Whenthe bill was passed last year, smoking was banned in enclosed areas with a roofand more than two “substantial walls,” defined as “a wall with an opening thatmay be used to allow air in from the outside that is less than 25% of thewall’s surface area.” Meaning, a solid wall couldn’t count as a “substantialwall.” That part has been fixed.
What’smore, the original bill allowed smoking in areas that had windows covering morethan 25% of the wall’s surface, even if they were closed. So, theoretically,smokers could puff away in a room with lots of closed windows. Sort of defeatsthe purpose of the ban, hey?
Thenew amendment closes that closed-window loophole, but up to a point. The way weread it, if there are two or more walls with windows that cover more than aquarter of the wall’s surface, and those windows are open, then smokers arefree to light up.
Lookslike the Legislature just gave smokers a break.
Event of the Week
Freedom From Gun Violence Awards
The WisconsinAnti-Violence Effort (WAVE) will honor Mayor Tom Barrett at its “Freedom FromGun Violence” awards reception at 6 p.m. Thursday, May 6, at Artasia Gallery(181 N. Broadway).
Barrett will receive the“Creating a State of Peace, Leadership Award” at 7 p.m. in honor of his work asmayor to reduce violent crime in Milwaukee and for an incident in which, as aconcerned citizen, he sustained serious injuries while defending a grandmotherfrom an attack by the father of her grandchild. Others being recognized includePatti Seger of the Wisconsin Coalition Against Domestic Violence and Chief DougPettit of the Wisconsin Chiefs of Police Association.
The event will alsofeature music by Paul Cebar following the awards presentation. Tickets areavailable at the door, or by calling (414) 351-9283.
John Byrne
Retirement, for mostpeople, marks a well-earned opportunity to take it easy and focus on oneself.Not so for John Byrne, a retired attorney who spends most of his free timevolunteering at the Milwaukee Center for Independence (2020 W. Wells St.),which offers more than 50 programs assisting the community’s special-needspopulation.
Byrne volunteers dailyin the Pediatric Special Care unit, where children receive day nursingservices, educational and developmental programming and the chance to interactwith other children and adults. Byrne is reluctant to call what he does work,referring to his time at the Milwaukee Center for Independence(MCFI) as “volunteer play.” In addition to assisting paid staff as needed,Byrne reads books, takes children for walks and spends time “just goofingaround,” bringing smiles and laughs to program participants. Byrne notes thatregardless of disabilities, “kids just want to be kids.”
The Milwaukee Centerfor Independenceis always in need of volunteers, and can find something to accommodate thecomfort and skill level of anyone interested in helping out. For moreinformation, call the MCFI main line at (414) 937-2020 or visit www.mcfi.net.
Patrick McIlheran
The Journal Sentinel has seen another major drop in its circulation,with an 8.3% fall in weekday newspaper sales and a 9.2% drop for the Sundayedition. Perhaps part of thatdecline comes from the paper’s choice of editorial columnists, which brings usto our Jerk of the Week: JS columnistPatrick McIlheran. In his usualbusiness-is-always-right-and-everyone-else-is-wrong approach, McIlheran attacksthe idea of alternative energy and promotes industry arguments that alternativesources of energy would raise costs and kill jobs. McIlheran represents theworst aspects of short-term thinking. Wisconsinresidents are currently spending a fortune on out-of-state (and oftenout-of-country) imports of oil, natural gas and coal. Not only aren’t thesefossil fuels produced in Wisconsin,but they are contributing to the effects of man-made climate change as well. Wewould be better off building, purchasing and utilizing renewable sources ofenergy like wind turbines to make our air cleaner and help prevent some of theravages of climate change for future generations. Of course, one of McIlheran’smain supporters, the utility industry, is lukewarm (at best) to the idea ofrenewables, since they forced us ratepayers to build big coal-fired powerplants for them.
