skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Friday, March 29, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

The latest on the Key Bridge collapse, New York puts forth legislation to get clean energy projects on the grid and Wisconsin and other states join a federal summer food program to help feed kids across the country.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Republicans float conspiracy theories on the collapse of Baltimore's Key Bridge, South Carolina's congressional elections will use a map ruled unconstitutional, and the Senate schedules an impeachment trial for Homeland Secretary Mayorkas.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Tempe Could Be First AZ City to Ban Smoking with Kids in Car

play audio
Play

Wednesday, April 29, 2015   

TEMPE, Ariz. - Tempe could become Arizona's first city to ban smoking with children in the car.

City Council member David Schapira said he's a supporter of the proposed ordinance that would make it illegal for the driver or any passenger in a motor vehicle to smoke cigarettes, e-cigarettes, pipes or cigars when a person younger than age 18 is in that motor vehicle.

"Exposure to secondhand smoke - especially in that closed, confined small proximity - is damaging, is dangerous," he said. "And so, as many other states, municipalities and counties across the country have done, we're looking to ban that practice in Tempe."

Schapira said a first offense fine would be $50 for each child in the car, with fines increasing to $100 for subsequent violations. The law also would require that it be a secondary violation, meaning the police pulled the car over for another reason, such as speeding or running a red light.

According to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, secondhand smoke can cause children to suffer bronchitis and pneumonia, ear infections, more frequent and severe asthma attacks. It even has been linked to a greater risk of sudden infant death syndrome.

Council member Kolby Granville, who also supports the ordinance, said Tempe has a progressive history on smoking policy.

"Tempe was one of the first, if not the first in the state, to ban smoking in bars and restaurants," he said. "We recently banned e-cigarettes as well, in the sense that we now consider them to be like cigarettes - so you can't 'vape' in a bar or restaurant."

He predicted the ordinance will pass, with strong and perhaps unanimous support, and become law later this summer.


get more stories like this via email

more stories
The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments this week about the popular abortion pill Mifepristone and will weigh in on whether the U.S. Food and Drug Administration was correct in how it can be dosed and prescribed. (Ascannio/Adobe Stock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

Missouri residents are worried about future access to birth control. The latest survey from The Right Time, an initiative based in Missouri…


Social Issues

play sound

Wisconsin children from low-income families are now on track to get nutritious foods over the summer. Federal officials have approved the Badger …

Social Issues

play sound

Almost 2,900 people are unsheltered on any given night in the Beehive State. Gov. Spencer Cox is celebrating signing nine bills he says are geared …


The U.S. teaching workforce remains primarily white while the percentage of Black teachers has declined. However, the percentage of Asian and Latinx teachers is rising.(WavebreakMediaMicro/Adobestock)

Social Issues

play sound

Education advocates are calling on lawmakers to increase funding for programs to combat the teacher shortage. Around 37% of schools nationwide …

Environment

play sound

New York's Legislature is considering a bill to get clean-energy projects connected to the grid faster. It's called the RAPID Act, for "Renewable …

Many factors affect a customer's bill amount, including energy usage, weather, and the number of days in a billing period, according to Arizona Public Service. (Jason Yoder/Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

Earlier this month, a new Arizona Public Service rate hike went into effect and one senior advocacy group said those on a fixed income may struggle …

Social Issues

play sound

Michigan recently implemented a significant juvenile justice reform package following recommendations from a task force made up of prosecutors…

Social Issues

play sound

A mix of policy updates and staffing boosts has helped to put wage theft enforcement on the radar in Minnesota, and officials leading the efforts are …

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021