The men who police say are responsible for a large number of business burglaries in the area are behind bars. The arrest comes after weeks of detective work, helped by some key surveillance video.
According to St. Matthews Police, the rising cost of cigarettes continues to lead to more business burglaries. Detectives say the thieves they were after were getting good at busting into stores and getting hundreds of cartons out. But thanks to a number of security camera tapes, the clues were provided to make an arrest.
"In each case, they lost six to seven thousand dollars worth of merchandise," said Det. Harvey Hunt of the St. Matthews Police.
Police say the same men hit some 14 stores and they had the same MO. It started in November at the Cox's Smoker's Outlet in St. Matthews. Hunt said Tracy Shanklin and Kenneth Foster, Sr. used a sledge hammer on the front door, pushed their black garbage cans in, loaded up cartons of cigarettes and were out in two minutes time. The store surveillance cameras helped Hunt make out a black truck.
From there, the suspects hit at least six Cox's Smoker's Outlets in the weeks ahead, along with other tobacco dealers from Shepherdsville to Bardstown to Bo's Smoke Shop in Anderson County. It seemed the duo had a fool-proof plan and were driving what first appeared to be a vehicle like hundreds of others on the street - a black truck. Police say what the two didn't count on were security cameras at nearby businesses that got a good shot of the getaway truck.
A local Target camera picked up the truck from several angles. Detectives could see the hood was actually teal and another angle showed a thick white stripe down the side. After St. Matthews Police sent out an e-mail to other police agencies, the truck was spotted on 20th Street in Louisville's Portland neighborhood, but it had been torched. That's when security cameras came in handy once again when the cameras captured the alleged thieves switching to other cars, vehicles which allegedly belonged to family and friends of the suspects.
"That's when the pieces all fell together for us," Hunt said.
Without the video, Police say they would still be looking for the two. Instead, they were able to obtain a search warrant and make arrests.
"The old saying ‘a picture's worth a thousand words," said Hunt, "Well, the video's even better than that."
Shanklin and Foster have been charged with burglary and are being held at Louisville Metro Corrections.
The owners of Cox's Smoker's Outlet did not want to go on camera, but tell us they are very happy about the arrest and consider it a great Christmas present.
вторник, 29 декабря 2009 г.
среда, 23 декабря 2009 г.
Japan to Raise Tobacco Tax by 4 Cents a Cigarette
Starting next October, the Japanese will pay 4 cents (3.5 yen) more per cigarette, Bloomberg reports. That’s in addition to the 1.5 yen per cigarette tobacco companies will add. Japan is the world’s fourth-largest cigarette market.
The tax increase is the first in four years and is part of Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama’s plan to decrease smoking in an effort to lower health insurance costs. Japan also faces a tax revenue deficit. The 3.5 yen per cigarette raises a 20-pack of cigarettes 33 percent.
Japan Tobacco could increase prices by more than the tax gain to counter an anticipated fall in smoking rates, said President Hiroshi Kimura. “The government will probably keep increasing the tax and more people will stop smoking,” said Mitsuo Shimizu, a market analyst at Cosmo Securities Co.
The fifth in more than 20 years, the tax increase is the biggest, since the previous tax hikes stayed below 1 yen per cigarette. Cigarettes are fairly inexpensive in Japan, with the price of about a third of the cost in the United Kingdom.
Currently, the smoking rate for Japanese men is just over 36 percent last year, with the health ministry predicting that number to drop to around 27 percent with the tax increase.
The tax increase is the first in four years and is part of Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama’s plan to decrease smoking in an effort to lower health insurance costs. Japan also faces a tax revenue deficit. The 3.5 yen per cigarette raises a 20-pack of cigarettes 33 percent.
Japan Tobacco could increase prices by more than the tax gain to counter an anticipated fall in smoking rates, said President Hiroshi Kimura. “The government will probably keep increasing the tax and more people will stop smoking,” said Mitsuo Shimizu, a market analyst at Cosmo Securities Co.
The fifth in more than 20 years, the tax increase is the biggest, since the previous tax hikes stayed below 1 yen per cigarette. Cigarettes are fairly inexpensive in Japan, with the price of about a third of the cost in the United Kingdom.
Currently, the smoking rate for Japanese men is just over 36 percent last year, with the health ministry predicting that number to drop to around 27 percent with the tax increase.
понедельник, 21 декабря 2009 г.
NJ Senate passes bill to restrict e-cigarettes
The New Jersey Senate has approved a bill that restricts the sale and use of electronic cigarettes.
The bill expands the definition of "smoking" to include e-cigarettes and extends the ban on smoking by minors to include them.
Electronic cigarettes look like the real thing but don't contain tobacco. Instead, they employ a metal tube with a battery that heats up a liquid nicotine solution. Users inhale and exhale the resulting water vapor.
The Senate bill, approved Thursday by a 38-0 vote, prohibits their use in public places and workplaces. It was approved Monday by the state Assembly and now goes to Gov. Jon Corzine.
U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg has called on the federal Food and Drug Administration to remove e-cigarettes from the market.
The bill expands the definition of "smoking" to include e-cigarettes and extends the ban on smoking by minors to include them.
Electronic cigarettes look like the real thing but don't contain tobacco. Instead, they employ a metal tube with a battery that heats up a liquid nicotine solution. Users inhale and exhale the resulting water vapor.
The Senate bill, approved Thursday by a 38-0 vote, prohibits their use in public places and workplaces. It was approved Monday by the state Assembly and now goes to Gov. Jon Corzine.
U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg has called on the federal Food and Drug Administration to remove e-cigarettes from the market.
пятница, 18 декабря 2009 г.
Kentucky's Love-Hate Relationship with Tobacco
Much-needed money continues to flow into Kentucky's state treasury from cigarette taxes and the 1998 tobacco settlement, but a new study shows very little of it is being used to keep adults and young people from lighting up. The report, titled, A Broken Promise to Our Children, studies what states do with tobacco settlement money and the taxes on cigarettes. This year, Kentucky collected $383 million combined, while ranking only 40th in funding programs to keep kids away from tobacco.
Tonya Chang, advocacy director with the American Heart Association in Kentucky, says the state is far behind.
"The Center for Disease Control recommends that Kentucky spend almost $60 million a year, and we don't even spend four million dollars a year, so we're falling drastically short of protecting kids from the danger of tobacco."
Keeping children off the tobacco road also starts with getting their parents to kick the habit, says Chang.
"If you grow up in a smoking home, you're much more likely to smoke, and second to that, if you are in a smoking household, if you can get that person to stop smoking, you're protecting their children from secondhand smoke, which is also a big threat in Kentucky."
The state has won some small battles in the war against smoking, she adds.
"In 2005, the cigarette tax was at three cents; we're now up to 60 cents. We've made minimal progress in the adult smoking rate. For years and years and years, we were number-one in smoking, and this year, new data came out and we are down to number three."
The same study estimates that tobacco companies spend well over $400 million a year marketing their products in the commonwealth. It's also estimated that each year, 5,700 Kentucky children become regular tobacco users and the state spends $1.5 billion for health care related to smoking.
Tonya Chang, advocacy director with the American Heart Association in Kentucky, says the state is far behind.
"The Center for Disease Control recommends that Kentucky spend almost $60 million a year, and we don't even spend four million dollars a year, so we're falling drastically short of protecting kids from the danger of tobacco."
Keeping children off the tobacco road also starts with getting their parents to kick the habit, says Chang.
"If you grow up in a smoking home, you're much more likely to smoke, and second to that, if you are in a smoking household, if you can get that person to stop smoking, you're protecting their children from secondhand smoke, which is also a big threat in Kentucky."
The state has won some small battles in the war against smoking, she adds.
"In 2005, the cigarette tax was at three cents; we're now up to 60 cents. We've made minimal progress in the adult smoking rate. For years and years and years, we were number-one in smoking, and this year, new data came out and we are down to number three."
The same study estimates that tobacco companies spend well over $400 million a year marketing their products in the commonwealth. It's also estimated that each year, 5,700 Kentucky children become regular tobacco users and the state spends $1.5 billion for health care related to smoking.
вторник, 15 декабря 2009 г.
Government Prepares Draft Bill on Tobacco Control
The government is drafting a bill on the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC). “This is to protect Indonesian youth today and in the future from the dangers of smoking,” said the Health Department’s Head of Public Communication Center, Lily S. Sulistyowati in a press release last week.
The FCTC is a legally-binding international convention applicable to countries that ratify it. The FCTC has been adopted by acclamation by the World Health Assembly on May 2003 and will be effective if a minimum of 40 nations ratify it. At the end of February 2004, 95 countries, including the European Union, had signed the convention.
The previous government had regulation No.19/2003 about Regulations on Cigarettes and Health. The law regulates the size and the type of health warning, time limits for cigarettes advertisements in electronic media and tar and nicotine level testing.
Health Minister Endang Rahayu Sedyaningsih admitted she faces a dilemma over this issue. Duties on cigarettes is considered as a major source of revenue for both the central and regional governments. But on the other hand, cigarettes are a threat to health. Tobacco epidemic data in the world shows that tobacco kills more than 5 million people every year. If this continues, in 2020 there will be 10 million deaths and 70 percent of them will take place in developing countries. “This is the challenge we have to face to protect the young generation from the dangers of smoking,” said Endang, in her press release.
Indonesia is one of the countries which consume the most tobacco, the fifth after China, United States of America, Russia and Japan, with an estimated consumption of 220 billion cigarettes in 2005.
Head of Indonesian Consumers Foundation (YLKI) Husna Zahir called on the Health Minister to be more objective in facing the Draft Bill on Tobacco. Husna hoped that Endang will be firm on the issue.”Tobacco provides big revenues to the state , but that is not the Health Minister’s area,” said Husna yesterday.
As Health Minister, she continued, Endang should be thinking more about how to avoid cigarette exposure to children and teenagers and improve the health conditions of active or passive smokers. Husna added that state revenue matters or scholarships from tobacco companies should not be an obstacle in issuing policies on cigarettes and tobaccos. “If she (Health Minister) sees it that way, she’s only looking at the problem half-heartedly. Who does she want to protect?”Judging by the Health Minister’s ambivalence, Husna is worried that the Tobacco Draft Bill discussion will be a tough exercise.”Efforts at controlling tobacco will be at risk,“ she said.
The FCTC is a legally-binding international convention applicable to countries that ratify it. The FCTC has been adopted by acclamation by the World Health Assembly on May 2003 and will be effective if a minimum of 40 nations ratify it. At the end of February 2004, 95 countries, including the European Union, had signed the convention.
The previous government had regulation No.19/2003 about Regulations on Cigarettes and Health. The law regulates the size and the type of health warning, time limits for cigarettes advertisements in electronic media and tar and nicotine level testing.
Health Minister Endang Rahayu Sedyaningsih admitted she faces a dilemma over this issue. Duties on cigarettes is considered as a major source of revenue for both the central and regional governments. But on the other hand, cigarettes are a threat to health. Tobacco epidemic data in the world shows that tobacco kills more than 5 million people every year. If this continues, in 2020 there will be 10 million deaths and 70 percent of them will take place in developing countries. “This is the challenge we have to face to protect the young generation from the dangers of smoking,” said Endang, in her press release.
Indonesia is one of the countries which consume the most tobacco, the fifth after China, United States of America, Russia and Japan, with an estimated consumption of 220 billion cigarettes in 2005.
Head of Indonesian Consumers Foundation (YLKI) Husna Zahir called on the Health Minister to be more objective in facing the Draft Bill on Tobacco. Husna hoped that Endang will be firm on the issue.”Tobacco provides big revenues to the state , but that is not the Health Minister’s area,” said Husna yesterday.
As Health Minister, she continued, Endang should be thinking more about how to avoid cigarette exposure to children and teenagers and improve the health conditions of active or passive smokers. Husna added that state revenue matters or scholarships from tobacco companies should not be an obstacle in issuing policies on cigarettes and tobaccos. “If she (Health Minister) sees it that way, she’s only looking at the problem half-heartedly. Who does she want to protect?”Judging by the Health Minister’s ambivalence, Husna is worried that the Tobacco Draft Bill discussion will be a tough exercise.”Efforts at controlling tobacco will be at risk,“ she said.
понедельник, 14 декабря 2009 г.
New Mich. cigarette law has some smokers fuming
A new state law intended to reduce the fire hazard posed by smoldering cigarettes has frustrated some Michigan smokers, who complain that the safer cigarettes taste foul.
The law, which takes effect Jan. 1, requires all cigarettes sold in Michigan to be engineered to automatically extinguish when left unattended. To comply, cigarette companies usually add two or three special bands to the cigarettes' paper that, when lit, reduce the flow of oxygen to the tobacco, thereby slowing the stick's rate of burn.
If a smoker does not draw on the lit cigarette, the bands effectively smother it.
Ashley May, a 22-year-old smoker from Roseville, told The Detroit News that the fire-safe smokes taste foul and are hard to keep lit.
"I don't like them," she said after a drag from a Kool. "You have to constantly puff on them every 30 seconds or else they're going out. And then when you try to re-light them, they taste horrible."
Although May and her husband Ed do not like the fire-safe cigarettes, they said they are a good idea if they end up reducing the number of house fires caused by unattended cigarettes.
Gov. Jennifer Granholm approved the law in June, making Michigan the 49th state to pass fire-safe cigarette legislation.
he new cigarettes won't end all fires started by smoking materials, but they will help lower the numbers of deaths and injuries caused by them, said Ronald Farr, Michigan's Fire Marshal.
"It's a life-safety issue," he said. "That's the single biggest point for them."
Fires caused by smoking-related materials in Michigan killed four people last year and injured 33 others, including seven firefighters, according to the state's Bureau of Fire Services.
Nationwide, fires ignited by cigarettes claimed 780 lives in the United States in 2006, according to the Massachussetts-based National Fire Protection Association.
With Michigan's new law looming, tobacco retailers such as Joe Odisho, the owner of Smokers' Planet in Roseville, have heard plenty of complaints about the new cigarettes.
"I've had people come in (and) ask if I have a brand without (the fire-safe cigarettes) and then turn around and walk out when I tell them 'no,"' he said.
Under the new law, cigarette manufacturers that want to sell their products in the state have to register them with the state's Bureau of Fire Services. They also must certify that their cigarettes were made with the self-extinguishing technology.
The state will charge cigarette makers a $1,250 fee to register each family brand of their products they want sold in Michigan. The companies will also have to re-certify their products every three years.
The packaging for cigarettes must carry a special mark on them -- FSC for Fire Standard Complaint -- as well.
Any manufacturer, distributor or retailer who continues to sell unsafe cigarettes after Jan. 1 faces fines of $100 per pack and seizure of the product, according to the law.
The law, which takes effect Jan. 1, requires all cigarettes sold in Michigan to be engineered to automatically extinguish when left unattended. To comply, cigarette companies usually add two or three special bands to the cigarettes' paper that, when lit, reduce the flow of oxygen to the tobacco, thereby slowing the stick's rate of burn.
If a smoker does not draw on the lit cigarette, the bands effectively smother it.
Ashley May, a 22-year-old smoker from Roseville, told The Detroit News that the fire-safe smokes taste foul and are hard to keep lit.
"I don't like them," she said after a drag from a Kool. "You have to constantly puff on them every 30 seconds or else they're going out. And then when you try to re-light them, they taste horrible."
Although May and her husband Ed do not like the fire-safe cigarettes, they said they are a good idea if they end up reducing the number of house fires caused by unattended cigarettes.
Gov. Jennifer Granholm approved the law in June, making Michigan the 49th state to pass fire-safe cigarette legislation.
he new cigarettes won't end all fires started by smoking materials, but they will help lower the numbers of deaths and injuries caused by them, said Ronald Farr, Michigan's Fire Marshal.
"It's a life-safety issue," he said. "That's the single biggest point for them."
Fires caused by smoking-related materials in Michigan killed four people last year and injured 33 others, including seven firefighters, according to the state's Bureau of Fire Services.
Nationwide, fires ignited by cigarettes claimed 780 lives in the United States in 2006, according to the Massachussetts-based National Fire Protection Association.
With Michigan's new law looming, tobacco retailers such as Joe Odisho, the owner of Smokers' Planet in Roseville, have heard plenty of complaints about the new cigarettes.
"I've had people come in (and) ask if I have a brand without (the fire-safe cigarettes) and then turn around and walk out when I tell them 'no,"' he said.
Under the new law, cigarette manufacturers that want to sell their products in the state have to register them with the state's Bureau of Fire Services. They also must certify that their cigarettes were made with the self-extinguishing technology.
The state will charge cigarette makers a $1,250 fee to register each family brand of their products they want sold in Michigan. The companies will also have to re-certify their products every three years.
The packaging for cigarettes must carry a special mark on them -- FSC for Fire Standard Complaint -- as well.
Any manufacturer, distributor or retailer who continues to sell unsafe cigarettes after Jan. 1 faces fines of $100 per pack and seizure of the product, according to the law.
вторник, 1 декабря 2009 г.
Money, cigarettes, taken in Des Moines robbery
A man armed with a pocket knife robbed the Star (Citgo Quik Mart), 3761 E. University Ave., in Des Moines, about 7:30 p.m. Sunday.
There were no injuries.
Police said the man walked into the store with the knife in his hand and ordered a clerk to "Give me all the money."
A clerk opened the cash register and handed the man some money. Then the robber leaned over the counter and reached for the rest of the cash. He also took handfuls of cigarettes packages. A second man stood at the door during the hold-up and fled with the robber across a field to the east.
Police called in a K-9 unit to search for the suspects.
No arrests were reported. The police report lists the business as Star Gas Station. The telephone book and online references refer to it as Citgo. No one answered the phone at the business early this morning.
There were no injuries.
Police said the man walked into the store with the knife in his hand and ordered a clerk to "Give me all the money."
A clerk opened the cash register and handed the man some money. Then the robber leaned over the counter and reached for the rest of the cash. He also took handfuls of cigarettes packages. A second man stood at the door during the hold-up and fled with the robber across a field to the east.
Police called in a K-9 unit to search for the suspects.
No arrests were reported. The police report lists the business as Star Gas Station. The telephone book and online references refer to it as Citgo. No one answered the phone at the business early this morning.
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