Ban outside smoking on the Square?

The State of Illinois took care of smoking inside buildings, restaurants, bars and offices a while back. And it drew a line around the entrances to buildings and proclaimed it to be illegal to smoke within 15 feet of a building entrance.

There are actually some smokers in Woodstock who obey that 15-foot rule (and there are some who don't).

This morning, during the Farmers Market, I parked in front of Home State Bank and walked toward Knuth's. Passing the corner of the HSB parking lot and the building where Mardi Gras is, two women were smoking - more than 15 feet from the front door, thankyouverymuch.

When I walked through the invisible cloud of smoke from their cigarettes and coughed involuntarily, I waved the smoke away from my face, only to hear one of the smokers say, "Oh, give it a rest."

I can give as well as I get, and my retort was, "Do you have any idea how obnoxious that is?"

Oh, well, there go those two votes...

Just walk around the beautiful historic Woodstock Square. Notice all the cigarette butt receptacles in front of stores? Oh, you don't see any? Well, then, notice all the cigarette butts on the sidewalks.

I must compliment one man who had finished his cigarette and was standing near one of the corner trash receptacles. Instead of just tossing the butt into the trash (and creating a little business for Chief Webster's men on a Saturday morning), he carefully extinguished it and (what I remember from military days) "field-stripped" his cigarette, making certain it was out before he threw the waste into the trash can. A huge thank you to him for his consideration!!! I almost thanked him for doing that.

So, should smoking be banned on sidewalks around the Square? The City got rid of bicycle riders and skateboarders. Of course, they were kids and didn't vote. Will the City take on smokers?
Vote in this week's survey...