Wednesday, May 11, 2005

Til you puff yourself to death

I see in this afternoon's News-Gazette that another group is pushing for local governments (read Champaign and Urbana City Councils) to ban smoking in bars and restaurants in C-U.
http://www.news-gazette.com/localnews/story.cfm?Number=18212

It's an admirable goal and one I support wholeheartedly, but I give it just about as much chance — especially in Champaign — as a balloon at a porcupine convention. Champaign's just way too 'business oriented' to ever consider anything that might help individual people. After all, what's good for corporate America is good for, uh, ah, corporate America.

And Urbana's council, bless its faux-liberal little heart, has said they'd really LIKE to ban smoking, REALLY REALLY REALLY, but they can't until Champaign does because.... well, it might hurt URBANA businesses. Both of them.

Still, at least three Urbana restaurants now prohibit smoking. Silvercreek and The Courier have been smoke-free for ages and now Ned Kelly's has lifted the smog as well. Haven't been to Ned Kelly's for a while (probably will to show support), but I know first-hand that Silvercreek and The Courier both are perpetually crowded. Hasn't seemed to hurt either of them much to be smoke free. And it sure is nice to go into a restaurant and smell the food, not someone's cigarette. I won't even discuss cigars.

There' s public forum at 7 p.m.tonight at the Champaign City Building, 102 N. Neil St., sponsored by the C-U Smokefree Alliance.

Remember folks — smoking isn't a right; breathing is. Your choice.

And so it goes.

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