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Massachusetts town's hearing on proposed tobacco ban ends abruptly
 [Washington Post] Westminster, Mass. -- a town about 52 miles from Boston -- might make history.Or ... it might not, if a public hearing was any indication. The community of less than 8,000 residents is considering prohibiting the sale of tobacco products, which would apparently be the first such ban in the nation. Westminster residents gathered on Wednesday night to discuss the proposal, which would ban the sale of items such as cigarettes, chewing tobacco and electronic cigarettes. The crowd grew so unruly that Andrea Crete, the town's Board of Health chairwoman, abruptly ended the event, according to the Boston Herald. Just four people spoke, and opponents of the measure sang as the hearing shut down. Crete left with a police escort, newspapers reported. "Nobody's respecting the ground rules," Crete said, according to the Herald. "We have to close it. The clapping. Everybody talking. Nobody is showing any respect to the board or to other people when they're talking. We cannot have that. It's going to spin out of control." Posted by: Fred 2014-11-15 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=404256 |