SMOKING BAN SET FOR PARKS.Byline: JIM Jim Miss Watson’s runaway slave; Huck’s traveling companion. [Am. Lit.: Huckleberry Finn] See : Escape SKEEN Staff Writer PALMDALE -- Smoking will be banned in three of Palmdale's newest recreation facilities, and prohibitions elsewhere are in the works. Smoking will be banned effective Aug. 19 at the Marie Kerr Park amphitheater and the park's Best of the West softball softball, variant of baseball played with a larger ball on a smaller field. Invented (1888) in Chicago as an indoor game, it was at various times called indoor baseball, mush ball, playground ball, kitten ball, and, because it was also played by women, ladies' complex and at the DryTown Water Park. City staffers are devising a comprehensive plan for the City Council's review that will designate what other park areas or city facilities will be smoke-free. ``As a former smoker smoker A person who smokes tobacco, almost always understood to be cigarettes Ratio of ♂:♀ smokers Philippines64/19, China61/7, Saudi Arabia53/2, Russia50/12 , I know that smoking does affect other people,'' said Mayor Jim Ledford. ``As the effects of secondhand smoking are becoming better known, the public is looking at agencies, such as cities, to protect them.'' The city's action does not go far enough, said Xavier Flores Flores, town, Guatemala Flores (flōrəs), town (1990 est. pop. 2,200), capital of Petén department, N Guatemala. Flores was built on an island in the southern part of Lake Petén Itzá and on the site of the , executive director of Pueblo y Salud, a nonprofit group pushing for tighter tobacco and alcohol regulations. The city should have enacted a complete ban on smoking in city facilities, Flores said, citing recent health reports such as the American Cancer Society American Cancer Society, n.pr established in 1913, this national volunteer-based health organization is committed to the elimination of cancer through prevention and treatment and to diminishing cancer suffering through advocacy, scholarship, research, estimate of 1 billion tobacco- related deaths this century and a UCLA UCLA University of California at Los Angeles UCLA University Center for Learning Assistance (Illinois State University) UCLA University of Carrollton, TX and Lower Addison, TX report of high asthma rates among Antelope Valley This article is about the Los Angeles County region. For the census-designated place in Wyoming, see Antelope Valley-Crestview, Wyoming. The Antelope Valley children. ``It's a step in the right direction, but we had hoped they would have taken a bigger step,'' Flores said. ``The council has every reason to implement the most far-reaching policies and regulations, but they are being timid.'' Councilman Tom Lackey also favored an outright ban. ``If we say we don't want smoke, let's mean it and say no smoking,'' Lackey said. Ultimately, a complete ban might be enacted sometime down the line, city officials said. The City Council viewed the new regulations as part of a transition phase. ``We can't go cold turkey,'' said Councilman Mike Dispenza. ``We need to start weaning weaning, n the period of transition from breast feeding to eating solid foods. weaning the act of separating the young from the dam that it has been sucking, or receiving a milk diet provided by the dam or from artificial sources. people away from smoking.'' Councilman Steve Hofbauer said an outright ban would be difficult to enforce. An outright ban could also cause problems with cleaning up cigarette butts tossed on the ground because there are no ashcans. ``They'll just try to sneak it,'' Hofbauer said. ``I think you have to give people an option.'' Hofbauer cites the city's transportation center as an example of how designated smoking areas can work well. Having a designated smoking site has kept cigarette-butt litter down to a minimum and keeps smoke away from the nonsmokers, he said. james.skeen@dailynews (661) 267-5743 |
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