March 28, 2007 by gpstevens.

OHIO DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH
Proposal would ease smoke ban
Clubs whose workers are members may be exempt
WHAT HAPPENED?
• The Ohio Department of
Health proposed revised rules
that would exempt clubs whose
employees are members from
Ohio’s public smoking ban.

• The move marks a turnaround for the health department, whose attorney previously stated such an exemption would be inconsistent with the voter-approved law.

• If the Joint Committee on
Agency Rule Review does not
interfere, the smoking-ban rules
could take effect in late April.
 
 

By JIM PROVANCE
BLADE COLUMBUS BUREAU
COLUMBUS — Private clubs whose employees are also members may have won a reprieve from the state’s new ban on smoking in public places.

The Ohio Department of Health yesterday proposed revised rules that, if accepted by a legislative review panel, would carve out the exemption such clubs have sought since the day voters approved the law on Nov. 7.

The move has clubs such as the Veterans of Foreign Wars rejoicing but has placed health organizations like the American Cancer Society in an unlikely alliance with bars, restaurants, and bowling alleys that consider the clubs as their competition.

“I can now see some of these organizations changing their membership requirements to allow servers, who are not currently eligible, to become members,” said David Corey, lobbyist for the Bowling Centers Association of Ohio. “The Moose, Elks, Eagles, and all of those. Look out, Nellie!”

The move was an abrupt turnaround for the department, whose attorney previously stated such an exemption would be inconsistent with the voter-approved law. In fact, the department proposed something similar in an early draft but then removed it.

“Private club representatives have consistently asked ODH to fashion rules that reflect the exemption they believed they had under the law passed in November,” said the department’s acting director, Anne R. Harnish. “Changes made after a thorough review by our lawyers allow us to do that.”

Gov. Ted Strickland “consulted” with the health department on the change and supports the language, said spokesman Keith Dailey.

“He believes this is a reasonable rule that enforces the ban and also honors the exemption established in the law for certain private clubs, including veterans’ clubs,” he said.

The text of the law approved on Nov. 7 provides for an exemption for private clubs as long as “the club has no employees; the club is organized as a not-for-profit entity; only members of the club are present in the club’s building; no persons under the age of 18 are present in the club’s building; the club is located in a free-standing structure occupied solely by the club; smoke from the club does not migrate into an enclosed area where smoking is prohibited under the provisions of this chapter, and, if the club serves alcohol, it holds a valid D4 liquor permit [for non-profits].”

The law defines “employee” as “a person who is employed by an employer, or who contracts with an employer or third person to perform services for an employer, or who otherwise performs services for an employer for compensation or no compensation.”

The revised rules, however, added a provision stating that private club members are not considered “employees.” A department press release accompanying the new rules states this would be true regardless of whether the member is paid.

Staff of the Joint Committee on Agency Rule Review, a bipartisan committee consisting of House and Senate members, opened the door to changes when it questioned the first set of rules.

“It’s a matter of economics for us,” said Bill Seagraves, commander of the Ohio Department of Veterans of Foreign Wars. “We can’t afford to lose business. We have to struggle now with maintaining our membership.”

He said he interprets the proposed new exemption as allowing qualifying clubs to go nonsmoking part of the time when events are held with the general public present while allowing smoking when the public isn’t there.

“The purpose behind Issue 5 was to protect all workers in every public workplace in Ohio,” said Tracy Sabetta, spokesman for the cancer society. “If a private club has employees, all businesses should be on a level playing field. They all must be covered.”

Jacob Evans, lobbyist for the Ohio Licensed Beverage Association, said the exemption adds to the list of objections bars and restaurants have raised to the ban since they failed to defeat it at the polls.

“Creating an exemption for private clubs that compete directly with private businesses gives them a leg up,” he said. “That is very much a concern.”

The rules are subject to a hearing before the Joint Committee on Agency Rule Review on April 16. If that panel does not interfere, they could take effect as early as April 30.

The law went into effect on Dec. 7, but enforcement has been placed on hold under court agreement while the rules filling gaps in the law are completed. Many have complied with what has so far been a toothless law, but others have ignored it, knowing no fines could be imposed during this period.

The department also proposed another change in the rules to state that an anonymous complaint alone could not justify a finding that a violation indeed occurred.

Contact Jim Provance at: jprovance@theblade.com or 614-221-0496

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March 20, 2007 by gpstevens.

Ok folks I have been away from my blog for way too long, but I’m back with some more points to ponder. So as Larry McReynolds likes to say before every NASCAR race, DW reach up there and pull those belts tight one more time!

Todays topic is about the Ashtabula drivers. I’m sure you all know what I’m talking about. Now I don’t want to on too long on this but this subject always gets my blood boiling. Let’s start with the most obvious. I don’t in any way want to come off as insensitive, honestly people, alot of our beloved senior citezens need to be taken off the road. A lot of these people remember using horses and buggys to get around, and now they are driving Cadillacs. We are putting powerfull 2 thousand pound vehicles under the control of someone wearing a diaper. Do you really want an angry senior citizen with poopy pants coming at you head  on Lake road at night? On the serious side I’m worried about them as well. Driving a car is one of the ultimate freedoms in this country. Did you know that in a lot of Islamic countries it is illegal for a woman to drive a car? I completely understand that many of these people do not want to give up this privelege, I know I don’t look forward to the day when they tell me I can no longer drive a car. But we have to save them from themselves. They think they are driving ok when you and I both know thats not true. So when grandma starts showing up with mysterious dents and scarpes on their vehicle, its time to take the keys. Of course at that point you become their personal taxi service so be prepared.

Now we come to the attention deficit disoder (ADD) drivers of ashtabula. These are the people that don’t understand that the light will turn green shortly, it’s probably not the right time to send (or read) your latest text message. For the ladies out there: you only have a few seconds to fix your hair or check your makeup, I know the light is taking too long but you don’t have a few minutes either. The person behind you probably got their look together BEFORE they left the house so you should drop to the end of the longest line so you won’t be holding up traffic. For the ADD male driver: checking out the cute girl walking or driving along while you sit at the red light is probably not a good idea. I can almost guarantee that your lady friend will know down to 1/100th of a second when that light turns green, so you better be ready. Also as a warning, and I speak from experience, while your checking that hot chick out someone is going to pull out in front of you or do something stupid to ruin your view. So I’ve come up with the 3 second rule. You have 3 seconds to check out the girl (or guy for the ladies) and then you must look back to where you are going, after you do that you have another 3 seconds.

Recently I worked first shift and observed another phenomenon that I like to call the Mc Donalds drivers or MDD. The MDD drivers are those people trying to get to work as fast as they can because they didn’t get up early enough to get themselves together and have plenty of time to get to work. So these people run out the door at the last minute, make a quick stop at the Mc Donalds drive-thru for that quick cup of coffee and then get to work with at least 30 seconds to spare. These are the people usually in huge pick-up trucks or SUV’s. Now they are jacked up on caffein and in a big hurry and you’d better get outta their way. If the light is yellow they are going to go-for-it no matter what. In fact I recommend waiting 3 seconds after the light turns green before going thru the intersection just to be safe. One last thing on the MDD drivers. They have a tendancy to unexpectedly need to run back home or mysteriously change directions because they have forgotten the way to work, so give them some room.

Lastly we come to what I like to call the absolute idiot drivers or AID’s. These are the people who do every other stupid thing you can think of to piss you off. These are the people that should be taken from their cars and beaten in public. They don’t pay attention, they cut you off, they make semi-truck right turns and sit in the middle of the road or parking lot like there is nothing going on in the world but what THEY are doing. These people are more dangerous than any other driver because they have no freaking clue as to what they are doing. Always be on the look-out for the AID driver. They don’t see you hear you or even know you exist. They will sware on a stack of bibles that you weren’t there and pass a lie detector test because it’s true. They really didn’t see you there.

I’m going to end right here stay tuned for part 2.

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March 3, 2007 by gpstevens.

You may or may not know that I don’t like to read alot of joke and funny emails. I don’t mind getting a joke or two here and there but most of the time it’s just too much to read along with all the other stuff I read on a regular basis. One thing I do enjoy reading is news articles and information, and every now and then something shows up that really makes you think.

Julie sent me an email that was a copy of a letter that someone wrote to their local newspaper about drug testing. Basically the guy wanted to know why he has to pass a drug test just so he can work and pay taxes while people who receive public assistance and basically dont work for their money don’t have to pass a drug test?

Now that got me to thinking. Let me see if I understand this.

 I have to work 40 hours a week to pay my bills, pay my health insurance, buy food and gas so I can get to work, and with what little I have left over I can party as I see fit. But in order for me to live this way I have to pass a drug test. But people who receive public assistance can do all that plus they don’t even have to get out of bed in the morning and go to work, and they DON’T have to pass a drug test? 

Now I understand that from time to time people need a helping hand and the government is willing to help out. I have been on welfare several times in my life and to be totally honest I stayed on way too long because it was easier to stay in bed than it was to get up and go to work everyday. But if I would have had to pass a drug test in order to get my check every month I would have starved to death because when you’re a lazy bastard what else do you have to do but get high? I did more drugs on welfare than I ever could working a real job. You never had to worry about getting laid off of welfare, after all the government never runs out of money right? All of you stupid people were going to work everyday to pay for my drugs; and the best part of all was, you had to pass a drug test to make sure you weren’t getting high while you were working for my dope. Genius! While you were brewing a hot cup of coffee at 5:30 in the morning so you could wake up and go bust your ass for some boss that you can’t stand the sight of let alone work for, I was sleeping off a hangover. And when you came home from work to your screaming kids, and your nagging wife or husband, I was just lighting up my first joint while I watched TV and ate breakfast at 5 O’clock in the afternoon. Lastly when you looked at the TV guide a saw that there was one of your favorite ovies coming on but you couldn’t watch it because you had to get some sleep, me and my friends who were also on welfare were getting bombed and watching that movie for you. Afterall, we had the day off.

Seriously people, something has to be done about this. If I have to bust my ass and pass a test, then those lazy bastards should have to pass one too. Or maybe I’ve got this all wrong. We should raise the minimum wage to around $25 an hour and then those of us who have been working hard should quit our jobs and let those people who have been bitching about low paying jobs aren’t worth getting off welfare can start taking care of us. I also say we should make people who get social security take drug tests as well. I’m pretty sure there are quite a few dope fiend senior citizens out their driving their little motor scooters around Wal-Mart high as a kite on drugs that we pay for.

I say enough is enough. We want to have the day off too!!

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