Results tagged “smokingban”

10 good reasons why you should vote on Saturday. New unemployment claims drop. Prejean keeping it classy. Now, someone take away her title. Kthxbai. Santa Barbara still on fire. Infuriating story on dumped dogs in Malaysia. Do you read your news online? (Ahem!) Get ready to pay for it. Texas smoking ban bill about to die.

Image credit: Nature abhors a vacuum

Photograph of the Trump Soho by Riccardo Sinti

On the eve of ACL Fest, we're gonna turn off our laptops, put on our drinking shoes, and head over to the Mohawk, because Austinist is hosting Local Music is Sexy IV. An annual tradition since its inception in 2005 (back when the 'hawk was the Velvet Spade, and folks were still arguing over the smoking ban), Local Music is Sexy showcases a bunch of promising young Austin bands and DJs that we're most excited...

A San Antonio-area nonprofit is suing to have their chimpanzees returned from Louisiana Is someone trying to take down the Dollar General? The City of Austin has opted to extend the waterway ban on Lake Austin until Friday The Texas Department of Transportation begins inspections on possibly suspect bridges A 6-year-old girl in North Texas crashed her bike into a parked trailer and gets her head punctured by 4 inches of rebar Bars and...

While SFist cringed at the fatal dose of crime littering the Bay Area, it found solace in Hillary Clinton's San Francisco campaign headquarters opening, which featured loads of exposed mammary glands. In other news, SF Taxi Commission ruled that Satan's cab must keep its (in)famous medallion number, 666; and in an un-fashion-forward frenzy, San Francisco Fashion Week (chortle) bars bloggers from covering and getting smashed at their shows and parties, respectively. Also, they found a...

There's so much going on across the Ist-a-Verse that it's almost impossible to keep track these days. Fortunately, we do it so you don't have to! Londonist took a walk through Oliver Twist's London, thanks to a gorgeous map layer for Google Earth. They also caught up with modern-day fictional London, with the Fantastic Four and 28 Weeks Later. It was a week of insanity over at DCist. They started the week off with...

Sen. Rodney Ellis (D-Houston) will soon present Senate Bill 368 in the Texas Legislature, a bill that would create a statewide smoking ban if passed. The bill is essentially the product of diligent efforts by the anti-smoking interest group Smoke-Free Texas, a health-minded group seeking to prohibit smoking in all “public places” throughout the entire state. S.B. 368, if passed, would circumvent all other municipal smoking bans, such as the one here in Austin. It...

The City of Austin intends to contest the ruling, issued earlier this month, that portions of the smoking ban were "unconstitutionally vague." As you might recall, U.S. District Judge Sam Sparks didn't entirely overturn the ban, ruling instead that the consequences for smoking in bars were in the hands of the smokers themselves, rather than the establishments. Today's announcement was issued by the city law department, which declared, using somewhat circuitous reasoning, that it's appealing...

Some of the smoke surrounding the vagaries of the smoking ban has cleared. U.S. District Judge Sam Sparks ruled today that some of the enforcement provisions were "unconstitutionally vague." The ruling did not overturn the existing ban, but it did state that bars must take greater measures to make sure they were in compliance with the law. It also appears bars won't face the brunt of the law if they can't get patrons to quit...

The smoking, that is; not the foosball.

Maybe you’re too drunk to notice, but Side Bar is celebrating its two-year anniversary. It was just in 2004 that this scrappy little bar opened and quickly became your favorite bar that you’ve never been to. Two years and one smoking ban later, Austinites have been answering the call and Side Bar is consistently proving that it’s the place to be night after night. Whether by coincidence or just plain fate, 2004 was also the year of the green wooden monkey. After a few of Side Bar’s signature stiff cocktails who hasn’t felt like a green wooden monkey?

Alright, alright. I concede. The smoking ban has not, as far as I can tell, done anything to damage any businesses. Sure, there was a down spot for a couple of months there. Some businesses, which were already suffering financially, took the ban as an asthmatic death rattle. But taps would have played soon enough, with or without the ban. The guard needed changing anyway. A re-ordering, if you will.

Here we go again, waving our hands through the Smoking Ban debate, continuing to spread the love around. But this time, oh this time, it feels personal. We are still sorting through stacks of reports, stats, and widely quoted data to try and make sense of all sides involved, so the detailed discussion continues to be worked out. But in the meantime:

Initially, this post was going to be a rant of sorts. But while writing it, the reality of how complex the Smoking Ban truly is, hit us, violently, in the kidneys. There can be no small summary of how this affects/polarizes us. Hell, WE aren’t entirely sure how to feel about the whole thing. All we know is that eventually, whatever it evolves into will pass into acceptance and adaptations will be made accordingly (repeal, mass patio construction, “the patch” sales beat expectations, whatever).

-A judge upheld the smoking ban put in place a few months ago, but reduced the violation fine to $500.

-The death toll in Asia now exceeds 35,000. Various donations efforts around town are underway -- we'll keep you posted. -Jetblue's starting a new nonstop service to NYC starting late January with - get this - introductory fares only $79 each way for tickets purchased by Oct. 31 for travel between Jan. 19 and Feb. 14. We know several of you are planning trips in the winter. -AMD made out like a bandit last...

Brownie points don't cut it FEMA Director Michael Brown stepped down from his position because, according to him, too much attention was on his leadership (or lack thereof) instead of the relief efforts. Well, Brown, maybe that's because your relief efforts sucked. But, Bush didn't think little of his appointed former horse whisperer. He's quoted as saying, "Brownie, you're doing a heckuva job" when he first landed on the disaster site after the storm. So, who will take his place? A veteran firefighter with experience in FEMA's emergency preparedness, someone who should have had the damn job in the first place. We imagine Bush sitting in his office playing eeny-meeny-miny-mo with his friends when he is making appointments. We hope that isn't true .

First gas, now this? If you pay for your electricity, get ready to see an increase on your bill to the tune of $2-$3.50. The increase is the first in two years, The Statesman reports. This isn't Katrina's fault, according to James Williams, an economist in London. He says the price of fuel has more than doubled.

Being that we grew up in New Orleans and our family still lives (lived? probably more accurate, at least for now) there and our mind is not on Austin news, we're going to skimp on the report today. Hope you understand. Local Austin news seems to be preoccupied with the hurricane anyway, so we don't feel too bad. If you want an update on Katrina's aftermath in New Orleans: East side residences (the poorest of the poor) are underwater. Two or three levees have broken and the water pumps have stopped, so it is just flooding. Our crazy uncle who refused to leave had to get off the phone with our mother (who has evacuated to Tyler, Texas) because water was starting to come in the house at around 12 p.m. Our dad said looters are out in the middle of the madness, stealing from businesses and homes. We are not surprised. Trees are everywhere, water is everywhere, glass from windows breaking is everywhere. Our other uncle, a cop, said they probably won't let people back into the city until Monday at the earliest. We are surprised that we are actually shocked by this. The city is a bowl and hadn't been hit bad since the 60's. It was just a matter of time, but still...it doesn't make dealing with it any easier. Anyway, that's our report on New Orleans.

Smoking ban has bar owners feeling like they want a cigarette
Bar owners say they will be forced to act like police when the smoking ban takes effect because they will be fined if someone is caught smoking. KXAN reports that in last night's meeting (number two of four scheduled this month for bar owners and the city), bar owners were told to avoid being fined, they must place a "No Smoking" sign at the door, remove ashtrays, and, seriously, call 911 if someone refuses to extinguish their cig. Will smoking a cigarette really become an emergency? Austinist thought that's what 311 was for. Well, it is reported in the Statesman today that Austin police are the highest paid officers in the state. Makes sense, because their job is going to get a lot more intense. Hell, adult bar owners and police officers who've never smoked a cigarette in their lives might start smoking just to curb the stress of having to stop people from smoking. Ridiculous assumption, yes. But just as ridiculous as having to call 911 if someone refuses to stop smoking in a bar.

Restaurant Report
After Saturday night, Mezzaluna will close its doors after 16 years of serving Austinites. The restaurant, which is located in the Warehouse District, hasn't been able to recover from September 11 and the technology bust, owner Reed Clemons said in the Statesman . Capitol Brasserie will replace Mezzaluna, serving French cuisine in November. We'd like ours snail-less, please.

Apparently, the doors are closing on downtown booze-and-dance stalwart, The Copper Tank Brewery. Rumor has it that the owners of Ringers Sports Bar will be opening a new sports bar mecca at the 504 Trinity Location. In order to cut some of their losses, The Copper Tank will be holding a public auction at the bar this Saturday. The auction begins at 10am and goes until they get rid of everything or get tired...

Hot on the tails of the smoking ban, which took one of life's difficult choices out of the hands of competent personal decision makers and put it into the hands of an unweildy beaurocracy, AUSThIN is on a crusade to make more decisions for you!

Election results are in and Austin has let its true voice be heard. The overwhelming response to the polarizing and contentious debate over the smoking ban, three city council seats, education funding, and municipal elections was a resounding, "Meh, who cares?" According to the unofficial results released by Travis County, a whopping 14.29 percent of the electorate felt the urge to exercise their civic rights and participate in our little experiment called democracy. Just over...

We here at the Austinist just wanted to remind you that, if you didn't exercise your civic duty during the early voting window, tomorrow is the day to make your voice heard. Make sure you haul yourself out to your local polling location and cast your vote.

Let's face the plain truth about human existence: No one likes to be told what to do. Places like Austin, in particular, where there is an educated and motivated populace, send out a resounding "go f*&^ yourself" when ordered around. As Austinist is fond of telling people, this is Austin, but it's still Texas. That is why the new smoking ban is so disingenuous: it goes against fundamental beliefs we hold as a community, even if it would make us all healthier in the long run.

On May 7, City of Austin voters will be asked to consider an ordinance that would make it illegal to smoke in bars, restaurants, pool halls and bowling alleys, except those establishments with a restricted permit (or lax management).

The city is anxiously awaiting (or maybe dreading) May 7th, when Austin will be allowed to vote on the fate of cigarettes in public places. Some people are rejoicing. Some are really, really pissed off.