno parlors and some bars are unconstitutional. The court agreed with Marylebone Tavern co-owner Michelle Hug that the exceptions to the ban created an unfair benefit for the exempt businesses. Most businesses have already complied with the Omaha ban, but the City Council allowed a five-year grace period for bars that don't serve food, for keno parlors and for Horsemen's Park, a horse track. The Supreme Court's ruling will likely end the exceptions to the city ban even before a new statewide smoking ban takes effect in June 2009. The only workplace exemptions to the statewide ban are for retail tobacco shops and places where smoking research is done. The Supreme Court ruled that Omaha failed to offer evidence to support the exceptions to its smoking ban Lincoln Journal Star Fri, 30 May 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://www.kolnkgin.com/news/headlines/19400484.html http://tobacco.org/news/266165.html The Omaha bar owner who challenged the exceptions to the city's smoking ban is pleased with the Nebraska Supreme Court's ruling Friday. Lawyer K.C. Engdahl said his client, Marylebone Tavern co-owner Michelle Hug, will be pleased with the ruling because it will force all Omaha businesses to comply with the same rules. The ruling threw out the exceptions for keno parlors and some bars as unconstitutional. Engdahl says that's exactly what Hug had asked for. The Supreme Court ruled that affidavits from two of Omaha's seven City Council members shouldn't have been considered in the case because they were taken three months after the ban was passed. Those affidavits were the only evidence supporting the exceptions. AP desk@kolnkgin.com Fri, 30 May 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://www.northplattebulletin.com/index.asp?show=news&action=readStory&storyID=14540&pageID=3&sectionID=3 http://tobacco.org/news/265955.html The North Platte City Council Tuesday passed an ordinance against smoking within 25-feet of any city facility or inside any city park. Those who do and get caught could get fined up to $1,000. By unanimously passing the ordinance on the first reading, smoking is prohibited in all city facilities, within the fenced areas of any city-owned park, within 50-feet of any electric carnival style ride located within the boundaries of any city-owned park, within the perimeter fencing of public swimming pools, ball fields or in the bleachers and grandstands. North Platte Bulletin Wed, 21 May 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://www.theindependent.com/news/x1902434780/Teens-protest-tobacco-marketing-practices-in-N-C http://tobacco.org/news/265088.html Dilsaver traveled with four other Nebraska teens to Winston-Salem, N.C., this past week to join in a protest outside the Reynolds American Building during Tuesday's shareholders meeting. "It was really an eye opener," she said. Dilsaver is a member of No Limits Nebraska, a youth-led tobacco use prevention movement that uses activism to spread its message, "There are no limits to what big tobacco will do to addict teens to their deadly products and there are no limits to what Nebraska teens will do to fight back," according to a press release from the group. Grand Island Independent webwhiz@theindependent.com (Sarah Schulz The Grand Island Independent) Sat, 10 May 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://www.columbustelegram.com/articles/2008/05/09/news/topnews/doc48247d2382253732488579.txt http://tobacco.org/news/265040.html COLUMBUS -- Each of the 1,200 flags sticking up from the ground represented one person who will no longer be living after today. Dubbed Project 1200, the display is set up on the south side of Scotus Central Catholic. It was organized and put up this week by Scotus juniors Krista Mulligan and Nicholas Raimondo, who serve as state youth board members of No Limits, a Nebraska anti-tobacco movement that is led by youth. Raimondo said they put up the display to get out an important message. “The number 1,200 represents the number of people who die every day in the U.S. from tobacco,” Raimondo said. . . . According to its Web site, www.nolimitsnebraska.com, the group is so named because there are no limits to what the tobacco companies do to market their products, and there are no limits to what teens in Nebraska will do to stop them. Columbus Telegram jblum@columbustelegram.com (Julie Blum) Sat, 10 May 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://www.ketv.com/news/15786482/detail.html?rss=oma&psp=news http://tobacco.org/news/263174.html The fairness of Omaha's smoking ban was in question on Thursday before the state Supreme Court. Owners of the Marylebone Tavern said the smoking ban violates the state constitution by creating special privileges to other businesses. The ban allows a five-year grace period for bars that don't serve food, for keno parlors and for Horsemen's Park. Attorneys for both sides argued before a meeting of the Nebraska Supreme Court held at Creighton Law School. The Marylebone argued that all businesses should be treated the same. The city said the ban should be phased in. KETV/TheOmahaChannel.com webstaff@ketv.com Thu, 03 Apr 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/newstex/AFX-0013-24100934.htm http://tobacco.org/news/262252.html The Nebraska Supreme Court says the state will have to go through arbitration to settle its dispute with three tobacco companies over a $4.5 million reduction in the state's 2006 settlement payment. Nebraska and several other states sued R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. (NYSE:RAI) , Lorillard Tobacco Co. and Philip Morris (NYSE:MO) USA over the payment discrepancy. But the 1998 settlement between the companies and 46 states calls for an arbiter to resolve disputes over adjustments to the payments. The Nebraska Supreme Court said in its ruling released Friday that nearly every court that has examined disputes about these settlement payments has concluded the issue does not belong in court because the settlement language is clear. CNN/Money Fri, 28 Mar 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://www.journalstar.com/articles/2008/03/26/news/nebraska/doc47ea950e51a7c872875343.txt http://tobacco.org/news/262107.html A co-owner of an Omaha bar hopes the state Supreme Court will agree with her that the exceptions to the city's smoking ban unfairly benefit certain businesses. But the lawyer for Marylebone Tavern co-owner Michelle Hug will also have to convince the high court's judges that this case is worth their time in light of the new statewide smoking ban the Legislature approved last month. Otherwise the court may not consider the fairness of the exceptions included in the 2006 Omaha ban. Most businesses have already had to comply with the Omaha ban, but the City Council allowed a five-year grace period for bars that don't serve food, for keno parlors and for Horsemen's Park, a horse track. AP calendars@journalstar.com (JOSH FUNK / The Associated Press) Wed, 26 Mar 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://www.nebraska.tv/Global/story.asp?S=8007432 http://tobacco.org/news/261221.html Will a smoking ban save tax money or end up costing us more? If people kick the habit, it could save the state on medical bills. But will the state lose out on cigarette taxes? "There is no doubt second hand smoking is harmful," Sen. Joel Johnson said, as he read over a surgeon general's report. Johnson, a retired doctor said smoking is more than a nuisance; it's a drain on taxpayers. He said it costs far more than the taxes it brings in. Nebraska.tv - NTV ABC Wed, 12 Mar 2008 04:00:00 GMT