Inventor pitches cigarette butt collector to Las Vegas

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Las Vegas is a cigarette butts mecca for Ken Beckstead, a California man who recently moved to the valley, bringing with him a pointy shaped steel box thoughtfully designed for disposing of used cigarettes, though the contraption seems visually more suitable for an alien space craft. However, what Beckstead hopes to do with the discarded smoke sticks is certainly futuristic. “I have to get Caesars Palace, MGM Grand and the Station Casinos on board and to save their cigarette butts,” the 48-year-old said. “I can take them to a waste-to-energy plant and generate electricity from them — something that would otherwise be thrown away.”

Butts Only Boxes are brightly painted, locked boxes shaped to withstand strong winds and rain. Nearly 100 boxes of various sizes, including roadside and trail-size versions, have been placed in California highway rest stops among other high traffic areas. “Nobody has ever put an ashtray on the side of the freeway before,” an enthusiastic Beckstead said. “I’m working on a golf cart model.” About 11 years ago, Beckstead — who started off in construction and has a background in storm water pollution prevention — decided to create an environmentally conscious ashtray. The roadside boxes are $980 and the trail models start at $265.

They are designed solely for disposing of cigarettes and have a fenced opening that prevents people from placing their hands inside. “It seems like such an (elegant) design that it could work,” said Kevin Eubanks, assistant general manager for the Clark County Regional Flood Control District. Beckstead met with Eubanks and other members of the Regional Flood Control District Stormwater Quality Management Committee this week to show off his Butts Only Boxes and another one of his inventions — the Gutter Critter. Gutter Critters are fish-shaped sandbags designed for household use. They can be placed in gutters to prevent trash from entering storm drains while washing a car, RV or boat. Eubanks was intrigued by both inventions.

 There might be some interest among committee members to get some state grants to run a pilot program with the Butts Only Boxes, Eubanks said. The committee will meet again June 12 and plans to revisit the topic. “It’s really important here in Las Vegas that we keep pollutants out of Las Vegas wash, because it drains to Lake Mead,” Eubanks said. “Lake Mead is where we play and it’s also where we draw our drinking water.” Eubanks said that about 5 percent of the annual rainfall in the valley runs unfiltered into the lake and that cigarette butts “hasn’t been identified as a huge problem," though anything that can be done to reduce pollution would be worth considering, he added. “I have a passion for preserving the environment for us and future generations and wildlife,” said Beckstead, a nonsmoker who enjoys fishing, boating and being outdoors. Beckstead’s love for the environment is matched by his dislike of smoke.

 “I’ve sacrificed everything I’ve acquired for the last 30 years to get this far,” said Beckstead, who grew up on a humble avocado ranch in Escondido, Calif. He hopes his product takes off and will stop people from littering cigarette butts, which carry toxins and take years to breakdown. A cigarette butt can take anywhere from 18 months to 10 years to degrade, said Christine Flowers, executive director of Keep California Beautiful, an affiliate of Keep America Beautiful. “This is a huge environmental cost,” Flowers said. “It’s the most littered item.” Butts are made from a plastic known as cellulose acetate, not paper as many people believe, Flowers said.

 Funds from the national organization went to pay for the program that put Butts Only Boxes at high-traffic rest stops throughout California, stretching from stops near San Francisco down to San Diego and 26 miles west of the Nevada-California boarder. According to Beckstead, his Butts Only Boxes have collected more than 90 pounds of cigarette butts, which is about 250,000 butts. Eubanks said all the cigarette butts add up, especially with the millions of people who live in or are visiting the valley. “I invented this product for this town,” said Beckstead, adding that he hopes to find a local manufacturer to cut and shape his boxes. “It just sounded like a good idea,” Eubanks said. “It seems like a no-brainer.”

Duo could pay big for alleged theft of smokes

A Clifton Park man and a Troy woman both face 40 years in prison for their alleged roles in the knifepoint robbery of a corner store that netted eight packs of cigarettes, police said. The robbery unfolded about 11:45 p.m. Sunday, when a man cloaked in a ski mask and wielding a large kitchen knife barged into LeBeau's Grocery at 350 Fourth St. and demanded cash, Capt. John Cooney said. The clerk fought off the man, who swiped eight packs of cigarettes before he ran off, Cooney said.

Police became suspicious when they interviewed witness Pamela Richardson, who said she saw "nothing of value to the investigation" and quickly left the scene, the police spokesman said. Officers watched Richardson climb into a car driven by Kevin Pooler, Cooney said. Police stopped the car, allegedly found the cigarettes and the mask inside and arrested both Pooler and Richardson. According to police, Richardson admitted to being Pooler's accomplice. Pooler, 22, of 203D Halfmoon Circle, Clifton Park, and Richardson, 32, of 115 Sweeney Apartments, Troy, were each charged with one count of first- and second-degree robbery.

A first-degree robbery conviction carries a sentence of up to 25 years in prison; second-degree robbery up to 15 years. Pooler also was charged with criminal possession of a weapon and multiple motor vehicle violations. Both were arraigned in Troy City Court and sent to Rensselaer County Jail without bail. It's the second time LeBeau's Grocery has been robbed in less than 10 months. On July 8, a man entered LeBeau's around 1:20 p.m., bought a beverage at the counter, punched the clerk in the face, reached into the cash register and grabbed more than $200 in cash before running away.

Missouri Voters Pushing Cigarette Tax Hike

A group of Missourians seeking to raise Missouri’s lowest-in-the-nation state cigarette tax are expected to submit signature this week to the state that would put the issue on the November ballot, the Kansas City Star reports. The proposal calls for raising Missouri’s 17 cents per pack cigarette tax to 90 cents, with the additional money used to fund education and smoking prevention and cessation. Taxes on other tobacco products would also increase.

 Supporters of the measure say the goal is improving public health by preventing young people from starting smoking, while getting adults to stop. “Most people are looking for a reason to quit,” said Misty Snodgrass of the American Cancer Society. “Tobacco and cigarettes are not an essential life benefit, it's not like rent or food. So people make those choices whenever it does become more expensive.” In preparation for the tobacco tax ballot measure, which is due in the secretary of state’s office May 6, a trial judge in Cole County has already scheduled a legal challenge to the proposal.

 Assuming the measure clears the signature challenge and legal hurdle, this would be the third time this decade that a proposal to increase tobacco taxes has appeared on the statewide ballot. Previous efforts were defeated in 2002 (55-cents per pack increase) by 31,000 votes and 2006 (80 cents per pack increase) by 61,000 votes. Ron Leone, executive director for the Missouri Petroleum Marketers & Convenience Store Association, said the existing federal, state and local government taxes paid on cigarettes is already sufficiently high, adding that focusing on just the state tax of 17 cents can be misleading.

At the same time, he endorsed a plan that would gradually increase the state cigarette tax to 33 cents after four years. He said maintaining low taxes enables the state to attract customers from other states, who purchase tobacco products and other items from Missouri cigarette retailers. “We believe being a low-tax state is a good thing,” Leone said. “We're not embarrassed by the fact that we're the lowest tobacco taxed state in the country. We don't have a problem with that. We think that's a good thing.”

A different kind of cigarette tax hike proposal

Cigarette smokers who want to save money can use a rolling machine and fill it with paper tubes and bulk tobacco. Under a bill awaiting a Senate vote that would change. The reasons vary, depending on who’s speaking. State Sen. Terry Link (D-Waukegan) has introduced a bill, with the approval of tobacco giant Altria (formerly known as Philip Morris), which would tax cigarettes from “roll-your-own” (RYO) machines at the same rate as the mass-produced kind most smokers buy.

 Phil Accordino, president of RYO Machine, L. L. C., said Link’s bill is nothing more than an attempt to put another notch in Altria’s belt. “This is about legislating winners and losers,” he said. Altria is one of Link’s campaign contributors. Link said the tax benefit to Illinois could be in the “hundreds of millions of dollars” if his bill passes.

Would you vote for a tax increase on cigarettes?

Californians will head to the ballot box in June to vote on Prop 29, which if passed, would boost taxes on a pack of cigarettes in California by $1 (it’s currently .87 cents – and $4.35 in New York). That would raise an estimated $735 million annually, most of which would go to cancer research. If the cigarette tax works as an effective smoking deterrent, that would also mean an estimated $1 billion loss to the California tobacco industry.

Tobacco companies have so far spent $21 million to defeat the initiative. They’re also representing themselves as California Against Out-of-Control Taxes and Spending, which is appealing to anti-tax sentiments to oppose the proposition, pointing out that the provision allows out-of-state organizations to bid for the cancer research dollars.

The campaign is being closely watched since California hasn’t approved a tobacco tax increase in 14 years and data shows that heavy spending to persuade voters to reject ballot measures usually works pretty well—voters are predisposed to vote “no” on initiatives. On the other hand, it’s tougher to defeat initiatives when the public is knowledgeable, and unpredictable as to how anti-smoking campaigns may sway voters.

Quinn wants deep cuts, $1-a-pack cigarette tax hike for Medicaid

Gov. Pat Quinn today outlined his plan to overhaul the state’s health care system for the poor, an approach that includes a $1-a-pack hike in cigarette taxes coupled with deep cuts that will sharply curtail services. The governor repeatedly has said the state must find $2.7 billion in savings from the Medicaid the Medicaid program or risk its collapse under billions of dollars in debt. Quinn proposed $1.35 billion in program cuts and reductions, which range from eliminating a discount prescription program from seniors to limiting eligibility that would remove thousands of patients from the insurance rolls.

He also wants to slash rates for hospitals and other health care providers, which he says will save $675 million. To offset the need for some cuts, the governor wants to raise cigarette taxes by $1 a pack, which his office says would generate about $675 million for healthcare once federal matching dollars are added in. "If we don't deal with this problem right now, it will just get worse," Quinn said at a Springfield news conference this afternoon. "We have to make some fundamental changes," Quinn said, noting the reductions, cuts and efficiencies have been "difficult." Raising the tax of cigarettes by $1 a pack is part of a balanced approach that will cut down on the number of youngsters and help the state collect more matching federal funds, he said.

 "We can't stand on the side and do nothing about it," Quinn said. Republican leaders Christine Radogno of Lemont and Tom Cross of Oswego criticized Quinn for including the cigarette tax hike to avoid making all of the necessary cuts.. They issued a joint statement that said they wanted to hold Quinn to his word, citing his February budget speech in which he said Illinois “must reduce” Medicaid spending by $2.7 billion. They called for Quinn to keep working with a bipartisan group of lawmakers to find more reforms and cuts in the Medicaid program rather than tax hikes.

 One member of the working group, Sen. Dale Righter, R-Mattoon, said he won’t support the cigarette tax increase. A substantial part of his legislative district borders Indiana, and he fears the cheaper cigarette taxes will prompt people to travel across the border to shop and go out to eat when they to go Indiana to buy cheaper cigarettes. Another member of the working group, Sen. Heather Steans, D-Chicago, said lawmakers will keep working with the governor’s office and a meeting is scheduled for next week. She supported the governor coming forward with his own plan, saying he’s “proposing a whole solution.” But she cautioned that there’s “just not entire agreement” on the elements he’s rolled out.

Upbeat Imperial Tobacco helps equities higher

Shares in the maker of Lambert & Butler rose 92p to £25.56 after the company reported a 3.3pc growth in revenues to £3.4bn during the six months ending March 31 and launched a £500m share buyback. "Tone from management is upbeat, with sales momentum building into the second half on the back of increased innovation," broker Jefferies said in a note. "[We] would not expect much change to consensus numbers on the back of these results, but positive tone from management into the second half will give the market some comfort on the topline delivery."

Imperial Tobacco was just one of several strong performers across the FTSE 100, which closed up 74.45 points at 5812.23, while the wider FTSE 250 rose 86.27 to 11,503.86. Joshua Raymond, chief market strategist at City Index, said: "The FTSE 100 had been mostly treading water on gains of 0.4pc for much of the session until the release of US manufacturing data that really breathed some life into what had been a fairly uneventful session.