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/ NEWS / TUESDAY FEBRUARY 9, 2010 / THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN / KANSAN.COM
STATE
Bill seeks to end city smoking ban
BY ROBERT ALTMAN
saltman@kansan.com
A new bill introduced by the Kansas House of Representatives last week could overturn local non-smoking ordinances, including the smoking ban in Lawrence, and allow business owners to bring smokers back inside.
Members of the House Committee of Health and Human Services introduced the bill last week and will conduct a hearing on Wednesday.
The bill has drawn harsh criticism from anti-smoking organizations because I provides exemptions for busi-
nesses to allow indoor smoking and disable communie from passing local ordinances.
While the bill would outlaw smoking
in enclosed areas statewide, it would also allow bars and restaurants the option to create designated smoking areas by paying an annual fee of $1 per square foot of smoking space.
Gov. Mark Parkinson, who has made passing a statewide smoking ban a priority, called the House bill a "ridiculous piece of public policy" and vowed to veto it at a news conference last Friday.
the coalition, said she thought the new bill went against American culture's general disapproval of public tobacco use.
"It would decrease our quality of life if it was passed, but I don't believe that it will," Bruner said. "I think the people in Lawrence are much more intelligent than that and I don't think they would stand for it."
"If smoking is that bad, then go after the product, don't go after the operators."
"(The bill) not only doesn't ban public smoking, it repeals the ordinances in communities that have had the courage to actually ban public smoking," Parkinson said.
Don Sayler, president of the Kansas Restaurant and Hospitality Association, said that a statewide bill needed to pass to ensure equal business opportunities for owners. While Sayler said
Lawrence's smoking ban has been in effect since 2004 largely because of anti-smoking agencies such as the Clean Air Lawrence Coalition, which strongly opposes the new bill.
DON SAYLER President, Kansas Restaurant and Hospitality Association
his organization had taken a neutral stance to the proposed bill, he said members were submitting testimony in support of the new provisions concerning business
Kathy Bruner, coordinator for
exemptions.
"If smoking is that bad, then go after the product, don't go after the operators," he said. "It's a legal product, yet the government thinks they need to intervene and tell an operator how to run his business."
Many who oppose the bill, including Paula Clayton, at the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, have called for a statewide proposal that would allow local ordinances to remain in effect.
Clayton said her department would not support the bill because it provided no real protection from secondhand smoke.
Lawrence is one of 36 cities in Kansas with an indoor smoking ban in jeopardy of being overturned if the bill were to pass.
- Edited by Becky Howlett
More winter mayhem
Watch a KUJH-TV story at kansan.com/video:
Trevor Wright, a freshman from Olathe, sleds down Daily Hill Friday. The snowstorm gave students another chance to enjoy wintertime activities.
Mike Gunnoe/KANSAN
NATIONAL
New trial asked for in Roeder case
WICHITA, Kan. — Attorneys for a man convicted of murdering a prominent Kansas abortion provider have asked for a new trial or an order of acquittal for their client.
Attorneys for Scott Roeder signaled their intent in a motion for a new trial made public Monday. Among other reasons, they cite a decision by the judge at Roeder's
trial last month to not allow jurors to consider a lesser charge of voluntary manslaughter.
Such court filings are routine, but important to preserve the record on appeal issues. Arguments on the motion will be heard in March.
Roeder was convicted of first-degree murder in the May attack on Dr. George Tiller. Roeder admitted he shot Tiller in the head during services at the doctor's Wichita church.
One winner in $141 million Powerball
RALEIGH, N.C. — Retired Asheville Fire Department employee Frank Griffin is $47 million richer, but he has few grand plans for the money. He mainly wants to spend more time with his wife.
news conference where he was introduced as the sole winner of the $141 million Powerball lottery jackpot.
"I may get us a new house later, but I really want to spend more time with her and my grandchildren," Griffin said Monday at a
Griffin choose the $69 million cash over the $141 million annuity. That equals about $47 million after state and federal taxes are paid, said Tom Shaheen, executive director of the North Carolina Education Lottery.
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