Motorists can’t smoke if children are in car

Attention smokers: if you’re riding through Stockbridge with a kid in your car, snuff that cigarette or risk getting fined.

Stockbridge recently passed a law that bans motorists from smoking if they have someone who is 15 years old or younger in the car.

The ordinance was the brainchild of Councilman John Blount who is worried about secondhand smoke affecting children.

Smokers who don’t extinguish their butts face up to a $500 fine. Enforcing the ban could be a sticking point since Stockbridge does not have its own police force and must rely on Henry County to enforce it.

Such a ban, however, could become state law if legislation proposed by Rep. Sandra Scott,

New facility OK’d at convention complex

The College Park City Council recently approved an agreement with BDR Partners for program management services for development and construction of a multipurpose facility to support the Georgia International Convention Center complex.

The facility will be owned outright by the city of College Park. Its cost, design and groundbreaking have not yet been determined.

The Council also gave the nod to purchase replacement self-contained breathing apparatus used to provide respiratory protection for firefighters in hazardous environments for about $160,928.