People Ban: KY Louisville Page 2

Read Newest Articles: KY Louisville Page 3

---

Law to spell out smoking ban in government buildings
By Joseph Gerth, jgerth@courier-journal.com
The Louisville Metro Council wants to abolish any doubt that the city’s new smoking restrictions apply to City Hall and other government buildings.
Council member Vicki Welch, D-13th, plans to introduce an ordinance today that will extend the ban specifically to government buildings.
Read

---

Suit challenges Louisville’s smoking ban

Nov. 14, 2006
BRUCE SCHREINER

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The city’s tough new smoking ban was challenged Tuesday by restaurants and bars that asked a judge to strike it down for exempting the Churchill Downs racetrack.

The Metro Louisville Hospitality Coalition contends the ordinance passed in October violates Kentucky’s Constitution by favoring certain businesses “without substantial reasons for doing so.”

“Churchill Downs, an establishment that serves food, that serves alcohol just like my clients, gets a free ride,” said Mike Hatzell, an attorney for the plaintiffs.

The lawsuit also argues that the ordinance would permit “warrantless and unreasonable searches based on less than probable cause.”

The ordinance passed by the Metro Council last month would tighten a measure that went into effect a year ago. It is set to take effect in July.

The law would exempt tobacco manufacturing and warehouse facilities as well as Churchill Downs. Exemption backers say a smoking ban would further hamper the famed track, already barred from having slot machines, in its effort to compete with Indiana gambling boats.

Kentucky produces more burley tobacco, which is used in cigarettes, than any other state. But smoking has been banned in state government buildings, and other Kentucky cities have passed their own bans.

---

Foes Of Smoking Ban To File Lawsuit Saying It’s Unconstitutional

Nov 4, 2006
Eric Flack

It is the last hope for those trying to strike down Louisville’s smoking ban. A group of local bars and restaurants will file a lawsuit next week, claiming the revised statute is unconstitutional. WAVE 3 Investigator Eric Flack has the latest.

And bars say it is the one exemption to that smoking ban, Churchill Downs, that is not only the key to their case, but possibly, turning this whole thing around.

When the metro council passed its revised smoking ban in October, a 2-year-old fight seemed to be over.

But one final round remains.

Lawyers have told the Louisville Metro Hospitality Coalition that the Churchill Downs exemption means the entire smoking ban can be struck down by a judge.

“Exempting any one entity is against the law in the state of Kentucky,” said John Dant who represents Louisville Metro Hospitality.

Their attorney tells WAVE 3 the lawsuit will be will be filed in Jefferson County court next week.

“It’s unconstitutional,” Dant said. “So by exempting Churchill Downs, basically, it gives us a wide open case.”

Bar and restaurant owners believe in the case so much, they have committed at least $25,000 of their own money.

“I don’t know if anybody will be 100 percent surprised,” said metro council spokesman Tony Hyatt.

The metro council has heard talk of the lawsuit since the new ban passed. But it believes it’s on solid legal ground.

“You know anybody can go to court on anything in this country if they feel they have been wronged,” Hyatt said, “and it’s just a situation of going through the legal process, really, to see where we end up.”

If the law is struck down, attorneys for the bar owners say the metro council will have two options: exemptions for everyone, or no one.

Leaving bar owners hopeful they can ride Churchill downs to victory.

“They (Churchill Downs) are just so powerful in this state, and the city with the council members, I honestly don’t think the council members will vote them not to be exempt,” Dant said.” So that leaves us with an opportunity to bring this issue back to the table I think.”

The county attorney’s office would not comment on the lawsuit because it has not been filed yet.

A spokesman for the mayor told us these types of challenges have rarely been successful in other cities, and he doesn’t think this one will fare any better. The president of the Metro Hospitality Coalition admits this lawsuit is their last hope.

---

The big horse gets its way on smoking ban
October 14, 2006
Bob Hill
At least we now know where to look in the Louisville dictionary to find the full and unvarnished meaning of the word hypocrisy: Churchill Downs.

Louisville, Ky., smoking ban set for July
Oct 13, 2006
LOUISVILLE, KY, — Nearly all public buildings and workplaces in Louisville, Ky. will be smoke free beginning next July under a new ordinance passed by the city council.

Ky. city council extends smoking ban
Oct 12, 2006
The city council in the largest city of one of the nation‘s top tobacco-producing states voted Thursday to extend its smoking ban to cover almost all public buildings.
The measure was approved by the Metro Council 19-5, with one abstention.

Mayor threatens veto of smoking ban compromise
October 11, 2006
Joseph Gerth
Mayor Jerry Abramson warned Louisville Metro Council members Wednesday that he would veto any smoking ban proposal that exempts businesses with separately ventilated smoking rooms.

Deal would spare Churchill from smoking ban

October 12, 2006
Joseph Gerth

As the Louisville Metro Council prepares to vote on proposal to ban smoking in almost every public place, Democrats say they have hammered out a deal that exempts Churchill Downs and tobacco-makers.

The council began meeting at 6 p.m. in City Hall in a council chambers filled with smoking-ban opponents and proponents, some of them wearing stickers espousing their positions.

Shortly before 5 p.m. Thursday, the Democratic caucus agreed to spare the track from a tougher ban, along with tobacco manufacturing and warehousing facilities.

Democrats said they have enough votes, especially if two or three Republicans join them, said Metro Council member Jim King, D-10th.

They’re willing to grant tobacco-makers an exemption because National Tobacco Co., a smokeless and chewing tobacco manufacturer in Louisville, is considering making a line of cigarettes here.

Earlier Thursday, King said it looked like a Churchill exemption was in jeopardy, because at least five Democrats wanted the track to go smokeless indoors. Outdoor smoking would have been permitted regardless.

Officials at Churchill Downs weren’t willing to talk Thursday about the possibility of losing the exemption.

“We’re going to reserve any comment until the council takes some action,” said Churchill Downs Inc. spokeswoman Julie Koenig Loignon.

She refused to say if Churchill Downs was raising its effort to convince council members the track should not be included the ban.

“That’s not something that we’re going to discuss,” she said.

Churchill has argued that it needs an exemption because it competes globally against other gambling operations, many of which allow smoking.

Some council members have said they favor the Churchill exemption in an effort to help the race track, what the call a cultural “icon’ in the community, compete against Caesar’s Indiana and other nearby casinos.

On Wednesday, Mayor Jerry Abramson said he would veto any smoking ban that exempted businesses that install separately ventilated smoking rooms. He said he would be willing to give Churchill an exemption, although he would prefer the ban include the track.

The council is meeting in their chambers on the third floor of City Hall.

---

Smoking ban proposal weakened

October 9, 2006
Joseph Gerth

On a 4-3 vote, a Louisville Metro Council committee on Monday softened a proposal that would have outlawed smoking in all but a few public buildings.

The committee amended the tougher ban to exempt all businesses with separately ventilated smoking rooms, a move sure to displease smoking foes.

Under the amendment, businesses would have 90 days after the new ban is passed to install the smoking rooms. Bars — defined as establishments serving those 21 and older — would have a year to install smoking rooms.

The committee also voted 4-3 to exempt Churchill Downs.

The original ordinance proposed by Metro Council member Ken Fleming, R-7th, would have banned smoking in bars, restaurants and other buildings. But it would not have extended to homes, private clubs and a few other businesses.

The full council will vote on the ordinance Thursday.

Republican Kelly Downard, a mayoral candidate who in the past has been less than enthusiastic about a strict ban and at one point preferred just having businesses post signs, said he favors a strict ban that doesn’t allow smoking at Churchill Downs.

He said he hasn’t decided whether he would support an ordinance that would allow some or all businesses that have separately ventilated smoking rooms to continue allowing smoking.

---

Fired up over comprehensive smoking ban – All will go broke
September 27, 2006

I want to thank Terry Smith, CEO of Tumbleweed, for proving a point. Obviously, Tumbleweed is suffering financially due to the smoking ban. Otherwise, why is he so upset?

According to Smoke Free Louisville, he should be happy and business should be booming. All those nonsmokers who supposedly would patronize nonsmoking restaurants should be pouring in to eat.

But face it, they’re not and never will. A “level playing field” doesn’t help unless having all businesses go broke is your goal.

Smith’s energy would be better spent helping to repeal the present smoking ban and letting business owners decide their policies. Only then, when his smoking clients return, will his finances rebound.

The Metro Council’s health committee is moving cautiously because they understand the complexity of the issue and acknowledge there are financial repercussions to consider.

The only ones pushing hard and fast on this issue are Smoke Free Louisville and The Courier-Journal. Both entities attempt to bully and threaten the council.

Those tactics are more disgusting and harmful than any whiff of secondhand smoke could ever be.

ALICE DANT
Louisville 40220

Committee not stalling
It is hard sometimes to figure out what The Courier’s editorial board wants when it comes to a smoking ban.

First, it’s “Take quick action now, no questions asked and pass a total ban.” Then it’s “Listen to just certain business owners and no one else before you take action.”

I talked with Terry Smith. The agenda for the Sept. 20 meeting was set. I offered him a chance to speak Oct. 4. He said he could not be available.

The same invitation has been extended to Smoke Free Louisville.

It’s interesting The Courier only wants the committee to hear from businesses that have gone smokefree. It sounds like anyone else who may have spent money to comply with the current law should just shut up and go away.

The current proposed revision was introduced at the end of August, and the committee is handling it like any other piece of legislation in need of review. It is moving much faster than the original smoking ordinance….

I have encouraged representatives of any group affected to contact me or the committee to be heard. I cannot help it if they get their signals crossed when it comes to who will speak on whose behalf.

Stall? There have been only two committee meetings about the proposal so far. We have heard from Dr. Troutman of the Metro Health Department and the Jefferson County Medical Society on how the current law is working and the latest national information about secondhand smoke.

We have also heard from Louisville’s Hospitality Coalition and the Kentucky Restaurant Association concerning the cost of separate ventilation and economic loss if the ban is tougher. Several businesses asked for a level playing field at the Sept. 20 meeting.

Very soon we will begin a review of the ordinance and start discussing changes.

As for politics, Councilman Ken Fleming was on record last May saying he wanted to wait a full year for data to see if changes are needed. So if anyone is playing politics, you might ask him why the change of heart.…

There is no attempt to drag this out over the next several months…. The committee is not trying to stack the deck and favor one side over the other.

We want to make sure this time that the loopholes are closed and that the council will not have to revisit this issue in the next six months or year.

MARY WOOLRIDGE
Chairwoman, Metro Council Health and Human Services Committee
Louisville 40202

---

Churchill: Smoking ban will hurt track

September 20, 2006
Joseph Gerth
Churchill Downs could be hurt financially if it is forced to go completely smoke free, a company official said Wednesday.

Kevin Flanery, Churchill Downs Inc.’s vice president for national public affairs, told a Louisville Metro Council committee considering a new, tougher smoking ban, that the race track is already facing heavy competition from Indiana and from computer and telephone betting services.

And he said the company’s experience at a Florida track shows some people will stop betting when a smoking ban takes effect.

But the former head of the Greater Louisville Medical Society testified that his group favors a complete ban on smoking in public buildings, saying there is no safe level of exposure to second hand smoke.

The debate came as the council prepares to consider a tougher smoking ban that would prohibit smoking in the vast majority of public buildings and workplaces in the city.

Under the latest proposal, Churchill Downs would be exempt under the tougher ban. However, some councilors have said they would like to see smoking banned at the race track.

A committee vote could come as early as Oct. 4 but isn’t likely, said Council member Mary Woolridge, chairwoman of the council’s Health and Human Services Committee.

---

‘Heil Hitler’

Seeing the new proposal to toughen the smoking ban in Louisville reminds me so much of Nazi Germany. Adolf Hitler hated smoking, and no one dared smoke anywhere near him. If they did, they stood a good chance of going to prison.

So, if the present ban is made all-inclusive, some of us will stand at attention at City Hall, raise our right arms and say “Heil Hitler!”

E. C. GRAVES
Louisville 40207

---

New Louisville smoking ban compromise proposed

September 5, 2006
Joseph Gerth

Louisville bars wouldn’t be forced to go smoke free until 2010 under a compromise proposal by Metro Council leaders who are trying to slow down a tougher ban.

Democratic Caucus Chairman Jim King on Tuesday circulated copies of an ordinance that would phase in tougher smoking restrictions over the next four years.

“I sense that a large portion of councilmen are looking for some compromise,” said King, D-10th, whose proposal contains a notation saying it has 13 votes in support.

But a group that has pushed for a tougher smoking ban called King’s proposal “outrageous,” and smoking opponents also opposed the plan, which would force bars to go smoke free in four years and restaurants with self-ventilated smoking rooms within three years.

“I think they need to stick to the issue: bans are not good for the businesses,” said John Dant, president of Metro Louisville Hospitality Coalition. “It doesn’t matter if it goes into effect in 2010 or 2008.

King’s proposal comes two weeks after Metro Council member Ken Fleming, R-7th, proposed a comprehensive ban that would prohibit smoking in almost all public buildings except for Churchill Downs, tobacco stores and warehouses and private clubs and rental halls.

Fourteen council members indicated last week that they would support Fleming’s ordinance.

“I don’t think much of it,” Fleming said of King’s proposal. “I’m very disappointed that he’s come up with something like this.”

Both Fleming’s and King’s proposals would be stronger than Louisville’s existing ban, which allows smoking in bars and restaurants that receive less than 75 percent of their revenue from the sale of food served inside the restaurant.

---

Some on council want tougher ban on smoking to apply to Churchill

August 30, 2006
Joseph Gerth

Some Republicans and Democrats on the Louisville Metro Council want to adopt a strict smoking ban that would require all businesses, including Churchill Downs, to go smoke-free.

But one key supporter said she hopes the council doesn’t go that far and doesn’t believe it will.

Less than a week ago, Councilman Ken Fleming, R-7th District, proposed strengthening the ban to cover most public buildings, except for the racetrack and a few other places.

The issue was discussed during the Republican and Democratic caucus meetings that preceded last night’s council meeting, at which Fleming introduced the measure.

The Republicans talked about including Churchill Downs — a move that could ultimately threaten the measure since some members believe the track should be exempted.

Ellen Call, R-26th, a key supporter of the ban, said the racetrack should be exempt because it is already at a disadvantage competing with the Caesars Indiana casino.

Churchill allows smoking in two sports bars at the track.

But other Republicans expressed concern.

“How can you justify exempting Churchill Downs?” asked council President Kevin Kramer, R-11th.

Republican mayoral candidate Kelly Downard, R-16th, also questioned whether exempting the track is a good idea. “There is concern that the biggest dog in town gets a free pass,” he said.

There was similar talk in the Democratic caucus meeting, where Barbara Shanklin, D-2nd, and Leonard Watkins, D-1st, also favor requiring Churchill to abide by the ban.

“When we created this ban in the past, we created an unlevel playing field,” Watkins said. He said that could happen again by exempting the track.

But Rick Blackwell, D-12th, said the ban shouldn’t include the track because of its importance to the community. “I think we will be sorely, sorely sorry if we do this,” he said.

Shanklin said later that although she favors including Churchill under the ban, she would back off that if she thought it would cause the whole measure to fail.

Dan Johnson, D-21st, agreed. “I’m for it with or without Churchill,” he said.

Call thinks there are enough votes against including Churchill to kill that idea. She said she believes the votes are present to pass the ban without including the track. The ordinance could be voted on next month.

---

Tougher ban on smoking proposed
New plan surprises Louisville council

August 25, 2006
By Joseph Gerth, jgerth@courier-journal.com

Louisville’s smoking ban would be extended to bars, restaurants and most other public buildings under a proposal that caught both opponents and supporters off guard yesterday.

Now, both sides are hurriedly gearing up for a fight over the new ordinance proposed by Metro Council member Ken Fleming, R-7th District, that would close many of the loopholes in the current ban.

“This happened so fast,” said Mary Ann Sanders, chairman of Smoke Free Louisville, which endorses a full ban. “We really haven’t thought of strategy.”

Despite mounting evidence of the health problems caused by secondhand smoke, council members had said that they wanted to wait until the ban had been in place a year before making changes.

That would be in November, after the general election.

But Fleming, who said he was “seriously considering” voting for a total ban when the council passed a weaker ordinance last August, said he decided that waiting one year from that vote was long enough.

“I just think it’s time we put it on the table and talk about it,” said Fleming, who is facing a serious challenge for his council seat from Democrat Neville Blakemore III. Blakemore has accused Fleming during the campaign of failing to show leadership on the smoking ban and other issues.

The abrupt change surprised John Dant, president of the Metro Louisville Hospitality Coalition, a group of bars and restaurants opposed to the smoking plan.

“That’s a headache,” he said. “I knew it was going to come up, but I didn’t think it would come up this soon.”

The new proposal would bar smoking from all metro government buildings and allow it at a handful of public businesses, including Churchill Downs and Trackside, retail tobacco stores, tobacco warehouses and private clubs and rental halls. Performers also would be allowed to smoke on stage during their acts.

Fleming’s ordinance, co-sponsored by six Democrats and one other Republican, will be on the Metro Council’s agenda next week and could be voted on as early as Sept. 14.

Co-sponsor Ellen Call, R-26th, said the ordinance “absolutely” does what she wanted. “Right now, if we counted the votes right, it’s one or two votes shy of passing … we will have this issue resolved once and for all.”

Tina Ward-Pugh, D-9th, said Fleming’s ordinance “is absolutely something I can live with,” although she would prefer that smoking be banned in all public buildings without exception.

Although he opposes the ordinance, council member Doug Hawkins, R-25th, said he’s glad Fleming brought it up now so that it focuses attention on Mayor Jerry Abramson’s support of a stronger smoking ban. “This has been Jerry Abramson’s baby from the get-go,” he said.

Abramson spokesman Chad Carlton said the mayor favors the strongest ordinance the council will pass.

Council member Kelly Downard, Abramson’s Republican opponent, said he was caught completely off guard and hadn’t read the ordinance, but he doubts it will affect the mayor’s race.

Pressure on council members to tighten the smoking ban began shortly after the council passed the original ordinance.

The current ban allows smoking in restaurants with alcohol licenses that derive less than 75 percent of their gross receipts from food eaten on site. It also allows an exemption for businesses that install a separately ventilated smoking room.

Some businesses, including restaurants like The Bristol and Hooters, claimed exemptions even though they make less than 25 percent of their money from alcohol sales, which irked some council members.

In addition, the Louisville Metro Health Department decided that the current ban allows smoking in the bar areas of bowling alleys and at some bingo halls.

Metro Council member Jim King, the Democratic caucus leader, said he would have preferred that the smoking issue wait until November. But now that Fleming has raised it, he said he wants to move quickly.

King, who was instrumental in adding exemptions to the smoking ban last year, said he might sign on as a co-sponsor if he ultimately believes it is fair.

Fleming said yesterday that his purpose in filing the ordinance now is simply to protect the health of his constituents.

But Blakemore said he believes Fleming is reacting to his campaign.

“I’ve basically knocked on 4,000 doors telling people I support a comprehensive smoking ban,” Blakemore said, “and I’ve found people who said they would vote against him (Fleming) because he hasn’t taken a stand.”

Fleming said he doesn’t believe the existing ban has harmed businesses, and he noted that U.S. Surgeon General Richard Carmona issued a report in June that said secondhand smoke has wide-ranging and serious effects on the health of nonsmokers.

Reporter Joseph Gerth can be reached at (502) 582-4702.

---

Proposal would extend Louisville’s smoking ban to bars and restaurants

August 24, 2006
Joseph Gerth

Louisville Metro Council member Ken Fleming, R-7th, has filed an ordinance that would extend Louisville’s smoking ban to bars and most public businesses exempt from the current law.

Churchill Downs would still be exempted from the ordinances, as would retail tobacco stores, tobacco warehouses and private clubs and rental halls.

Seven co-sponsors, including six Democrats and one Republican, have signed onto the ordinance.

Louisville’s existing smoking ordinance took effect last November, but many supporters of the ban said it offered too many loopholes.

That law allows smoking in restaurants with alcohol licenses that derive less than 75 percent of their gross receipts from food, and in businesses that install separately ventilated smoking areas.

Fleming’s ordinance would also take advantage of a state law that went into effect last month allowing local governments to ban smoking in their own buildings.

Under the old state law, local governments could either allow smoking throughout or provide an indoor smoking room where employees and visitors could light up.

Fleming’s ordinance will be on the Metro Council’s agenda next week and could be voted on as early as Sept. 14.