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The Property Rights Newsletter June 10, 2011 - Issue #616 "In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act." - George Orwell | |
AR: Fayetteville Smoking ordinance fails. Residents will be able to continue to light up inside bars that allow smoking for the foreseeable future. The measure failed to garner six of eight votes needed for an expanded ordinance to go into effect early next year.
AZ:Glendale considers requiring smoking areas for businesses. The Planning Commission voted 6-0 Thursday to recommend that the City Council approve the zoning ordinance amendment. "This will keep smokers on the property and out of neighborhoods," Ritz said. Vice Mayor Steve Frate told The Republic the recommended requirement is a "step in the right direction." CA: Tobacco shops exempt from smoking bill. The California Senate has approved a bill to tighten restrictions on smoking in the workplace after it was amended to exclude smoke shops and lounges. SB575 passed 25-14 and now goes to the Assembly. LA: Senate Kills Smoking Ban. With a 15-22 vote, the Louisiana Senate last week shot down a bill that would have banned smoking in Louisiana bars. A similar situation occurred in 2009, when lawmakers were poised to ban smoking in bars. That effort failed after a late addition of casinos, previously exempt from the potential ban. Marionneaux authored last year's bill as well. 
NV:Nevada Panel OKs bill to allow bar patrons to smoke and eat. A move to allow taverns and bars to let patrons smoke and eat meals if children are not allowed on the premises gained momentum Wednesday under a bill approved 10-5 by the Assembly Ways and Means Committee. Under Assembly Bill 571, if only adults 21 and older are allowed to enter, taverns and bars can permit smoking and serve patrons food. If it receives Assembly approval, then the proposal must go to the Senate for additional hearings.
NY: Michael Bloomberg: the man who killed New York. By Brendan O'Neill. New York is currently governed by a gaggle of health-obsessed bigwigs who believe they have a duty to grab New Yorkers by the scruffs of their outsized necks and drag them towards lives of bicycle-riding, non-smoking, booze-avoiding, fruit-snacking conformity. City Hall, under Mayor Michael Bloomberg, is awash with that new breed of psycho-politician known as the ‘nudger’, who believes that he has the right to use psychological techniques and brute censorship to manipulate and ‘improve’ human behaviour… NY: Video: Smokers Protest Ban On Brighton Boardwalk. Smokers’ rights advocates gathered on the Brighton Beach section of the Riegelmann Boardwalk on Saturday to protest the city’s latest smoking ban, affecting parks, beaches, boardwalks, marinas and other Parks Department-owned properties. OH: Funds have been cut for enforcement of the ban. High Court will Review Smoking Ban Constitutionality. The first state supreme court in the nation to determine whether a statewide smoking ban violates bar owners' property rights. The Court also agreed to review whether the Ohio Department of Health has consistently exceeded its authority in fining business owners under the ban. 
PA: Allentown is launching a voluntary no-smoking program, posting donated signs that declare all of its 17 playgrounds, four pools and three spray parks tobacco-free zones. The ban relies on peer pressure. Smokers rights advocate Robert Gehrman, Pennsylvania state coordinator for Citizens Freedom Alliance / Smokers Club International, said the signs might make smokers less likely to bring their kids to city playgrounds. "Smokers are taxpayers too," he said. "They have children too. Everything is just getting ridiculous." Most smokers try to be considerate about smoking around others and if given a place to dispose of their butts properly, will do so, Gehrman said.
SC: Smoking in Pendleton on council’s agenda. The proposed ordinance would prohibit smoking in many public places, including restaurants, in the city. | |
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