Bottled water wasn’t on the radar screen when the state’s bottle bill was passed three decades ago. But time, and the state legislature, have caught up. On Thursday, water and other non-carbonated beverages sold in bottles will join bottled soda and beer in requiring nickel deposits, redeemable when shoppers return the empties. The change was approved by the state legislature this year — unanimously in the House of Representatives. ... Jump to full article >>

Tobacco company sees attempted $50 billion cash grab by Ontario as political stunt, unrelated to addressing alleged health concerns MONTREAL, Sept. 29 /CNW Telbec/ – Imperial Tobacco Canada is stunned that a province in which close to 50 per cent of tobacco products purchased are illegal is targeting the legal industry while continuing to turn a blind eye to illegal tobacco sales. “We find it unbelievable that the Government of Ontar ... Jump to full article >>

New reviews of recent studies conclude that heart attack rates have fallen 17 percent in communities and states after smoking bans were enacted. It’s just further evidence that Wisconsin did the right thing in passing the ban that takes effect next summer. The analyses were released last week in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association and the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. Rather than new studies, they each c ... Jump to full article >>

RALEIGH – United States Attorney George E.B. Holding announced that in federal court today DENNIS WRAY HAWLEY, 62, of Wilson, North Carolina, pled guilty before United States District Judge James C. Dever, III, to two counts, charged in a Criminal Information filed on July 16, 2009, of aiding and abetting the making of materially false statements in connection with the Federal Crop Insurance Program, in violation of Title 18, United State ... Jump to full article >>

I really like smoking. I know, I’m a horrible person. Nefarious. Profligate. Lots of big, fancy words describe me. But when nothing is going my way and I’m two seconds away from putting my fist through the wall, nothing calms me down faster than a puff of the old cancer (as they were called in A Clockwork Orange. The book. Not the movie). Government in recent years has taken it upon itself to squirt the proverbial water in the face o ... Jump to full article >>