: News
By Natalie Neumann
Starting Dec. 1, Virginia will join dozens of other states that ban smoking in restaurants. The new law is a major shift for a state where tobacco has been king since Jamestown was settled 400 years ago.
About 70 percent of Virginia restaurants have already banned smoking on their own. Restaurants in Virginia will be allowed to have a smoking area only if they segregate smokers into rooms with ventilation systems separate from those that heat and cool nonsmoking patrons.
A Virginia restaurant industry lobbyist expects only about 10 percent of the state's restaurants to retain smoking areas.
More than 20 states and the District of Columbia have laws that ban restaurant smoking.
Dan Brown: 'Inferno' Is 'The Book That I Would Want To Read'
Dan Brown, author of the blockbuster The Da Vinci Code, is back with his first novel in four years. Inferno follows academic hero Robert Langdon on a chase through Italy as he attempts to avert a biological catastrophe.'Picture Cook': Drawings Are The Key Ingredients In These Recipes
Designer Katie Shelly's upcoming cookbook offers 50 illustrated recipe "blueprints" for basic meals — from simple snacks to more hefty dishes like eggplant Parmesan. She hopes they'll inspire any level of cook to improvise in the kitchen.Highly Charged IRS Case Pulls In Political Agendas
NPR's Peter Overby reports on the Congressional testimony of IRS officials in response to the scandal over special scrutiny of tea party groups. Underneath all the politics, there's a policy question that hasn't been addressed.Book News: Amazon May Be Called Before Parliament Over Taxes
Also: AARP and The Nation join a growing list of ebook publishers; Hilary Mantel on Jane Austen; Anne Applebaum on Sheryl Sandberg.Leave a Comment
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