Red River Valley Fair limits smoking to three designated areas

WEST FARGO – This year’s Red River Valley Fair here will be smoke-free. Management for the fair, which runs at the Red River Valley Fairground here July 9-14, announced Monday that smoking will largely be banned at this year’s event, except for three designated areas. The fair had to come into compliance with the new […]

As Minnesota cigarette tax spikes, Moorhead retailers feel the burn

MOORHEAD – The cheapest pack of cigarettes at Brady’s Service Center located off Interstate 94 here jumped to $6.50 on Monday, the first day of a new per-pack tax increase in Minnesota. Just a few miles away at Fargo’s Gateway Service Center-Cenex along Main Avenue, that same pack of Pall Malls was $3.79. A pack […]

Are E-Cigarettes a Boon, a Menace or Both?

By THE NY TIMES EDITORIAL BOARD Rapidly growing numbers of consumers are turning to electronic cigarettes to satisfy their nicotine addiction without inhaling the carcinogens and toxic chemicals found in tobacco smoke. Buyers need to beware. Unlike nicotine gum and skin patches, electronic cigarettes have not been evaluated for safety or effectiveness. Global sales of electronic cigarettes, although […]

Smokers Cost Employers Nearly $6,000 More Annually: Study

Smokers may feel the ultimate toll of their addiction, but its their bosses who are footing the bill in the meantime, according to a new study. Employees who smoke cost the typical U.S. company an average of $5,816 more a year than non-smokers, according to research released Monday from Ohio State University. The researchers note that the […]

Frank Lautenberg, New Jersey Senator in His 5th Term, Dies at 89

Frank R. Lautenberg, who fought the alcohol and tobacco industries and promoted Amtrak as a five-term United States senator from New Jersey, died on Monday in Manhattan. He was 89. The cause was complications of viral pneumonia, his office said. In 2010, it announced that he had stomach cancer. Though he and his doctors expected […]