It appears once again that the long arm of government is attempting to control our everyday life. The smoking ban proposed by the Harrison County Health Department only considers the non-smokers. Their proposal does not consider the business owner or the employees of establishments who do business with the public.
There will be jobs lost and a loss of revenue at bowling alleys, bingo halls, retail food establishments and others. It also does not consider the travelers of I-79 and Route 50. Once these travelers find out this ban is in place, they will just go on down the road to a friendlier environment.
We have been very fortunate in Harrison County to establish ourselves as a good stopover place for business and recreational travelers, so let's not be foolish and shoot ourselves in the foot by imposing the ban.
One final note is: What kind of democracy do we have in place that would permit a non-elected body such as the Board of Health to pass any kind of law, let alone one which would be opposed by a high percentage of our citizens? Come on, Harrison County, wake up!
