Cigar Bar Battles Blazin'

$321.

How much money is that to a bar owner's daily take? Is it a big enough bite to make the owner actively enforce a local smoking ordinance inside his establishment? And then to walk this legal-ease tightrope of whether or not his place qualifies as a posted cigar bar? Please.

To me, it's not so much the money, or whether or not the ordinance is a good one, but the fact that somebody has gone to all the effort and expense to go after the bar owner for this piddly little ordinance violation. Who is it that has that kind of time on their hands and that kind of spite in their head?

Here's the article exerpt from examiner.com-san jose:

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. A bar owner found guilty of breaking the state smoking ban law is seeking a new trial, alleging jurors went to his business during deliberations to investigate.

Murray Street Darts bar owner Bruce Hicks plead guilty this week to violating the state's smoking band but it's a jury trial from last month that he's contesting. Hicks' attorney says two jurors went to his client's bar to see if he had a sign that advertised it as a "cigar bar." Judges forbid jurors from researching cases.

Hicks has maintained he is exempt from the ban because he qualifies for the "cigar bar" provision, meaning at least 5 percent or $50,000 of his revenue comes from the sale of tobacco products.

Hicks' attorney says the jurors reported back telling others there was no "cigar bar" sign.

Two other local bar owners also plead guilty this week to violating the ban. Each paid a $221 fine.

Hicks paid a $321 fine this week for the most recent case.

...Perhaps this is big money for the local municipality.

...what would it say on the back of a smoking ticket??