Tagged: smoking ban

There must be thousands of St. Louisans struggling through day three of a new year's resolution not to smoke.  In fact, Barry Freedman, Project Manager for Communities Putting Prevention to Work with the St. Louis County Department of Health says a survey of St. Louis smokers shows that nearly 60% say they'd like to quit in the next six months.  

Happy New Year's Eve! We hope you have a great end of 2010 and beginning of 2011! Here are a few news stories buzzing around the St. Louis Area today. 

• Anheuser-Busch will renew its sponsorship with Major League Baseball. According to the St. Louis Business Journal, the St. Louis-based brewer and MLB came to an agreement on Thursday to also drop the litigation stemming from the contract dispute. Anheuser-Busch sued the league last month for allegedly breaching a sponsorship contract after MLB reportedly wanted more money and said the deal was non-binding and it could use other beer sponsors. The deal designates Budweiser as official beer sponsor of Major League Baseball and is worth an estimated $10 million.
• Smoking bans go into effect Sunday in both St. Louis city and St. Louis County. County residents voted last year to approve the ban. The City's Board of Aldermen passed a ban that was contingent on the county's vote. Both health departments will be in charge of enforcement. The county is not expecting enforcement to be a problem. In the county individuals who don't abide by the ban can be fined $50  while business owners could be fined $100 for the first offense and more for subsequent offenses.
• The newly approved city budget in East St. Louis calls for laying off 34 municipal employees, including 16 police officers. The Belleville News-Democrat reports the East St. Louis City Council unanimously voted Thursday to accept the nearly $62 million budget. Besides laying off the 16 police officers, the new budget also calls for a delay in calling some firefighters back to work, plus laying off four public works employees, one jailer and one full- and one part-time telecommunicator.

Good morning! Here's a look at the headlines:

• Beer mad at baseball? It hardly seems possible. But Anheuser-Busch sued Major League Baseball last month on the grounds that the sports organization violated a sponsorship contract. Today, MLB responded and made some of it's own claims against Anheuser-Busch.
• Smoking and gambling can continue to coexist at the Harrah's casino in Maryland Heights. By a 4-3 vote the St. Louis County council tentatively agreed last night to give two lounges in the casino an exemption from the county's smoking ban that takes effect Jan. 2. Harrah's serves only drinks in its VooDoo Lounge and a piano bar. They would qualify for an exemption under the ban, but the Missouri Gaming Commission licenses alcohol sales in the casino, not the county. The ban says only bars licensed by the county can get an exemption. A final vote will be held at a later date.
• Another person involved in the ongoing St. Louis towing scandal will be sentenced today. Kevin Shade is a former St. Louis detective who pleaded guilty to one count of mail fraud. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that Shade accepted bribes as a police officer to falsify inspection records for vehicles that were impounded by St. Louis Metropolitan Towing, so they could fetch a higher price when resold through the company's affiliated businesses.