Louisville to consider new smoking ban

LOUISVILLE Ky. A new proposal to ban smoking in restaurants and virtually all other public places here is expected to be submitted on Thursday to the Metro Council, whose earlier smoking law was struck down on Dec. 21 as unconstitutional.

As the result of a lawsuit filed by the Metro Louisville Hospitality Coalition, senior circuit judge Steven Ryan overturned the original ban because it extended an exemption to Churchill Downs, the landmark race track that hosts the Kentucky Derby. The plaintiff said the exception of the track was arbitrary and vague. The proposal expected to be considered tomorrow would also ban smoking at the landmark racecourse.