Chicago City Council passed new e-cigarette regulations on Wednesday, 45–4. E-cigarettes will now be banned from indoor public places, including bars and restaurants, as well as within 15 feet of building entrances. Last month it looked like the Chicago City Council would do the right thing for once and back off plans to regulate e-cigarettes...

You’re not using Styrofoam. Not if you’re eating takeout, drinking a soda or chugging a Dunkin’ Donuts coffee. These disposable food and beverage containers are made from polystyrene. Not Styrofoam. But the public has long confused these two products. (Disclaimer: my last post did not accurately represent Styrofoam, either.) Dow Chemical, the company that produces...

Two Chicago aldermen are convinced that banning Styrofoam containers would protect the children of Chicago. Accordingly, these aldermen – Ed Burke and George Cardenas – have proposed an ordinance banning the use of Styrofoam by coffee shops, restaurants, schools and other frequent users, according to the Associated Press. Burke and Cardenas are pushing this ban...

E-cigarettes have become increasingly popular in recent years, particularly among smokers of traditional cigarettes looking to kick the habit by moving to a less harmful alternative. So why are Illinois governments wasting taxpayer dollars and time trying to make them harder to buy? The Evanston City Council recently jumped to regulate e-cigarettes under the same...

Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan has succeeded in taking down a serious threat to the fight against drug abuse – coffee mugs that look like prescription drug bottles. Madigan, along with attorneys general from more than 20 other states, sent a joint letter on May 22 to Urban Outfitters CEO and Chairman Richard A. Hayne regarding the...

Officials are hot on the tracks of another menace threatening the well-being of Illinoisans: sugary drinks.

Aside from crime, spending and transportation, Chicago leaders are looking to take a hard line – on energy drinks