As predicted here weeks ago, bars and clubs around Kanawha County are continuing to regain business lost when the countywide public smoking ban was imposed July 1, based on the only available objective figures to track their business.

Total limited video lottery revenues for the county in September were $3,024,692, up $111,149, or about 4 percent from August, according to the Lottery Commission's monthly report.

In fact, the limited video lottery in bars and clubs in smoke-free Kanawha County outperformed their brethren in the rest of the state.

Statewide, limited video lottery revenue dropped for the month of September, down to $32,901,342 from $34,385,297 in August.

That's a drop of 4.5 percent statewide, which seems consistent with the downturn in consumer and recreational spending nationally.

The top-earning establishment in the county, Mimi's of Nitro, had $97,548 in revenue for September, up 10 percent from $88,516 in August - and up 25 percent from $77,832 in June, the last month smoking was permissible.

And this is for an establishment near the Putnam County line, and part of a chain where the operator was recently quoted as estimating that 80 percent of the clientele were smokers.

So, lo and behold, Kanawha County seems to be following the pattern of every other jurisdiction in the United States that has prohibited smoking in public places: After an initial decline, business rebounds.

Meanwhile, limited video revenues for Putnam County bars and clubs dropped from $552,330 in August to $525,243 in September. Could it be that non-smoking slots players in Putnam County are bypassing their local establishments to take advantage of the smoke-free environs in Kanawha County?

Senate President Earl Ray Tomblin's objections to locating a large, elaborate visitors information desk at the Capitol Rotunda is well taken.

The Department of Administration's initial plan would leave only one narrow access to the Journal Room, an area that is already usually crowded and difficult to access, particularly when there are displays or rallies in the rotunda.

The proposal also calls for drilling a hole into the marble floor of the rotunda, to run phone and computer lines, as well as fiber-optic cable so that Public Broadcasting could televise the last night of the session without having to run a maze of cables through the rotunda area.

Speaking of the Senate, the Capitol Building Commission approved enclosing the end of the hallway between the Senate chamber and Senate Minority Leader Don Caruth's office to create a room for Senate pages.

More accurately, the 5-foot by 12-foot room will be where pages will go to fetch coffee and soft drinks for the senators during floor sessions.

Former West Virginia Education Association assistant executive director Bill McGinley has been hired as an administrative law judge for the state Public Employees Grievance Board.

McGinley was the fourth WVEA executive to leave the union this year, as it deals with financial issues.

The state Ethics Commission has elected commissioner Drema Radford as its vice chairwoman. She replaces Jim Shepherd, who was appointed this month to the commission's Probable Cause Review Board, the three-member panel that reviews and investigates complaints filed with the commission.

Shepherd replaces Holmes Morrison, who resigned during the summer, which under the state ethics law left the board too short-handed to hear complaints.

Speaking of ethics, commission administrative secretary Lucy Suchy is completing work on a 28-page "Guide to Lobbying in West Virginia," which will be given to all newly registered lobbyists, beginning next session.

Suchy illustrated the draft of the guide with various interior and exterior shots of the Capitol.

The cover features a picture of the well of the Capitol rotunda, to the delight of commissioner and former state Sen. Larry Rowe, who knows that that the well serves as the work desk for lobbyists during the session.

The state Racing Commission will hold a public hearing Tuesday at commission headquarters on the two $1 million greyhound training tracks it has been mandated to build.

One correction from last week's lobbyist spending reports. It was Walter Gose of Saofi-Aventis of Knoxville, not Joe Gollehon, who helped underwrite the West Virginia Night at the Council of State Governments dinner in Lexington.

Finally, talk about karmic justice: Could it be more ironic that the Blackhawk Saloon, the bar that had been most public in flaunting Kanawha County's public smoking ban, caught fire - and the patrons didn't realize it at first because of the cigarette smoke.

Reach Phil Kabler at ph...@wvgazette.com or 348-1220.

Total limited video lottery revenues for the county in September were $3,024,692, up $111,149, or about 4 percent from August, according to the Lottery Commission's monthly report.

In fact, the limited video lottery in bars and clubs in smoke-free Kanawha County outperformed their brethren in the rest of the state.

Statewide, limited video lottery revenue dropped for the month of September, down to $32,901,342 from $34,385,297 in August.

That's a drop of 4.5 percent statewide, which seems consistent with the downturn in consumer and recreational spending nationally.

The top-earning establishment in the county, Mimi's of Nitro, had $97,548 in revenue for September, up 10 percent from $88,516 in August - and up 25 percent from $77,832 in June, the last month smoking was permissible.

And this is for an establishment near the Putnam County line, and part of a chain where the operator was recently quoted as estimating that 80 percent of the clientele were smokers.

So, lo and behold, Kanawha County seems to be following the pattern of every other jurisdiction in the United States that has prohibited smoking in public places: After an initial decline, business rebounds.

Meanwhile, limited video revenues for Putnam County bars and clubs dropped from $552,330 in August to $525,243 in September. Could it be that non-smoking slots players in Putnam County are bypassing their local establishments to take advantage of the smoke-free environs in Kanawha County?

Senate President Earl Ray Tomblin's objections to locating a large, elaborate visitors information desk at the Capitol Rotunda is well taken.

The Department of Administration's initial plan would leave only one narrow access to the Journal Room, an area that is already usually crowded and difficult to access, particularly when there are displays or rallies in the rotunda.

The proposal also calls for drilling a hole into the marble floor of the rotunda, to run phone and computer lines, as well as fiber-optic cable so that Public Broadcasting could televise the last night of the session without having to run a maze of cables through the rotunda area.

Speaking of the Senate, the Capitol Building Commission approved enclosing the end of the hallway between the Senate chamber and Senate Minority Leader Don Caruth's office to create a room for Senate pages.

More accurately, the 5-foot by 12-foot room will be where pages will go to fetch coffee and soft drinks for the senators during floor sessions.

Former West Virginia Education Association assistant executive director Bill McGinley has been hired as an administrative law judge for the state Public Employees Grievance Board.

McGinley was the fourth WVEA executive to leave the union this year, as it deals with financial issues.

The state Ethics Commission has elected commissioner Drema Radford as its vice chairwoman. She replaces Jim Shepherd, who was appointed this month to the commission's Probable Cause Review Board, the three-member panel that reviews and investigates complaints filed with the commission.

Shepherd replaces Holmes Morrison, who resigned during the summer, which under the state ethics law left the board too short-handed to hear complaints.

Speaking of ethics, commission administrative secretary Lucy Suchy is completing work on a 28-page "Guide to Lobbying in West Virginia," which will be given to all newly registered lobbyists, beginning next session.

Suchy illustrated the draft of the guide with various interior and exterior shots of the Capitol.

The cover features a picture of the well of the Capitol rotunda, to the delight of commissioner and former state Sen. Larry Rowe, who knows that that the well serves as the work desk for lobbyists during the session.

The state Racing Commission will hold a public hearing Tuesday at commission headquarters on the two $1 million greyhound training tracks it has been mandated to build.

One correction from last week's lobbyist spending reports. It was Walter Gose of Saofi-Aventis of Knoxville, not Joe Gollehon, who helped underwrite the West Virginia Night at the Council of State Governments dinner in Lexington.

Finally, talk about karmic justice: Could it be more ironic that the Blackhawk Saloon, the bar that had been most public in flaunting Kanawha County's public smoking ban, caught fire - and the patrons didn't realize it at first because of the cigarette smoke.

Reach Phil Kabler at ph...@wvgazette.com or 348-1220.