Assignment, 3 Nebraska issues

1. The first one comes from the Omaha World Hearld regarding the spread of infections within hospitals. Yet, this is also considered a national issue, but we'll keep it more personal.

The University of Nebraska Medical Center has now given a stethoscope to each patient so bacteria aren't carried from one patient to another. The stethoscopes hang on a hook at patients' bedsides. In additon, the med center will ask patients to bathe in a sanitary solution 3 times a week. Even ties are a source to bacteria, doctors, patients, and visitors alike have been asked to refrain from wearing them now.

Medicaid and Medicare have begun withholding payments in certain cases involving hospital-acquired infections. And some states now require hospitals to report infection rates, although Nebraska and Iowa aren't among them.


2. The next one is proposed bills as exemptions to the smoking ban that will become active on June 1.

Two proposals would grant those exemptions. One bill (LB355), introduced by Omaha Sen. Scott Lautenbaugh, would exempt cigar bars that meet certain requirements. The other (LB600), introduced by Sen. Russ Karpisek of Wilber, would exempt pool halls with at least 20 hourly fee pool tables.

A co-owner of a cigar bar in Lincoln and one in Omaha, said that when the city of Lincoln enacted its smoking ban in 2005, cigar sales in his Lincoln business dropped 10 percent. After the Omaha ban went into effect in July, cigar sales dropped overall 19 percent, and has now become less of a focus in the business. Retail tobacco stores were automatically excluded from the ban as of last year, but cigar bars have been overlooked.

3. This one is over fire-safe cigarettes. At first, I honestly thought it was a joke. Uh, hello, you have to light those nasty things on fire in order to smoke them, duh. So how in the world can they be considered fire-safe? Apparently they can be. 37 other states have already required the standard of cigarettes sold to be fire-safe, and now Nebraska is looking at it.

The fire-safe cigarettes are thicker in two separate spots so they will go out if not puffed when they burn to these areas. The idea is to prevent fires caused when cigarettes are left unattended.

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission says smoking was the biggest cause of fire-related deaths in the country from 2002 to 2004, the most recent years for which data are available. On average, 630 deaths were caused by smoking-related fires during each of those years. My advice? Just don't smoke, or quit. But I know, easier said than done.

4. My issue I already thought of, the Beatrice State Developmental Center. See the blogs below for more information on it.