State seeks to keep smoke out

BROKEN BOW, Neb. — The State Department of Health and Human Services wants a Broken Bow bar to stop allowing smoking and is taking the matter to court.

HHS filed a motion last week in Custer County District Court for a temporary injunction against Sylvester's Bar and owner Fred Schumacher.

The complaint alleges that Schumacher has failed to comply with the Nebraska Clean Indoor Air Act that was approved by Nebraska lawmakers in 2008 and went into effect June 1.

The law prohibits smoking in all public buildings and workplaces, including bars, restaurants and gambling locations.

Schumacher has already been convicted of three misdemeanors for allowing smoking in the bar and has been fined a total of $500, according to court records.

According to the complaint, the Loup Basin Public Health Department began receiving complaints June 5 about smoking inside Sylvester's and has received several complaints since then.

A hearing on the motion is scheduled for Feb. 4.

If the judge grants the department's request, the injunction would order Schumacher to “immediately and permanently cease allowing smoking” and to “immediately take all reasonable steps to prevent any person from smoking at Sylvester's at any time.”

In a November interview with the Kearney Hub, Schumacher said the smoking ban had definitely hurt his business.

He said he believes the complaints came mostly from out-of-town patrons. “I don't understand why someone wouldn't just leave rather than call the cops,” he said.

Schumacher said the smoking ban is intended to protect employees' health, but he believes people who apply to work at a bar should expect smokers. He said if employees are willing to sign agreements to work in a smoking environment, the state should accept the agreements and allow smoking on a case-by-case basis.

“For a bar-only business, there ought to be some options out there,” Schumacher said.

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