The Cook County board passed a smoking ordinance today that's tougher than the one that went into effect in Chicago in January. The county banned smoking in all enclosed and semi-enclosed buildings; there's an exemption for nursing homes, but none for bars and restaurants, and the ban goes into effect within a year. It applies only to suburbs that don't already have a municipal smoking ordinance, though, and doesn't trump Chicago's. So I guess now we can expect suburban smokers flocking to bars just inside the city limits until July 2008.