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| Post Number: 141
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GEOKARJO 
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Posted on: Apr. 28 2005,1:52 pm |
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California Smokers Use Prohibition Tactics to Get Around Ban
June 09, 2001
By Claudia Cowan
SAN FRANCISCO — Back when liquor was outlawed during this country's Prohibition movement, Americans found clever ways to dodge police and have a drink in secrecy and safety.
Today, booze is legal — but in California restaurants and bars, cigarettes aren't. Three years ago, voters passed a ban to protect employees from second-hand smoke.
But many patrons are still lighting up at bars that secretly accommodate their habit.
"I think it's fair to say a lot of the bar owners have gone out of their way to avoid the law, to circumvent the law," said Christopher Arriola, assistant district attorney of Santa Clara County. "You do see some sort of what people might call Prohibition-era tactics."
While cops try to sniff out the worst offenders, in many cases they're butting up against organized opposition. Bartender phone trees warn each other of impending busts, powerful fans blow away tell-tale scents of "smokin' in the boys room" and tin cans double as ashtrays in case of an unexpected visit by police.
Smoker Ian Hughes said that if someone in one of those bars spots a squad car driving by, he or she will alert those puffing away — and everyone will stub out their cigarettes before they can be discovered.
While some bars are making a surreptitious end-run around the ban, others are finding mixed success in the courts, using a little-known provision in the law that allows their customers to light up.
Last week, for instance, a southern California bar won exemption from the ban because it has fewer than five employees.
Some venues get around the ban by providing smoking-only rooms.
"It's an OSHA law, so basically we kick out the employees and you're OK," said Tim Dale, general manager of Le Colonial.
Police say it's not OK when some bars comply and others don't. But until the smoking ban goes the way of Prohibition, hoppers who smoke and bars that welcome them will continue to be a perfect match
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| Post Number: 142
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GEOKARJO
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Posted on: Apr. 30 2005,11:01 am |
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To: minnesotasmokers@yahoogroups.com
From: "Samantha Phillipe" Add to Address Book
Date: Sat, 30 Apr 2005 12:12:38 -0000
Subject: [minnesotasmokers] Diary Of A Disaster Updated
http://www.smokersclubinc.com/modules.php?
name=News&file=article&sid=1334
Diary Of A Disaster
Updated:
April 29, 2005 After just one month of a smoking ban the bars and
restaurants in Minneapolis have proved the bar owners right and the
smoke haters lie. Business has not increased, our staff and customers
are not healthier and some businesses will not remain in business
much longer. The nonsmokers are not coming out and spending more
money, in fact they are leaving with their smoking friends to
surrounding cities and counties with no bans. Businesses in those
cities and counties continue to thank our foolish city council.
Revenue declines range from 10-65%. Businesses have cut staff and
hours, some businesses have laid off up to 25 employees. Businesses
that serve the hospitality industry have lost revenues as well. This
includes the beer and liquor companies, the pop companies, food
distributors, vending, charitable gaming organizations, and others
all report declining revenues in Minneapolis. We estimate the first
month has cost our city 614 jobs and over a million dollars in lost
revenues. And that estimate is low.
Our streets are a mess. Bars have put security staff outside to
monitor customers. We must keep the drinks inside and the smokers
outside. Noise, vandalism, assaults and drug use are on the increase.
Record numbers of bar and restaurant owners have requested permits
for patios, sidewalk cafes and tent parties. Of course you can no
longer smoke in the tents so all the bars order smaller size tents.
We knew the smoke haters were lying, now we have the proof but it
will take a lot of work to get the smoking ban ordinance overturned.
Today we had about 100 bar owners meet with yet another council
member...we won't give up. I wish these bar owners would have been
this involved BEFORE the smoking ban was passed and we might have
stopped it before we lost jobs, revenues and yes, businesses.
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| Post Number: 143
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| Post Number: 144
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GEOKARJO
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Posted on: May 03 2005,10:56 am |
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Smoking ban creates unexpected dilemma
Anthony Lonetree and Mary Lynn Smith, Star Tribune
May 2, 2005
In an unusual twist on metro-area smoking bans, a few Ramsey County eating and drinking spots are being forced to decide between going smoke-free or going liquor-free.
At least three White Bear Lake establishments received exemptions from the county smoking ban when they showed that more than half of their revenues come from liquor sales. But that put them in violation of a local liquor ordinance that requires them to sell more food than booze.
The dilemma leaves them with a choice: give up their smoking exemption or give up their liquor license.
It's a no-brainer, said Jim McArdle, part owner of JJ's Bierstube, who had hoped to keep attracting smokers to his bar.
"Honestly, it will be more prudent for me to keep my liquor license," he said. "I've been put into a Catch-22. I guess I'll go no-smoking."
The various smoking bans that took effect March 31 in Bloomington, Minneapolis, Golden Valley and Hennepin and Ramsey counties have created few other surprises. The hype has quieted. Proponents, as expected, say they are pleased. Opponents, as expected, say they want change.
Minneapolis bar and restaurant owners, frustrated by the prohibition on smoking in all bars and restaurants, are pushing for changes in line with the Ramsey County ban that prohibits smoking in restaurants but not in bars that primarily sell liquor.
About 40 owners, vendors and charitable gambling operators met recently in northeast Minneapolis to share reports about lost business and to try to persuade City Council Member Dean Zimmermann, who was in attendance, to back changes to the city's ordinance.
Statewide ban?
Zimmermann asked whether a statewide ban would help, but Jim Farrell, executive director of the Minnesota Licensed Beverage Association, responded that there was no appetite at the Legislature for bans as strict as those being enforced throughout Minneapolis and Hennepin County: "You cannot pass the buck up to the state," he said.
After the meeting, Zimmermann said he was continuing to mull a push for changes -- an aide was drafting a proposal, he said -- but he couldn't offer any promises.
On Friday, the bar owners and vendors went to City Hall for a closed meeting with Council Member Natalie Johnson Lee and left pondering their next move.
In Ramsey County, meanwhile, smoking foes hope eventually to push for a total ban.
"Right now it's just too early," said St. Paul City Council Member Dave Thune, who initiated a cascade of metro-area smoking bans but couldn't muster the votes for one in St. Paul. (Nonetheless, St. Paul falls under the Ramsey County ban.)
Ramsey County has about 1,400 bars, restaurants and private clubs. Of about 450 establishments that sell liquor, about one-third received exemptions from the smoking ban because they're a private club or a bowling alley or sell more liquor than food. The deadline for applying for an exemption was Saturday.
About 10 of those businesses exempt from the ban are creating separate smoking rooms. And seven establishments received provisional exemptions, saying they're making changes to increase liquor sales and meet the exemption criteria.
Jeanne Weigum, president of the Association for Nonsmokers-Minnesota, said she's disappointed by the changes some establishments will make to permit smoking.
"It's just unnecessary to go out of their way to create an unhealthy environment," Weigum said. "We need to get things settled and get people really used to [the bans], and then we can deal with extending them."
Easy enforcement
As of Thursday, the first four weeks of the new bans had passed without a single citation being written in Minneapolis -- or anywhere else in the Twin Cities area. Minneapolis' hot line, however, generated 51 calls, said Lori Olson, deputy director of environmental management, with 19 complaints logged against 12 establishments.
The result: 10 warning letters and four inspections.
One inspection, Olson said, revealed that a business was not displaying a smoking-ban sign, as required by ordinance, but no citation was written.
"At this point, we're just talking to folks," she said.
Not every caller, however, was of a mind to see businesses or smokers tagged.
Twenty-five complaints came from people criticizing the ban itself, Olson said, some received "live" while the people were out on the town. "Kind of amusing," actually, Olson said.
In Hennepin County, only two complaints have been received, said LuAnn Schmaus, county spokeswoman. They were reported the same day, about the same establishment and led to a written warning, plus an investigation that has yet to be completed, she said.
Bloomington has yet to receive any complaints about smoking in its bars and restaurants, said Petrona Lee, city environmental health manager. Golden Valley has gotten three complaints, one involving a report of people smoking too close to a restaurant entrance, Public Safety Director Bob Hernz said.
In Ramsey County, 19 complaints have been logged, most reporting smoking in prohibited locations. No citations have been issued, said Zack Hansen, head of the county's environmental health section. "We're meeting and talking with people because our only interest is bringing them into compliance."
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| Post Number: 145
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Botto 82
Group: Members
Posts: 6293
Joined: Jan. 2005
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Posted on: May 03 2005,11:32 am |
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The building I work in literally straddles the Hennepin/Ramsey county line. It's a good thing the employee entrance is on the east side of the building...
--------------
Dear future generations: Please accept our apologies. We were rolling drunk on petroleum.
- Kurt Vonnegut
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| Post Number: 146
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GEOKARJO
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Posted on: May 14 2005,10:47 am |
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From: "Samantha Phillipe" Add to Address Book
Yahoo! DomainKeys has confirmed that this message was sent by yahoogroups.com. Learn more
Date: Sat, 14 May 2005 15:41:39 -0000
Subject: [minnesotasmokers] Diary is updated!
http://www.smokersclubinc.com/modules.php?
name=News&file=article&sid=1334
Diary is updated!
After 6 weeks we have had 3 bars close their doors, more are barely
hanging on. Every single statement the smoke haters said has been
proven a lie. Bar owners have been proven right but no one seems to
care about the small business owner, lost revenues, and lost jobs.
Talking to a cab driver last night I asked him about the smoking ban.
He said when people get in his cab and ask to smoke he tells them: he
is not a bar, go ahead and smoke. EVERY SINGLE PERSON THAT HAS RIDDEN
IN HIS CAB TOLD HIM THEY DO NOT SUPPORT THE SMOKING BAN including
nonsmokers.
Bar owners in surrounding counties without a ban continue to do a
thriving business as do those exempted in the next county.
A doorman from a local nightclub was shot and killed on Thursday
night. The smokers outside made good witnesses and they chased the
killer who then jumped in the river. Police responded and pulled the
killer from the river and he was then jailed. Tragically, immediate
medical attention was not enough to save Mr. Walsh who had worked at
the bar for 10 years.
Bar owners are slowly getting organized. At the first meeting with
city council members we had 40 bar owners in attendance. The second
produced 100 bar owners. While council members are not receptive to
reviewing the issue, we finally have their attention. Bar owners are
learning to play the "game" and we don't like it much. We will begin
attending council meetings in mass until we can be heard before the
entire council.
Of course we have a few bar owners who continue to lie and say their
numbers are good. We all know better. We see the empty parking lots
and talk to their staff. ST-1's are public record, so they can lie
all they want but we can get the accurate figures.
It $ucks! But we aren't ready to quit yet.
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| Post Number: 147
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shaker
Group: Members
Posts: 435
Joined: Aug. 2003
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Posted on: May 14 2005,5:31 pm |
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This is really great. lets get a smokeing ban in all the bars and resturants, yea, good idea, Lets see how many people we can chase out of town. It just aint too far to Northwood.
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| Post Number: 148
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Admin4
Group: Members
Posts: 4
Joined: Jan. 2005
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Posted on: May 18 2005,3:07 pm |
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Public Hearing
June 21 in the large courtroom of the 1888 building.
We are now moving back to the courthouse starting on June 7 to make sure every thing works fine for the big public hearing. The old big courtroom is now the county boardroom.
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| Post Number: 149
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GEOKARJO
Google This!!!
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Posts: 7799
Joined: Aug. 2003
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Posted on: May 19 2005,4:03 pm |
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Click here: 05/19: MPAAT Awards Eleven Grants for Research and Community Secondhand Smoke Initiati
Warning to Minnesotans: the communities targeted for smoking bans in 2005 are listed in this article. They include St. Cloud, Counties of Goodhue (Red Wing), Ramsey, Dakota and Washington. MPAAT still wasting millions of dollars as they continue to lie to the public and scare them about SHS.
Want just one example? Vekich, MPAAT board chair, said "each year tobacco causes more than 5,600 deaths in Minnesota. The direct health care costs alone amount to almost $400. for every man, woman and child in Minnesota."
The American Cancer Society can't and won't justify the 3,000 lives they say are lost each year in the US, I would be very interested to see how MPAAT arrived at 5,600 deaths in Minnesota. $400 per resident in the state, just plain hog wash.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/minnesotasmokers/
Edited by GEOKARJO on May 19 2005,4:06 pm
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| Post Number: 150
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GEOKARJO
Google This!!!
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Posts: 7799
Joined: Aug. 2003
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Posted on: May 19 2005,4:18 pm |
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Huge Income Loss
Name: Candy Westphal
Date Posted: Apr 8, 05 - 2:40 AM
Email: Roseangel23@aol.com
Message: Below is a copy of the e-mail I sent several of the Hennepin County Board of Commissioners regarding my Huge Income Loss. Please take notice. I am not the only one in this situation.
Dear Hennepin County Board of Commissioners,
I live alone in the city of Brooklyn Park and currently work as a bartender, waitress and part-time bar manager in the cities of Brooklyn Park, Crystal and Robbinsdale. I am a single person who has no children and I solely support myself with these three part-time jobs as I have been doing for the past 2 years. Some weeks I work in excess of 65 hours to support myself with no assistance.
Since 12:01 AM on March 30th, 2005 I have lost income of over $400.00. That is $400.00 in only 8 days. The small private clubs I work for (2 VFW's and 1 American Legion) have seen a dramatic decreases in business and as a result I have lost hard earned money. I am already worried about where my rent money will come from next month.
My patrons of all of these clubs have been so upset about this Zero Smoking Ban Policy that they have chosen either to stay at home and socialize, stay at the clubs for much shorter periods of time or have simply chosen to pool together their resources and cab it to Anoka County or Ramsey County where they can enjoy themselves. To top it off many of their nonsmoking friends have decided to join them in these ventures. Their opinions have been "this place is a tomb now, we are going where are friends are." Other comments have been, "What time is the funeral?". Today I served 9 people lunch and when I left there were 4 persons sitting at the bar. I was sent home early both Friday and Saturday Evening due to lack of business.
The club I work at in Brooklyn Park has seen a decreases in business at approx. 15% even though they have an outdoor patio. The club I work at in Crystal has seen a decreases in business at approx. 45%. The club I work for in Robbinsdale has seen a decreases in business at almost 50%. A note of thought is that Crystal VFW Gambling has already lost over $6000.00. That is $6000.00 less that will be put back into the community to support youth clubs, senior clubs, community events and little league events. Food and liquor sales are down at all the clubs that means less is ordered from the vendors. Sadly this will result in less taxes being paid to the cities, county and state.
This Zero Smoking Ban really must be rethought. I am not opposed to how it is being handled in Ramsey County because then the mom and pop places and private clubs would still stand a chance. Something must be done right away before the doors to these places will have to be closed and jobs will be lost, not to mention the taxes that will no longer go to your cities, county and state. I am seriously afraid I will be forced to move if this happens. I look forward to hearing from you.
Sincerely,
Candy Westphal
Roseangel23@aol.com
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