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Smoking Ban's Start is Smooth: Law Enforcement Reports No Calls

Posted on: Monday, 2 January 2006, 12:00 CST

By Keith Lawrence, Messenger-Inquirer, Owensboro, Ky., Messenger-Inquirer, Owensboro, Ky.

Jan. 2--Leonard Matheny was standing on the sidewalk Sunday afternoon, smoking a cigarette in front of Buffalo Wild Wings in Towne Square North.

A day earlier, Matheny would have been smoking inside the restaurant.

But a countywide ordinance that bans smoking in most public places open to people under 18 had just taken effect a few hours earlier.

And despite some grumbling, everything apparently went smoothly.

Both the Owensboro Police Department and Daviess County Sheriff's Department said they had had no calls to enforce the ordinance.

"It doesn't bother me personally to come outside to smoke," Matheny said. "I've been trying to quit for years. But I really think it should be a business decision, not an ordinance."

Across town at Shady Rest Barbecue Inn, 3955 E. Fourth St., Dennis and Cennie Laycock of Central City were eating a late lunch.

"We don't smoke," Dennis Laycock said. "I hadn't noticed that people weren't smoking."

"It's wonderful," Cennie Laycock said.

Paula Laslie, who was working in the restaurant, said she hadn't heard any complaints about the smoking ban.

"Not here, anyway," she said.

But Laslie said a few people had gone outside to smoke and then returned to the restaurant.

Just west of downtown, the Royce Restaurant, 704 W. Second St., went smoke free at 6 a.m. Sunday for the first time in its almost 44 years of operating around the clock.

The 24/7 restaurant opened on May 2, 1962, and hasn't closed since -- except for an occasional Christmas.

Technically, the smoking ban probably began at midnight, said Royce Vinson Jr., who owns the restaurant with his wife, Susan.

"But we didn't start enforcing it until 6 a.m.," he said. "There were too many people stopping in here after the parties last night."

Smoke-free signs are posted at several locations in the restaurant.

Vinson said he had mixed emotions about the ban.

But he said he heard from several customers who like the idea of smoke-free dining.

"We've only had a handful of complaints so far," Vinson said. "And one person said they're not coming back. But as long as everybody has to play by the same rules, it shouldn't hurt business too much."

But he said, if any exemptions are given, the ordinance will no longer be fair.

"Everybody needs to be on the same playing field," Vinson said.

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Copyright (c) 2006, Messenger-Inquirer, Owensboro, Ky.

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Source: Messenger-Inquirer

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