Subject: Health Care Issues

• Drag King: Bill Hannegan can't stop huffing and puffing about smoking bans in St. Louis

  January 21, 2009

• Fired Up: RFT readers are sharply divided on whether St. Louis bars should be smokeless

  February 4, 2009

• Smoke Signals

  February 1, 2007

• Smoke and Mirrors in Hermann, Missouri

  October 3, 2007

• Side Dish

  October 18, 2000

• Town & Country Waffling on Smoking Ban

  Photo by Jennifer Silverberg; Sheriff illustration by Kenn MinterAlderman John Hoffmann wants to put out the butts in Town & CountryLast week's "Butt Heads" feature story did not include stats or insights from munis with less than 15,000 people. Town & Country, with 11,000 inhabitants, thus did not make the cut. But apparently its elected officials are also in a lather over whether or not to push for a regional smoking ban.  Alderman John Hoffmann (featured in a colorful RFT cover s

  June 2, 2009

• Mayor Slay Weighs In On Smoking Bans

  My post last week on Mayor Francis Slay's 2009 legislative agenda and its failure to address smoking in city bars and restaurants generated quite a few comments. Most readers of this blog -- it would seem -- disagree with my proposal that the mayor work with St. Louis County and/or state officials to ban on a regional or state-wide level smoking in taverns and eateries. So what does the mayor think? A few days after I posted my thoughts, Slay blogged his opinion on smoking bans. You can read his

  January 6, 2009

• St. Louis Smoking Activist May Soon Find Himself in Statewide Fight

  In case you haven't seen it yet, my RFT colleague Keegan Hamilton has a great story in this week's paper about Bill Hannegan, a smokers' rights activist and founder of the blog Keep St. Louis Free. (As in, keep St. Louis free for smokers.) I won't ruin Keegan's story, but Hannegan has quite a distinguished pedigree. And as I've assumed from some of the comments he's made when I've posted articles on cigarette bans, Hannegan also has a vested interest 

  January 22, 2009

• Sudden Death

  March 17, 1999

• No Smoking Ban for St. Louis? How Depressing.

  Forget heart disease and lung cancer, which won't kill you for another 30 years or so, researchers from the University of Miami School of Medicine found that exposure to second-hand smoke may double the likelihood of depression:This study confirmed exposure to smoke by measuring cotinine -- a chemical that occurs in blood after breathing in smoke. There were cotinine levels for more than 3,000 non-smoking adults in a federal health study. An additional 92,000 non-smokers only reported if they li

  March 5, 2009

• Medical Marijuana Comes to the Midwest

  http://imagecache2.allposters.com/images/pic/CMAG/938-022~Marijuana-Posters.jpgStarting next month, residents of Michigan will be able to petition their doctor for a pot prescription of up to twelve plants. Michigan is the first non-coastal state east of the Rocky Mountains to enact such a law.Technically the policy went into effect last December after Michigan voters approved a ballot measure with 63 percent majority in the November election (it collected 250,000 more votes than

  March 20, 2009

• Death Watch: Final Exit's clandestine ways have put the assisted-suicide network on life support

  April 8, 2009

• Washington University Will Go Entirely Smoke Free Next Year

  All of Washington University's St. Louis campuses will become entirely smoke- and tobacco-free by July of 2010. Current policy prohibits smoking inside any university building. The new ban will prohibit smoking anywhere on university property -- including outdoor areas. "We know it will be difficult for some in the university community, but we believe that this is the right and best policy for the health of all who live, work and study at Washington University," said Chancellor Mark Wrighton in

  April 14, 2009

• Pot Hole: A southwest Missouri hamlet is leading the latest fight to legalize medical marijuana

  February 18, 2009

• Readers get fired up about smoking bans and Hanifan

  January 7, 2009

• Resolution No. '09

  A list of New Year's resolutions for the bands, venues and fans of the local music scene.

  December 31, 2008

• Smokers' Olympics

  Stuff Unreal likes! Plus: We smoke and run and picture Abe Lincoln on a Segway.

  April 9, 2008

• Regional Smoking Ban Gathering Steam

  flickr.com/photos/carolinespicsRegional legislators are taking note a proposed bill in St. Louis City calling for a ban on smoking in bars and restaurants. The bill, proposed by Central West End alderwoman Lyda Krewson, would not go into effect unless St. Louis County passed a similar ban. Yesterday, St. Louis County Councilwoman Barbara Frasier told KWMU (90.7 FM) that such a bill would force the hand of county legislators -- which voted 4-3 against a county-wide smoking ban a few years back."O

  April 15, 2009

• The Big Payback

  October 25, 2000

• Have Anti-Smoking Rules and Regulations Gone Too Far?

  Week of April 23, 2003

  April 23, 2003

• BBQ

  Bandana's

  April 2, 2003

• Indoor Fireworks

  A Teamster tries to smoke out lawbreakers at Schnucks

  July 10, 2002

• Letters

  May 30, 2001

• The Media Go to Pot

  May 16, 2001

• Unhealthy Relationship

  August 23, 2000

• Will the Real John Ashcroft Please Stand Up?

  August 23, 2000

• Cultivating Injustice

  February 23, 2000

• Enforcement Could Burn City Smoking Ban

  flickr.com/photos/wallygThe ban prompts the questions: Will The Smokers abide? And who will make them?Alderwoman Lyda Krewson's bill banning smoking inside almost all public spaces in the city gets its first reading this morning in front of the Board of Aldermen. The ordinance would only go into effect if/when the St. Louis County Council also enacts a smoking ban. Krewson's bill (available for perusal here) would ban smoking from a laundry list of places, including restaurants, bars, offices, s

  May 1, 2009

• Butt Heads: Want to know where our public officials stand on smoking bans? OK, we'll ask 'em!

  May 27, 2009

• Podiatrist Charged With Bilking Medicaid; Billed Amputees with No Feet

  flickr.com/photos/noprawnsDr. Pham, I presume?At first glance a press release today from the U.S. Attorney's office looks like dozens of dull media alerts the prosecutor routinely sends out alleging Medicaid fraud. Then I noticed this outrageous line in the release regarding podiatrist David Quang Pham of St. Louis and charges that the foot doctor filed bogus medical claims. In some instances, Dr. Pham submitted reimbursement claims for treating the feet of patients, whose feet had been amputate

  June 12, 2009

• Gone Are the Days When Bars & Restaurants Simply Stopped Allowing Smoking...

  ...in light of all the hullabaloo surrounding potential smoking bans, going smoke-free is now apparently an act worthy of a press release. To wit: The Fox & Hounds, at the Cheshire Lodge, is now prohibiting smoking, per a statement sent to RFT today."This isn't about the rules or financial impact, it's about a quality of life for my family, staff, hotel and bar guests as well as anyone who chooses to use or be in this lodge," says owner Dan Apted, in the release. "I have gone through effects

  June 15, 2009

• Podiatry and Crime: Who Knew?

  focusedfootcare.comUntil this past week, we here at Daily RFT had no idea about the clear connection between foot medicine and crime. But certainly such a connection exists. Consider the case of David Quang Pham. He's the St. Louis podiatrist indicted last week for fraudulently billing Medicaid and Medicare for work he claimed to perform on his patient's feet. But according to the U.S. Attorney's office some of Pham's "patients" didn't even have feet! They were amputees whose feet were removed p

  June 18, 2009

• Calls for Smoking Bans Push Forward in Kirkwood, Wildwood; Hearing Tomorrow in St. Louis

  deviantart.comNot one of the seventh-grade Wildwood students proposing a smoking ban.The St. Louis Board of Elections yesterday certified that a petition drive for a smoking ban in Kirkwood had enough signatures to require action.If the Kirkwood City Council does not deal with the issue by September 5, the matter would go to a public vote. A similar smoking ban vote in Kirkwood failed in 2006 when 54 percent of the 14,300 voters rejected it. Also yesterday in Wildwood, the City Council held a he

  July 8, 2009

• Clayton Passes Smoking Ban

  Yesterday we mentioned that the Clayton Board of Aldermen was set to vote last night on an ordinance prohibiting smoking in the city's restaurants and bars. And today we're back to report that the measure passed. By next July all bars and restaurants in the city (and 80 percent of hotel rooms) must be smoke free indoors. Smoking on outdoor patios will be permitted. Clayton joins Ballwin and Arnold as the only St. Louis area municipalities in Missouri to pass a smoking ban. Other cities consideri

  July 15, 2009

• Death of British Conductor Raises Further Questions About Assisted Suicide

  flickr.com/photos/alexfilesThe news came from England yesterday that orchestra conductor Sir Edward Downes, 85, and his wife Joan, 74, committed suicide together last week in Switzerland with the aid of a right-to-die organization called Dignitas.Lady Downes was terminally ill and in the last stages of cancer. Sir Edward, who had been the principal conductor for the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, was, according to a statement issued by his son Caractacus and daughter Boudicca, "almost blind and inc

  July 15, 2009

• Here's Betting Kirkwood Voters Will Approve a Smoking Ban in November

  flickr.com/photos/lolololoriAdorable downtown KirkwoodAfter a citizen's group forced the Kirkwood City Council to consider an initiative to ban smoking in city bars and restaurant, the measure will now go before voters. Earlier this month Kirkwood residents opposed to public smoking collected enough signatures to bring the ban before the city council. At last night's council meeting, the board declined to pass the initiative, meaning city residents will now vote on the ban in November. In 2006,

  July 17, 2009

• Cigar and Pipe Association Denounces Proposed Smoking Ban in St. Louis County

   Ever hear of the IPCPR? No? Well, they're not quite the NRA, but they do lobby hard for what they believe is a fundamental right for all Americans: the right to smoke in public. Today the International Premium Cigar & Pipe Retailers Association sent out a release alerting media that it will fight a bill that would have residents of St. Louis County vote on an indoor smoking ban for bars, restaurants and other businesses. "We want to go on record as being against this proposed ban and a

  July 24, 2009

• St. Louis is no fun — and that's a good thing! Plus: Obama's pants, an allegedly felonious Purina fat cat and more.

  July 29, 2009

• St. Louis County Council Gives Preliminary Approval to a Weakened Smoking Ban

  The St. Louis County Council voted 4-3 last night to move forward on a bill that would ask residents to vote on a smoking ban on the Nov. 3 ballot.The bill exempts casinos from the ban as well as taverns that generate more than 75 percent of their revenue from alcohol sales. Those exemptions would be rescinded, though, if the state or St. Louis City passes a tougher smoking ban that prohibits tobacco use in those facilities.

  August 5, 2009

• County Smoking Ban Headed for Nov. 3 Vote -- Despite Objections from Both Sides of Debate

  ​It's not a perfect bill, but it's the best one County Councilwoman Barbara Fraser thought she could get her fellow council members to endorse.

  August 26, 2009

• Heart, Lung and Cancer Associations Call on Dooley to Veto Smoking-Ban Bill

  Smoking debate drags on.​As mentioned yesterday on this blog, folks on both side of the smoking ban debate aren't happy with a bill that would ask St. Louis County voters to prohibit tobacco use in most businesses. For smoking advocates and many business owners, the bill is an unfair encroachment into their rights. For members of the anti-smoking campaign, the bill -- which would exempt casinos and "drinking" bars that earn 75 percent of their sales through alcohol -- is too weak. To that end,

  August 27, 2009

• Smoking Ban Opponents Organize; Remind Public to Vote No on Prop. N

  Photo: Chad GarrisonCitizen's Against Prop. N: Rev. Harold Hendrick, Fred Teutenberg, Scott Simon, Jon Rand, Bill Hannegan​A somewhat unlikely group of bar owners, bowling advocates, tobacco salesman and -- yes -- a Christian radio host, gathered today in University City to announce their opposition to a smoking ban proposal for St. Louis County.The group, calling itself "Citizens Against Proposition N", held a press conference pointing out perceived injustices to the November 3 ballot proposa

  October 14, 2009

• Smoking Ban Debated Today at Board of Aldermen

  Updated 12:12 p.m. Debate today was canceled last minute as the bill was placed on the board's informal calendar. Bill is now schedule for discussion at next Friday's meeting.The citywide smoking ban floated by Ward 28 Alderwoman Lyda Krewson goes to the floor of the St. Louis Board of Aldermen today for final debate. Tweeting updates from the 10 a.m. meeting, Alderwoman Kacie Starr Triplett reports that ex-smoker Alderman Freeman Bosley's grandchild is creating a spectacle running all over the

  October 16, 2009

• Cast Your Vote Here on St. Louis County Smoking Ban!

  ​At long last, the measure discussed ad nauseam in this here blog and other local media is before St. Louis County voters today. Should the majority of county voters today say "yes" to a smoking ban, a (somewhat) similar smoking ban would also go into effect in St. Louis City.Neither smoking bans are blanket prohibitions. In the county, taverns that earn less than 25 percent of their revenue from food sales (establishments deemed "drinking bars") would be exempted from the ban. In the city, sm

  November 3, 2009

• St. Louis County Voters Embrace Future; Vote "Yes" for Smoking Ban

  That crisp, clean air you're smelling this morning? Ladies and gentlemen, that's progress! That's (dare we say it?) the future! ​Yes, like a scene out of a movie, yesterday the George McFlys of the world stood up to the bully Biffs and victoriously took back our future. By an overwhelming margin of nearly 2-to-1, voters in St. Louis County stood up to the tobacco lobby and folks who'd prefer to keep this region a 1950s backwater and passed an indoor smoking-ban for most bars and restauran

  November 4, 2009

• St. Louis County Smoking Ban Passes

  In yesterday's election, St. Louis County voters overwhelmingly passed a smoking ban. What this means:*Casinos in the city and county are exempt from the ban.*As that Daily RFT link above puts it, "bars that earn 75 percent of their revenue from liquor sales" in the county can still allow smoking. *The St. Louis City smoking ordinance is also approved.All of this goes into effect on January 1, 2011.So, wow -- most major venues in town will now be smoke-free, right?

  November 4, 2009

• RFT readers weigh in matters of biblical proportions, and huff and puff about the newly passed smoking ban

  November 12, 2009

• Legal Challenge to Smoking Ban Would Be Tough Sell, Say Law Experts

  ​Even before voters in St. Louis County overwhelmingly approved a smoking ban last week, opponents of the ban warned that they might challenge the statute in court.  At a press conference in October, Bill Hannegan of "Vote No on Proposition N" and Keep St. Louis Free said he and others were examining the constitutionality of the ban.While opposed to any law prohibiting smoking, they argue that the the county ordinance is particularly unfair because it exempts casinos and bars that derive

  November 11, 2009

• The Taste of Victory is a Case of Schlafly Pale Ale

  Today Bill Hannegan, founder of Keep St. Louis Free, stopped by the Riverfront Times to pay off a bet. As regular readers know, Hannegan and his group are dead set against smoking bans in St. Louis. Over the past few months, Hannegan and I have shared a few online jabs. In a post back in July I bet Hannegan that voters in Kirkwood would approve a smoking ban. And that's just what they did on Nov. 3, as did all voters in St. Louis County by a margin of nearly 2 to 1.) Hannegan (left) serves up so

  November 16, 2009

• Effort to Overturn St. Louis Smoking Ban Would Focus on Casino Exemption

  Photo: Jenn SilverbergHannegan lighting up at one of his favorite haunts, Herbies' Vintage '72.​St. Louis' most tireless smoking-ban opponent Bill Hannegan stopped by the Riverfront Times the other day. In so doing, Hannegan hinted how his Keep St. Louis Free plans to topple the ban in the city that is slated to go into effect January 2010.The strategy, says Hannegan, would be to challenge the ban's exemption that allows for smoking to continue unabated in St. Louis casinos. A quick refresher

  November 19, 2009