Apple Valley, Rosemount legislators discuss upcoming session -MN
By Erica Christoffer Sun Newspapers (Created 12/30/2004 3:48:11 PM)

A projected $700 million deficit, K-12 funding, a bonding bill and transportation are only a few of the issues the legislators from Apple Valley and Rosemount will address during the upcoming 2005 state legislative session.

The representation has changed slightly, however, since last year. Sen. Chris Gerlach, R, will begin his first session in the Senate representing District 37, which serves Apple Valley and Burnsville. Gerlach won a special election this past summer to fill the remaining two years of the term vacated by Dave Knutson.

Rep. Lloyd Cybart, R, now represents House District 37A, defeating Shelly Madore, DFL, to win his first term in office. The seat formerly belonged to Gerlach.

And long-time legislator Rep. Dennis Ozment, R, will begin his 11th term representing residents in Rosemount and Apple Valley House District 37B.

As the session gets underway Jan. 4, local legislators are also expected to discuss a statewide smoking ban, health care and environmental issues.

Sen. Chris Gerlach

Passing the Cedar Avenue Bus Rapid Transit is Gerlach’s top priority for his district. Last year, $10 million was dedicated for the project in the bonding bill that passed in the House but failed in the Senate.

“We’re getting short changed from MnDOT and the Met Council in the Dakota County area,” Gerlach said. “We’re only getting 34 cents on the dollar from our gas tax contributions as well.”

As far as light rail, Gerlach said it is too expensive and requires too many subsidies.

“It seems to be more about local economic development than it does moving people from point A to point B,” Gerlach said. “Bus lines seem to be about a fourth of the cost and they’re flexible in that you can change routes and you can change them to meet changing demographic patterns.”

Gerlach opposes a gas tax increase under the current distribution formula, which puts Dakota County as one of 11 counties that pays more than it receives.

“We need to equalize that out a little bit,” Gerlach said. “The money is not going to where it’s needed.”

Gerlach said he would not support a state-enacted smoking ban because he said the issue will take care of itself though the free market.

“More and more restaurants and establishments are going smoke free because they find that in the marketplace, their customers demand it,” Gerlach said. “We don’t have to have the government jump in on everything and dictate it. Let’s let it follow its natural course and you’ll find more and more smoke-free places over time.”

On health care, Gerlach said he expects legislation regarding federal conformity with the health savings accounts.

“We have to start here and that’s going to help kick-start the health savings account market,” he said.

Gerlach also foresees a proposal to reduce tax assessments on small businesses for health care by raising the cigarette tax. It will mean lower premium costs for employers and employees. However, Gerlach said he is undecided on the issue.

In terms of funding for K-12 education, Gerlach said he would support an increase.

“I don’t intend on raising taxes. I think there’s enough wiggle room left in the budget. It’s just a question of the decisions we have to make,’’ he said. “The goal is to achieve that inflationary increase.”

Gerlach said the budget for Health and Human Services is projected to increase by 20 percent. He said he hopes for less of an increase to cover costs in education as well as the projected deficit.

“You can’t take the compassion out of it,” Gerlach said. Health and Human Services needs to serve those who truly need the safety net, he said, as well as connecting people with their health care decisions and the costs and bring competition into the health care marketplace.

Gerlach called the projected deficit of $700 million “manageable.”

As for the bonding bill and the Minnesota Zoo’s request for exhibit expansion funds, Gerlach said he supports reviving the state institution.

“It’s time now for the Legislature to step up and fulfill their obligation and make sure that the zoo has what it needs to be successful,” Gerlach said. “I don’t know what the exact dollar amount will be, but I’ll be supportive of whatever the governor comes forth with.”

Last year the zoo requested $68 million from the state and Gov. Tim Pawlenty proposed a dedication of $34 million. However, because the bonding bill never passed, the zoo didn’t see any appropriation.

The thread that runs through all the various topics this year is “we have to get the job done,” Gerlach said. “I’m excited about it. I’m coming at this stuff from a whole different angle now.”

Sen. Chris Gerlach can be reached at 651-296-4120 or 952-432-4100 or by e-mail at sen.chris.gerlach@senate.mn.

Rep. Lloyd Cybart

While door knocking during his campaign this fall, Cybart said one of the most common comments he heard regarded the gridlock last year in the Legislature.

The freshman representative hopes to move issues forward in the House while representing his district during the 2005 session.

One issue he hopes to address is the bonding bill. Cybart said he supports the $34 million the governor had earmarked for the Minnesota Zoo’s exhibit expansion.

“I’m sure it will be along the same lines,” Cybart said.

As far as a smoking ban, Cybart said he supports local control rather than the state taking on the issue.

Health care is also going to be a huge issue this session, Cybart said, “with the runaway costs, something has to be done.”

Ideas he foresees being discussed are health savings accounts, tort reform and curbing state expenses, specifically in Health and Human Services and its anticipated 20 percent budget increase, he said. That increase will need to be dealt with to keep deficit spending down, Cybart said.

On the issue of a gas tax increase, Cybart said he would not support it under the current distribution formula.

“It’s a lop-sided formula, the rural areas get more than the suburban areas,” Cybart said. “If we raise the gas tax it’s still a disproportionate amount of the taxes coming back to Dakota County to fix our problems.”

Cybart’s top priority in transportation is the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) line along Cedar Avenue as well as similar transit options along the Interstate 35W corridor in Burnsville to alleviate congestion and bottlenecks into the cities. Last year, $10 million was dedicated to BRT in the House’s bonding bill, funds Cybart hopes to secure this year.

In terms of K-12 education funding, Cybart said he supports increasing appropriations.

“I don’t think that can be held flat for another two years,” he said.

To deal with the projected $700 million deficit, Cybart said he supports a combination of using reserve funds and finding alternative ways of expanding the state’s tax base.

“For this coming budget, I don’t see us raising taxes to fix that,” Cybart said. “I don’t think it’s as dire a situation as some people make it out to be.”

“I’m excited to get started,” Cybart said. “The reason I wanted to do this is materializing before my eyes, and that’s to make a difference and to serve my fellow man.”

Rep. Lloyd Cybart can be reached at 651-296-5506 or 952-454-3175 or by e-mail at rep.lloyd.cybart@house.mn.

Rep. Dennis Ozment

As the chair of the Environment and Natural Resources Finance Committee last session, Ozment said he plans to continue his work on the state’s priorities in terms of funding in those areas this year.

Ozment will also work on the Impaired Waters Program, a federal mandate in which states have to identify pollutants within its bodies of water.

“We now have to start putting together a plan of action on how we’re going to deal with those impairments and clean up our water,” Ozment said. “And, if we do not do that, the federal government threatens to put sanctions on the state of Minnesota.”

Ozment said the entire state has an obligation to deal with the water quality issues. The program will need funding from the Legislature this year and Ozment said his committee is drafting a bill for the state to eliminate those pollution problems as cost efficiently as possible.

“As long as we’re making adequate progress, we’re doing OK,” Ozment said, however, the state does not have long-term funding sources for the program. “We know that if we don’t deal with it aggressively, the time is kind of running out. I think that it can be done.”

Rather then a smoking ban, Ozment supports improving indoor air quality levels through establishing standards for the air rather then going after specific causes.

“Then the owner of the property can decide as to how they’re going to improve the air in order to meet the standard,” he said. “I don’t think we should be picking out one pollutant and think that it somehow will resolve the air quality problem. Let’s measure the air quality and improvement regardless of what’s contaminating it.”

Ozment said that health care will be a major issue in 2005 and he will be eager to hear what proposals come out of the Health and Human Services Committee.

“I do know we have to get the cost of health care under control,” Ozment said. “It’s the biggest driver right now of what’s happening with our state budget. It’s eating up the money faster than the economy is actually growing.”

Ozment said he would support a gas tax increase only if there was a change in the distribution formula.

“Right now a gas tax increase would enrich the dollars that are going to rural Minnesota inappropriately and it would not help us in the metropolitan area at all,” he said. “The system is broken in my opinion.”

His transportation priorities focus on securing funds for the Cedar Avenue Bus Rapid Transit. The dedicated roads would improve mass transit and assist transportation needs in the south suburban area, he said.

By achieving rapid busing to the Mall of America, Ozment said that riders then could take advantage of the light rail system.

Ozment said he does support an increase in funding to K-12 education and would seek funds within the existing state dollars first.

“Education should be funded by the state of Minnesota and local [operating] levies should not be necessary,” Ozment said. “Our constitution says the state of Minnesota is supposed to be setting up a public education system that has equal opportunities all across the state.”

Ozment is championing the Minnesota Zoo’s request in the bonding bill, for the full amount of $68 million.

“I’m hopeful that we can get full funding for their needs so that we can get that state agency really living up to its full potential,” Ozment said. “It needs a significant upgrade to remain competitive.”

Rep. Dennis Ozment can be reached at 651-296-4306 or 651-423-1331 or by e-mail at rep.dennis.ozment@house.mn.

http://www.mnsun.com/story.asp?city=Apple_Valley&story=149839

 

* 4 MORE ARTICLES FOUND ON CANDIDATES USING "SMOKING" BY SUN PAPERS

http://www.mnsun.com/story.asp?city=Plymouth&story=150032

http://www.mnsun.com/story.asp?city=Burnsville&story=149878

http://www.mnsun.com/story.asp?city=Long_Lake&story=150079

http://www.mnsun.com/story.asp?city=Minnetonka&story=150008

 

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Report on CPS to call for big changes-TX
12/30/2004 12:34 PM
By: Associated Press

SAN ANTONIO -- A legislative report soon to be released reportedly will call for "sweeping and systemic" changes in how the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services operates.

As chairman of the state House Human Services Committee, state Rep. Carlos Uresti, D-San Antonio, ordered the comprehensive investigation after a series of deaths of children under the supervision of Child Protective Services.

Uresti told WOAI Radio in San Antonio that among the sweeping changes will be in how caseworkers are trained. It also calls for dramatic funding increases for the Department of Family and Protective Services, higher pay for caseworkers and reduced caseloads for individual caseworkers.

The report could be released as soon as Thursday, Uresti said. Last month, he filed legislation calling for a $1-a-pack increase in the state cigarette tax to pay for CPS improvements, but even that won't be enough to meet the changes needed, Uresti said.

http://www.news8austin.com/content/headlines/?ArID=128035&SecID=2

 

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Pub nights out will go up in smoke
PATRICK BROWN

FOR most of us, the festive season means one thing - a lot of parties. Be it the office annual bash or meeting up with friends for that once-a-year reunion, the evening usually ends up in the local pub where over a pint we solve the problems of the world and mark the passing of another year.

But this year may be the penultimate festive season when the evening down the local goes in the time-honoured Scottish fashion, because from spring 2006 the Scottish Executive has something else in mind - it wants to ban smoking in enclosed public spaces.

For better or worse, this will change the way we socialise in the 1000 pubs and clubs across Edinburgh. Indeed, earlier this month the Scottish Executive published its plans in the Smoking Bill which the Scottish Parliament is now consulting on.

In April of this year, a smoking ban came into effect in Ireland and already we have seen a major change in the way our Irish cousins have a night out. If you want to have a smoke then you can’t do that in the pub so you will head for the door and spend some time outside with a cigarette in one hand and a pint in the other, watching the world go by all from the comfort of the pavement.

If you are lucky then your local has a beer garden and you can nip outside to sit on a bench and hopefully have a patio heater to keep the cold at bay - who knows, you might even end up with singed eyebrows if your landlord has misjudged the heat level. There’s a new gag in Ireland that so many smokers now clutter up the pavements outside of the city’s pubs that if you want to have a breath of fresh air you have to go inside.

So does it really matter whether a smoking ban is introduced in Scotland? Well, for your local landlord it does. In the months that a smoking ban in Ireland has been in force a few worrying trends have emerged. The Irish Vintners Federation, which represents 6000 pubs across Ireland, has estimated that 4000 jobs have already been lost, with other studies showing that beer sales up until August have fallen by ten per cent across Ireland and by 14 per cent in Dublin.

SO what, I hear the average pub regular ask? Well the point is that for most pubs even a small drop in turnover can account for a big part of your profits - especially for those in cities where there is a lot of competition for trade - and a drop in those profits could be the difference between opening your doors or shutting up shop for good.

The pub regulars could find themselves without their local, never mind on the pavement, if the Scottish Executive gets its way and introduces a smoking ban in just 15 months.

The licensed trade in Scotland supports the Scottish Executive’s aim of introducing more smoke-free areas in Scotland but we don’t support a total smoking ban in 15 months. Neither, it seems, does the Scottish public, with just 13 per cent supporting a total smoking ban in pubs and clubs.

In our submission to the Scottish Executive’s Consultation on Smoking in Public Places, we put forward proposals which in three years would have resulted in 50 per cent of the total floor space in Scotland’s pub and clubs being non-smoking, would have banned smoking at the bar in all licensed premises and would have banned smoking in all areas where hot food was being served.

The industry didn’t underestimate the challenge it would face to implement these measures in licensed premises in Scotland. We proposed them as a means of taking forward the Scottish Executive’s objective of reducing smoking in licensed premises, giving our customers a choice of a non-smoking environment, whilst managing the economic and social impact of any change in licensed premises.

Unfortunately, the Scottish Executive has so far rejected our plan and look set to proceed with its proposal for a smoking ban in enclosed public places. If the situation in Ireland is repeated, we estimate that a smoking ban in Scotland will cost the beer and pub industry tens of millions of pounds and cost thousands of jobs, hitting traditional pubs in Scotland’s cities and rural areas hardest and tearing the heart out of communities across Scotland.

THE pubs and clubs along Edinburgh’s best-known streets in the city centre, like George Street, will be better positioned than most to meet the challenge, but Edinburgh also boasts unique community pubs based only a bus ride away from the city centre, and it is in those outlying areas where businesses will suffer most.

Since the Scottish Executive’s announcement in November of its smoking ban plans, the UK Secretary of State for Health, John Reid - ironically a Scottish MP - announced proposals for tackling smoking in pubs and clubs in England and Wales which stopped short of a total smoking ban. He got it right, the Scottish Executive hasn’t. The Scottish Beer and Pub Association supports the objective of introducing smoke-free areas, but we believe the Scottish Executive’s proposals are flawed, and have the potential to fundamentally damage Scotland’s hospitality industry, costing thousands of jobs and tens of millions of pounds.

We urge the Scottish Executive and the Scottish Parliament to think again before proceeding with the current proposals and to instead work with the industry to introduce the change we all want to see in a considered way.

If we fail in getting that extra time to take our customers with us towards smoke-free areas in pubs then next festive season will be the last Christmas without some member of the party having to nip outside at some point for a smoke.

Spending some time outside on the pavement will certainly add a new dimension to the traditional Edinburgh festive experience. Savour the traditional festive pub spirit this year, it could be one of your last.

• Patrick Browne is chief executive of the Scottish Beer and Pub Association

http://news.scotsman.com/opinion.cfm?id=1475432004

 

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Pub cigs ban ends as profits dive  -UK

A pub landlord who banned smoking in his hostelry because its effects were damaging his eyesight has relented - after his profits took a dive.

Dave Diamond, of the Blue Bell Inn at Old Ellerby in East Yorkshire lifted the ban after only six weeks.

Mr Diamond had been warned by doctors at Hull's eye hospital that cigarette smoke was exacerbating a medical problem with his left eye.

"My eye's no worse than before", he told BBC News.

Regulars

"The staff at the hospital said cigarette smoke wasn't helping with my problem."

Regulars at the pub were told they would have to go outside for a cigarette, but after a few weeks the pub's takings had dropped by a third.

Although most of his customers accepted the ban a couple of 'passing trade' clients had balked at the move.

"Ours is a pub where people come for pint. It would be different if we were a foody pub."

"It wasn't easy to start with, although those who wanted to smoke went outside.

"We did have a problem with one or two who were passing customers."

Although the publican started out with the best of intentions, the financial realities of a self-imposed ban forced a rethink.

"After six weeks we realised...our takings were down by a third", said Mr Diamond.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/humber/4134377.stm

 

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New Web Site Pinpoints Harmful Chemicals in Communities

December 3, 2004

National Library of Medicine
Robert Mehnert
Kathy Cravedi
(301) 496-6308  publicinfo@nlm.nih.gov

(Bethesda, Md.)--The National Library of Medicine (NLM), a part of the National Institutes of Health, announces an interactive Web site that shows--on maps--the amount and location of certain toxic chemicals released into the environment in the United States. The site, called TOXMAP, is free and no registration is required. The Web address is (http://toxmap.nlm.nih.gov).

TOXMAP focuses on the geographic distribution of chemical releases, their relative amounts, and their trends over time. This release data comes from industrial facilities around the United States, as reported annually to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). TOXMAP also links to NLM's extensive collection of toxicology and environmental health references, as well as to a rich resource of data on hazardous chemical substances in its TOXNET databases (http://toxnet.nlm.nih.gov/). There are also fact sheets and summaries about the various chemicals, written by the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry.

For example, a family moving to a new city can locate facilities releasing toxic chemicals by entering the city's name and state, generating a map of facilities in that area. For each facility, information, including location and chemicals released, is provided. Information about the health effects of the specific chemicals identified is also provided.

Dr. Jack Snyder, NLM Associate Director for Specialized Information Services, said, "The National Library of Medicine has a special mission to address toxicology and environmental health needs. TOXMAP is part of this mission, and allows us to serve the public and professionals in a unique way. This Web site allows users to explore maps of what and where chemicals are released and by whom."

"In the last several years, the Library has created a number of Web sites with the consumer in mind," said NLM Director Dr. Donald A.B. Lindberg. "TOXMAP is a prime example. It joins Web resources for consumer health information broadly (MedlinePlus.gov), research studies (ClinicalTrials.gov), and older Americans (NIHSeniorHealth.gov)."

Located in Bethesda, Maryland, the National Library of Medicine, the world's largest library of the health sciences, is a component of the National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services.

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/news/press_releases/toxmap_pr04.html

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Smokers' Helpline ready to kick butt
By DAHLIA LIWSZE, Sun MediaThu, December 30, 2004

Sometimes we need a kick in the butt -- literally. A recent study found nearly a third of Ontario smokers plan to make quitting their New Year's resolution. It's difficult, but not impossible.

"Just a few minutes of counselling ... or a little bit of support and assistance over the phone can improve someone's chances of quitting," said Paul McDonald, a professor of health studies at the University of Waterloo who helped start the Smokers' Helpline in 2000.

The helpline receives 8,000-9,000 calls a year from smokers and concerned family and friends in Ontario.

While half quit smoking on their first or second attempt, McDonald said those who fail should not be discouraged.

The Smokers' Helpline provides information, advice and support to help smokers quit and handle their cravings.

While she still has cravings, Debbie Chiniforoush, 43, plans to stay smoke-free. A smoker for 20 years, she hasn't lit up in 15 months.

"I noticed I was getting smoker's mouth, and that really bothered me a lot because I didn't want to look like a crocodile," she said from her Toronto home.

'NAGGED' BY SON

Another reason Chiniforoush quit was her 10-year-old son, who "nagged (her) to death," reminding her that smoking could kill her.

Realizing she needed support, Chiniforoush called the helpline. It and medication helped to make her third attempt at quitting successful.

McDonald said avoiding certain social situations can help to prevent a relapse.

He's optimistic about Ontario's new anti-smoking legislation. Research suggests restrictions increase motivation and the success rate for would-be quitters.

DRUGS, PATCH

While 18,900 Canadians died of lung cancer this year, the picture is not entirely grim. In 2003, 21% of Canadians aged 15 and up smoked, down from 2001.

There are many aids to help smokers quit -- pharmaceutical drugs, the patch, nicotine gum or natural herbal products like Butt Out (www.buttitout.com). * smoking rate still the same (quit rate of more the 6 months considered), with no "cessation aids".

"It basically comes from within," said Chiniforoush. "You have to want to do it. If you don't, then there's really no point."

http://www.canoe.ca/NewsStand/OttawaSun/News/2004/12/30/801457-sun.html

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Washington, D.C. The MTF survey reported a 7 percent decline in past month use of any illicit drug among 8th-, 10th- and 12-graders combined. However, among 8th-graders, lifetime use of inhalants, such as glue, shoe polish or gasoline, jumped from 15.8 percent in 2003 to 17.3 percent in 2004. Experts called for greater education about the risks of inhalants.

“We are concerned about the increasing number of 8th-graders using inhalants. Research has found that even a single session of repeated inhalant abuse can disrupt heart rhythms and cause death from cardiac arrest or lower oxygen levels enough to cause suffocation,” said NIDA Director Dr. Nora D. Volkow.

Inhalant use has been consistently highest among 8th-graders because it is inexpensive and easy to access, but it declined in use among students in all grades after an anti-inhalant media campaign was launched in 1995. The new upward trend led researchers to suggest that not enough teens understand the potentially fatal effects of inhalant use.

“The proportion of young people who believe it is dangerous to use inhalants has declined among both 8th- and 10th-graders over the past three years, which quite possibly explains the rebound in use,” said Dr. Lloyd Johnson, principal investigator of the study at the University of Michigan. “This turnaround in their use continues to suggest the need for greater attention to the dangers of inhalant use in our media messages and in-school prevention programs.”

The MTF survey also showed that teens continue to use alcohol at disturbing rates. For example, 29.2 percent of 12th-graders reported binge drinking in the last two weeks. Binge drinking is defined as having five or more drinks in a row. Lifetime use of alcohol was 43.9 percent for 8th-graders, 64.2 percent for 10th-graders and 76.8 percent of 12th-graders. High numbers of teens also continue to report using flavored alcoholic beverages, with an annual prevalence rate of 55.8 percent in 2004 and 55.2 percent in 2003. This was the second year that the MTF tracked the use of flavored alcoholic beverages.

Confirming the results of other studies, the MTF survey also showed continued abuse of prescription painkillers, such as Vicodin. In the past year, Vicodin was used by 9.3 percent of 12th-graders, 6.2 percent of 10th-graders and 2.5 percent of 8th-graders. While this was not a significant difference from 2003, officials say it is cause for concern.

Among the drugs reportedly declining in use is marijuana. According to the MTF survey, since the recent peak of marijuana use in 1996, there has been at least a 36 percent decline in the annual prevalence of marijuana use among 8th-graders, from 18.3 percent to 11.8 percent in 2004. Among 10th- and 12th-graders, there was a modest decline in marijuana use. There were also significant increases in the perception of harm from cigarette smoking among 8th- and 10th-graders.

NIDA will discuss the recent findings of the Monitoring the Future survey during a workshop held at CADCA’s National Leadership Forum on January 13. For more on the 2004 Monitoring the Future survey, visit http://monitoringthefuture.org.

http://cadca.org/CoalitionsOnline/article.asp?id=622

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Run on tobacco reported in final days before tax -ID

Associated Press

MISSOULA -- Smokers are stocking up in the final days before a state tobacco tax takes effect, with dealers saying they're surprised by an apparent preference for the loose tobacco used in roll-your-own smokes.

"People are throwing the meat out of the freezer and throwing in tobacco," said Robert Lane, manager of Cigarettes Express in Missoula.

Lane said he recently sold one customer a 50-pound bag of tobacco. Bell Pipe and Tobacco Shoppe, also in Missoula, sold a man 24 cans of tobacco, said Betty Anderson, who runs the store with partner Mark Burgad.

Customers appear to be switching to loose tobacco to save money, said Anderson. A box of 200 filtered cigarette tubes, a bag of tobacco and a machine to make the cigarettes runs about $20 -- almost half the price of a carton of 200 manufactured cigarettes. And that carton's price will rise to almost $50 at the beginning of next year.

Other tobacco merchants such as Dorothy Clinkenbeard, who owns Joe's Smoke Ring in Evaro, said she expects customers to shop in neighboring states such as Idaho. Anderson and Burgad said they also expect a decrease in sales, but didn't think it would last.

"It's like gasoline," Burgad said. "How many times have you heard someone say, 'If gasoline goes above $2 a gallon I'm selling my car?"'

The voter-approved tobacco tax increase raises the tax on a pack of cigarettes to $1.70, the tax on an ounce of snuff to 85 cents and the tax on other tobacco products to 50 percent of wholesale. Money generated by the higher tax will be designated for health insurance programs, Medicaid services, veterans homes and the state's general fund.

http://www.billingsgazette.com/index.php?tl=1&display=rednews/2004/12/28/build/state/31-tobaccotax.inc

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 Smokers stock up on cigarettes to avoid tax hike -AK
Juneau braces for bar-restaurant ban to take effect Jan. 2

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS and JUNEAU EMPIRE December 30, 2004

Customers at Lucky Raven Tobacco in Soldotna are stocking up on cigarettes to avoid a state tax rate increase.

Smokers in Juneau are starting to migrate from restaurants with bars to plain old bars, to avoid a city ban on smoking in the former type of establishment, bartenders said.

Those two laws, one state and one local, will affect smokers in 2005. The state tax starts on New Year's Day. The smoking ban begins Jan. 2.

The tax hike is expected to generate an additional $20 million for the state. Gov. Frank Murkowski sponsored the legislation.

Jack Dean, cashier at Lucky Raven Tobacco, said customers are purchasing up to four times the amount of cigarettes they usually buy.

Mike Patterson, owner of Lucky Raven, said usually when tobacco taxes increase, it hurts businesses. He believes customers will find ways to avoid it, such as buying them online. He also expects a sales increase in cigarette rolling products and cigars, which are not affected by the tax.

 Patterson said he thinks this could lead to a decrease in tax revenue, which would be counterproductive.

A pack of cigarettes has been taxed by the state at $1 since October 1997. Lawmakers voted to gradually double the tax. A 60-cent tax hike on each pack of cigarettes will go into effect in January. The tax will go up 20 cents more in 2006 and another 20 cents in 2007.

Not everyone has heard of the tax hike. Mark Rackley, smoking outside Merchants Wharf in Juneau on Wednesday evening, said he didn't know about the increase but it wouldn't affect his use of cigarettes. Rackley said he smokes only occasionally.

Todd Maclay, a bartender at Hangar on the Wharf in Juneau, said he hasn't heard customers talking about the tax increase. But he has heard from customers who are looking for a place to drink and smoke.

A new Juneau ordinance bans smoking in restaurant bars, such as the Hangar. Eventually, in 2008, smoking will be prohibited in all of the city's bars.

"My regulars are starting to gravitate to places they can smoke," Maclay said Wednesday. "Nobody's quit smoking because of the smoking ban."

The Hangar's bartenders estimate that 40 percent to 50 percent of their regular customers smoke. Smokers aren't going to want to step outside and smoke in bad weather, he said.

Right now, the state takes in about $46 million each year from the tax, said Johanna Bales, program manager for tobacco tax for the state of Alaska. Seventy-six percent of the tax is earmarked for the school fund, which is dedicated to school construction. The rest goes to the state's general fund.

Department of Revenue officials said the last time the tobacco tax was raised in 1997, they lost about $7 million the first year due to stockpiling.

The entire amount of revenue generated from the increase will be for the state's general fund, she said. Almost 9 percent of that money will go toward the Tobacco Use Education and Cessation fund, which is designed to help smokers stop.

Bales said the state pays out about $125 million each year for smoking-related illnesses.

• Juneau Empire reporter Eric Fry contributed to this story.

http://www.juneauempire.com/stories/123004/loc_20041230003.shtml

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Tobacco products fly off store shelves  -ID

By JOHN FITZGERALD Of The Gazette Staff

Tobacco products are leaving store shelves in a hurry in anticipation of an increase in the state sales tax that begins with the new year.

"It's been a little crazy in here," said Tobacco Country manager Elizabeth Hall, saying customers who used to buy one or two cartons are now buying six at a time.

The voter-approved increase boosts the tax on a pack of cigarettes from 70 cents a pack to $1.70. That will put a pack of Marlboros, the most popular brand, at around $4.65 a pack, or around $45.75 for a 10-pack carton. The tax on an ounce of snuff is also going up to 85 cents.

Money generated by the higher tax will be designated for health insurance programs, Medicaid services, veterans homes and the state's general fund.

Bob Pribyl, co-owner of Tobacco Row, said there is some confusion about when the tax increase will take effect. While the tobacco stamps will switch over on Jan. 1, he is unsure whether 2004 tobacco stamps will be available at 2004 prices or at new 2005 prices. To solve the problem, he plans to sell his inventory down to the bare minimum, then switch to new prices as he restocks.

"I expect my shelves to be empty by the end of the week," he said.

Hall, manager of the two Tobacco Country stores at 895 Main St. and 1500 Broadwater Ave., said cigarettes have made special stocking stuffers this year.

"We're never open on Christmas Eve, but this year we were open and both stores raked it in. People were asking me if we gift wrapped," she said.

Pribyl, co-owner of Tobacco Row stores at 635 Wicks Lane and 2450 King Ave. W., senses something more sinister as a result of the tax increase.

"I know we're going to see a lot of black market activity," he said. "This is a concern of mine - people finding other means of getting their cigarettes."

In Missoula, dealers are surprised by an apparent preference for the loose tobacco used in roll-your-own smokes.

"People are throwing the meat out of the freezer and throwing in tobacco," said Robert Lane, manager of Cigarettes Express in Missoula.

Lane said he recently sold one customer a 50-pound bag of tobacco. Bell Pipe and Tobacco Shoppe, also in Missoula, sold a man 24 cans of tobacco, said Betty Anderson, who runs the store with partner Mark Burgad.

Customers appear to be switching to loose tobacco to save money, said Anderson. A box of 200 filtered cigarette tubes, a bag of tobacco and a machine to make the cigarettes runs about $20 - almost half the price of a carton of 200 manufactured cigarettes. And that carton's price will rise to almost $50 at the beginning of next year

http://www.billingsgazette.com/index.php?id=1&display=rednews/2004/12/30/build/local/20-tax.inc

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KCKPD arrest man on suspicion of theft -KS

By Melissa Shuman

Kansan Staff Writer

Christopher M. Rhodes, 20, was arrested on Kansas City, Kan. charges by the Kansas City, Kan. police Tuesday, said Capt. Ron Copeland of the Shawnee Police. No information on the KCK charges were made available from the KCKPD.

The Kansas City, Kan. man was also arrested on charges of stealing cartons of cigarettes in the Shawnee area.

Capt. Copeland said Rhodes is also charged with three thefts in Shawnee, three in Overland Park and one in Roland Park.

"This individual lives in Kansas City, Kan. and very likely has committed similar thefts over there," Copeland said. "I would suspect he was re-selling them or even trading them for drugs."

Copeland said Rhodes would enter a convenience store, walk behind the counter and pick up a few cartons of cigarettes and leave the store. Police believe the crimes were committed without the use of a weapon. Copeland also said although store clerks were usually present during the crimes, stores didn't stop the man - possibly for safety reasons. Cigarette carton thefts are not unusual, Copeland said, because some convenience stores do not lock up cigarettes, and because cartons are small and have a high value.

"The most recent theft was at Quick Trip in Shawnee," Copeland said. "There were two cartons stolen that were valued at $58 - usually in these thefts, they won't grab more than a few cartons."

Copeland said the best way convenience stores can stop the theft of cigarette cartons is to lock them in a case.

"It's a common crime," he said. "If they could just lock up the area where the cigarettes are, it would probably solve the whole problem."

http://www.kansascitykansan.com/articles/2004/12/30/news/local/news2.txt

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Man Takes Smoke Break, Is Attacked -AL

The man tells police he was standing in a parking lot, smoking a cigarette when he was attacked.  He says 2 guys came up to him and asked for a smoke.  It happened outside A - Z Pawn Shop on Pratt Avenue in Huntsville on November 22nd.  The man claims one of the guys hit him in the head and the other one pulled a knife on him and tried to take his car keys.  Lucky for the man, his friend saw what was going on and chased the two guys away.  He then took his friend to the hospital to get treated.

Dial 53-CRIME if you can help lead police to the two men who did this.  You'll remain anonymous, and if your tip leads to an arrest, you could get up to $1,000.

http://www.waff.com/Global/story.asp?S=2730472&nav=0hBEUh7c

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N.C. ruling could mean $100 million budget hole for Kentucky KY
The Associated Press
FRANKFORT, Ky. -- A North Carolina court ruling could make Kentucky responsible for paying more than $100 million in the current budget period to tobacco farmers, but the impact won't be clear for weeks, Gov. Ernie Fletcher's chief of staff said.

The possibility has created an obstacle for the governor's budget work, chief of staff Stan Cave said Wednesday.

"That ruling has been a setback to us in pulling this together, our ideas for the next budget," Cave said. "We're still analyzing the effect of it and how much money we may have to come up with."

The North Carolina judge released tobacco companies from making payments to farmers in Kentucky and 13 other states.

"The issue is that there is a state law that says the state has to make up the shortfall - if they are not made by the tobacco companies," Cave said.

The ruling has been appealed, however, by Kentucky and six other states. Because of that and because of other legal and policy questions raised by the order, Cave said it would be weeks before the issue is cleared up.

But he said an early analysis of the ruling showed the impact could be well over $100 million for the current budget period - which runs through June 30, 2006 - if the state must cover the loss.

The issue comes on top of other problems - including a $526 million shortfall in the Medicaid program - the governor and the legislature will face in balancing and passing a budget during the legislative session that will convene Tuesday.

The tobacco-related budget problem stems from a series of events that began in 1998 with the Master Settlement Agreement. Under that plan, tobacco companies agreed to make continuing payments - known as Phase I payments - to nearly all states to settle litigation over state costs to treat the health effects of smoking.

That was followed by another agreement by the companies to compensate tobacco farmers for losses they were expected to suffer under higher cigarette prices resulting from the Master Settlement Agreement. Those are known as Phase II payments.

After Congress approved a $10.1 billion buyout of tobacco quota holders last fall, the cigarette companies argued they were no longer obliged to make a final $189 million Phase II payment this month to farmers in 14 tobacco-growing states. The buyout ends these payments.

The North Carolina judge agreed and ruled last week that the companies should get a refund of payments made earlier this year.

The Kentucky law specifies that if the annual payments from tobacco companies to farmers fall short of $114 million, then the state will pay the difference out of half of the proceeds it gets each year under the Master Settlement Agreement. Those proceeds are placed in the Agricultural Development Fund for grants to help farmers diversify their crops.

The immediate problem, if the court ruling stands, is that there is not enough money in the development fund to cover an obligation of $114 million. The fund gets from $50 million to $55 million a year and the money it has is committed, said Michael Plumley, an assistant attorney general in Kentucky.

Keith Rogers, executive director of the Gov.'s Office of Agricultural Policy that oversees Kentucky's share of Master Settlement money, said he believes the law was intended to cover a small Phase II shortfall and not a situation in which an annual payment was not made at all.

"The General Assembly knew there would never be $114 million in the development fund in any given year," Rogers said. "There would not ever be that kind of money coming into that fund. So therefore you have to assume that they did not intend for the state to make that full Phase II payment should one ever be made.

http://newsobserver.com/news/ncwire_news/story/1972514p-8346897c.html

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Michel expects quick action from legislators  -MN
By James Zwilling  Sun Newspapers (Created 12/30/2004

With a projected state budget deficit of $700 million that tops $1 billion with inflation built in, Edina’s legislators said they can’t afford not to fix the problem during 2005 legislative session.

The city’s three elected Republicans recently shared their goals for the upcoming session with the Sun-Current.

Rep. Ron Erhardt

Rep. Ron Erhardt, R-41A, said legislators have no other option than making the state’s budget deficit their top priority.

“Everyone’s top goal has to be to satisfy the budget,” he said. “We won’t know until February exactly what we’re working on, but right now the figure is over $1 billion with inflation.”

Erhardt said the state’s legislators disappointed the public in 2004.

“People were definitely upset,” he said. “We’re going to have to see a little more horse trading this year if we expect to get things done.”

Erhardt said he believes the state Senate has more incentive to negotiate this year and that Gov. Tim Pawlenty is anxious to see some results from the state’s legislators.

One area he hopes to see dramatic changes is in transportation funding, he said.

Erhardt, who serves as the chairman of the House Transportation Policy Committee, said he expects a major transportation plan to include bonding but also other increases working along with it such as a gas tax increase, which he said he would support.

“It looks like all of the plans that are coming forward are calling for some type of increase,” he said. “The problem is that the position that the governor and others have taken about no new taxes is a wall that doesn’t seem to be bending.”

Erhardt did not sign the “No New Taxes Pledge” in 2004.

Erhardt said there is too much that needs to be done for transportation in the state including additional lanes and some reconstruction in the metro area, rebuilding of roads in the rural areas of the state and more transit options.

“We need to fix roads and bridges and add lanes,” he said. “But when it comes down to it, transit gets people off the roads.”

Erhardt said light rail has performed successfully and attracted riders, but he said that no such transit system in the United States pays for itself.

He said bus ridership from the suburbs continues its success, so he hopes to see more of that in any future transportation plans.

Erhardt said legislators can also no longer afford to ignore school districts’ financial burdens.

He said he would support lifting the freeze on per pupil spending and throwing local control to the districts to levy for more money, provided they turn to the voters first.

Erhardt said health care will also remain a top priority for the state’s legislators.

He would like to see the 2 percent provider tax, sometimes called the “Sick Tax” done away with.

The tax affects all health-care providers in the state, who in turn, charge their patients.

“The funding is misplaced,” Erhardt said. “It falls on the shoulders of the sick and limits the access of the low-income residents.”

He said the tax could be replaced by increasing the cigarette tax.

Also on the topic of smoking, Erhardt said he would support a statewide smoking ban.

“There needs to be something uniform,” he said. “But I think it will involve enforcement being left up to local authorities.”

Rep. Neil Peterson

Neil Peterson, R-41B, the newly minted state representative from Bloomington, calls himself the “new kid on the block” and declared his first priority of the 2005 session is to become familiar with the processes and ways of getting things done at the Capital.

“My top goal in this session is just to learn; learn what’s going on and who the players are,” said Peterson. “I want to pick a spot … where I can use my background and experience.

“Part of that is just keeping your eyes open and your mouth shut,” he added. “I think there’s a lot of people over there that do just the opposite.”

The legislators don’t know their committee assignments yet but Peterson hopes to land a seat “where the action is.”

He noted that the GOP majority will be smaller in 2005 – 68-66 over the DFL Party – and suggested bipartisan efforts will be a higher priority.

“It appears to me that because of the change in the majority in the house, all the committees have to be re-balanced,” said Peterson, who claimed the District 41B seat in November. The seat was vacant after the Republican incumbent, Alice Seagren, was named state education commissioner by Gov. Tim Pawlenty.

Peterson said he hopes to gain posts on committees that can use his experience, but since he has no seniority may not get all he hopes for.

“On my list I had Local Government and Higher Education Finance,” Peterson said. “These are both areas where I have had considerable of exposure.”

Transportation issues will be among those that dominate the session, Peterson said.

“The big issue that I heard of during the campaign is this transportation gridlock,” Peterson said.

Peterson also said the Legislature’s failure to pass a bonding bill in the last session was “unconscionable.”

He said the state’s finance system is too complex.

“I have over the last couple months studied the whole budget thing and I think I’m beginning to understand the substantive parts of it.

“The approach to this ought to be ‘SIBKIS – see it big, keep it simple.’

“That’s where I’m going to start in everything I do there,” Peterson said.

“Education finance is another huge issue,” Peterson said. “It’s an enormous issue.

“The whole system made an extremely bad decision when they changed the whole funding system during the [Jesse] Ventura administration.”

The effect has been to lessen the power of local school districts, Peterson said.

“The people who were there at the time may not want to admit it was a dumb decision. The people who are new don’t own it and don’t understand it.”

Peterson said he believes money for schools must be increased.

“Everybody agrees it ain’t enough,” he said. “They made a quantum leap change and it was a wonderful windfall to people on their residential real estate taxes.

“Everybody loved it.”

Yet now school districts are feeling pressure to raise money for schools in other ways, he noted.

Peterson said he could support a tax increase to boost school funding, “form and details to be determined.

“Philosophically I do not have an objection to a revenue increase. I don’t know where we’re going to get it – but that’s my job now.”

On a casino proposed for Bloomington, Peterson said: “No dice.” The state would have to abrogate previous agreements to establish a casino in Bloomington, he said.

Sen. Geoff Michel

State Sen. Geoff Michel said he is optimistic that legislators will come together on a bipartisan basis to address the state’s fiscal crisis during the upcoming legislative session.

“Balancing the budget and getting the job done on time must be our highest priority,” said the District 41 Republican senator who represents Edina and western Bloomington.

Michel said he expects legislators not to waste their time holding up confirmations and appointments so that they can focus more on the budget, transportation, education, healthcare and other issues.

Michel said he would approach the state’s now estimated $700 million shortfall by looking at the Health and Human Services budget.

“You can’t fix the budget without looking at Health and Human Services,” he said.

The state will spend 26 percent, second in spending only to education, of its 2004-2005 budget on Health and Human Services, according to a February forecast from the Minnesota Department of Finance.

Michel said reducing the $7 billion figure by 10 percent could alone erase the state’s deficit, but he said such a reduction wouldn’t be easy.

“We have to ask ourselves how we treat the less fortunate,” he said. “That will be the greatest challenge we must give the most attention to when looking at any reductions in this area.”

Likewise, Michel said health care would need the attention of state legislators this session.

“We can’t afford to think only about right now,” he said. “We need to start thinking years ahead of now.”

Health care is a personal, business and a jobs issue for Minnesotans, Michel said.

One way he expects future health-care costs to begin decreasing is with the passage of a statewide smoking ban.

“Some version of a smoking ban will pass,” Michel said. “We need something uniform for the entire state.”

He said he believes the passage of many municipal and county bans during the last year has prepared business owners and the public for such a ban.

Finding agreement on a transportation plan, however, may be more of a challenge, Michel said.

“Transportation in Edina and Bloomington is at the top of every resident’s agenda,” he said. “It’s the daily headache we all have to deal with.”

Michel said he would support an increase in the state’s gas tax to aid in road construction costs, but he wouldn’t expect it to be as much as 10 cents a gallon as some groups have suggested.

“I think that if we do see an increase in the gas tax, it would likely be more like 5 cents,” he said. “It would definitely create new revenue, but it still wouldn’t be enough for our needs.”

Michel said the state’s legislators must also look at new revenue options for the state’s schools.

He said he supports inflationary increases in per pupil funding for the state’s schools and allowing individual districts to turn to their own voters to approve levy increases.

“K-12 education must be at the top of our priorities,” Michel said. “It’s the biggest piece of spending.”

He said the state’s freezing of education funding has damaged districts throughout the state already and will continue to do so if something isn’t done.

“It’s time to give them more money,” Michel said.

http://www.mnsun.com/story.asp?city=Edina&story=149940

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Local legislators preview 2005 session  -MN
By Sue Webber, Teri Kelsh, Justin Piehowski and Marc Ingber
Sun Newspapers
(Created 12/30/2004 4:03:45 PM)
 Education, health care and transportation are among the most compelling issues that will be facing the 85th session of the Minnesota Legislature when the gavel sounds Tuesday, Jan. 4.
A large number of freshmen legislators who were elected in November 2004 have spent the last two months attending orientation sessions and learning procedures to be followed.

They, along with lawmakers who have experienced the process in previous sessions, are awaiting Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s budget proposal.

Here is how local legislators see the upcoming issues:

Sen. Ann Rest

Sen. Ann Rest of New Hope, DFL-45, who represents all of Crystal, New Hope and Robbinsdale, and parts of Golden Valley and Plymouth, said adequate and appropriate school funding “always is the number one issue in our area.”

Rest, formerly a teacher in Robbinsdale District 281 schools, served in the Minnesota House from 1984 to 1999. She was elected to her first term in the Senate in 2000.

“Education is the Legislature’s top priority,” Rest said. “Our constituents are telling us over and over again that quality schools make the most difference in people’s lives.”

Rest said she “absolutely will vote to increase education funding.”

She also supports a gas tax increase to fund road construction, Rest said.

“Transportation and transit is key to the economic vitality of the northwest suburbs,” Rest said. “We still have to keep talking about compromises in transportation and transit planning. It’s going to be multi-modal, with light rail and buses. Light rail has been an overwhelming success. People are routinely using it; people really do commute on it. North Star will be another element.”

The state borrowed money in 2003, depending on funding from the federal government, Rest said.

“We’re hundreds of millions of dollars in the hole because they [the federal government] didn’t pass the bill,” Rest said. “We’re just standing still. In transportation, that’s really like going backwards, just like education.”

One of the proposals now on the table would allow single-occupant vehicles to pay to drive in underused high occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes on Interstate 394, Rest said.

“We’re looking at using what we have and trying to be more efficient in keeping traffic moving,” she said.

Rest is hoping to work to advance a bill this session for an air cargo facility that would allow the Twin Cities metro area to become a major air freight center.

“Now much is trucked as far as Memphis before being sent overseas,” she said. “There are proposals in both the House and the Senate to do that here.”

Health care is another huge cost center for the state, Rest said.

“We need to make sure we continue care for the most vulnerable, and recognize that access to health care is a right, not something to be taken away,” she said. “It’s a very thorny issue. Being efficient doesn’t mean taking it away.”

Though proposals for dealing with the state’s deficit have yet to come, Rest said, “We have an obligation to find a solution. Voters in the 2004 election were very clear about that. They won’t put up with anything less. People who were successful in [the election in] 2004 said everything has to be on the table.”

Rep. Sandy Peterson

Rep.-elect Sandy Peterson of New Hope, DFL-45A, who represents all of New Hope and portions of Crystal and Plymouth, said K-12 education and higher education is her top priority for the upcoming session.

A former Robbinsdale District 281 school teacher who most recently was vice president of Education Minnesota, the state teacher’s union, Peterson said, “The schools have been starved for years here.”

As she campaigned door to door last fall, she said, “The public realizes that our future is in an educated society.”

Citizen groups have tried to raise funds to buy teachers and pay for supplies that should be the responsibility of the school system, she said.

“We’ve got to get real here about what we need to do,” Peterson said. “With the changing diversity, we need to realize people cannot teach effectively with 29 to 35 kids in a class.”

Transportation needs are especially important to the business community, Peterson said. “We can’t continue the way we’re going,” she said.

Regarding the budget, Peterson said voters are “so disgusted.”

“They see now that the cuts and the money we got back [in rebates from then-Gov. Ventura] were not advantageous in looking to the future,” Peterson said. “People are frustrated.”

The governor has said there will be no new taxes, and yet people are paying franchise fees, increased costs for higher education and taxes have skyrocketed, Peterson said.

“We’re paying, one way or the other,” she said.

She is adamant that no more taxes be shifted to local property owners, and that no more Local Government Aid (LGA) funds be taken away from local communities.

“We’ve really suffered from that loss,” Peterson said.

Peterson said she believes voters expect the Legislature to start working on Day l, rather than waiting until the end and then requesting a special session to complete their work.

“The voters are very, very tired of bipartisan issues,” Peterson said. “The people sent us a message. They want some partnerships, and spirited but respectful debate. Because of the 68-66 split [between Republicans and Democrats in the Legislature], I think it’s possible. I hope that will be our legacy as a new group – to come to some compromises and agreements that make sense.”

Rep. Ron Latz

Rep. Ron Latz, DFL-44B, who represents Golden Valley and St. Louis Park, said by the end of the 2005 legislative session he expects legislators to balance the budget in a “fair and reasonable manner and pass a capital bonding bill that meets the infrastructure needs across the state.”

Also high on his priority list for the session is garnering sufficient funding for K-12 education. Latz suggests the Legislature increase per pupil funding at the very least by the rate of inflation. He also supports raising the levy cap and giving local school districts the authority to levy to the rate of inflation without seeking a referendum from voters.

Latz said he will push for restoring funding for early childhood education, which he described as being at “bare bones.”

“It’s the most cost-effective approach we can take to educating our children,” said Latz. “It’s an incredible return on our investment.”

In the last legislative session, Latz authored a bill to ban smoking statewide. It didn’t pass. But this year he plans to re-submit the bill and is more confident of its approval.

He expects the smoking issue to be a major factor in the Legislature relating to the cost of health care.

“Smoking is a toxic health hazard. For two reasons I support a ban: One is improve the health of workers in bars and restaurants; two, to reduce healthcare costs. Smoking is a significant portion of what’s driving up healthcare costs in Minnesota,” said Latz.

He also supports Blue Cross/Blue Shield’s proposal to increase the cigarette tax by $1.

When it comes to transportation, Latz said he wants to see “balanced funding for a balanced system.” He supports raising the gas tax to at least 5 cents a gallon. These dedicated funds would go toward constructing roads and bridges. Specifically, he wants some of the money used in St. Louis Park to remove the bottleneck on Highway 100.

“I would like to see a source of funding for light rail, high speed bus lines and more bus lines. It all has to work together. We can’t just keep building more roads,” said Latz.

Rep. Lyndon Carlson

As Rep. Lyndon Carlson, DFL-Crystal, prepares to head into his 33rd legislative session in as many years, he sees the budget as “the overwhelming issue.”

Carlson, who represents Crystal, Robbinsdale, and a portion of Golden Valley, said he has several priorities within the budget, but atop his list is seeing that a good bonding bill is passed early in the session.

Another key piece to this year’s budget, according to Carlson, is to make sure that public education, both K-12 and higher education, are funded adequately all across the state.

He is particularly concerned about two issues relating to education: Early Childhood Education and All-Day Kindergarten. If the Legislature is not able to extend these opportunities to children all across the state, Carlson would at least like to see them expand this year.

Carlson is also concerned about the skyrocketing tuition costs at the University of Minnesota and at Minnesota’s State Colleges and Universities (MnSCU).

A lack of funding will lead to lower quality schools and will hinder ability for some students to access higher education at all, Carlson explained.

Carlson said that his first preference is for the state to fund all education across the state adequately, but if that doesn’t happen, he said school districts “may be a need some flexibility with their [tax] levy limits.”

Trying to pass legislation that will allow people to have access to prescription drugs at reasonable costs will be the “core issue” surrounding the health care debate at the Capitol this winter, Carlson said.

He added that he expects the legislature find ways to encourage residents to lead healthier lifestyles.

Carlson supports a statewide smoking ban in bars and restaurants as well as the right of local governments to ban smoking within their jurisdictions. He feels this issue should be covered by the broadest jurisdiction possible to ensure “a level playing field.”

The issue of a gas tax to increase transportation funding will need to be addressed this session, Carlson said. He pointed out that the business community is generally supportive of a gas tax.

However, legislators are still unsure of how Gov. Tim Pawlenty will act if a bill proposing a gas tax crosses his desk, Carlson explained.

As far as transportation projects are concerned, Carlson said he is very supportive of the Northstar Rail Line, as well as the Northwest Corridor Busway along Bottineau Boulevard (County Road 81).

Regarding the busway, Carlson said he’d like to see the neighborhoods involved with more of the planning, so residents know exactly where it is going to run.

Carlson said to realistically solve the budget deficit of at least $700 million, legislators are going to have to look at a way to bring in more revenue, which may mean tax increases.

“One of the reasons Minnesota has had such a strong economy is that we’ve invested adequately in K-12 and higher education,” Carlson explained. “Hopefully, Minnesota residents will look at how those investments have paid dividends over the years and be willing to continue investing in people.”

Carlson said he welcomes comments from constituents throughout the session. He can be reached by phone at 651-296-4255 or by email at rep.lyndon.carlson@house.mn.

Sen. Steve Kelley

Sen. Steve Kelley of Hopkins, DFL-44, represents all or part of Golden Valley, Hopkins and St. Louis Park.

Kelley said that his No. 1 goal for the upcoming legislative session was to adequately fund public schools in Minnesota. A lack of funding is not only a problem in Golden Valley, Hopkins and St. Louis Park, he said.

“All around the state, schools are hurting,” Kelley said. “We have to reverse that trend for Minnesota to remain a great education state.”

In addition to supplying more funding for schools, it’s important to develop a pay system for teachers that is in the hands of each district and local officials, he said. Seniority and experience can’t be the only factors in determining teachers’ pay, he said.

“We have to go to the governor and others and say, ‘The needs of our students have to come first,’” he said.

He expects the Legislature to pass a balanced budget in the upcoming session, he said, which would include funding for education and transportation.

He said there is a need to widen Highway 100 in St. Louis Park and he would support a gas tax to fund road construction.

“Even the Chamber of Commerce realizes we have to invest in our transportation infrastructure,” Kelley said.

He said borrowing money to pay for road construction doesn’t work. Other transportation issues Kelley would like to work on include the elimination of highway bottlenecks and investing in more transit options.

He said he would support a statewide smoking ban, provided he approves of all the conditions in the bill, because the public health benefits are numerous. Many communities have passed smoking bans, he said, recognizing the health benefits, and now it’s time to move to a statewide ban to create consistency among all the communities.

Other health issues that should be addressed include Medicaid and stem cell research, he said.

“We have to make sure our residents in nursing homes are taken care of,” Kelley said of rising Medicaid costs. He also said it is critical for the state to explore stem-cell research.

He is in favor of lifting school district levy limits, he said, but was unsure what would pan out in the upcoming legislative session.

“I support doing it and I hope we can get something done,” he said, “but I’m not sure it will happen. It’s a controversial issue.”

Another of Kelley’s goals for the upcoming session is to get moving on a bonding bill for St. Louis Park very early, he said.

A successful budget plan will help support Minnesota’s strengths, he said.

“The governor has the responsibility to propose a budget that doesn’t use gimmicks or tricks,” hesaid.

What’s next

A town hall meeting with Sen. Ann Rest, Rep. Lyndon Carlson and Rep. Sandy Peterson is scheduled for 10 to 11:30 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 8, at the Crystal City Hall, 4141 Douglas Drive.

Town hall meetings with local legislators Rep. Steve Simon, Rep. Ron Latz and Sen. Steve Kelley are scheduled for 7 to 8:30 p.m. Jan. 24 in Golden Valley; 7 to 8:30 p.m. Jan. 31, Hopkins; and 10 to 11:30 a.m. Feb. 5, St. Louis Park.

Specific locations have yet to be determined.

http://www.mnsun.com/story.asp?city=Golden_Valley&story=149989

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Local legislators preview 2005 session  -MN
By Mike Hanks, Troy Pieper and Sally Thompson
Sun Newspapers (Created 12/30/2004 4:04:35 PM)

Balancing the budget is without a doubt the No. 1 priority for most legislators this upcoming session.

Rep. Steve Smith

As chairman of the House Judiciary Policy and Finance Committee, Rep. Steve Smith, R-33A, helps oversee public safety issues.

“Our focus will include revision of the state’s sexual offender laws so as to get the ‘worst of the worst,’ the violent sexual predator off the streets for good and locked up for life,” he said.

Strengthening laws dealing with methamphetamine producers and putting them out of business is another focus, Smith said.

“And in general, our focus is to ensure that when your son or daughter leaves home in the morning, that at the end of the day, they will come home safe,” he said.

Before the end of the 2005 legislative session, Smith said he expected legislators to pass a biennial state budget setting priorities and doing the work of the state, without raising taxes.

Smith said he does not support a statewide smoking ban.

As far as health care, “Minnesota has the best health care available,” he said. “It is also a fact that Minnesota ranks No. 1 in the nation in percentage of residents covered by health insurance. It is a fact that only one-third of 1 percent of our population is uninsured.

“We will attack the cost of prescription drugs and health insurance with these keys: increase competition from sellers; expand consumer choices; reduce law suits and red tape and provide tax incentives to empower consumers to make wiser health choices.

While Smith stands firm with “no new taxes,” he said better roads leading to quicker commutes can be provided through dedication of the Motor Vehicle Excise Tax (MVET) to transportation. Also, using state government bonding for road construction is possible.

Saying he would support an increase in funding for K-12 education as well as lifting local school district levy limits, Smith said, “How money is allocated to school districts by the Legislature is as important as how much money is allocated.

“We need to simplify the system and put more money into the per-pupil formula, which treats every child the same and roll back the volume of state mandates the Legislature previously has placed on our local schools and boards.”

To deal with the deficit, the Legislature should continue the reform started when Gov. Tim Pawlenty was elected two years ago, and that means balancing the budget without raising taxes.

Spending must be prioritized, and state government must be reformed, he said.

Smith can be reached at Minnesota House of Representatives, 543 State Office Building, St. Paul, MN 55155, by calling 651-296-9188 or by e-mailing him at rep.steve.smith@house.mn.

Rep. Barb Sykora

Education finance, cost containment for health care and a long-range transportation plan to alleviate congestion in the metropolitan area are among the priorities of sixth-term state Rep. Barb Sykora, R-33B, this legislative session.

As chair of the Education Finance Committee, Sykora will lead a group of state legislators who will be looking at how the state funds its schools, and how to find more money for them. She supports allowing individual districts to seek higher operating levies from their voters. Districts with property wealth should be allowed to provide additional financing for education, if their voters choose to do so, noting that the state’s funding formula “is not as fair as it could be,” she said.

In addition to providing districts with more money, the committee will also “try and find a better way of paying teachers,” according to Sykora. She supports a concept that provides economic rewards for teachers based upon their classroom results and willingness to participate in the professional development of other educators. Performance initiatives provide greater incentive to teachers than a negotiated wage percentage increase, and will help attract new teachers, Sykora explained.

Solutions to containing health-care costs will not be easy to come by, according to Sykora, but “we’ve got to come up with some ways to control those increases.” Allowing small business owners and farmers the ability to pool their money across a greater population to obtain less expensive health care is one reform that is needed, Sykora said. She also expects discussion to resurface regarding a limit on financial claims in lawsuits pertaining to health care and further discussion on lowering costs for prescription drugs.

A long-range transportation plan is another of Sykora’s key issues. “Most of the rural areas don’t see transportation as a major problem,” she noted. “For the metro it’s a major issue,” she added. “We’ve got to do something to relieve congestion.”

To that end there is no single answer. Building new highways or extending light rail service won’t solely resolve transportation issues, she said.

Sykora supports the exploration of personal rapid transit, a concept developed at the University of Minnesota that has greater potential than light rail transit. It can be developed at a lower cost, and provides greater flexibility as users would travel along a rail system in smaller cars, and at their convenience rather than on a set schedule, she explained.

Sykora supports an increase in the state’s gasoline tax, acknowledging that there’s disagreement over how much is acceptable. If the tax is increased, she would like to see the allocation formula revisited, as the metropolitan counties, especially Hennepin County, do not receive enough in return for their contributions, according to Sykora.

While earmarking a higher percentage of automobile sales tax to transportation would be beneficial, to do so would leave a hole in the general fund budget, she noted.

Sykora does not see a need for the state to consider a smoking ban. That decision is best left with city and county units of government, she said.

The state has a variety of issues to address this session, and Sykora is optimistic many of those will be resolved. “I expect us to reach an agreement on our budget deficit,” she said, noting it is smaller than the deficit the state reached during the last biennium. Reaching a budget agreement will help the House, Senate and governor solve other state issues, she noted.

Sen. Gen Olson

“Our overall priority this session is a balanced budget, and I will be playing a part in that” said Sen. Gen Olson, R-33.

Olson said that an important issue for her in the upcoming session would also be the spread of zebra mussels. “We need to put more effort into controlling zebra mussels in this region and in areas where they haven’t spread yet,” she said.

She plans to meet with the Department of Natural Resources and the Lake Minnetonka Conservation District to find ways of combating the problem such as a labeling system for boats that have been in contaminated water.

One interesting goal of Olson’s is to raise the “personability and acceptability” of personal rapid transit, or PRT. PRT would be a new transit infrastructure comprised of an elevated rail and automated two- to three-person cars that run on electricity. A working system has never been built, but a local company is developing the technology with support from the private and public sectors, according to several Minneapolis newspapers. “It’s not likely to need subsidies, it’s as green as you can get, and it will relieve pressure on roads,” said Olson, who does not support a gas tax to pay for more roads.

However, the senator does want to see more roads built, and hopes to “keep the pace we’ve had in the last several years,” which included money for roads in last session’s bonding bill, she said.

Olson believes the whole system of funding for education in Minnesota needs to be revisited. She said she hopes to add to the formula for education funding, allowing for the decisions on referendum levies to be made locally. “If they want to spend additional money, I would like to see support for that, but I do not want to see the total removal of the cap on levies,” Olson said.

Another decision that should be made on a more local level, according to Olson, is on smoking bans. She said she does not support a statewide ban; local businesses and communities should make that determination. She would support it, she said, if the federal government “stopped subsidizing tobacco production and ended its addiction to the cigarette tax.”

Olson plans to push for changes in the state healthcare system that would encourage people to have what she called “health savings accounts.” The accounts, which would use pre-tax dollars, would ease the burden on employers, she said. “That’s part of the mix, but it’s a direction we ought to be making more attractive,” Olson said.

The senator said the Minnesota teachers union promotes a statewide pool for the acquisition of health insurance. “This would be a further drain from our districts, which are already at a disadvantage,” she said.

The 2005 legislative session begins Jan. 4.

http://www.mnsun.com/story.asp?city=Orono&story=150079

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Apple Valley, Rosemount legislators discuss upcoming session -MN
By Erica Christoffer Sun Newspapers (Created 12/30/2004 3:48:11 PM)

A projected $700 million deficit, K-12 funding, a bonding bill and transportation are only a few of the issues the legislators from Apple Valley and Rosemount will address during the upcoming 2005 state legislative session.

The representation has changed slightly, however, since last year. Sen. Chris Gerlach, R, will begin his first session in the Senate representing District 37, which serves Apple Valley and Burnsville. Gerlach won a special election this past summer to fill the remaining two years of the term vacated by Dave Knutson.

Rep. Lloyd Cybart, R, now represents House District 37A, defeating Shelly Madore, DFL, to win his first term in office. The seat formerly belonged to Gerlach.

And long-time legislator Rep. Dennis Ozment, R, will begin his 11th term representing residents in Rosemount and Apple Valley House District 37B.

As the session gets underway Jan. 4, local legislators are also expected to discuss a statewide smoking ban, health care and environmental issues.

Sen. Chris Gerlach

Passing the Cedar Avenue Bus Rapid Transit is Gerlach’s top priority for his district. Last year, $10 million was dedicated for the project in the bonding bill that passed in the House but failed in the Senate.

“We’re getting short changed from MnDOT and the Met Council in the Dakota County area,” Gerlach said. “We’re only getting 34 cents on the dollar from our gas tax contributions as well.”

As far as light rail, Gerlach said it is too expensive and requires too many subsidies.

“It seems to be more about local economic development than it does moving people from point A to point B,” Gerlach said. “Bus lines seem to be about a fourth of the cost and they’re flexible in that you can change routes and you can change them to meet changing demographic patterns.”

Gerlach opposes a gas tax increase under the current distribution formula, which puts Dakota County as one of 11 counties that pays more than it receives.

“We need to equalize that out a little bit,” Gerlach said. “The money is not going to where it’s needed.”

Gerlach said he would not support a state-enacted smoking ban because he said the issue will take care of itself though the free market.

“More and more restaurants and establishments are going smoke free because they find that in the marketplace, their customers demand it,” Gerlach said. “We don’t have to have the government jump in on everything and dictate it. Let’s let it follow its natural course and you’ll find more and more smoke-free places over time.”

On health care, Gerlach said he expects legislation regarding federal conformity with the health savings accounts.

“We have to start here and that’s going to help kick-start the health savings account market,” he said.

Gerlach also foresees a proposal to reduce tax assessments on small businesses for health care by raising the cigarette tax. It will mean lower premium costs for employers and employees. However, Gerlach said he is undecided on the issue.

In terms of funding for K-12 education, Gerlach said he would support an increase.

“I don’t intend on raising taxes. I think there’s enough wiggle room left in the budget. It’s just a question of the decisions we have to make,’’ he said. “The goal is to achieve that inflationary increase.”

Gerlach said the budget for Health and Human Services is projected to increase by 20 percent. He said he hopes for less of an increase to cover costs in education as well as the projected deficit.

“You can’t take the compassion out of it,” Gerlach said. Health and Human Services needs to serve those who truly need the safety net, he said, as well as connecting people with their health care decisions and the costs and bring competition into the health care marketplace.

Gerlach called the projected deficit of $700 million “manageable.”

As for the bonding bill and the Minnesota Zoo’s request for exhibit expansion funds, Gerlach said he supports reviving the state institution.

“It’s time now for the Legislature to step up and fulfill their obligation and make sure that the zoo has what it needs to be successful,” Gerlach said. “I don’t know what the exact dollar amount will be, but I’ll be supportive of whatever the governor comes forth with.”

Last year the zoo requested $68 million from the state and Gov. Tim Pawlenty proposed a dedication of $34 million. However, because the bonding bill never passed, the zoo didn’t see any appropriation.

The thread that runs through all the various topics this year is “we have to get the job done,” Gerlach said. “I’m excited about it. I’m coming at this stuff from a whole different angle now.”

Sen. Chris Gerlach can be reached at 651-296-4120 or 952-432-4100 or by e-mail at sen.chris.gerlach@senate.mn.

Rep. Lloyd Cybart

While door knocking during his campaign this fall, Cybart said one of the most common comments he heard regarded the gridlock last year in the Legislature.

The freshman representative hopes to move issues forward in the House while representing his district during the 2005 session.

One issue he hopes to address is the bonding bill. Cybart said he supports the $34 million the governor had earmarked for the Minnesota Zoo’s exhibit expansion.

“I’m sure it will be along the same lines,” Cybart said.

As far as a smoking ban, Cybart said he supports local control rather than the state taking on the issue.

Health care is also going to be a huge issue this session, Cybart said, “with the runaway costs, something has to be done.”

Ideas he foresees being discussed are health savings accounts, tort reform and curbing state expenses, specifically in Health and Human Services and its anticipated 20 percent budget increase, he said. That increase will need to be dealt with to keep deficit spending down, Cybart said.

On the issue of a gas tax increase, Cybart said he would not support it under the current distribution formula.

“It’s a lop-sided formula, the rural areas get more than the suburban areas,” Cybart said. “If we raise the gas tax it’s still a disproportionate amount of the taxes coming back to Dakota County to fix our problems.”

Cybart’s top priority in transportation is the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) line along Cedar Avenue as well as similar transit options along the Interstate 35W corridor in Burnsville to alleviate congestion and bottlenecks into the cities.

Court classifies paintball guns as weapons, citing use in vandalism-PA

Posted on Fri, Dec. 24, 2004

HARRISBURG, Pa. - A student who kept six paintball guns in the trunk of his car violated a state law against possession of a weapon on school property, in part because he used one of the guns to commit vandalism, the state Superior Court has ruled.

The defendant, then 17, and another youth drove away from Central York High School during lunch hour in September 2003 to fire a carbon dioxide-powered paintball gun at three parked vehicles and a garage door, according to court records. Police recovered the guns after the boy's father consented to a search of his car that night.

The youth, unnamed in court documents, was charged with possessing a weapon on school property; improper use of paintball guns, air rifles and paintball markers; and criminal mischief. He admitted to the acts of vandalism, authorities said.

York Common Pleas Judge John Uhler in January found him delinquent, but the case was appealed to Superior Court to challenge Uhler's determination that paintball guns are among the weapons prohibited on school grounds.

State courts had previously ruled that gas-powered BB guns should be considered weapons, but had not considered the question of paintball guns.

In a decision released Thursday, Superior Court Judge Richard B. Klein wrote that the mere possession of the guns would not have been criminal if one had not been used illegally.

Klein cited an exception to the prohibition of weapons on school property if the weapon is "used in conjunction with a lawful supervised school activity or course or is possessed for other lawful purpose."

The defendant had used the gun the previous night at a church-sponsored paintball game and intended to participate in another such event after school on the day of the incident.

"While it is a close case, I believe the unlawful use during the lunch hour deprives the defendant of the defense ... that he had the paintball guns for a lawful use," Klein wrote.

The youth's lawyer, public defender Scott E. Lineberry, said Friday that without the vandalism, the ruling might have gone the other way.

"How far is the court going to extend that definition of weapon? What about a kid on the archery team? If they have a bow and arrow sitting in the trunk of their car - is that going to constitute a weapon? It's an open question, I suppose," Lineberry said.

Klein said the law's firearms definitions are "all over the lot in different sections of the statutes" and noted that "baseballs and hockey pucks can cause serious bodily injury or even death. So can a pencil if poked in someone's eye."

Lawmakers could have made it clear that the penalties for having a firearm on school property also apply to paintball guns, he said.

"The Legislature knew how to spell out nunchuck sticks, and it could have spelled out paintball guns as well," Klein wrote.

ON THE NET

Opinion: http://www.courts.state.pa.us/OpPosting/Superior/out/s46028_04.pdf

http://www.timesleader.com/mld/timesleader/10493898.htm

 

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Study finds modest drop in teen drug use  -PA

SAM HANANEL, Associated Press Writer12/26/2004

WASHINGTON – Fewer teenagers are smoking cigarettes or using illegal drugs‚ but a survey released Tuesday shows a troubling increase in the use of inhalants by younger adolescents.

The smoking rate among younger teens is half what it was in the mid-1990s‚ and drug use by that group is down by one-third‚ according to the University of Michigan study‚ done for the National Institute on Drug Abuse. Less dramatic strides have been made among older teens.

Health experts and government officials called the annual survey of eighth‚ 10th and 12th-graders a sign of continued progress in the effort to reduce youth drug use and said further declines would come only with a sustained public education campaign about the consequences of drug abuse.

Overall‚ illicit drug use among teens declined by 7 percent in the past year‚ and 17 percent in the last four years. There are now 600‚000 fewer teens using drugs than there were in 2001.

“These are sustained‚ broad and deep declines‚” national drug policy director John Walters said at a news conference. “The challenge before us is to follow through.”

Altogether‚ gains in 2004 over 2003 were modest. Researchers are troubled by increases – especially among eighth-graders – in the use of inhalants such as glue and aerosols‚ and a rise in the use of the pain-control narcotic OxyContin. Use of most other drugs declined or held steady.

Health officials said they are concerned that use of inhalants‚ which are easily accessible to children‚ may rebound unless children are warned about the grave dangers they pose. Inhalant use had been declining since 1995‚ when the Partnership for a Drug-Free America began an anti-inhalant media campaign.

“Research has found that even a single session of repeated inhalant abuse can disrupt heart rhythms and cause death from cardiac arrest or lower oxygen levels enough to cause suffocation‚” said Nora Volkow‚ director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

Researchers also noted the apparent growing popularity of OxyContin‚ a powerful and potentially addictive synthetic narcotic. Up to 5 percent of 12th-graders and smaller percentages of younger teens reported having tried it in the last year‚ the study showed. By contrast‚ 1 percent or less of teens had tried heroin in a year.

The survey found 15 percent of eighth-graders‚ 31 percent of 10th-graders and 39 percent of 12th-graders had used drugs in the previous year – down 1 percentage point or less from the year before.

This was the eighth consecutive year that smoking rates among surveyed teens dropped‚ a turnaround that began in 1996 among students in grades eight and 10 and a year later among 12th-graders.

 

Researchers credited higher cigarette prices‚ tighter marketing practices‚ anti-smoking ads and withdrawal of the Joe Camel logo among reasons smoking has fallen out of favor with more teens. Close to three-quarters of surveyed 12th graders now say they’d rather not date a smoker‚ up from close to two-thirds in 1977.

 

“When smoking makes a teen less attractive to the great majority of the opposite sex‚ as now appears to be the case‚ one of the long-imagined benefits for adolescent smoking is seriously undercut‚” said Lloyd Johnston‚ lead researcher for the Monitoring the Future study.

Overall‚ the percentage of eighth-graders who had ever tried cigarettes declined to 28 percent this year‚ down half a percentage point from 2003 and from a peak of 49 percent in 1996.

About 41 percent of 10th-graders had tried cigarettes‚ down 1 percentage point from a year earlier and from 61 percent in 1996.

And 53 percent of high school seniors had smoked at least once in their lives‚ down 1 percentage point from 2003 and from more than 65 percent in 1997.

Even so‚ cigarette use has hardly been stamped out among youth. The study reported that 25 percent of 12th-graders said they had smoked within 30 days of being surveyed‚ as did 16 percent of 10th-graders and 9 percent of eighth-graders.

The study also found that progress in discouraging teen drinking in recent years held steady for the lower grades in 2004. Researchers said it would take another year to know whether a small increase in drinking by seniors was real or a statistical blip.

http://www.thereporteronline.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=13627584&BRD=2275&PAG=461&dept_id=466404&rfi=6

 

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Latest news in brief from northern Nevada-NV

December 26, 2004 at 17:14:40 PST

INCLINE VILLAGE, Nev. (AP) - A rash of fires set by juveniles in Incline Village has resulted in a new program in line with the area's zero-tolerance policy on the problem.

Youthful offenders in the north Lake Tahoe community now must attend a three- to four-hour program that features a video presentation about the consequences of starting fires.

Twenty fires have been set by youths over the last year in Incline Village, up from a total of six over the last decade, fire officials said.

Lake Tahoe faces one of the highest fire threats in the nation because of overgrown forests.

The program adopted by the Washoe County Sheriff's Department and North Lake Tahoe Fire Protection District is similar to one used by the Henderson Fire Department.

"The problem was getting way out of hand and we had to find a way to deal with it on the prevention end," said Tom Smith, fire marshal for the local fire district.

"The kids that get in trouble for starting fires, bringing fireworks to school or even being caught in possession of a cigarette lighter can find themselves in the program," Smith added.

Youthful offenders will be given talks about what "messing around with fire" can do to themselves as well as an entire community.

http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/nevada/2004/dec/26/122610923.html

 

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Bonds set for men involved in stabbings  -FL
Read more Crime in St. Johns County online

By LORY POUNDER Staff Writer Sunday, December 26, 2004

Circuit Judge Robert Mathis set bonds for two Jacksonville men involved in separate stabbings Christmas Eve in St. Johns County.

 

Suspect Faron Perry wanted to plead his case to Mathis during Saturday morning's first appearance in the county jail's courtroom.

"Don't tell me about the case that carries ... 30 years in prison," Mathis cautioned Perry who had not been appointed a lawyer.

About 11 a.m. Friday, Perry, 49, of 10602 Patchwork Road in Jacksonville, stabbed his ex-employer numerous times in the neck and chest area, said Deputy Greg Suchy.

Perry's bond was set at $150,000 for a charge of attempted murder.

"I acted in self-defense," Perry said Saturday.

Perry said he tried to claim a paycheck owed to him after he was fired several days ago. He went twice to see his former supervisor, Brian Kilhof, 25, of 4608 Martindale Road. Finally, he gave him an ultimatum, Perry said.

A fight broke out at the construction job site at Palencia development off U.S. 1 between Perry and Kilhof, Suchy said.

"I would have walked away, but he wouldn't have let me," Perry told the judge.

Kilhof's injuries were not life-threatening, Suchy said.

Forty-five minutes later, Steve Reeve Tolbert, 42, of 2812 Sunnyside St. in Jacksonville, was arrested on a charge of aggravated domestic battery.

Mathis set his bond at $10,000 with the stipulation that he have no contact with the victim.

Tolbert cut his son around the eyes and nose in a car at the Belz Outlet parking lot, Suchy said.

Tolbert's son, Alvin Anderson, 21, did not have life-threatening injuries, and his mother took him to the hospital, Suchy said.

Tolbert said Saturday that he told his son not to light a cigarette, but he did anyway. They started to argue and Anderson jumped out of the passenger side and ran around the vehicle, Tolbert told the judge.

"He was telling me how he going to hurt me and jump on me," Tolbert said. "He done this before. He came around and swung on me."

Family members, including Anderson's mother and other children, were in the vehicle at the time.

Mathis told both men a lawyer would be appointed to defend them.

http://www.staugustine.com/stories/122604/new_2787458.shtml

 

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Enough to scare you to death -UK

 By Fionnuala Bourke, Sunday Mercury Dec 26 2004

This is one of the shocking graveside images designed to scare parents into finally quitting smoking in the New Year.

The NHS has launched the hard-hitting TV adverts today as part of an unprecedented £6 million Government push to encourage more mums and dads to quit the killer habit.

One heartbreaking image shows two distraught children leaving the graveside of their father following his funeral. A wreath is shaped simply in the word 'Dad'.

Another sees a young girl laying flowers on her parent's grave, and a floral tribute spelling the word 'Mum'.

One film shows mourners huddled round a grave during a funeral service. The words flashed on the screen read "Always went outside to have a cigarette'.

A fourth has a mother struggling to break the news that she has cancer to her kids.

On each, an accompanying caption reads: "Giving up. The only way to protect your family from the effects of smoking."

The new drive, which seems designed to make smoking parents feel guilty, follows a series of hard-hitting campaigns in recent years, including ads showing fatty deposits in smokers' arteries.

The adverts also feature real-life exsmokers who quit with the help of their local NHS Stop Smoking Service, including Midlander Peter Lee.

Mr Lee, from Leamington in Warwickshire, began smoking when he was at university. By his 30s he had a 20-a-day habit and his GP referred him to his local NHS Stop Smoking Service.

The 38 year-old, who has now been a non-smoker for two years, said: "My NHS advisor was brilliant. I found understanding the psychology behind giving up smoking as well as seeing what it was doing to my body - through weekly carbon monoxide monitoring - extremely motivational.

"Most important of all, I felt supported and reassured that I was doing something positive in my life. I absolutely did not want to let the adviser, or myself, down."

NHS figures show that over the Christmas break around 3,000 people - including many parents - will die due to smoking-related illnesses such as cancer and heart disease.

Latest figures from the West Midlands Public Health Group show nearly a quarter of adults in the region smoke. This is despite research that reveals one in two smokers will die early because of the habit and spiralling costs of cigarettes.

Paul Hooper, of the West Midlands Public Health Group, said: "It's more important than ever to give up smoking this year because of all the help around to help smokers succeed.

"There are more products to help them quit and local NHS Stop Smoking Services have proven highly successful.

"Also, more places are going smoke-free than ever before. And with the law about to change to ban smoking in more public places, it's a good idea to quit now.

"You can't expect to pass your driving test without having any lessons, similarly you can't expect to give up smoking without help.

"Even if people have tried to give up before and failed, they can always try again as there is no need to give in to smoking.

"We especially want people to under-stand they should not be afraid of nicotine products.

"Nicotine makes people addicted to cigarettes, but it's the 4,000 chemicals they contain that wreck their health."

* For more information on stopping smoking call the NHS Smoking Helpline on 0800 169 0 169 or visit www.givingupsmoking.co.uk.

http://icbirmingham.icnetwork.co.uk/0100news/0100localnews/tm_objectid=15014590&method=full&siteid=50002&headline=enough-to-scare-you-to-death-name_page.html

 

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Anti-smoking drive targets families -UK
Lee Glendinning The Guardian Monday December 27, 2004
 An emotive image of grieving children laying flowers beside their father's grave is one of the central features of a new anti-smoking campaign aimed at families.

A series of five adverts showing parents and children struggling to come to terms with terminal cancer was launched yesterday as part of a £6m government campaign to encourage more people to quit smoking in 2005.

Scenes include children huddled around their mother at their father's funeral with the line "Never smoked around his children". Another advert features a girl laying a wreath spelling out "mum", while one shows a group of mourners at a grave with the line "Always went outside to have a cigarette". All the adverts will carry the message: "Giving up smoking - the only way to protect your family."

Up to 3,000 people will have died of smoking-related illnesses such as cancer and heart disease between Christmas Eve and January 4.

Recent figures from the University of London reveal that only 30% of smokers try to stop, and fewer than 3% a year succeed. For the government to achieve its promise to cut smoking to 21% of the population by 2010, 50% must try to stop and 6% succeed.

The stories of real-life ex-smokers who gave up after being helped by the NHS Stop Smoking Services will be used in the second part of the new campaign from January 4.

Last year, the services, which offer one-to-one counselling and nicotine replacement therapy, helped 200,000 people to quit smoking.

"We know 70% of smokers want to stop smoking. For some, however, fears about their children can be a stronger motivation to actually quit than fears for their own health," the public health minister, Melanie Johnson, said. "I am confident that the uncompromising message of this advertising will hit home with many parents."

But Simon Clark, the director of the smokers' lobby group Forest, said: "Everyone knows there are risks associated with smoking but these advertisements stigmatise all smokers irrespective of whether they are long-term heavy smokers or moderate smokers who keep fit and enjoy a healthy diet.

"To play on people's fears like this is cynical and manipulative."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,3604,1379913,00.html

 

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Where is all the tobacco money?

Originally published December 26, 2004

I thank the good Lord the day He gave me the will power to stop a 40-plus-year smoking habit; that was six years ago.

I worried when I did smoke when there was talk of raising the price on a pack of cigarettes. My question is this: What has happened to all of the cigarette money that we are supposed to have? Where has it gone, and, if it is still in the bank, why must the price of a pack of cigarettes be increased?

Don't get me wrong: I am against smoking but I do believe it is an individual's choice to decide if he or she wants to quit. There are a lot of things that are far worse than smoking a cigarette.

So, does anyone know what happened to all that money?

David Saucier Jr.

Lumberton

http://www.hattiesburgamerican.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20041226/OPINION03/412260303/1014

 

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Albany lobbyists gear up for 2005 -NY
By John Milgrim  Capitol Bureau 12/27/04

ALBANY — Christmas may be history, but a legion of special-interest groups, from medical centers and health-care workers to environmentalists and educators, hope state lawmakers stay in the giving mood for several months to come.

And their hands are already out, hoping the state adds billions more to the current $100 billion budget.

Like years past, advocates and organizations began making their pitches early this month with hopes of being included in next year’s budget. They’ll continue the seemingly incessant pleas at least until a budget is passed, which did not happen until August this year.

Many will try to make their cases through rallies and news conferences as part of their annual multi-million dollar lobbying efforts to sway the opinions of power brokers. For some unwilling or unable to negotiate closed-door deals with state leaders, they are the only tools available to get what they want.

And sometimes, the more noise they make, the more money they get.

"A squeaky wheel does get the grease, not to mix too many metaphors here," said Blair Horner, legislative director for the New York Public Interest Research Group.

Environmental groups, such as the Sierra Club, want a doubling of the amount the state spends on land protection and park projects. Anti-smoking groups, like the American Cancer Society, want to double spending on state programs meant to help people quit.

In each case, the groups are talking about tens of millions of dollars in new state spending, and they’ve suggested ways the state could pay for it, such as increasing cigarette taxes.

Others are calling for spending increases in the billions.

A state court is expected to order the city and state to spend an additional $1.4 billion on New York City’s schools alone.

And heath-care workers and medical institutions are expected to push for the Health Care Reform Act, worth several billion dollars to their industry.

Even before new money is spent, however, the state is facing as much as a $6 billion budget deficit, according to Gov. George Pataki. By the third week in January, he’s expected to propose a spending plan showing who gets what.

Horner, who advocates on such issues as government reform, higher education and the environment, said groups with the least political clout, or money, often only have the public forum to make their cases. College students, for example, have a poor record of showing up at the polls and they rarely make political contributions, which often helps others access lawmakers who control the purse strings.

"On the other hand, the case they are making (for a public investment in education) is enormously popular," Horner said. "It’s not like we are trying to get a tax break for millionaires. The advocacy for that is focused on giving money to well-connected lobbyists to advocate in the dark."

E.J. McMahon, a senior fellow with the conservative Manhattan Institute think tank, said in Albany’s political climate, the most effective advocacy for state resources happens behind closed doors.

"Probably the most effective lobbying tool is the ever-popular implied promise of a campaign contribution followed closely by the implied threat of support for an opponent,"McMahon said.

Sometimes, the special interests have the greatest success employing a variety of tactics to sway political opinion their way.

Take, for example, the state’s largest health-care workers union. The Service Employees International Union local 1199 spent more than $10 million last year for an Albany rally of some 30,000 people and a statewide advertising campaign. They called for new taxes on the wealthy and more spending on health care.

In 2002, Dennis Rivera, president of the 350,000-member union, was credited with orchestrating substantial salary increases for health-care workers in legislation state leaders agreed to behind closed doors.

That same year, Gov. George Pataki won the union’s endorsement as part of a successful campaign for re-election.

http://www.thedailystar.com/news/stories/2004/12/27/lobby.html

 

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Season turns blue for tobacco farmers ky

Manufacturers off the hook for balance of Phase II payments

By JOHN FRIEDLEIN

Hardin County farmers lost more than $1 million in expected tobacco settlement money when a North Carolina judge ruled that, because of the buyout that ended the quota system, companies no longer must make the final Phase II payment.

"I'm disappointed," said Elizabethtown grower Larry Thomas. "Every tobacco farmer is, I'm sure."

This news is another setback for growers and quota owners who have been coping with years of dwindling profits. "It's just another loss," Thomas said. Even the buyout approved by Congress this fall was less money over a longer period of time than some quota owners had hoped. The $10.3 million will be paid out over 10 years.

As for the 2004 Phase II money, Kentucky growers expected to receive $124 million, with $1.3 million of that going to local producers, said Thomas, who sits on the board of directors of the state Farm Bureau Federation.

North Carolina Business Court Judge Ben Tennille released cigarette companies of the obligation Thursday. An appeal is expected.

This is the sixth year of the $5.15 billion Phase II program, which would have lasted a total of 12 years. The money was intended to help farmers make up for loss of revenue from higher cigarette prices.

A final payment made this week or early next year would have helped carry growers over until buyout payments start next August. For the average producer, yearly Phase II payments are about the same as buyout payments are expected to be, said Ray Allan Mackey, a local farmer and president of the Hardin County Farm Bureau.

If farmers thought the state would make up for the loss of these payments, they'd be wrong. State officials have compensated for a shortfall in Phase II money in the past, but the law that allowed it does not make up for the absence of any sort of payment, said Keith Rogers, executive director of the governor's office of agricultural policy. Also, the North Carolina judge continued a moratorium on disbursment of those funds.

"That money had been promised," Mackey said. "The money should have already been set aside."

Tobacco companies made some Phase II payments this year, but farmers have not received the funds and the manufacturers expect to receive refunds.

"Clearly, the tobacco companies are not meeting their agreed upon obligations," said White Mills grower Steve Meredith. "It's a significant amount of money that we would have anticipated." It's also money he, other farmers and even those who lend to growers had figured into their budgets.

Meredith also said he would have been better off had the Phase II payments continued, instead of the buyout funds.

Because of the ruling, individual Hardin County farmers lost up to a few thousand dollars this year, Mackey said.

Not only will they not get a Phase II check, but they must also deal with production losses caused by one of the wettest years on record and, possibly, lower contract prices. Because of these factors, most tobacco farmers must consider whether or not to grow next year, Mackey said. "There's a lot of decision making yet to be done."

John Friedlein can be reached at 769-1200, Ext. 237, or e-mail him at jfriedlein@mail.the-ne.com.

http://www.newsenterpriseonline.com/articles/2004/12/27/news/news01.txt

 

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In Mississippi, Many Want Higher Tobacco Taxes

December 27, 2004

(Angus Reid - CPOD Global Scan) – Many adults in the state of Mississippi back a proposal for higher tobacco duties, according to a poll by the John C. Stennis Institute of Government at Mississippi State University released by the Mississippi Health Advocacy Program. 63.5 per cent of respondents support a $1-a-pack tax increase on cigarettes.

Mississippi currently has the third-lowest cigarette tax in the United States, at 18 cents a pack. The national average is 84 cents a pack.

The Magnolia State has not raised its cigarette levies since 1985. 80.4 per cent of respondents want to spend the tax to fund health care programs, 78.6 per cent of respondents want to reduce tobacco use among kids, and 74.6 per cent see it as an option to deal with the state’s Medicaid budget problems.

Republican governor Haley Barbour—elected in November 2003—has pledged to fight any tax increase. Earlier this year, Barbour proposed shifting close to 50,000 state residents off the Medicaid program, but a federal judge temporarily denied the plan.

Polling Data

Support for tax proposal rationale and spending
(Only "Support" respondents listed)

 

Support a $1-a-pack tax increase on cigarettes	63.5%
Support the tax to fund health care programs	80.4%
Support the tax if it would reduce tobacco use among kids	78.6%
Support the tax as an option to deal with the Medicaid budget	74.6%

Source: John C. Stennis Institute of Government at Mississippi State University / Mississippi Health Advocacy Program
Methodology: Telephone interviews to 601 Mississippi adults, conducted from Nov. 9 to Nov. 23, 2004. Margin of error is 4 per cent.
http://www.cpod.ca/polls/index.cfm?fuseaction=viewItem&itemID=5411

 

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Experts: Second-Hand Smoke Poses Health Risk  -WV

By BETHENY HOLSTEIN

With the ongoing discussion of creating a smoke-free work environment in most of Ohio County's businesses, some people are wondering what the effects of secondhand smoke really are and whether they are bad enough to limit a person's opportunity to light up.

  The U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that 3,000 lung cancer deaths and 35,000 coronary heart disease deaths occur each year in adult nonsmokers as a result of exposure to secondhand smoke.

  "Out of every eight individuals that the tobacco industry kills, one of them has never smoked a cigarette - ever," said Dr. Michael Blatt, a local pulmonologist.

  Secondhand smoke, which also is called environmental tobacco smoke, is the mixture of the smoke from the burning end of a cigarette or other tobacco product and the smoke exhaled by the smoker.

  According to the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources, a recent CDC study puts the adult smoking rate in West Virginia at more than 27 percent, which is the highest among all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

  Area cardiologist Dr. Robert Fanning pointed out that secondhand smoke also is associated with an increased chance of coronary artery disease, and that risk applies not only to those who may live with a smoker, but also those who are simply exposed in passing.

  "There is up to a 50 percent increase in coronary artery disease among those exposed as opposed to those who have not been exposed to secondhand smoke," Fanning said. He referred to a temporary clean indoor air regulation in Helena, Mont., which prohibited smoking in most places for about six months, and he pointed out that for the period of time the regulation was in place, heart attacks in the area dropped by 60 percent from the time period prior to the regulation. Additionally, after the ban was lifted, the rates of heart attacks again rose.

  "There is no doubt that the vast majority of studies published have all shown a reduced risk of heart attack from not being exposed to cigarette smoke," Fanning said. "I can't think of a better reason, as a cardiologist, to want to reduce smoking than a reduced risk of heart attack."

  He said that when cigarette smoke hits the body, it causes a constriction of blood vessels, activation of platelets and an increase in fibrinogen levels in the blood. Fibrinogen is an enzyme produced by the liver that the body uses to clot blood.

  All three of these activities within the body lead to a more sluggish blood flow, which can lead to heart attack.

  "The prevailing theory is that passive smokers are not accustomed to the smoke," Fanning said, adding that the result of that inexperience is that the smoke has a greater degree of effect on the person.

  Additionally, environmental tobacco smoke also causes serious lung problems, according to Blatt. He pointed out that secondhand smoke is responsible for nearly 150,000 acute lower respiratory infections per year, and he also added that of the 4,000 know chemical compounds in cigarette smoke about 69 are know to cause or are suspected of causing cancer.

  "A non-smoker who is exposed to secondhand smoke also starts to have damage to the lungs," Blatt said, explaining that the damage can make a person more likely to have respiratory infections.

  Also, Blatt said the particulate matter in environmental tobacco smoke can increase the risk of a person having an asthma attack, and the carbon monoxide in the smoke inhibits the ability of the blood the absorb oxygen. 

  "It was determined that the levels of cigarette smoke in restaurants is approximately two to three times more than one would would find in a home, and in bars, it is three to four times higher," Blatt said.

  Local pediatrician Dr. Charles H. Staab III added that many children he treats suffer from chronic respiratory ailments due to secondhand smoke.

  "I cannot prevent some of my patients from having chronic ailments because their parents smoke," Staab said. "I cannot get them to get better."

  Staab also pointed out that some children become over-sensitive after exposure to secondhand smoke, and they cannot be around the smell or remnants of the smoke without adverse effects.

  "We also know that if the mother or father smokes in the home, the children have two to three times the rate of respiratory infections and ear infections," Staab said, adding that secondhand smoke is also linked to sudden infant death syndrome, asthma and reactive air disease.

  According to the CDC, about 60 percent of people in the United States have some sort of biological evidence of their exposure to secondhand smoke, and information from the CDC also indicates that in 1991, nearly 90 percent of Americans have a measurable level of serum cotinine, a substance produced when nicotine is metabolized in their blood.

http://www.newswise.com/articles/view/508991/

 

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Blair asked by ethics watchdog about holiday -UK

Sun Dec 26, 2004 01:14 AM GMT

LONDON (Reuters) - Prime Minister Tony Blair has been asked by parliament's ethics watchdog about allegations he failed to declare a holiday at the home of an executive with ties to the tobacco industry.

A spokeswoman for Blair confirmed on Sunday that parliamentary standards commissioner Philip Mawer had written to the prime minister about his stay two years ago at a French chateau owned by Alain Perrin.

"It's a letter which hasn't been replied to yet," the spokeswoman said. "Whatever needs to be registered will be registered."

Perrin is a former chief executive of Richemont and remains an executive director with the luxury goods group, which owns about a fifth of cigarette maker British American Tobacco.

In November, the British government proposed a smoking ban for all workplaces, public buildings, restaurants and pubs in which food is served. It has also introduced new controls on tobacco advertising.

The allegations appeared in the Sunday Telegraph newspaper, which said opposition Conservative member of parliament Chris Grayling had complained to Mawer that Blair failed to enter his stay in the register of members' interests.
 

http://www.reuters.co.uk/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=643876

 

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Snus Ruse

Why lie about smokeless tobacco when a misleading half-truth will do?
Jacob Sullum

The European Union's highest court recently upheld the E.U.'s 12-year-old ban on oral snuff, saying it serves "the objective of health promotion." Since cigarettes, a far more hazardous form of tobacco, are still legally available in Europe, the E.U.'s policy is rather like banning bows and arrows as an intolerable threat to public safety while allowing a free trade in machine guns.

Worse, tobacco consumption patterns in Sweden, the one E.U. country where oral snuff (known there as snus) remains legal, suggest that Eurocrats are contributing to smoking-related disease and death by foreclosing a safer alternative to cigarettes. As the vice president of Swedish Match, the leading snus producer, put it, "Snus is clearly a significantly less harmful product than cigarettes and could play an important role in a much more responsible harm reduction strategy than the current cynical Quit or Die approach."

Swedish Match obviously has a strong interest in reversing the oral snuff ban. But its position has a solid enough empirical basis that prominent European health researchers and a leading British anti-smoking activist likewise have decried the "Quit or Die approach."

In the U.S., where smokeless tobacco remains legal, this approach takes the form of a misinformation campaign that encourages people to think oral snuff is just as dangerous as cigarettes. That belief, which seems to be widely accepted by smokers, is clearly wrong.

Based on the incidence of tobacco-related deaths among users, University of Alabama at Birmingham oral pathologist Brad Rodu estimates that smokeless tobacco is 98 percent safer than cigarettes. The difference is so stark that public health officials have been forced to quietly retreat from their false risk equivalence.

Last year, for instance, Surgeon General Richard Carmona told a congressional subcommittee "smokeless tobacco is not a safer substitute for cigarette smoking"—a claim that is scientifically unsupportable. But in the version of his testimony that appears on the Web site of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, he says "smokeless tobacco is not a safe alternative to cigarettes"—the same true but misleading warning that appears on oral snuff packages.

Similarly, a CDC Web page aimed at children asks, "Is smokeless tobacco safe?" The answer: "No way!" But the search listing for the page shows that the question used to be, "Is smokeless tobacco safer than cigarettes?" I suspect the CDC's answer was not "You bet!"

Perhaps the most telling recent change in the official line on smokeless tobacco was made to a pamphlet published by the National Institute on Aging. When I looked at the online version of the pamphlet in March, it said: "Some people think smokeless tobacco (chewing tobacco and snuff), pipes, and cigars are safer than cigarettes. They are not." The passage now reads: "Some people think smokeless tobacco (chewing tobacco and snuff), pipes, and cigars are safe. They are not."

This change came in response to a March 16 complaint from the National Legal and Policy Center arguing that the pamphlet violated the Data Quality Act by disseminating erroneous information. Among other sources, the complaint quoted a 2001 report from the National Academy of Sciences that said "the overall risk [from smokeless tobacco] is lower than for cigarette smoking, and some products such as Swedish snus may have no increased risk" (because they're especially low in carcinogens).

The fact that public health officials seem less inclined to tell outright lies about smokeless tobacco is a small victory. They are still obscuring the issue by doggedly repeating that smokeless tobacco is not risk-free when the relevant point for a cigarette smoker who is thinking about switching is that it's much less likely to kill him than his current habit.

Meanwhile, their allies in the private sector, unconstrained by the Data Quality Act, continue to explicitly promote the myth that smokeless tobacco and cigarettes are equally dangerous. "Some people believe that using smokeless tobacco is safer than smoking," the American Cancer Society says on its Web site. "This is not true."

The staffer who wrote that might want to ask Michael Thun, the society's chief epidemiologist, for a copy of the December issue of Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention. That issue includes a study in which a panel of experts estimated that the mortality risk posed by Swedish-style oral snuff is at least 90 percent lower than the risk posed by cigarettes. What makes me think Thun has a copy? He was one of the experts.

 

Jacob Sullum is a senior editor at Reason and the author of Saying Yes: In Defense of Drug Use (Tarcher/Putnam).

http://www.reason.com/sullum/122404.shtml

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Do cigarette additives pose additional risk to smokers?

28 Dec 2004

The US government does not approve or control the "599 list" of non-tobacco chemical ingredients used to manufacture cigarettes. These additives, such as acetic acid (vinegar), chocolate, vanilla, and menthol are found in everyday foods. Scientists, supported by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), generally regard these substances as safe in foods, but the risks for smokers are not known after combustion in cigarettes and inhalation. Can the toxicological effects for smokers be measured? A new report concludes they can.

The Study
The independent, non-profit organization Life Sciences Research Office (LSRO) (http://WWW.LSRO.ORG) is conducting a review of how to determine the potential risk of non-tobacco additives for cigarette smokers. In a previous report LSRO concluded that testing added ingredients was feasible. In this latest published report, Evaluation of Cigarette Ingredients: Scientific Criteria, LSRO establishes scientific criteria for assessing the impact.

The criteria are based on the work of an expert panel, composed of Alwynelle S. Ahl, Ph.D., D.V.M., Highland Rim Consultancy, Lyles, TN; Carroll Cross, M.D., Professor, Department of Medicine, University of California Davis Medical Center, Sacramento, CA; Shayne Gad, Ph.D., D.A.B.T., President, Gad Consulting Services, Cary, NC; Donald Gardner, Ph.D., F.A.T.S., President, Inhalation Toxicology Associates, Raleigh, NC; Louis Homer, M.D., Ph.D., Medical Director (ret.), Legacy Research Foundation, Portland, OR; Rudolph Jaeger, Ph.D., Principal Scientist, Environmental Medicine, Inc., Westwood, NJ; Robert Orth, Ph.D., President, Apis Discoveries, LLC, Cedar Hill, MO; Emmanuel Rubin, M.D., Chair, Department of Pathology, Anatomy, and Cell Biology, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA; James Schardein, M.S., F.A.T.S., Consultant, Leesburg, FL; and Thomas Slaga, Ph.D., President, AMC Cancer Research Center, Denver, CO. Phillip Morris, USA funded the study.

Methodology
To identify optimum scientific criteria for additive testing, the investigators compared conventional toxicological and regulatory approaches to epidemiological studies. LSRO could not find toxicological tests that predicted the full range of adverse human health effects. Of particular concern was the difficulty in determining "safe" levels of additives in the context of the obviously unsafe act of smoking. To overcome these problems, LSRO adopted a relative risk approach. Investigators could compare cigarettes containing an ingredient to otherwise identical cigarettes lacking the same ingredient. This approach allows researchers to factor out the adverse health effects, revealing the effects of the additive, if any. This approach focuses on inhalation testing within a smoke matrix, instead of ingestion testing of purified additives.
Findings
The researchers concluded that this approach could establish whether:
(1) the additive, or a pyrolysis product of the additive, did not detectably transfer into cigarette smoke in such a way that smokers might be subject to a change in risk;
(2) the additive did not significantly change the chemistry, physics or biological properties of smoke; and
(3) the additive did not change exposure to cigarette smoke through altered smoking behavior.
If the additive met these three criteria, the expert panel concluded that they would not anticipate that use of the ingredient would increase adverse human health effects. If the additive did not meet one of the criteria, the panel recommended further testing. This could include reducing the amount of ingredient added and retesting or obtaining additional data demonstrating no change in the relative risk of adverse human health effects. The report gives examples.
Conclusions
The purpose of the report was not to create a safer cigarette. The authors state that the primary purpose of additive testing should be to assure the public that the additives do not increase the risk of premature death or illness beyond the levels already associated with smoking. Accordingly, they urge smokers to remember that regardless of the findings from testing, there remain significant risks from smoking even "additive-free" cigarettes.
Next Steps
LSRO will now embark on the next phase of the project, evaluating the impact of individual additives.
For nearly half a century, the Life Sciences Research Office (LSRO) has provided expert objective scientific opinions and evaluations to governmental agencies and leading corporations in the food, health and bioscience sectors. A non-profit organization originally established in 1962 by the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology, LSRO provides independent science-based analysis and advice.
Editor's Note: A copy of the report is available to the press in pdf format. To receive a copy or schedule an interview, please contact Donna Krupa at 703-527-7357 (office), 703-967-2751 (cell) or djkrupa1@aol.com.
Contact: Donna Krupa djkrupa1@aol.com 703-527-7357 (office)  703-967-2751 (cell)
Life Sciences Research Office

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/medicalnews.php?newsid=18385

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Americans Balk At Fast-Food Lawsuits

July 23, 2003

(CPOD) Jul. 23, 2003 - Americans believe litigation against the fast-food industry is not warranted, according to a poll by Gallup. 89 per cent of respondents oppose legal action against restaurant chains.

Several attorneys have suggested possible lawsuits against the fast-food industry, in cases reminiscent of the first legal disputes against tobacco companies in the 1970s. 66 per cent of respondents do not believe restaurant chains are responsible for a customer's health problems.

Most Americans agree that fast-food is not healthy. 76 per cent of respondents believe such meals are not good for them.

Polling Data

Would you favor or oppose holding the fast-food industry legally responsible for the diet-related health problems of people who eat fast food on a regular basis?

 Favor        9%                Oppose  89%

 How responsible is the fast food industry for the health problems faced by obese people in this country?

Very / Somewhat responsible                    33%             Not too / Not at all responsible                   66%

 Overall, do you think that most of the food served in fast-food restaurants is very good for you, fairly good for you, not too good for you, or not good at all for you?

Very good            1%

Fairly good          22%

Not too good      53%

Not good at all    23%

Source: Gallup
Methodology: Telephone interviews to 1,006 American adults, conducted from Jul. 7 to Jul. 9, 2003. Margin of error is 3 per cent.

http://www.cpod.ca/polls/index.cfm?fuseaction=viewItem&itemID=404

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Essays on the Anti-Smoking Movement

http://www.smokingsection.com/issues2.html

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Obesity and Alcohol Abuse - Is there a "sneaky" link between these serious health risks and stopping cigarette smoking?

http://www.wellnessnet.com/obesity-smoking-press-release.html

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Smokers: An Endangered Species

http://reliableanswers.com/patriot/?20040209

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Where there’s no smoking, there’s fire  -MS

JOHN LARRABEE, Staff Writer12/23/2004

A lobbyist who led the charge to snuff out cigarette smoking in Massachusetts’ bars and restaurants is predicting any effort to change the law will likely fizzle.

 "I find it unlikely, if not impossible," says Diane Pickles, executive director of Tobacco Free Massachusetts, a coalition of groups that support anti-smoking efforts. "This is a law that is working very well. The Department of Public Health has certainly not been flooded with calls or complaints."

Those could be the first words in a knock-down tobacco row in the Statehouse, where a new legislative session begins in early January.
Bar owners and restaurateurs throughout the Blackstone Valley -- and in other small towns across the state -- have been organizing for months for a push to loosen the smoking ban during the next session. Several bills to amend the law have already been filed, including one that would exempt smaller establishments.
And the effort has picked up guarded support from state Rep. Jennifer Callahan, a former nurse and health administrator who originally supported the ban. The Sutton Democrat (whose district includes Uxbridge, Millville, Blackstone and Bellingham) has called the smoking bill "a good law that needs some tweaking."
The smoking ban, which took effect July 5, prohibits lighting up in any workplace, ostensibly to protect the health of employees exposed to cigarette smoking. Supporters cite a recent health study that reported the air in smoky bars and casinos contains 50 times more cancer-causing particles than are found on city streets at rush hour.
Taverns and eateries that once had smoking areas have been hit hardest by the law. Some establishments in the Blackstone Valley claim they’ve lost 30 to 40 percent of their business to members-only clubs, which are exempt from the law, or to bars in Rhode Island. While the neighboring state has adopted a similar smoking ban, it won’t take effect until March, and bars with fewer than 10 employees are exempt.
Not all Massachusetts bar owners have jumped aboard the
See BAN -- Page A-4
Continued from Page A-3
campaign, however. Boston and more than 60 other cities and towns in the state have municipal restaurant smoking bans, and most business owners in those communities support the state law. The Massachusetts Restaurant Association has taken no stand on the issue.
Pickles insists that Blackstone Valley establishment could soon see a boost in business, once customers learn to appreciate the cleaner atmosphere. "There is always a period of transition," she says. "It may take awhile for the general public and employers to get used to the changes."
And she doubts the amendment effort has much strength in the Statehouse. "There was broad support for this in both branches of the legislature, and the governor had no problem signing the bill into law," she says.
Callahan has said the economic impact on business owners is just one of her concerns. She has also heard from municipal officials, who charge the law has created enforcement problems in small towns. And neighbors living near bars have complained about noise problems caused by sidewalk smoking.
State Sen. Richard Moore, the area’s other legislator, has avoided questions about the law in recent weeks. The Uxbridge Democrat was one of the bill’s strongest supports; Recently, however, an aide refused to say if Moore will support or oppose amendments.
"He won’t have any comment until the legislation is taken up," aide Debra Montville says. "That’s when the senator will look at it."
During the last legislative session, Moore accepted sizable campaign contributions from lobbyists working for large tobacco companies.

http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=13613474&BRD=1712&PAG=461&dept_id=478996&rfi=6

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Exercise 'can't end obesity risk'  

Dec. 24/04

Exercise is not enough to offset the increased death risk associated with being obese, research suggests.

A study of more than 116,000 women nurses found physical activity did not totally compensate for the higher death risk associated with being obese.

The Harvard School of Public Health researchers said the key was both to exercise and lose weight.

Nurses who were lean but inactive also had an increased death risk, they told the New England Journal of Medicine.

 Excess weight and physical inactivity together could account for about a third of all premature deaths, two-thirds of deaths from cardiovascular disease, and a fifth of deaths from cancer among non-smoking women, they estimate.

They defined excess weight as a body-mass index (weight in kg divided by the square of the height in meters) of 25 or more.

For example, a 5ft 2ins woman was considered obese if she weighed more than 160 pounds and lean if she weighed less than 135 pounds.

Women who did more than 3.5 hours per week of exercise were considered "active".

Compared with the lean, active women, varying degrees of obesity and inactivity increased the risk of an early death.

Double whammy

Lean women who exercised less than 3.5 hours per week increased their risk of early death by 55%.

Obese women who worked out for at least 3.5 hours a week increased their risk by 91% and those who were obese and inactive increased their risk of a premature death by 142%.

The researchers said the key to a long life, for both men and women, is to keep weight down and take regular exercise.

"Public health campaigns should emphasise both the maintenance of a healthy weight and regular physical activity," they said.

Lead author Dr Frank Hu said: "If you are overweight or obese, exercise is good for you even if you don't lose weight.

"For people who are lean and sedentary, it's really important for them to get out of the couch and exercise, even if they don't have to lose weight."

Professor Neil Armstrong, from the Children's Health and Exercise Research Centre in Exeter, said: "If you really want to do something about obesity, it really needs to be a two-fold process, which includes aerobic exercise and a reduction in energy intake.

"Obesity is related to many diseases, such as heart disease, high blood pressure and diabetes, so it's a very important issue.

"And of course the advantage of exercise is not just related to obesity.

"It reduces the risk of heart disease and in postmenopausal women the risk of osteoporosis.

"Plus it generally raises your quality of life."

Dr David Haslam of the National Obesity Forum said: "An obese person who is exercising and maybe getting a bit despondent because the weight is not falling off should take great comfort from the fact that they are at much less risk of heart disease and stroke than if they hadn't been exercising.

"Inactivity, like smoking, is a massive risk factor for heart disease in it's own right."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/4120259.stm

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Systems for grading the quality of evidence and the strength of recommendations I: Critical appraisal of existing approaches

The GRADE Working Group
David Atkins , Martin Eccles , Signe Flottorp , Gordon H Guyatt , David Henry , Suzanne Hill , Alessandro Liberati , Dianne O'Connell , Andrew D Oxman , Bob Phillips , Holger Schunemann , Tessa Tan-Torres Edejer , Gunn E Vist , John W Williams  and . The GRADE Working Group
BMC Health Services Research 2004, 4:38     doi:10.1186/1472-6963-4-38
2 December 2004

Abstract (provisional)

Background

A number of approaches have been used to grade levels of evidence and the strength of recommendations. The use of many different approaches detracts from one of the main reasons for having explicit approaches: to concisely characterise and communicate this information so that it can easily be understood and thereby help people make well-informed decisions. Our objective was to critically appraise six prominent systems for grading levels of evidence and the strength of recommendations as a basis for agreeing on characteristics of a common, sensible approach to grading levels of evidence and the strength of recommendations.

Methods

Six prominent systems for grading levels of evidence and strength of recommendations were selected and someone familiar with each system prepared a description of each of these. Twelve assessors independently evaluated each system based on twelve criteria to assess the sensibility of the different approaches. Systems used by 51 organisations were compared with these six approaches.

Results

There was poor agreement about the sensibility of the six systems. Only one of the systems was suitable for all four types of questions we considered (effectiveness, harm, diagnosis and prognosis). None of the systems was considered usable for all of the target groups we considered (professionals, patients and policy makers). The raters found low reproducibility of judgements made using all six systems. Systems used by 51 organisations that sponsor clinical practice guidelines included a number of minor variations of the six systems that we critically appraised.

Conclusions

All of the currently used approaches to grading levels of evidence and the strength of recommendations have important shortcomings.

http://www.biomedcentral.com/1472-6963/4/38/abstract

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Doctors' fears over cigarette ads blitz  -UK

LEADING doctors claim tough new measures to restrict the advertising of cigarettes in shops, pubs, and clubs, will make little or no difference.
From today, the total space taken up in advertising for all tobacco companies at kiosks and other places selling cigarettes will be limited to an A5-sized area - around the size of a paperback book.
This space will also have to include a health warning taking up 30 per cent of the area.
The regulations also mean that vending machines will only be able to carry a picture of the products on sale.
The restrictions will be enforced by Trading Standards officers and violations will lead to fines of up to £5000 or five months in prison.
But the Royal College of GPs said that while the move was positive, it would do little to tackle the real problem.
Vice-chairman Graham Archard said: "We welcome this move but question whether it will make any real difference.
"People buy cigarettes because they are addicted, not because the machine or kiosk has a picture on it."
The Department of Health said the new regulations - part of the Tobacco Advertising and Promotion Act - were among the strictest in the world.
Health Secretary John Reid was expected to launch the new-look tobacco counter at an Asda supermarket in London today.
He said the new regulations would mean people were no longer "bombarded" by the large, colourful tobacco advertising at their local supermarket or corner shop.

http://news.scotsman.com/uk.cfm?id=1454592004

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State-Specific Prevalence of Current Cigarette Smoking Among Adults—United States, 2003

JAMA. 2004;292:2966-2967.

MMWR. 2004;53:1035-1037

1 table omitted

Cigarette smoking causes approximately 440,000 deaths annually in the United States.¹ To assess the prevalence of current cigarette smoking among adults, CDC analyzed data from the 2003 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) survey. This report summarizes the results of that analysis, which indicated substantial variation in cigarette smoking prevalence in the 50 states, the District of Columbia (DC), Guam, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands (USVI) (range: 10.0%-34.0%). To further reduce the prevalence of smoking, states/areas should implement comprehensive tobacco-control programs.

BRFSS is a state-based, random-digit–dialed, telephone survey of the U.S. civilian, noninstitutionalized population aged 18 years. In 2003, the median state/area response rate was 53.2% (range: 34.4%-80.5%). Estimates were weighted by age and sex distributions for each state’s population, and 95% confidence intervals were calculated. BRFSS respondents were asked, "Have you smoked at least 100 cigarettes in your entire life?" and "Do you now smoke cigarettes every day, some days, or not at all?" Current smokers were defined as those who reported having smoked 100 cigarettes during their lifetimes and who currently smoke every day or some days.

In 2003, the median prevalence of current cigarette smoking among adults was 22.1% in the 50 states and DC (range: 12.0% [Utah]–30.8% [Kentucky]) (Table). Smoking prevalence was higher among men (median: 24.8%; range: 14.0%-33.8%) than women (median: 20.3%; range: 9.9%-28.1%) in the 50 states and DC. Smoking prevalence for both men and women was highest in Kentucky (men: 33.8%; women: 28.1%) and lowest in Utah (men: 14.0%; women: 9.9%). In areas other than the 50 states and DC, the median prevalence of current cigarette smoking among adults was 13.6% (range: 10.0% [USVI]–34.0% [Guam]).

Reported by: J Bombard, MSPH, A Malarcher, PhD, M Schooley, MPH, A MacNeil, MPH, Office on Smoking and Health, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, CDC.

CDC Editorial Note:

Although the prevalence of current cigarette smoking among U.S. adults has declined, the rate of decline has not been rapid enough for the nation to achieve the 2010 national health objective of 12% of adults smoking cigarettes (objective 27-1).^2-3 The median prevalence of adult smoking decreased 1 percentage point from 2002 to 2003, and the national objective for 2010 was achieved in Utah and the USVI. The high prevalence of current cigarette smoking in most of the remaining states/areas underscores the need for increased efforts to reduce tobacco use.

 The findings in this report are subject to at least three limitations. First, the BRFSS survey does not sample persons in households without telephones, a population that might be more likely to smoke.⁴ Second, data for cigarette smoking are based on self-reports and are not validated with biochemical tests. However, self-reported data on current smoking status have high validity.⁴ Third, the median response rate was 53.2% (range: 34.4%-80.5%); lower response rates indicate a potential for response bias. However, BRFSS estimates for cigarette smoking are comparable with current smoking estimates from other surveys with higher response rates.⁵

Comprehensive tobacco control is effective in preventing and reducing tobacco use.⁶ CDC recommends the following evidence-based interventions as strategies within comprehensive tobacco-control programs: clean indoor air laws, telephone support quitlines, media campaigns, increased excise taxes on tobacco products, insurance coverage for cessation counseling and pharmaceuticals, and health-care system changes that support cessation.⁷ Substantial variation exists across states in their use of these strategies. For example, in 2002, two states offered Medicaid coverage for all recommended medication and counseling treatments for tobacco dependence, whereas 11 states covered no tobacco-dependence treatments.⁸ In addition, the average cost of a single pack of cigarettes (which includes state-based excise taxes) ranged from $3.10 in Kentucky to $5.54 in New York in 2003.⁹ The majority of states offer telephone support quitlines, and residents of all states soon will have access to a nationwide network of quitlines. Finally, only six states (California, Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Massachusetts, and New York) have comprehensive statewide bans in effect on smoking in indoor workplaces and public places.

The more funds that states spend on comprehensive tobacco-control programs, the greater the reduction in smoking.⁶ However, the amount of money that states spend for tobacco control decreased 28% during the preceding 2 years to $541.1 million, which is less than 3% of the estimated $19 billion states expected to receive from tobacco excise taxes and tobacco settlement money in 2003.¹⁰ For fiscal year 2004 (i.e., July 1, 2003–June 31, 2004), only four states (Arkansas, Delaware, Maine, and Mississippi) were investing at least the minimum per capita amount that CDC recommends for tobacco-control programs.¹⁰ Efforts and resources must be expanded if more states are to reduce smoking prevalence to 12% by 2010.
REFERENCES
1. CDC. Annual smoking-attributable mortality, years of potential life lost, and economic costs—United States 1995-1999. MMWR. 2002;51:300-303. MEDLINE

2. CDC. Cigarette smoking among adults—United States, 2002. MMWR. 2004;53:427-431. MEDLINE

 3. US Department of Health and Human Services. Healthy people 2010 (conference ed, in 2 vols). Washington, DC: US Department of Health and Human Services; 2000. Available at http://www.health.gov/healthypeople

4. Nelson DE, Holtzman D, Bolen J, Stanwyck CA, Mack KA. Reliability and validity of measures from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS). Soz Praventivmed. 2001;46(suppl 1):S3-S42. ISI | MEDLINE

5. US Department of Health and Human Services. Women and smoking: a report of the Surgeon General. Rockville, MD: US Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, Office of the Surgeon General; 2001:24-25.

6. Farrelly MC, Pechacek TF, Chaloupka FJ. The impact of tobacco control program expenditures on aggregate cigarette sales: 1981-2000. Health Econ. 2003;22:843-859.CrossRef

7. Task Force on Community Preventive Services. Guide to community preventive services: tobacco use prevention and control. Am J Prev Med. 2001;20(Suppl 1):1-87.

8. CDC. State Medicaid coverage for tobacco-dependence treatments—United States, 1994-2002. MMWR. 2004;53:54-57. MEDLINE

9. Orzechowski W, Walker RC. The tax burden on tobacco, volume 38. Arlington, VA: Orzechowski and Walker; 2003.

10. Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids; American Heart Association, American Cancer Society, American Lung Association. A broken promise to our children: the 1998 state tobacco settlement five years later. Washington, DC: Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids; 2003. Available at http://www.tobaccofreekids.org/reports/settlements/2004/fullreport.pdf.

 http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/full/292/24/2966

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Ingested Arsenic, Cigarette Smoking, and Lung Cancer Risk

A Follow-up Study in Arseniasis-Endemic Areas in Taiwan

Chi-Ling Chen, PhD;Lin-I Hsu, PhD; Hung-Yi Chiou, PhD; Yu-Mei Hsueh, PhD; Shu-Yuan Chen, PhD; Meei-Maan Wu, PhD; Chien-Jen Chen, ScD; for the Blackfoot Disease Study Group
 

JAMA. 2004;292:2984-2990.

ABSTRACT

Context  Arsenic has been documented as a lung carcinogen in humans in only a few follow-up studies, which were limited by a small number of cases or the lack of information on cigarette smoking.

 Objectives  To elucidate the dose-response relationship between ingested arsenic and lung cancer and to assess the effect of cigarette smoking on the arsenic–lung cancer association.

Design, Setting, and Participants  A total of 2503 residents in southwestern and 8088 in northeastern arseniasis-endemic areas in Taiwan were followed up for an average period of 8 years. Information on arsenic exposure, cigarette smoking, and other risk factors was collected at enrollment through standardized questionnaire interview.

Main Outcome Measures  The incidence of lung cancer was ascertained through linkage with national cancer registry profiles in Taiwan (January 1985-December 2000). The joint effect of arsenic and cigarette smoking was estimated by both etiologic fraction and synergy index.

Results  There were 139 newly diagnosed lung cancer cases during a follow-up period of 83 783 person-years. After adjustment for cigarette smoking and other risk factors, there was a monotonic trend of lung cancer risk by arsenic level in drinking water of less than 10 to 700 µg/L or more (P<.001). The relative risk was 3.29 (95% confidence interval, 1.60-6.78) for the highest arsenic level compared with the lowest. The etiologic fraction of lung cancer attributable to the joint exposure of ingested arsenic and cigarette smoking ranged from 32% to 55%. The synergy indices ranged from 1.62 to 2.52, indicating a synergistic effect of ingested arsenic and cigarette smoking on lung cancer.

Conclusions  There was a significant dose-response trend of ingested arsenic on lung cancer risk, which was more prominent among cigarette smokers. The risk assessment of lung cancer induced by ingested arsenic should take cigarette smoking into consideration.

http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/full/292/24/2984

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Judge rules Big Tobacco doesn't have to pay farmers
Court: Companies also due a refund

By Michael Felberbaum Associated Press

RALEIGH, N.C. — The tobacco-quota buyout approved by Congress this year releases cigarette companies from making payments to Kentucky farmers and others that had been required by a landmark 1998 settlement, a North Carolina judge ruled yesterday.

The millions of dollars in Phase II payments have compensated tobacco growers for losses they were expected to suffer under higher cigarette prices resulting from the agreement between Big Tobacco and the states.

Cigarette companies contend they weren't obligated to make a final $189 million payment this month to farmers in 14 states because Congress approved a $10.1billion tobacco buyout this fall.

North Carolina Business Court Judge Ben Tennille agreed and also ruled that the companies should get a refund on payments made earlier this year.

Though the suit was being heard in a special state court in North Carolina, the ruling will apply to tobacco companies and farmers in other tobacco states.

An appeal of the ruling is likely, which would delay a final decision for months.

In 1999, the four major tobacco companies agreed to make $5.15 billion in Phase II payments over 12 years to compensate growers and quota holders for losses stemming from the $206billion tobacco settlement approved the previous year.

Tobacco growers were counting on the final payment at the end of 2004, before the buyout takes effect.

Some expected to use the money to pay off operating loans, said Ed Bissette, a director of the North Carolina Phase II board and a fourth-generation tobacco farmer in Nash County.

Attorneys for the boards in the 14 states, as well as the trustees at JPMorgan Chase, argue that the companies aren't relieved of the Phase II payments until they actually make payments for the buyout to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. That won't happen until early 2005.

Tennille's decision was posted late yesterday on the court's Web site and dated Dec. 23.

http://www.courier-journal.com/localnews/2004/12/23ky/A1-tob1223-7157.html

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Tobacco farmers' group files notice to appeal judge's decision

A group overseeing payments to tobacco farmers and quota holders from a 1999 settlement said Thursday that it will appeal a judge's decision that cigarette companies don't have to make the last of those payments.By ESTES THOMPSON, Associated Press Writer, The Associated Press

December 23, 2004

The board overseeing distribution of the payments, called Phase II funds, filed the notice of appeal in North Carolina Business Court.

Judge Ben Tennille angered farmers Wednesday when he ruled that cigarette companies didn't have to make final annual payments to growers because the 1999 settlement was superseded by Congress' approval of a $10.1 billion tobacco buyout this fall.

In 1999, the four major tobacco companies agreed to make $5.15 billion in Phase II payments over 12 years to compensate growers and quota holders for losses stemming from the $206 billion tobacco settlement.

The final payments under the settlement would have totaled $430 million in 14 tobacco-producing states.

Farm advocates said the ruling, if it holds up under appeal, means farmers who were counting on a check this month won't have money to buy supplies for the 2005 crop or to pay debts.

"I hope Judge Tennille has a merry Christmas," said Larry Wooten, president of the N.C. Farm Bureau. "Yesterday's ruling makes it hard for North Carolina farmers to truly have a merry Christmas. His ruling will cause many farmers and communities in rural North Carolina to suffer."

John Davis, executive director of the state's Phase II Tobacco Certification Entity, said the appeals would delay any payments for a few months.

In addition to rejecting the demand that the last payment be made into the fund, Tennille told the states to work out a plan to refund previous payments being held until the Dec. 31 payout date.

The appeal puts that refund plan on hold, Davis said.

Cigarette maker Philip Morris USA said in a statement Thursday that when the trust was created it was "with an understanding by all parties that the companies' payments would cease if a tobacco quota buyout funded by the companies was passed."

Philip Morris expects the buyout payments to start next year.

The ruling is a blow to farmers, said Johnston County farmer Jimmy Lee.

"It's going to be a hard lick because most farmers went in anticipating to get a payment," said Lee, president of the Contract Tobacco Growers Association. "I know that we've got this buyout coming, but that's in 12 months. It might be the law, but it's not the right thing to do."

Farmers affected are in North Carolina, Kentucky, Tennessee, South Carolina, Virginia, Georgia, Ohio, Indiana, Florida, Missouri, West Virginia, Alabama, Maryland and Pennsylvania.

http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=13618000&BRD=2212&PAG=461&dept_id=465812&rfi=6

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Award Upheld to Flight Attendant in Secondhand Smoke Case
Catherine Wilson The Associated Press
12-27-2004
A state appeals court upheld a $500,000 award to a flight attendant who blamed secondhand smoke on airliners for her bronchitis and sinus trouble -- a decision Wednesday that could clear the way for damage trials on up to 3,000 similar claims.
The ruling for former TWA attendant Lynn French was a test case interpreting a $349 million settlement reached in 1997 between the tobacco industry and nonsmoking attendants.
The flight attendants blamed their illnesses on smoke in the cabin before smoking was banned on domestic flights in 1990.
"The court agreed with us, and we're happy with it," said Marvin Weinstein, French's attorney. "Based on this, I think there are a lot more they're going to be paying."
After the tobacco industry agreed to settle, a system of mini-trials was set up for each flight attendant to decide whether he or she deserved compensatory damages.
Under the ground rules, each jury was to presume that secondhand smoke causes several diseases; the attendants had to prove only that they suffered from one of those diseases and that their exposure to smoke occurred on the job.
The c