City Court Upholds Smoking Ban Violation

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Posted: 7:47 PM Mar 15, 2010
Last Updated: 7:47 PM Mar 15, 2010
Reporter: 13 News

5 comments

Smoking Ban Fine Upheld

Administrative Hearing Order

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Topeka (WIBW) - A Topeka businessman's fine for violating the city's smoking ban will stand.

The ruling against Jim Suwalski, owner of Hot Pockets tobacco shop, was issued Monday.

Suwalski was cited in January for smoking a cigarette inside his tobacco shop. The shop's boundaries are marked off with duct tape inside the Hot Pockets bar owned by his wife.

The ruling from the administrative hearing officer says Suwalski violated the clear intent of the ordinance in recognizing the need to breathe smoke-free air since the shop is inside an area where smoking isn't allowed with no means of containing the air from spreading to people in the bar.

Suwalski says he hasn't done anything wrong. He says he obeyed the ordinance as written and can't be cited for violating an intent.

Suwalski is supposed to pay a $50 fine within 10 days, but he says he isn't going to pay it.

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Posted by: dustin Location: topeka on Mar 17, 2010 at 12:23 AM
those e-cigs arent illegal at all someone, they emit no smoke at all, look into it, all they put out is water vapor, all the niccotine is inside the filter end of the e-cig. yea there kinda goofy but there the only thing you can smoke on a plane!!

Posted by: Larry Location: Topeka on Mar 16, 2010 at 07:29 PM
Jim, you're making a fool of yourself, but you're so self righteous that you probably don't know it. First, you call the police "idiots" and then you refer to the municipal court as a "kangaroo court." Your duct tape is not a wall and your choice to smoke in your tobacco shop does not trump the right of others to breathe clean air in your wife's bar. Read the clean air ordinance some time, you might learn a thing or two. If not, go ahead and be a hero to your tobacco addict "friends" - spend a few nights in the non-smoking city jail for not paying your fine. Here's betting you ain't got the guts.

Posted by: jerry Location: topeka on Mar 16, 2010 at 01:44 PM
one thing about this is a bussiness killer. look at hot pockets in oakland that killed there bussiness big time. but you think topeka will think of that when it comes time for hot pockets to pay there taxes. no!! got your thinking caps on city of topeka. wheres all this money going to come from to fix up downtown. or fix our swiss cheese streets. or rewire those ball diamonds at the parks tooth fairy. no sales tax dollars topeka is going to lose bussiness as it is without all this. with all the empty buildings you see downtown. topeka going to need big time tax dollars to fix them up.

Posted by: someone in kansas on Mar 16, 2010 at 11:24 AM
What are they going to do about the electronic cigs that are legal?

Posted by: Floyd Belcher Location: Burlington on Mar 15, 2010 at 08:27 PM
I think that the smoking ban infringes on business owners right, I am a non-smoker who hates the smell of cigaretts on my clothes,but I believe a business has the right to choose his patrons, just as I have the right where I spend my money.