PROVIDENCE – The House Labor Committee voted 7-0 in favor of the workplace safety bill sponsored by House Majority Leader Gordon D. Fox, a Providence Democrat, to ban smoking in restaurants, bars and other workplaces. The bill will now be sent to the full House for a vote.
“The time has come for this legislation. Exposure to secondhand smoke is very dangerous, and there is no reason that any worker should be forced to be exposed to it and risk his or her health each day,” Fox said.
The bill would ban smoking in nearly all places that are open to the public, including private businesses, restaurants, most bars, public restrooms, athletic fields, health care facilities, shopping malls, bingo facilities, common areas of apartment buildings with more than four units and many other places. The ban would take effect on March 1, 2005, although small bars with fewer than 10 employees and gaming facilities would not have to comply until Oct. 1, 2006.
Connecticut, Maine, Vermont, New York, Florida, California, Delaware, Idaho and Utah each have some kind of smoking ban. Many Massachusetts towns have banned smoking in workplaces, and its Legislature is considering a statewide ban that would take effect July 5.
CCRI starts $1 million drive to boot up technology
NEWPORT – Officials at the Community College of Rhode Island announced a campaign to raise $1 million to purchase up-to-date technology and equipment for the new campus slated to open here in 2005.
A 2000 bond worth $10.9 million and an additional $1.5 million allocated by the state Legislature is funding the construction of the Newport campus. Newport Mayor Richard C. Sardella, co-chair of the campaign, said the school still needs more money to outfit the campus technology to fulfill its role as a high-tech campus.
“When the bond passed, it included only the bare necessities,” he said. “Since that time, technology has continued to change and the programmatic needs of the students have changed.”
The campaign has already secured gifts from BankNewport ($100,000); the Stride Foundation ($30,000); Amica Corp. ($25,000); NewportFed ($25,000); and People’s Credit Union ($25,000).
