Results tagged “smokingban”

Good morning, Houston. Remember the city's smoking ban, which went into effect in September? Well, so does KPRC. The station checked around and found something that will shock you to your very core: Houstonians are still smoking in bars and restaurants! No, . One of the bars Channel 2 visited was Henry Hudson's Pub on the west side, where reporters found customers and the bartender smoking — and "we even bought a pack of cigarettes out of a machine inside the pub," according to reports. We're just as surprised as you are — and as City Councilwoman Carol Alvarado is. "To be breaking the law so blatantly, obviously these people have no concern, no care, no sensitivity," she said. And no Nicorette, it would seem. KPRC reports that two city smoking inspectors have followed up on 228 complaints since the ban went into effect, which have resulted in more than 60 warnings and four citations.

Houstonist vs. Houstonist is a new feature in which two Houstonist contributors will face off to debate an issue that's relevant to life in the Bayou City. Want to join the debate? Hit the comments section at the end of the post. As we're sure you've heard, Houston's stricter smoking ban — which affects all but a handful of workplaces, including bars — goes into effect tomorrow. The push for the expanded smoking ban gained...

With 11th hour upon the citywide smoking ban taking effect (on a long weekend no less), all sorts of commentary from both sides are coming to light (no pun intended). Houstonist thought it would be only fair to have videos for and against the smoking ban...we also threw in a music video at the end for those who don't care about the issue. The music video is one of our favorites, Franz Ferdinand performing Jacqueline...

The smoking ban goes into effect on Saturday morning at midnight. Ring in the new era with Houstonist as we get together on Friday night to celebrate Houston's birthday, which is actually today. We're cranking up things at State Bar at 6 on the o'clock and want you to be there. You'll probably hear a lot from our opinionated staff about booze, politics, 600 sq mi (our photo show), live music, bar food and...

Good morning, Houston. Pardon us, but we seem to have lost our phone number. Can we borrow yours? Yeah, we know — it's lame. And apparently we're not the only one with a bad pickup line: Houston is the country's 14th best city for singles, according to Forbes magazine. We lag behind Dallas-Ft. Worth (No. 9) and Austin (No. 12), but we're far ahead of San Antonio (No. 28). On the bright side, Houston...

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...

So here's something interesting about the city's full-on smoking ban, which is set to take effect in about a month and a half: According to KTRK, there's still no permitting process in place for cigar bars, one of a handful of types of businesses that are supposed to be exempt from the ban. Mike Shapiro, who owns a cigar bar downtown, is one of the people who's trying to figure out what's going on: "I...

Good morning, Houston. So a record high 40,182 Texas high school seniors won't be graduating this spring because they failed all or some of the TAKS test, the standardized exam required to get a high school diploma. Overall, 84 percent of students passed all four parts of the test — math, science, social studies and English — but black and Hispanic students seemed to have the hardest time, with 28 percent of black students...

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...

Good morning, Houston. If you're a smoker who's not a fan of the citywide smoking ban set to take effect this fall, here's something to be happy about: At least you don't live in Abilene, where a man was arrested on a warrant for smoking in public. Brian Wayne Hendrix was cited for smoking in public, a violation of Abilene's smoking ban, in late February; when he failed to show up in court, a...

What's Governor Perry doing in the Middle East? Lone Star Times has the scoop. His first order of business was to help dedicate a new Texas A&M University campus in Qatar. The campus takes up a sprawling 2,500 acres and is part of a deal between the Qatar Foundation and A&M to provide a full, four-year degree program in mechanical, electrical, chemical and petroleum engineering. We wonder if it'll make Qatar's top party schools list....

Good morning, Houston. If you really love being in your car, you may be in luck: According to former Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta, traffic in Houston is only going to get worse. His answer? Start planning now for new road construction and encourage people to take public transportation. Our advice: learn to multi-task. >> That ain't pretty: Looks like it could be the end of the line for a notorious Houston beauty school: On...

Between fake terrorist alerts and scandals big and small, this just might be the Best Best of the -ists ever. We're exhausted just thinking about it. First up, SFist, who saw their little 'ole site be the center of what was a nice little scandal (even getting their editor on TV) only to find their scandal dwarfed by the even bigger scandal caused by their Mayor boffing one of his aides' wife. We're not...

Hey smokers: If you're thinking you'll live with Houston's pending smoking ban by leaving the city limits to light up, think again: If state has his way with legislation he'll announce today, the entire state of Texas will one day be smoke-free. How do you like them apples? "A broad array of cities in Texas have stepped up and shown leadership on this issue," said Ellis, D-Houston. "In my judgment you have to make this...

Before you try to tackle President Bush and the state of the whole country tonight, you can read Mayor White's state of the city address, delivered yesterday afternoon at a Greater Houston Partnership luncheon. White, a popular and effective mayor, discussed the achievements of the city in the past year as well as goals and programs he sees for Houston's future. Among other things, Bill White mentioned the success of his Safe Clear program in...

Texas is thawing, the Northeast is freezing, and a sort of natural order seems almost restored to the Ist-A-Verse. Almost. Londonist HQ—that is to say, the city of London—was battered by heavy winds, making it a bad time to be a twelve-meter (nearly forty-foot) tall snowman. Still, not everyone decided to keep warmly covered. Meanwhile, back indoors, the Big Brother racism is now causing all kinds of headaches for international diplomats, and Londonist got into...

Houston smokers, it looks like you'll have a new favorite hangout when the city's smoking ban takes effect in September: Last night, the Bellaire City Council voted down a similar ban in their city.

Now that Houston has passed the smoking ban, which goes into effect next September, the city council in Bellaire is now considering a similar ordinance. However, the issue is stirring up debate and more opposition than it did at the Houston city council. In September, Mayor Bill White approached Bellaire Mayor Cindy Siegel to champion the smoking-band, in hopes to have a smoke-free greater Houston. Councilman John Monday, who is a smoker, disapproves of the...

Quit sucking on that butt, if only for a day. The American Cancer Society's Great American Smokeout happens each year on the third Thursday of November, which is today. So, put down the smokey treat and give your lungs, and the rest of us, a break.

More on Houston's newly expanded smoking ban: Everyone knows the ordinance prohibits smoking in all workplaces, including restaurants and bars, but what's still sort of unclear is where people will be able to smoke under the new law. That's because of potential vagueness in the exceptions to the ordinance, which include outdoor patios, private rooms in nursing homes, tobacco shops, cigar bars and designated rooms in meeting facilities during private functions.

So now that Houston has passed its smoking ban, a lot of bar owners in the city are concerned that they'll lose customers to bars just outside Houston, where smoking is permitted. But they may not need to worry: If state Sen. Rodney Ellis has his way, the entire state of Texas will one day be a no-smoking zone ... so we won't die. “I mean look, there are a lot of things that will...

Smokers, you'd better light up while you still can: Thanks to a 13-2 City Council vote today, smoking will be banned in most bars come September. After much discussion over alternate proposals, councilmembers decided to stick with the ban Mayor Bill White and Councilwoman Carol Alvarado supported, which prohibits smoking in all workplaces (with exceptions for a handful of situations, including cigar bars, tobacco shops, hotel meeting rooms and outdoor patios).

More news on Houston's proposed stronger smoking ban: Marc Levin, an attorney who helped get a portion of Austin's smoking ban overturned on the basis of vague legal language, urged Houston City Councilmembers to postpone a vote on the expanded ban until the proposed ordinance can be reworded.

As expected, City Council delayed a vote on expanding the city's smoking ban at its meeting yesterday — and with councilmembers divided between a variety of proposals, it's anyone's guess how the vote will go when it's actually taken. Mayor Bill White, who supports a smoking ban at all enclosed workplaces with exceptions for cigar shops, certain meeting rooms, private functions and a handful of other situations, said things are close:

A couple of City Councilmembers have come up with 11th-hour alternatives to the city's proposed smoking ban, which council is supposed to take up tomorrow. The proposal would ban smoking at all workplaces in Houston, including restaurants and bars; exceptions would be patio areas and businesses designated as tobacconists or cigar bars.

Somehow, the world of -ists managed to make it through the week despite news that Jen & Vince broke up. Chicagoist had fall on their mind as they made squash and fudge, read "House of Leaves" and ">tried to figure out what's next for the Cubs. Not fall related, but still of utmost concern, the whole skinny black pants thing. Torontoist fought off an evil scourge of raccoons and went to go see who would...

So City Council held a hearing yesterday on a proposal to ban smoking in all Houston workplaces — yes, including bars and tobacco shops — and, not surprisingly, a lot of bar owners showed up to protest the idea, saying a full smoking ban would devastate their businesses.

Wallace Smith, a 27-year-old Houston man, was charged today with murder in connection with the shooting death of a man on a local sidewalk Monday Two people were injured this afternoon when a car slammed into an office building off the North Freeway A KHOU news crew went to a southeast Houston apartment complex yesterday to check out reports of rising crime and ended up witnessing a guy getting beaten with a baseball bat Ronald...

A City Council committee will hear testimony this afternoon about the effects of secondhand smoke, the first of two hearings planned to help officials decide whether to extend the city's smoking ordinance to possibly ban smoking in bars as well as restaurants. And there's a new twist to the discussion: Apparently tired of the idea that people can smoke in bars, but not in restaurants, the Greater Houston Restaurant Association came out in favor of a total ban yesterday.

The Chronicle checks in today on a slew of city ordinances that seem to be going largely — or totally — unenforced, including a ban put into effect last year on "pocket bikes," quick little motorcycles that councilmembers said were a nuisance and a hazard. Though riding the cycles on public streets was already illegal, City Council spent three meetings and hours of debate before passing an ordinance banning them in May 2005, a move...