At the City Council meeting Wednesday, members toughened other gun ordinances, approving new penalties for people who commit gun-related offenses within 100 feet of public transportation and a separate ordinance requiring all restaurants that serve alcohol to prohibit concealed guns or risk losing their liquor licenses.
The anti-discrimination ordinance approved in February in Charlotte led to a special legislative session.
Under the ordinance approved Wednesday, private employers in Portland will have to give employees up to 40 hours of sick leave each year.
A1 Gay Rights on Florida Ballot Conservative Christian groups have placed a measure on Miami-Dade County's primary ballot to repeal an ordinance approved four years ago protecting homosexuals against discrimination.
The ordinance, approved by a 6-to-1 vote, defines camping as sleeping or "otherwise being in a temporary shelter out-of-doors".
The session, which was abruptly convened by Republican lawmakers on Tuesday, came in response to an antidiscrimination ordinance approved by the state's largest city, Charlotte, last month.
A section of the governing coalition certainly wants it, as seen in the ordinance approved last week, but four years of dilly-dallying are hard to understand without an element of internal resistance.
The ordinance, approved by the City Council in September and scheduled to go into effect today, levies fines on landlords who rent to illegal immigrants and denies business permits to companies that give them jobs.
While the ordinance approved some suggestions made by the Justice Verma Committee making stalking, voyeurism and acid attacks punishable under criminal law, it diverged on issues such as marital rape, capital punishment and the prosecution of armed forces personnel who commit sexual assaults.
The ordinance, approved unanimously by the five trustees on April 16, will require that businesses seeking village permits for anything from replacing a sign to enlarging a building submit to a village lighting review and agree to install outdoor fixtures that shield light and direct illumination downward.
"We're watching that one closely along with a lot of other towns and cities to see how far we can go, no doubt about it," said Bill Finch, a Bridgeport City Councilman who strongly supported a highly restrictive ordinance approved by the council last year limiting both cigarette advertising and the vending machines.
