MKEbound
Nov 10, 06, 8:34 am
If you want to smoke, you'll have to go to the airport
Most travelers are used to hearing that smoking is not allowed inside their local airport. But if you're looking to light up in a public bar while visiting the Illinois cities of Bloomington or Normal, then the local airport will be the only tavern where smoking is permitted. That's as of Jan. 1, the date a comprehensive smoking ban goes into effect in both municipalities. The Central Illinois Regional Airport, however, is exempt from the law -- even though it is inside Bloomington city limits.
How did the airport get the exemption? The Bloomington-Normal Airport Authority "is its own governing body per state statute," which gives it the right to make its own decision on smoking, says the Pantagraph newspaper of Bloomington. The paper adds "the move makes The Hangar at the Central Illinois Airport the only public bar that will allow smoking next year in Bloomington-Normal and potentially McLean County, which also is considering a ban." Says Tom Hubbard, co-owner of The Hangar: "We're not going to advertise that. We're just trying to accommodate the traveling public."
http://www.pantagraph.com/articles/2006/11/09/news/120872.txt
Most travelers are used to hearing that smoking is not allowed inside their local airport. But if you're looking to light up in a public bar while visiting the Illinois cities of Bloomington or Normal, then the local airport will be the only tavern where smoking is permitted. That's as of Jan. 1, the date a comprehensive smoking ban goes into effect in both municipalities. The Central Illinois Regional Airport, however, is exempt from the law -- even though it is inside Bloomington city limits.
How did the airport get the exemption? The Bloomington-Normal Airport Authority "is its own governing body per state statute," which gives it the right to make its own decision on smoking, says the Pantagraph newspaper of Bloomington. The paper adds "the move makes The Hangar at the Central Illinois Airport the only public bar that will allow smoking next year in Bloomington-Normal and potentially McLean County, which also is considering a ban." Says Tom Hubbard, co-owner of The Hangar: "We're not going to advertise that. We're just trying to accommodate the traveling public."
http://www.pantagraph.com/articles/2006/11/09/news/120872.txt