Judge Florey ruled against Tom Marinaro.

Hi All --I heard from the Duluth News Tribune this morning that Judge Florey ruled against Tom Marinaro. I haven't seen his order and memorandum of law yet, but here is the Tribune article:http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/articles/index.cfm?id=67468I will review his decision and then determine what legal issues will be ripe for appeal.Our show goes on.-- Mark Benjamin

http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/articles/index.cfm?id=67468&section=News
Judge: Babbitt smoking 'plays' don't exempt bar from lawJanna Goerdt Duluth News TribunePublished Thursday, May 29, 2008 The acting going on in a Babbitt bar this winter wasn’t of the caliber to exempt the actors from the state smoking ban, according to a Sixth Judicial District judge.
Chief Judge James Florey ruled Wednesday that Tank’s Bar owner, Thomas Marinaro, violated the state’s Freedom to Breathe act when he allowed bar patrons to smoke during nightly productions of the “Gun SMOKE Monologues.”
It was the first criminal trial in Minnesota for the controversial theatrical productions that many bar owners started staging, taking advantage of a loophole in Minnesota’s smoking ban legislation. Patrons would wear nametags or other items identifying themselves as “actors” and were allowed to smoke indoors during certain hours.

Theater Night Update 5-27-08

Hello Everyone -

Just a quick update. We should hear this week on Tank's case, it went to trial this past Friday. Please visit the www.freedomtoact.com website for additional updates. Also, Bugg's Place is having a fund raiser and I would encourage all of you to attend to show your support.

On with the Show!



Fund Raiser at Bugg's Place

JUNE 14TH SATURDAY IS BUGGS LEGAL AID FUNDRAISER...BAND STARTS AT 6 AND PLAYS TILL WHENEVER. PLEASE COME OUT AND HELP BUGGS WITH HIS FUNDRAISER. HE IS THE LITTLE MAN STANDING UP TO THE BIG MAN. ......FIGHT FOR YOUR FREEDOM TO SMOKE....PLEASE VISIT US AT WWW.MYSPACE.COM/BUGGSBAR FOR MORE INFORMATION.
BUGGS BAR
925 NORTH CONCORD
SOUTH SAINT PAUL, MN 55075
651-455-2195
THANK YOU,
Crystal Bentson




Unbelievable Article

Obesity contributes to global warming: study
Thu May 15, 2008 7:03pm EDT

By Michael Kahn
GENEVA (Reuters) - Obesity contributes to global warming, too.
Obese and overweight people require more fuel to transport them and the food they eat, and the problem will worsen as the population literally swells in size, a team at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine says.
This adds to food shortages and higher energy prices, the school's researchers Phil Edwards and Ian Roberts wrote in the journal Lancet on Friday.
"We are all becoming heavier and it is a global responsibility," Edwards said in a telephone interview. "Obesity is a key part of the big picture."
At least 400 million adults worldwide are obese. The World Health Organization (WHO) projects by 2015, 2.3 billion adults will be overweight and more than 700 million will be obese.
In their model, the researchers pegged 40 percent of the global population as obese with a body mass index of near 30. Many nations are fast approaching or have surpassed this level, Edwards said.
BMI is a calculation of height to weight, and the normal range is usually considered to be 18 to 25, with more than 25 considered overweight and above 30 obese.
The researchers found that obese people require 1,680 daily calories to sustain normal energy and another 1,280 calories to maintain daily activities, 18 percent more than someone with a stable BMI.
Because thinner people eat less and are more likely to walk than rely on cars, a slimmer population would lower demand for fuel for transportation and for agriculture, Edwards said.
This is also important because 20 percent of greenhouse gas emissions stem from agriculture, he added.
The next step is quantifying how much a heavier population is contributing to climate change, higher fuel prices and food shortages, he added.
"Promotion of a normal distribution of BMI would reduce the global demand for, and thus the price of, food," Edwards and Roberts wrote.
(Editing by Stephen Weeks)

http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSL1572011320080515?feedType=RSS&feedName=healthNews&rpc=22&sp=true



Comments from a Reader

Hi Sheila,I praise you on your efforts and hard work fighting these "communist" legislators who passed this bill.When you get your list together Please send it to me as I want to do my best NOT to vote for these peoplecome November.thanksB KPerham MN 56573P.S. Deep down inside I think we have a up-hill battle turning this law aroundbut atleast we can VOTE against them come this November----------------------------------------------------This fall some of them will regret their decision. I will be putting togetherinformation on these legislators and distributing it so that all of you know where they stand....you cantake this information to the voting booth with you! WE WILL BE HEARD!

Is it art or a violation? Judge will decide next week.

Mesabi Daily News
http://www.virginiamn.com/articles/2008/05/23/news/doc48379441517a2501640765.txt

Hey Greg - Can we post the Mesabi article below. Is it art or a violation? Judge will decide next week By CHARLES RAMSAY Regional Editor Published: Friday, May 23, 2008 11:14 PM CDT VIRGINIA - Judge James Florey will be ruling next week on the smoking-ban, theatrical-nights case of Tom Marinaro and Tank's Bar in Babbitt. Summations were given in a brief bench trial in District Court in Virginia Friday, with the Babbitt city attorney arguing a state law had been broken, and Marinaro's attorney, Mark Benjamin, claiming it was a case with overtones of personal rights, interpretation of art and also the First Amendment. Babbitt City Attorney Mike Kearney urged that Marinaro be convicted of the petty misdemeanor, which carries a $300 fine, in the March 14 incident in which Babbitt police officers ticketed Marinaro and one patron in the bar for smoking when postings noted the "Gun SMOKE Monologues'' were occurring in the bar. Testimony was given from Babbitt officers, as well as Marinaro and his co-owner, Marie Rinta. Benjamin, who advocates for clients in such cases, said this was the first smoking-ban case in the state to make it to trial. A state law, the Freedom to Breathe Act, took effect Oct. 1, 2007, which bans smoking in bars and other public places. Some bar owners said during legislative debates on the ban in 2007 and at the time the law took effect they would suffer economic losses. Others, however, said people's rights were being ignored. Advocates have said that smoking is harmful to health and persons should not have to be exposed to the dangers of second-hand smoke. Babbitt Police Officer Trevor Lionberger testified how he went in plainclothes to Tank's Bar in Babbitt about 12:30 p.m. March 14 after being directed to come to work early and go observe if smoking was going on. He said he was there awhile and did not see that. He returned a little before 3 p.m., the stated time the production was supposed to start, and a few minutes after 3 p.m., he noticed four to five persons smoking, with nametags that said "actor'' on them. There was no announcement of a play, no lines, no scripts observed, Lionberger said. He added that he stepped outside and called Police Chief Terry Switajewski, who was there in 20 seconds. Switajewski said on the stand he had "received numerous complaints'' and also one from a city councilor, about the smoking in the bar. He added he met with co-owners Marinaro and Rinta that morning and told them citations would be issued. When he went in after being called, the Babbitt police chief testified that he saw the "Monologues'' sign, and several people smoking. A customer was issued a citation, and Switajewski stated he asked that Marinaro and Rinta be called to the bar. Benjamin asked if he had formal training in the arts, to which the chief replied no. Switajewski allowed that he had studied up on the law, but consulted with the city attorney's office. Benjamin observed that the officer didn't do much investigating about a production, but Switajewski replied he didn't ask him to. The police chief said he also didn't look for playbills inside. Marinaro testified on the stand that he put playbills out about the "Monologues'' and signs were on the front and back of the bar. Benjamin asked him if he had talked with customers about the law, Legislature and freedoms, to which Marinaro affirmed he did. Kearney asked if he was present at the bar at the time of the citation and Marinaro said he was called and arrived soon after. Kearney also asked him how conversations in the bar went after the smoke-ban took effect Oct. 1. Marinaro said discussions were the same. Under questioning from Benjamin, Marinaro told how the bar's profits were down 40 percent since the law was enacted, that a longtime employee was laid off, the adjoining restaurant shut down two days a week, and employee hours were cut back. In closing arguments, Kearney noted that in Marinaro's own words, there was no difference in discussions among bar staff or customers after Oct. 1, and that there was "nothing offered here today that there was a theatrical production.'' No acting or staging "makes a mockery'' of what a theater production is, he added. Benjamin began his summation by noting a 1989 U.S.. Supreme Court decision which ruled a burning of the U.S. flag can be protected under the Constitution's First Amendment protecting "expressive conduct.'' "We choose to burn tobacco cigarettes,'' he said. He continued that the ban is economically devastating to rural bar owners, and that the legislation covering the smoking ban wasn't written well. Marinaro had taken the time to study the law so he wouldn't run afoul, and had playbills, designated times and persons designated as actors. "How do you define an art performance?" Benjamin asked. We're not in a position to judge, from different tastes in music, to walking into the Renaissance Fair downstate, he added. The language in the law, covering theatrical performances, is unclear. "The ambiguity is there and people like Mr. Marinaro have to figure it out,'' he said. Florey said he will issue a written decision by next week.

Babbitt bar in court Friday over smoking plays

http://www.in-forum.com/articles/index.cfm?id=202126§ion=News&freebie_check&CFID=39853442&CFTOKEN=27963572&jsessionid=88309b24e0004d28294d

Babbitt bar in court Friday over smoking plays
Duluth News Tribune
Published Friday, May 23, 2008

It’s finally time for the smoking plays to go on trial.


The first criminal case involving an alleged violation of the Minnesota Freedom to Breathe Act is scheduled to begin Friday afternoon in St. Louis County District Court in Virginia.


Tom Marinaro, the owner of Tank’s Bar in Babbitt, was issued a $300 ticket on March 14 by Babbitt police for allowing a patron to violate the act. The violation is a petty misdemeanor, and Marino said the patron who prompted the ticket was a snowmobiler from the Twin Cities.


A loophole in the smoking ban allows cigarette smoking in “theatrical productions.” The last-minute exemption was sought by members of the theater community, including the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis, to allow real cigarettes to be used during performances.


But bar owners across the state desperate to boost flagging revenue began holding tongue-in-cheek “theater nights” this winter, where patrons were declared actors and therefore allowed to light up at will.


Marinaro said the theater nights helped boost his business, until the Department of Health threatened to pull his liquor license and effectively close the bar down in early April.


“We’re down about 40 percent right now,” Marinaro said. He has had to cut staff hours and lay off a manager because of lost revenue, he said. Marinaro also cited a recent letter from the head of the Minnesota Tavern League, which said 186 Minnesota bars, taverns and restaurants have closed since the Oct. 1 Freedom to Breathe Act went into effect “because of a loss of business,” Marinaro said.


Sixth Judicial District Chief Judge James Florey will hear the Marinaro case, the first of its kind to be tried in Minnesota.


A Scott County District Judge recently ruled on a civil violation of the Freedom to Breathe Act.


On May 15, Judge Jerome Abrams issued a temporary injunction to halt Robert Ripley, owner of Bullseye Saloon in Elko, from holding any more theater nights. In his ruling, Abrams said he could find little resemblance to what most people would think of as a theatrical production in bars’ smoking plays.


“There is not the slightest suggestion that talent or an interest in conveying a message, other than smoking, is sought from any actor,” Abrams wrote.


John Linc Stine, director of environmental health at the Minnesota Department of Health, said that’s the kind of ruling the department is looking for as these cases come up.


“We want to assure the understanding of this law gets established by a legal interpretation as soon as possible,” Stine said in a telephone interview from a conference in Georgia.


The Department of Health is pushing for a permanent injunction in the Bullseye Saloon case, as well as another case that is pending in Dakota County.


Stine said other bar owners who already are or are thinking about holding “theater nights” probably will look at those rulings for guidance.


“‘What’s the status of my liquor license if I’m not in compliance with the laws?’ That’s one of the questions I know is going on in many local courthouses around the state,” Stine said. “Once we have a judge’s decision that stands, that will become clearer and clearer.”


Cambridge, Minn., attorney Mark Benjamin, who hatched the theater nights idea and is representing Marinaro, said he believes the matter will ultimately be decided in the Minnesota Supreme Court.


“Given that we don’t have any clear definition of what ‘theatrical performance’ means, the ambiguities have to be resolved in these criminal cases,” Benjamin said.


Benjamin plans to argue that the Minnesota Department of Health failed to consider the mental health of bar and restaurant owners facing significant declines in their business while they and legislators crafted the Freedom to Breathe Act, which seeks to create a healthy working environment free of tobacco smoke.


“The bars that are holding theater nights are doing it out of economic necessity,” Benjamin said. He said more than 100 bars were holding theater nights at one point, and some continue to do so today, but not as visibly.