"In a first, Mass. town may prohibit tobacco sales" by Kay Lazar | Globe Staff October 28, 2014
The Central Massachusetts town of Westminster would become the first community in the state, and perhaps the nation, to ban all tobacco sales under a proposal made public Monday that regulators say is designed to improve health, especially among the young.
Draft regulations posted on the town’s website would prohibit sales of products containing tobacco or nicotine, including cigarettes, chewing tobacco, and even electronic cigarettes, which use batteries to heat nicotine-laced liquid, producing a vapor that is inhaled.
The plan has infuriated local store owners, who are circulating petitions to block the action, saying it would drive them out of business and simply send people to nearby communities for their tobacco products.
A ban such as the one under consideration in Westminster represents the next frontier in the campaign to curb tobacco use....
I just put it out.
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Hey, buddy, got a cigarette?
"Lorillard CEO to get $44M after Reynolds merger" AP October 21, 2014
RICHMOND, Va. — The chief executive of Newport cigarette maker Lorillard Inc. is set to receive more than $44 million following the planned $25 billion merger with Reynolds American Inc., regulatory filings show.
Murray Kessler is one of several Lorillard executives to receive compensation if they’re terminated after the deal closes, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The bulk of Kessler’s $44.7 million compensation package would come in the form of a payout of stock awards worth $32.8 million.
He’d also receive $10.6 million in cash, which amounts to three times his base salary and annual bonus, according to the filing late Friday.
Last fiscal year, the 55-year-old Kessler received a pay package valued at $10.3 million, up 21 percent from the year before, according to an Associated Press analysis of a regulatory filing....
I'll bet he's part of the 1%.
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Take a good long drag, readers, before blowing it back in their face.
