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SUNDAY

SHAPING UP, AGAIN: Working out a popular resolution. 1E

January 3, 2010 125th year No. 3

PANDEMIC NOT OVER: Swine flu lingers into the new year. 2A

www.hpe.com High Point, N.C.

SUCCESSFUL OPENER: High Point’s women go 1-0 in conference. 3D

50 Cents Daily $1 Sundays

Smoking ban changes lifestyles

WHO’S NEWS

NEW RULES

Inside...

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G.S. 130A-497 makes virtually all indoor areas of restaurants and bars in the state smoke-free. An estimated 24,000 establishments statewide are covered by the new law. Here are some guidelines:

New law targets second-hand smoke. 1B

BY DAVID NIVENS ENTERPRISE STAFF WRITER

HIGH POINT – Mark Seagle will have to change the way he enjoys bowling. For many bowlers, drinking a beer with a burger and taking a smoke have been part of the game for generations. But state legislators changed that this year to make the state the 26th to ban smoking in public bars and restaurants. Seagle accepted the change. “The world will not end. I knew this was coming,” Seagle said Saturday at Tar Heel Lanes. “I know I will have to go outside to smoke. Having a beer, fries a burger and smoking at the bowling alley had sort of gone together. It will be different now.” The change is a great leap for the state. Until last year, local heath boards had limited control of smoking in public places in a state where raising tobacco and making cigarettes are major businesses. “I have thought about quitting smoking now that I know I will have to go outside,” Seagle said.

No Smoking: All indoor areas are covered by the ban. Smoking also is prohibited in enclosed areas of hotels and inns if the establishment prepares and serves food or drink. Convenience stores and bowling alleys serving food must ban smoking. Outside restaurant or bar patios are exempt unless they have a roof and a wall or side coverings on all sides or all sides but one. Hotels and inns under the ban can still set aside 20 percent of their rooms for smokers. DON DAVIS JR. | HPE

Mark Seagle, pictured at Tar Heel Lanes on N. Main Street, said that bowling without smoking is not an inconvenience. North Carolina became the first southeastern state to completely prohibit smoking in restaurants and bars. However, the state law does not prohibit smoking in private workplaces. Only 22 states are completely smoke free in workplaces, restaurants and bars. Maryland is the closest. Among neighboring states, only South Carolina has no public bans on smoking. Tar Heel Lanes offered non-smoking hours for youth leagues and groups. “It is too early yet to tell how this will go,” said Jeff Crane,

Tar Heel Lanes general manager. “It is a big change from what has been traditional for a lot of bowlers. This is statewide, and I think people will understand.” Health workers will be visiting bars and restaurants to answer questions, said Merle Green, Guilford County health director. “We anticipate that this will largely be a self-enforcing policy,” Green said. “We intend to enforce the law so that all restaurants and bars will have an even playing field.”

TRIAD – After watching Davidson County’s unemployment rate stay in double digits through 2009, Thomasville Mayor Joe Bennett isn’t too optimistic for an economic rebound in 2010. “I think everyone’s hope is that there will be a turnaround in what we’ve experienced particularly this past year ... and in years past leading up to 2009,” Bennett said. “(The last year) has been a very, very tough year, not only here but in Davidson County and of course North Carolina ... as jobs have continued to be lost and people have had to turn to other avenues. Then they’re having tough times making ends meet. I don’t personally see any signals that it’s going to turn around and come back strong in 2010.” High Point Mayor Becky Smothers hopes the economy will turn around in 2010. “I hope it’s better tomorrow,” Smothers said. “My primary focus right now is how to continue to provide a level of service that meets the needs of our population and do it in a very economical way. We can not raise taxes. We’ve got re-evaluations

coming. I’m not sure what year that will be in Guilford, but there are going to be some pretty significant shifts.” Bennett and Smothers agree on one thing: Bringing more jobs to the area

Enforcement: Restaurants must post nosmoking signs, remove indoor ashtrays and tell people not to smoke inside. Customers who refuse to comply can face a fine of up to $50. A business can face penalties of up to $200 a day after two warnings. Appeals go to the Board of Health and then to the courts. Complaints: Call 1-800-662-7030 or fill out a form available at http://www.smokefree. nc.gov, Call the Guilford County Department of Public Health at 641-6000.

dnivens@hpe.com | 888-3626

will help the economy rebound in 2010. “It takes jobs,” Smothers said. “It takes people spending money. People can’t spend money if they don’t have jobs. ... I think it’s a time that it’s very

Carlton Boyles

Joe Bennett

news we’ve seen over the last 15-plus months, but we are optimistic.” Bonnie Renfro, president of the Randolph County Economic Development Corp., also has noticed an increase in traffic. “In the last month, my office has been extraordinarily busy with new projects, companies across a

every two weeks ... then it’s going to stimulate the economy where they may have been putting off two or three years of upgrading that automobile or they have said, ‘We will rent for another year or two until I can make that house payment,’ ” Bennett said. “It’s one thing leading to the other. If they get the job, if they get the paycheck, then the economy will come back.” As 2009 came to an end, Archdale officials, such as Mayor Bert LanceStone, hope the approval of a new subdivision to be built in the city, Diamond’s Keep, is a sign the economy is on its way out of the gutter. “I’m hoping the real estate market will continue to improve,” Lance-Stone said. “I’m hoping we are not going to lose any more jobs anywhere. I haven’t heard of anything in the wind, but you never know. ... It’s going to take industry hiring more people.” Trinity Mayor Carlton Boyles, meanwhile, hopes several ongoing sewer projects will benefit Trinity residents with jobs. “When you put infrastructure in the ground, you are going to have a much more lucrative area for business to come,” Boyles said.

UPSWING, 2A

dignasiak@hpe.com | 888-3657

difficult to see in that crystal ball, but we know that our world is going to be different.” “My contention is if we can get the folks back in the employment force, making that payroll check

Bert Lance-Stone

Becky Smothers

Economic officials say momentum is on upswing BY DARRICK IGNASIAK ENTERPRISE STAFF WRITER

TRIAD – If 2009 is any indication of what may be forthcoming for the economy, 2010 could be a good year for those who are unemployed in the Triad, local economic developers say. “We’ve had more projects, more requests for information, and more folks we are showing

buildings to than we have had in a long time,” said Loren Hill, president of the High Point Economic Development Corp. “It appears many companies are beginning to take out of moth balls projects they had been considering before the national economic downturn. It appears things are moving. It will be awhile before that’s widespread felt, of course, with all the bad

REAL ESTATE

Exceptions: Nonprofit private clubs that serve food or drink such as country clubs and those run by fraternal organizations can permit smoking. Cigar bars are exempt, as well as Hookah bars that neither provide food nor operate a bar.

THE YEAR City leaders differ on outlook AHEAD: BY DARRICK IGNASIAK ENTERPRISE STAFF WRITER

State Rep. Pricey Harrison, D-Guilford, recently was appointed by House Speaker Joe Hackney, D-Orange, to the North Carolina Energy Policy Council.

YOUR COMMUNITY. YOUR NEWSPAPER.

With more than 350 physicians representing over 30 specialties, High Point Regional Health System offers an ever-widening array of quality services. Not just care, Total Care. For more information, call 336.878.6888 www.highpointregional.com 507373

There is no real estate section in today’s edition of The High Point Enterprise.

OBITUARIES

John Batten, 89 Etta Davis, 102 Emma Honbarrier, 88 William Johnson Doris Kibler, 80 Christine McDade, 83 Wood Myers, 89 Robert Reynolds, 39 Juanita Rosbor, 80 James Spencer, 58 Maria Velez, 48 Obituaries, 2B

WEATHER

Sunny, cold High 33, Low 16 6D

INDEX ADVICE 2-3E, 6E ARTS | ETC. 3-4F BUSINESS 1-2C CLASSIFIED 3-6C CROSSWORD 2F FOCUS 1-2F HOROSCOPE 2E LIFE&STYLE 1-6E LOCAL 2A, 1B LOTTERY 2A MILESTONES 5E MOVIES 6A NATION 5-6A NOTABLES 6A OBITUARIES 2B OPINION 4-5B SCHOOL MENUS 6B SPORTS 1-5D STATE 2-3A, 3B TV 5F TRAVEL 4E WEATHER 6D WORLD 4A

INFO Circulation Classified Newsroom Newsroom fax

888-3511 888-3555 888-3527 888-3644


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