Press Releases
Year
The Great Impasta in Champaign Goes Smoke-Free
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 21, 2006
Contact
Nikki Hillier, Program Coordinator
(217) 531-2914
Diana Yates, Communications Coordinator
(217) 531-4275
Harold Allston, Owner, The Great Impasta
(217) 3597377
The Great Impasta in Champaign Goes Smoke-Free
Public Health to Award Smoke Free Recognition Certificate on March 23
“I’m in the hospitality business, and I wasn’t offering the best hospitality.”
–Harold Allston, Owner, The Great Impasta
CHAMPAIGN – The Great Impasta, at 114 W. Church St., Champaign, is now a smokefree restaurant. Owner Harold Allston chose to make his restaurant smokefree this week, adding his establishment to a growing list of eateries that are getting rid of their smoking sections altogether.
Mr. Allston said several factors contributed to his decision to go smokefree. First, trying to keep smoke from nonsmokers was impossible. “I thought the restaurant was big enough, but you can’t keep it from the nonsmoking section.”
Mr. Allston says that it became very personal for him when a customer was having an asthma attack in December from the secondhand smoke. “I felt terrible for her wheezing an coughing like that, and I thought, ‘Here I am in the hospitality industry, and I am not offering the best hospitality to all my guest’”
“I still want smokers to come to my establishment. We put out such a unique product, hopefully, people won’t stay away. We offer food with such great tastes and textures, and the tobacco smoke interferes with the flavors, and that’s what it’s about”
"We are very excited by the decision of The Great Impasta to become a smokefree establishment," said Nikki Hillier, who coordinates the Illinois Smoke Free Restaurant Recognition program in Champaign County. “People often voice concerns about the economic hardship going smokefree might cause, especially to the local food and bar industry, but it seems the local restaurant owners are just as – if not more – supportive. Many would like the city to establish a consistent citywide policy first. Yet, many restaurateurs such as Mr. Allston feel that being smokefree is important enough to move forward with – whether the city acts or not."
“We applaud Mr. Allston for going smokefree, and while it might seem that the market is fixing itself, there are about 4 restaurants going smokefree in ChampaignUrbana each year. At this rate, it will take 35 years to get 80% of hospitality establishments to go smokefree,” said Ms. Hillier. “So, the market is not fixing itself.”
At 4 p.m. on Thursday, March 23, representatives of Public Health will give The Great Impasta a certificate from the Illinois Smokefree Restaurant Recognition Program. This statewide program recognizes restaurants that have gone entirely smokefree and raises public awareness to the dangers of exposure to secondhand smoke. Establishments choosing to participate in the program receive the certificate and are listed on the Illinois Department of Public Health’s web site (http://www.idph.state.il.us/tobacco/smoke-freelisting.htm). The Great Impasta will also appear in the Champaign County Smoke Free Restaurant Guide.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has determined that secondhand smoke cannot be reduced to safe levels indoors. Workers in businesses that allow smoking indoors are at a greater risk for heart attacks, cardiovascular disease, cancer and respiratory disease. Patrons of such businesses may also suffer the ill effects of exposure to secondhand smoke.
Both the Champaign County Public Health Department and the ChampaignUrbana Public Health District have voted to support a resolution calling for the elimination of secondhand smoke in public places.
The text of the resolution, sponsored by the CU Smokefree Alliance, is provided below.
Resolution to Eliminate Secondhand Smoke in Public Places
Whereas, the U.S. Surgeon General has determined that simple separation of smokers and nonsmokers within the same air space does not eliminate the exposure of nonsmokers to secondhand smoke.
Whereas, numerous studies have found that tobacco smoke is a major contributor to indoor air pollution, and that breathing secondhand smoke is a cause of disease in healthy nonsmokers, including heart disease, stroke, respiratory disease and lung cancer. The National Cancer Institute determined in 1999 that secondhand smoke is responsible for the early deaths of 65,000 Americans annually.
Whereas, the Environmental Protection Agency has determined that secondhand smoke cannot be reduced to safe levels in businesses by high rates of ventilation. Air cleaners, which are capable of filtering the particulate matter and odors in smoke, do not eliminate the known 5,000 chemicals including arsenic, cyanide and formaldehyde and other toxins in secondhand smoke.
Whereas, employees who work in smoke-filled businesses suffer a 2550% higher risk of heart attack and higher rates of death from cardiovascular disease and cancer, as well as increased acute respiratory disease and measurable decrease in lung function.
Whereas, smoke-filled workplaces result in higher worker absenteeism due to respiratory disease, lower productivity, higher cleaning and maintenance costs, increased health insurance rates, and increased liability claims for diseases related to exposure to secondhand smoke.
Whereas, there is conclusive proof that smoke-free air laws do not have adverse economic consequences for businesses subject to them; moreover, there is much evidence that smoke-free air laws have a positive economic effect on those businesses.
Be it therefore resolved, that the undersigned organization endorses the CU Smokefree Campaign, which will work to:
- Protect the public health and welfare by prohibiting smoking in public places and places of employment
- Guarantee the right of nonsmokers to breathe smoke-free air.
Be it therefore resolved, that the undersigned organization will:
- Inform its members and the general public of its endorsement of this Resolution
- Inform local elected officials of its endorsement and urge its members to do the same.
- Champaign County Public Health Department and ChampaignUrbana Public Health District
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Friday March 24 is World Tuberculosis Day
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 17, 2006
Contact
Jennifer Hall, TB Control Nurse, Division of Infectious Disease Prevention & Management
(217) 239-7827
Diana Yates, Communications Coordinator
(217) 531-4275
Friday March 24 is World Tuberculosis Day
March 24 is World TB Day, an annual observance meant to draw attention to a disease that causes over 2 million deaths a year worldwide. According to the Centers for Disease Control:
- One-third of the world’s population is infected with tuberculosis (TB)
- 9 million people become ill with TB each year
- TB is the leading cause of death among HIV infected individuals
- TB causes more deaths among women than all causes of maternal mortality combined
The Champaign-Urbana Public Health District and the Champaign County Public Health Department are part of a worldwide effort to eradicate tuberculosis. We are working to reduce the incidence of tuberculosis in Champaign County. TB testing is offered every week at our Urbana location (217 N. Broadway), and we work in conjunction with local healthcare agencies to provide follow-up testing and care for clients with active TB. Our nurses also perform TB testing in three local homeless shelters.
Public Health sees a few active cases of tuberculosis per year. In 2005 we performed 1,968 TB tests. Of those, 45 tested positive. Additional testing revealed that 9 of those individuals had active (contagious) TB. CUPHD diligently monitors all clients with active TB to minimize transmission of the disease to others. Left untreated, one person with active TB can infect 10-15 people per year!
According to the Centers for Disease Control, TB disproportionately affects racial and ethnic minorities. In 2004, 82% of all reported TB cases in the United States occurred in minorities. Foreign-born individuals account for 54% of TB cases in the U.S. Here in Champaign County, that percentage is greater, with 66% of our cases being foreign-born.
Symptoms of pulmonary TB include a persistent, phlegm-producing cough that lasts more than three weeks, chest pain, and coughing up blood. Other symptoms include fever, chills, night sweats, loss of appetite, and weight loss.
Only through the vigilance of health authorities everywhere can the disease be checked and, it is hoped, eliminated throughout the world.
Champaign-Urbana Public Health District TB clinics at 217 N. Broadway, Urbana:
Skin Tests: Mondays, 8 a.m. – 4 p.m.
Test results are read the following Wednesday, 8 a.m. – noon and 2 – 4 p.m.
For more information, please contact the Division of Infectious Disease Prevention & Management, (217) 239-7827.
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Proposed Budget and Appropriation Ordinance for the Champaign-Urbana public Health District
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 14, 2006
Notice is hereby given that a Proposed Budget and Appropriation Ordinance for the Champaign-Urbana public Health District in the County of Champaign and State of Illinois, for the fiscal year beginning April 1, 2006, and ending March 31, 2007, is on file and conveniently available for public inspection from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, in the main office of the Public Health District at 710 N. Neil St., Champaign, Illinois.
Notice is further given that a Public Hearing on said Proposed Budget and Appropriation Ordinance will be held at 5:00 p.m. on the 17th day of April 2006, at the Satellite Office of the Champaign-Urbana Public Health District, 815 N. Randolph St., Champaign, Illinois, and that final action is anticipated by the Board of Health of the Champaign-Urbana Public Health District at its annual meeting at said office of the Public Health District immediately following the Public Hearing scheduled for 5:00 p.m. on April 17, 2006.
Dated this 14th day of March, A.D., 2006.
Carol Elliott, Secretary
Champaign-Urbana Public Health District
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