There won’t be a smoking ban in Winona, Minn. parks, but rather an encouragement not to light up. On Monday, the Winona City Council voted 5-2 to have city staff draft a policy discouraging smoking in parks without making it illegal.

The result wasn’t what the group Live Well Winona wanted, but director Janneke Sobeck told the Winona Daily News that it’s a good first step.

A timeline for the new policy to be drafted and voted on has not yet been announced.

Winona is home to just under 28,000 residents and is located about 118 miles southeast of Minneapolis.

 

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Patrick Lagreid

I strive to capture the essence of a cigar and the people behind them in my work – every cigar you light up is the culmination of the work of countless people and often represents generations of struggle and stories. For me, it’s about so much more than the cigar – it’s about the story behind it, the experience of enjoying the work of artisans and the way that a good cigar can bring people together. In addition to my work with halfwheel, I’m the public address announcer for the Colorado Rockies and Arizona Diamondbacks during spring training, as well as for the Salt River Rafters of the Arizona Fall League, the WNBA's Phoenix Mercury and previously the Arizona Rattlers of the Indoor Football League. I also work in a number of roles for MLB.com, plus I'm a voice over artist. Prior to joining halfwheel, I covered the Phoenix and national cigar scene for Examiner.com, and was an editor for Cigar Snob magazine.