‘For it’s one, two, three chews, you’re out, at the old ball game!’
Chicago aldermen have taken a swing at chewing tobacco, banning it from professional and amateur sporting events, according to the Associated Press. And reaction to the decision was just as split as the Cubs-Sox crosstown rivalry.
Cubs manager Joe Maddon said he disagrees with the ban, even though he stopped using smokeless tobacco 15 years ago. Pitcher John Lackey also disagrees. He does not use the product but said “grown men should have their own choices.”
White Sox chairman Jerry Reinsdorf, however, voiced his support in a letter to the city’s finance committee. He said children should not be exposed to smokeless tobacco and that the league and the city have a chance to be leaders “in an important cause” that “directly impacts the health and well-being of our fans, our athletes and our city.”
Similar bans are taking effect in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Boston and New York.
One small hiccup before merlot and riesling can start flowing in Tennessee.
Tennessee convenience and grocery stores can start selling wine July 1. So far, nearly 500 retailers have applied for a license. But there’s a catch: The measure doesn’t allow retailers to order the alcohol beforehand, according to WATE-TV.
“The way the bill was written in 2014, it said that stores would be able to obtain their licenses to sell wine on July 1. It just so happens that wine wholesalers can’t sell the wine to grocery stores until they have their licenses,” Rob Ikard, president and CEO of the Tennessee Grocers and Convenience Store Association, told the news source.
The association is backing legislation that would allow retailers to preorder wine prior to July 1. The state House approved the bill, which awaits approval from Gov. Bill Haslam.
California’s new pay grade: A cut above the rest.
In April, California Gov. Jerry Brown signed a law raising its minimum wage to $15 an hour—the first state to set wages that high, the Los Angeles Times reports.
Under the plan, California’s hourly minimum wage would increase from the current $10 to $10.50 on Jan. 1, 2017, then to $11 the following year, and increase by $1 annually until 2022.
Across the country in New York, where the minimum wage sits at $9, Gov. Andrew Cuomo reached a tentative deal with lawmakers to also raise the state’s base wage to $15, The Associated Press reports.
The news of $15 wages comes just after Gov. Kate Brown raised Oregon’s minimum wage to $14.75 and implemented a tiered minimum-wage system (another first) that sets different hourly rates in different parts of the state.
Leading the Charge
States are grappling with lower gas-tax revenues as electric vehicles gain popularity. To offset the loss, several states, including Georgia, Idaho, Michigan and Wyoming, have imposed fees on EV owners.
10 - To date, the number of states that have imposed fees on hybrid and electric vehicles as a way to recapture lost gas tax revenue.
11 - States that have introduced bills this year to impose or modify annual electric or hybrid vehicle fees.
$100 - Proposed annual registration fee for owners of electric vehicles in Kentucky. The bill was introduced in the state Senate in January.
Source: National Conference of State Legislatures
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