Bar owner says Minnesota smoking ban put him out of business

DETROIT LAKES, Minn. (AP) A Detroit Lakes area bar owner is blaming Minnesota's new smoking ban for putting him out of business.

Kent Tweten (TWEE'-ten) owned T-F Boonies south of Detroit Lakes. Tweten says he'd owned the bar for only a few months and was working to build a customer base when the statewide smoking ban took effect October First.

Tweten says his "happy hours" were growing when the ban hit, but after that his after-work business shrunk to nothing.

Tweten, a former Moorhead bar owner, says most established bars may be able to hang on but he predicts some will have no choice but to close because of the smoking ban.

Information from: Paul Jurgens, KFGO/Fargo, http://www.kfgo.com

(Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.) APNP 11-09-07 0632CST | save this article / add to your favorites list