Cigar lover Dick DiAndrea doesn’t mind paying for a good smoke. “I will smoke cigars regardless of what they cost,” the Altoona man said while puffing on a $6 cigar at Havana Daydreaming last week. He said a good cigar for him costs about $2.50, and he buys his cigars by the box. The cost of a good stogie may be going up again. Taxes and laws are not new to the tobacco industry, but more changes are in the works. One state budget proposal includes a plan to tax cigars and smokeless tobacco. Pennsylvania is the only U.S. state without such a tax, the governor’s office st ... Jump to full article >>

MELVINDALE — An ordinance to ban smoking in city parks failed in its second and final reading at last Wednesday’s City Council meeting. The ordinance would have made it unlawful for a person to smoke on or within 30 of feet of bleachers or baseball backstops at any city park. No-smoking signs would have been put up, and anyone caught by police smoking in the banned areas could have been ticketed. Voting against the ordinance were Councilmen Jeffery Bolton and John Rowe and Councilwoman Kalley Hess. Voting yes were Councilwomen Sue Herman and Stacy Striz, who proposed the ordinanc ... Jump to full article >>

Banning smoking in indoor public places would hurt the economy, owners of premium cigar stores say. “The only thing a smoking ban would do is lead the way in increased unemployment (and) failing businesses,” Chris McCalla, legislative director of the International Premium Cigar and Pipe Retailers Association, said in a statement today. St. Louis County Councilwoman Barbara Fraser, D-University City, has proposed a countywide vote on Nov. 3 on a smoking ban in indoor public places in the entire county. A bill for the election is on the preliminary approval segment of the agenda for ... Jump to full article >>

Cigar and snuff maker Swedish Match AB (SWMA.ST) posted a 38 percent rise in second-quarter earnings and predicted higher second-half sales and operating profit, lifting it shares on Friday. “It is a surprisingly strong report. The cigar margin is incredibly strong,” said Rolf Karp, an analyst at Ohman Fondkommission. Pretax profit rose to 791 million Swedish crowns ($101 million), adjusted for the divestment of a South African pipe tobacco and snuff operation. The mean forecast for pretax profit in a Reuters poll which included the divested business, was for a 705 million profit. ... Jump to full article >>

BRADENTON, Fla., June 23 /PRNewswire/ — The Oettinger Davidoff Group, headquartered in Basel (Switzerland), has acquired from the Chiusano Family the Bradenton, FL based company Cusano Cigars, operated by DomRey Cigar, Inc. The acquisition of Cusano Cigars allows the Oettinger Davidoff Group to tap a new source of revenue in the USA, the largest market for premium cigars in the world, in which around half of all the world’s hand-made cigars are sold. Cusano Cigars is the second American company to join the Oettinger Davidoff Group within a matter of months, thereby further extendin ... Jump to full article >>

When Nevada passed a law banning smoking in places that serve food, Susan and Jeff Melvin discovered it created a niche for people looking for a smoking option. The Melvins opened Jimmy G’s Cigar Bar in downtown Carson City on June 5. While they don’t serve food, the option for patrons to light up is good for business. “The nice thing is, people can choose,” Susan Melvin said. “If they want to go somewhere where there is no smoking, they can, or where people can smoke, they can.” Melvin said customers can order lunch or dinner from nearby Garibaldi’s o ... Jump to full article >>

Last week, Hav-A-Tampa Cigar Co. announced the closing of its iconic cigar factory, which has been operating in Tampa since 1902. Hav-A-Tampa’s closing is devastating for its nearly 500 employees. The factory’s demise is also tragic for our community. There has never been a product that has promoted Tampa more than legendary Hav-a-Tampa cigars. For more than 100 years, Hav-A-Tampa has incorporated our city into its world-famous brand name. Soon the factory will be gone. It is a sad day for the city of Tampa and its historic cigar industry, but the greatest tragedy is that this fact ... Jump to full article >>

HARRISON Ford got pulled into a wacky publicity stunt the other day when two hotties in black tank tops, shorts and high-heels sneaked past security on the set of his movie, “Morning Glory,” at 43rd Street and Sixth Avenue. “He was in between takes with Rachel McAdams when these girls came right out of the blue to present him with a $750 Gurkha cigar,” a spy told us. “He got a big kick out of it and thanked them.” Turns out the generous cuties were promoting a service called delivery.com. source: nypost.com ... Jump to full article >>

So I was sitting in a leather couch at El Cid’s, watching my cigar smoke drift upward and listening to the guys talk about politics and stuff that really matters in life, like the tobacco tax going up again. El Cid’s has been a nice place to go to hide. No editors at the old Rocky, may it rest in peace, knew about it. And, by God, the tobacco-less creatures would never venture into North Denver to find it. El Cid’s is on West 44th Avenue, just east of Sheridan. If you had a fair throwing arm, you could hit Wheat Ridge with a rock. But why would you want to? I enjoyed my visit ... Jump to full article >>

An old adage cautions us to be careful what we wish for lest we get it. The idea is that we’ll get everything that comes with the object of our desires. Entire sitcoms have centered on hapless individuals who give little thought to the full results of their actions. A new car might be nicer than that old, but reliable, flivver in the driveway, but it also comes with payments, higher registration fees and higher insurance premiums, all things that should be considered before opting for the shiny new one. Folks face the same decisions when they want government to fix some perceived problem ... Jump to full article >>

A House-authored indoor smoking ban like the one approved last year now heads to the Senate, still absent an agreement between the two chambers that doomed the effort in 2008. The proposed ban that would apply to nearly all indoor workplaces in Michigan, including bars and restaurants, easily passed Tuesday, 73-31, after attempts to weaken or strengthen it were defeated. Cigar bars, tobacco specialty shops and the gaming floors of Detroit’s three commercial casinos would be the lone exceptions in a bill that would make Michigan the 37th state to enact broad prohibitions on workplace smo ... Jump to full article >>