Somewhere Joe Camel and the Marlboro Man are rolling in their graves. Yesterday afternoon the Committee on Health of the D.C. City Council endorsed legislation that would make all District bars and restaurants smoke-free by January 2007, according to WJLA. The bill, written by Council-member David Catania (I-At Large) offers exemptions for outdoor areas, cigar bars, hotel rooms, retail tobacco outlets, research projects on the effects of smoking, and businesses that can demonstrate economic hardship from the ban. It faces two more votes before the full council, which could come by December and which smoke-free activists believe they can easily win. Opponents have called the idea an “odious piece of legislation” which could negatively impact area businesses. What do you think?

Fairfax County Judge Declares DWI Cases Unconstitutional: The region really has become a study in extremes when it comes to drunk driving, with the District having cracked down until recently on one-drink-with-dinner motorists while a Fairfax County judge has gone as far as to declare that DWI accusations are unconstitutional. According to the Post, Judge Ian M. O’Flaherty argued in July that Virginia’s DWI laws and the breath tests used to bolster them have unlawfully deprived motorists of their Fifth Amendment right to presumption of innocence, and has since been dismissing cases that entered his courtroom. O’Flaherty’s rulings have been based on a 1985 Supreme Court case in which a murder conviction was overturned because the defendant was denied the presumption of innocence.

Developer Offers to Pay Stadium Cost Overruns: Hoping to win favor with city officials and MLB, a developer bidding for the ownership of the Nats has offered to pay $200 million to cover any cost overruns on the construction of a new stadium in Southeast, reports the Post. Franklin L. Haney, the only bidder also vying to develop the 21-acre site around the stadium, met yesterday with MLB Commissioner Bud Selig and wrote a letter to D.C. Mayor Anthony Williams in which he expressed his concern with rising costs and offered the money to pay for them, if granted ownership of the team or exclusive development rights. MLB is set to announce a new owner in three weeks, and currently three groups — two local and one led by an Indianapolis-based media mogul — are among the front-runners.

Regional Summit Focuses on Traffic and Security: D.C. Mayor Anthony Williams, Maryland Governor Robert Ehrlich, and outgoing Virginia Governor Mark Warner met yesterday to discuss issues of regional importance, including security and traffic, writes WTOP. One concrete proposal to emerge from the regional summit — the fifth for the three leaders — was the designation of $1 million from both Maryland and Virginia to study how to best reduce congestion on the bridges leading into the District. The three also said they would continue cooperating on matters relating to regional security. In related news, Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff expressed concerns over the District preparedness plans for a disaster, noting that communication had broken down between federal and local officials in two recent incidents.

Briefly Noted: Deer goes shopping in Georgetown … Arlington County considers limits on McMansions … D.C. gives school chief bonus and contract extension … Students push for change in GWU marijuana policies … Legal options considered against former AU president Ben Ladner.

Picture above snapped by LaTur.