Search Results for: smoking

As you may recall, one of the arguments against the expanded smoking ban that the city of Houston passed last year was that watering holes out near unincorporated areas would be put at a disadvantage. Well, it looks like the … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Score another win for the city in court. After a daylong hearing in which the bar owners sought a preliminary injunction against the ordinance, U.S. District Judge Gray Miller found that the city can regulate alcohol-selling businesses to protect the … Continue reading → Continue reading →

I confess, I didn’t see this coming. [A] coalition of bar, nightclub and cabaret owners last week challenged Houston’s smoking ordinance in a federal lawsuit. They argue that city officials overstepped their authority last fall in passing the ordinance, scheduled … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Back in March, an intrepid group of sixth-graders in Pearland decided to do something about the city’s lack of a smoking ordinance for public places. A group of sixth-grade science students got a standing ovation at a Pearland City Council … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Not too surprisingly, the last chapter of the new anti-smoking ordinance has not yet been written. “Exemptions are never clear,” said Joe Cherner, founder of a group that advocates smoking bans. “That’s why in most cities there are regulations put … Continue reading → Continue reading →

When the new smoking ban was passed, a fellow identified as “an expert on the smoking-ban movement” predicted that the State of Texas would follow suit within a year. I wondered who might spearhead such an effort. Via Houstonist, I … Continue reading → Continue reading →

In the end, the vote wasn’t close. The City Council voted today to extend Houston’s indoor smoking ban to bars but to continue allowing smoking in outdoor patios and in bars that promote cigar smoking and derive significant revenue from … Continue reading → Continue reading →

The revised city ordinance on smoking in bars, which was put off for a week, will come up again tomorrow. The Austin attorney who successfully sued to have parts of that city’s anti-smoking law overturned has sent a letter to … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Here’s the Chron story about what happened regarding the draft ordinance to strengthen Houston’s smoking ban for bars and restaurants. Bar owners who oppose expanding the city’s smoking ban may have garnered enough support among City Council members to derail … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Via Houstonist, KTRH is reporting that there are two more proposals to modify the city’s smoking ban for restaurants floating around City Council. City Councilwoman Toni Lawrence’s office has begun circulating a petition asking her colleagues to support a ban … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Apparently, the new proposals to strengthen Houston’s anti-smoking ordinance do not go far enough for some people. The draft ordinance released late Wednesday would extend the smoking ban to stand-alone bars and other public, enclosed workplaces but would allow smoking … Continue reading → Continue reading →

The proposed new anti-smoking regulations for Houston are getting closer to reality. One thing to note is that several previously-expressed concerns appear to be addressed in the new ordinance. Houston’s existing ordinance prohibits smoking in restaurants, but allows it in … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Didn’t get to this yesterday: Remember last year when a compromise ban on smoking in restaurant dining areas but not bars was enacted? Well, it looks like that ban will be extended to include bars, thanks to the unexpected support … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Mayor White’s compromise has carried the day in the smoking wars. Houston City Council voted today to ban smoking in restaurant dining areas but not bars, accepting Mayor Bill White’s compromise between anti-smoking forces and economic interests. The Council rejected … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Looks like a compromise has been reached in the effort to ban smoking in restaurants. Mayor Bill White announced Wednesday that he is drafting an ordinance that would ban smoking in restaurants, but not in bars. “I have been listening … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Smoke ’em if you got ’em, ’cause you may not be able to in as many places as before. Councilwoman Shelley Sekula-Gibbs, the only physician on the City Council, is studying smoking ordinances in other cities with an eye toward … Continue reading → Continue reading →