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Highland Park enacted Lake County’s first smoking ban Wednesday, a move local health officials say is something they hope all municipalities will soon consider.It means all indoor public areas, including restaurants, taxis and places of work, in the city are off limits to smokers. The ordinance was approved by the city council in April.“The second-hand smoke issue is becoming really big,” said Bill Mays, the county health department’s director of community health services. “Highland Park’s leadership in this regard is an important precedent.”Health department officials say the action is the most sweeping they’ve seen. That’s due, in part, because Highland...

Feinstein Re-Intoduces Federal Assault Weapons Ban POSTED: 4:54 pm PST March 14, 2005 WASHINGTON -- Sen. Dianne Feinstein introduced legislation Monday to re-establish the federal assault weapons ban, which expired last September after Congress did not reauthorize it. Feinstein, D-Calif., was the author of the original 1994 ban on the manufacture and importation of at least 19 types of common military-style assault weapons. She got an amendment through the Senate last year to extend the ban, but it was killed when the piece of legislation it was attached to failed after lobbying by the National Rifle Association. Feinstein announced bipartisan...

Can't post from Gannett in the Detroit News http://www.detnews.com/2005/metro/0503/02/A01-105291.htm

Lawmakers seek ban on .50-caliber rifles Monday, February 28, 2005 By Brian Mackey of Copley News Service SPRINGFIELD - Rifles that can accurately pierce half-inch armor from more than a mile away are as legal as most other firearms in Illinois, but several state lawmakers want them banned. House Bill 1098 would make it a felony to manufacture, distribute, transport, import or sell .50-caliber rifles and ammunition. The bill would make it a misdemeanor to possess up to two of the weapons or any .50-caliber ammunition. The felony would be punishable by three to seven years in prison, while the...

Assault weapons battle rejoined Feinstein fights to reinstate law that expired after 10 years Edward Epstein, Chronicle Washington Bureau Saturday, February 26, 2005 Washington -- California Sen. Dianne Feinstein renewed one of Washington's long- running and most bitterly fought battles Friday, saying she will introduce legislation seeking to reinstate the federal assault weapons ban that expired in September after 10 years. Gun control has been a signature issue for Feinstein since she arrived in the Senate in 1993. But the odds she faces to pass the weapons ban in the current Congress are probably steeper than they were in 1993,...

Corzine, Lautenberg to introduce bill banning assault pistol use Associated Press WASHINGTON - New Jersey's U.S. senators plan to introduce a bill that would make it illegal for anyone, except a police officer or military official, to purchase or use an assault pistol that fires bullets capable of penetrating a bulletproof vest. The Five-SeveN gun made by FN Herstal of Belgium has already been denounced by three national police organizations and the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence. The handgun is small and lightweight and easily concealed in a person's pocket, the groups said. Last month, the Brady Campaign released...

House Approves Stiffer Indecency Fines 2 minutes ago Politics - U. S. Congress By GENARO C. ARMAS, Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON - Chafing over racy broadcasts like Janet Jackson's infamous "wardrobe malfunction" at the 2004 Super Bowl, the House overwhelmingly passed a bill Wednesday authorizing unprecedented fines for indecency. Rejecting criticism the penalties will stifle free speech and homogenize radio and TV broadcasts, bill supporters said stiff fines were needed to give deep-pocketed broadcasters more incentive to clean up their programs and to help assure parents that their children won't be exposed to inappropriate material. The measure, which passed 389-38,...

Bush Urges Renewal of Patriot Act 44 minutes ago White House - AP By NEDRA PICKLER, Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON - President Bush (news - web sites) on Monday urged Congress to reauthorize the USA Patriot Act, the Justice Department (news - web sites)'s widely criticized anti-terrorism law. AP Photo Reuters Slideshow: President Bush "We must not allow the passage of time or the illusion of safety to weaken our resolve in this new war" on terrorism, Bush said at a swearing-in ceremony for Attorney General Alberto Gonzales at the Justice Department. The president also argued that the Senate must...

VPC Joins Representatives Moran, Kennedy, McCarthy, and Waxman in Calling for Federal Ban on 50 Caliber Anti-armor Sniper Rifles Washington, DC—The Violence Policy Center (VPC) today joined Representatives Jim Moran (D-VA), Patrick Kennedy (D-RI), Carolyn McCarthy (D-NY), and Henry Waxman (D-CA) at a Capitol Hill press conference in support of federal legislation sponsored by Rep. Moran to ban 50 caliber anti-armor sniper rifles. Fifty caliber anti-armor sniper rifles can penetrate armor plating, pierce rail cars carrying toxic chemicals, and destroy aircraft. An ArmaLite AR-50 sniper rifle was displayed at the press conference. Currently being used by U.S. troops in Iraq,...

Lawmakers See Indecency Bill Moving Quickly 8 minutes ago Politics - Reuters WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Legislation to significantly hike fines for broadcasters airing indecent material will move quickly in the U.S. House of Representatives, leaders of the House Energy and Commerce Committee said on Wednesday. After a series of high-profile incidents on television and radio, a bipartisan group of House lawmakers has proposed boosting fines on stations and entertainers to as much as $500,000 per violation, up from the current $32,500. The measure would also require the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (news - web sites) to decide whether to revoke...

EFSGV: Maryland State Police Acting Like "Keystone Cops" 1/28/2005 Press Release Coalition to Stop Gun Violence & The Educational Fund to Stop Gun Violence 1023 15th Street, NW Washington, DC 20005 www.efsgv.org New State Report on Ballistic Identification is "Politically-Motivated Junk Science" Washington, DC - The Educational Fund to Stop Gun Violence today characterized a new report by the Maryland State Police recommending the repeal of the state's comprehensive ballistic identification system as "politically-motivated junk science." The report's recommendation should come as no surprise to anyone who has followed the issue in Maryland. In 2003, Governor Ehrlich, who has long...

American TV watchdogs have rejected a raft of complaints about everything from Friends characters discussing a phallic-shaped cake to mention of homosexual kissing on Will And Grace. Clean-up campaigners the Parents Television Council filed 36 complaints about incidents they thought were dragging down standards. They also included an episode of The Simpsons in which striking students carried banners saying "Don't cut off my pianissimo" and the scene in the Austin Powers movie where a naked Mike Myers had his genitals hidden by cunningly-placed objects. The Federal Communications Association rejected all the complaints, ruling: “None of the segments were patently offensive...

Humane USA Endorses John Kerry for President President George W. Bush has gone out of his way to attack animal advocates on his presidential campaign website Can you believe it? President George W. Bush has gone out of his way to attack animal advocates on his presidential campaign website! That’s right, in their bid for reelection to the White House, the Bush-Cheney 2004 team posted a report for hunters titled “John Kerry on Hunting,” which attacked not only the Democratic nominee, but also the entire animal protection community! The Bush-Cheney website includes these direct quotes: • “John Kerry has the...

Gun control supporters hold rally in D.C. By KATA KERTESZ The Associated Press 5/9/2004, 6:29 p.m. ET WASHINGTON (AP) — Nick Wilcox wore a button with a picture of his late daughter and spoke of the satisfaction of joining other gun-control advocates Sunday at a rally to urge renewal of a federal ban on assault weapons. "It's always gratifying to be with kindred spirits, and that's what this is," said Wilcox, whose 19-year-old daughter, Laura, was one of two workers at a mental health department office in California shot to death in 2001 by a patient. The assailant used a...

Gephardt, Kucinich Lead Fight Against Assault Weapons 10/10/2003 Press Release Coalition to Stop Gun Violence 1023 15th Street, N.W. Washington, DC 20005 www.gunfree.org Contact: Blaine Rummel Phone: 202-297-1149 One Year After DC-area Sniper Attacks, Presidential Candidates Co-Sponsor H.R. 2038 to Renew and Strengthen Assault Weapons Ban Washington, DC - Congressmen Richard Gephardt (D-MO) and Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) have co-sponsored H.R. 2038, a bill that will renew and strengthen the federal assault weapons ban. Their support comes one year after the DC-area sniper attacks, which killed 10 and wounded three others. The legislation would stop the gun industry from manufacturing and...

Perhaps you know Charlie Mendelman. He's an affable, congenial man, who for 18 years ran a top-notch Volkswagen/Audi/Porsche dealership on Macleod Tr. Then, at the age of 56, Charlie got up one day and decided he wanted to do something different in life. So he sold his dealership and opened up The Garage Billiards Bar and Restaurant at Eau Claire Market. "I'm a people-type person," he says. "I like to meet people and chat with them. That's why I went into the automobile business, and it's why I went into the hospitality business." If you've been to The Garage, you'll...