The two northernmost counties in West Virginia now have smoking bans in place as the five members of the Brooke County Board of Health voted unanimously on Monday night to update existing clean air ordinances and will now ban smoking at all indoor places of business. That means that smoking will now be banned at all bars, restaurants and video gaming establishments. In addition, smoking is now prohibited at outdoor fairs and festivals. The new regulations will go into effect on July 1, 2015. Board administrator Karen McClain told WVMetroNews.com that a major motivator for the new regulations was the fact Brooke County ranked last in the state for environmental health. McClain added that there were 10 written comments in favor of the changes with just four against, and no one showed up to the meeting to speak on either side of the debate. Hancock County, which sits directly north of Brooke County, passed a smoking ban in August that will also go into effect on July 1, 2015. Brooke County is home to just under 24,000 people.
↧