Bar Owners Abandon Fight Against Smoking Ban

The owners of four Valley bars who tried to circumvent Arizona's smoking ban have reached an agreement with the state to stop their efforts.

Attorney General Terry Goddard and Department of Health Services Director Susan Gerard said Alfonso Larriva and Alfonso Ruiz will pay the state $10,000 and take steps to bring their bars -- the Metro Sportz Bar, the Maverick Saloon, River City Pockets and the Boomerang Bar and Billiards -- into compliance with the Smoke Free-Arizona Act.

Larriva and Ruiz were cited as May for violating the act after they claimed they were exempt because they had installed vents in their walls or replaced windows with vents so their bars could no longer be defined as ``enclosed" areas where smoking is prohibited.

The two also had failed to post the required ``No Smoking" signs and remove ash trays.

Read More