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??

"Smoke" Shop?

NEED SOUTH BAY SHOP WITH GOOD DETOX CLEANER

"I need to know of a smoke shop in the south bay that's got a good detox cleaner. something that will really detox me not just mask for one test, cause i'm going to have 3 tests coming up at random. I know one is monday for sure. but other than that don't know when they'll be"

During what has become a semi-regular routine of browsing craigslist for 1) freelance job opps and 2) just interesting stuff, I found the above post by a person looking for a way to clean out their system to pass a drug test. Specifically targeted in the posting's title was "Smoke Shop".

Here's the actual craigslist link to this little bee-bop: http://sfbay.craigslist.org/sby/com/874583974.html

I'm thinking this person maybe ought to check a few articles below and read about the ex-cop who encourages cigar smoking versus marijuana...

About 21 years ago, when smoking weed was the-thing-to-do, I distinctly recall the lure of the smoke shop - the pipes, the papers, THE PARAPHERNALIA. Oooooo, the toys. The craigslist posting for the chemical toy (detoxer) took me back to remembering that if I wanted anything, anything at all, that was related to my smoke all I had to do was go to my buddy. "Dude! I need to get some... (fill in the blank)." And it would just happen; now days, this poor soul has to get up on craigslist of all places to solicit that kind of help for that kind of problem??!

Me, oh my, where has Dave gone? Oh yeah, DAVE'S NOT HERE!

It's much nicer, these days, to yearn for the aroma of cigar smoke - no hassles associated with it, no FIVE-O, just some peace of mind. Plus, the "dude" I'd probably hit up for a cigar or the location of a good smoke shop is more likely to have green in his wallet instead of green on his tongue.

Paul Newman 1925 - 2008

I always thought Paul Newman personified "cool". Not just because of the part he played in Cool Hand Luke, but in all his other famous roles and because he seemed to carry that same demeanor in his off-set life and activities. Just one of those guys who I would always stop and watch if I saw him in the news or in one of his movies on TV.

She Don't Know She's Beautiful

Padilla Cigars' video shoot with Natalie Martinez. Just plain beautiful. Gives us a nice flavor of Miami; the beautiful woman, the cigar, the streets, the music. A nice diversion, I think.

Greensboro Police Don't Like Cigar Robbers

Hawaii Five-O doesn't come close to measuring-up when it comes to the way the Greensboro boys-in-blue went after a guy who robbed the local cigar shop!

We're talking about a helicopter, K-9 units, ladder-climbing cops to check the roofs, and an all-out shut down of local roadways in search of the bad guy. Gotta hand it to the citizenry of lovely Greensboro -- they know how to hire politicians that know how to hire cops! So check out the following news blurb for details and cool pics of the whole story, but I find it comforting to know that when somebody messes with a good ol' cigar shop in the middle of tobacco country, they're in for one heck of a run.

In Greensboro, North Carolina, Officers from three agencies using a helicopter and police dogs spent Thursday afternoon unsuccessfully searching for a man suspected of robbing a cigar store on Alamance Church Road.

The report says that at 11 a.m., Greensboro police responded to an armed robbery at Tobacco World at 1027 Alamance Church Road.
The robber drove off, but someone in the business was able to take down his license plate number.

From that number, police were able to get an address associated with the vehicle, and deputies headed to that neighborhood in an unincorporated area near the city's edge, said Col. T. Randy Powers, with the Guilford County Sheriff's Office.

Deputies confronted the suspect near 1300 Youngs Mill Road, but the man ran away before the deputies could get near him.
Police, deputies, and Highway Patrol troopers cordoned off the area and searched until 3:45 p.m., using police dogs and a Highway Patrol helicopter.

"He could have fit in the one lucky hole (where) we didn't have somebody in fast enough," Powers said.
No one was injured in the robbery.

The bad guys was described as a man as 6 feet tall and slender, with dark hair and wearing jeans and a black shirt.


...anybody in Greensboro fit that description?

...any of the other smoke shops putting up rewards or publicity??

Ex-cop reveals how teaching your teen to smoke cigars can prevent them from smoking weed...

Smoke cigars not weed.

“Ex cop reveals how teaching your teen to smoke cigars can actually prevent them from smoking weed or taking drugs!”


This little gem of a tag line took me to cigarsnotweed.com and was worth the read, just for the entertainment value and even a little "makes you think". John Wingert has a brief article about some things you might consider when trying to keep your teenager off drugs.

AND ON A RELATED NOTE:

Two men in Chattanooga, Tennessee, were arrested after drying marijuana in the microwave of a 7-11 while a police officer was inside. The smell of marijuana soon filled the convenience store. The men told authorities they were on their way to a drug rehabilitation clinic when they stopped to dry their pot.

Ohio Teen Shot Dead After Egging Cars

September 1, 2008
COLUMBUS, Ohio — A Columbus teenager who was throwing eggs at cars as part of a late-night prank was fatally shot, police said Sunday.
Police said 16-year-old Garrett Burton was with at least one other teenage boy Saturday in the backyard of a home when someone shot him in the head just before 3 a.m. Police have no suspects.
The band at Westland High School, where Burton was a student, played the school's alma mater in memory of him at Saturday night's football game.
Another Columbus teen was killed in an egging incident in December 2006. Fourteen-year-old Danny Crawford was shot after a group of boys he was with threw an egg at a car. No one has been charged in that case.