Chicago's smoke ban extended to parks

CHICAGO, Oct. 18 (UPI) -- The Chicago Park District has voted to ban smoking at city beaches and playgrounds.

Park officials say the ban, approved Wednesday, will protect children from secondhand smoke and keep beaches and park-run playgrounds free of discarded cigarette butts, The Chicago Tribune reported.

Anyone caught smoking within 15 feet of a city beach or park-run playground can be fined up to $500.

The Alliance for the Great Lakes said it sifts out thousands of cigarette butts from Chicago beaches each year to keep them from getting being eaten by wildlife and leaching nicotine into the water, the newspaper said.