"Thank God for my regulars," said Dee Moorman, owner of Frick's, on a recent quiet afternoon as she tended bar.

The regulars keep her busy and in business despite defiant words spoken by some of the Davenport bar's customers more than a year ago about the pending smoking ban. The Smokefree Air Act, which bans smoking in bars, restaurants and other public buildings went into effect a year ago today.

"Eighty percent of my customers are regulars who are all pretty good about that," she said. "I hear people say, 'I'll have one, but if I can't smoke, I'm going home.'"

Statistics from the Iowa Alcoholic Beverages Division show an unsettled picture of the bar business since the smoking ban started.

Gross spirits sales in Scott County through liquor stores and distributors is up by $2.26 million - or 16.8 percent - for the year ending May 31, compared with the same time period ending May 31, 2008, according to the Iowa ABD.

However, the number of liquor licenses issued to establishments in Scott County dropped from 327 in 2008 to 298 this year, continuing a slide from 2006 when 386 on-premise licenses were issued in the county.

"It has hurt all of us," said Joe Sturgis, the owner of the Rusty Nail in Davenport who lobbied strongly against the smoking ban. "We've lost about 10 businesses because of it.

"We probably lost 40 percent of our customers to bars that were openly letting their customers smoke. It has come back, but we're still down about 30 percent."

Lynn Walding, director of the Iowa Alcoholic Beverages Division, said in-home consumption appears to have increased and that wine and beer sales have increased, too. Statewide, the number of licenses to sell liquor, beer and wine on-premises and beer off-premises has fluctuated between 3,897 and 4,103 between 2002 and 2008 but has generally been on the rise.

Jon VanRoekel, who owned three bars in Clinton, sold them after after assessing the business climate. He said several factors led to his decision, including the smoking ban.

"I saw the changes in the market and the industry itself, and they weren't changes in a positive direction," he said. "I got out before it really started hitting."

Larry Bob's Oasis, a Davenport bar on Hickory Grove Road, recently had a hearing on a liquor license violation complaint. Owner Larry Hergert is frustrated by the ban and the violation process. It is enough to make him close his doors.

"I haven't talked to any taverns whose business has gone up," he said. "There might be some guy somewhere, but everyone I've talked to, their business has gone down.

"If I don't get something done one way or the other, I'll just lock it up."

Iowa bar owners are rankled by how state-licensed casinos are exempt from the smoking ban and want a fair playing field. Locally, however, the Iowa-based casinos' revenue slumped at the end of last year, with gaming officials laying the blame on the recession.

"I would like to have (Gov. Chet) Culver or a judge look me in the eye and tell me the health of my workers is more important than the health of the workers on the boats," Frick's owner Moorman said.

Brian Froehlich, owner of Fro's Pub and Grub in Wilton, has filed a lawsuit in Muscatine County against the Iowa Department of Commerce, asking for judicial review of a 30-day license suspension. The lawsuit is expected to decide whether the smoking ban violates the Constitution's equal protection clause by permitting smoking in some businesses while banning it in others.

The Iowa Department of Public Health, which receives the tips, has tried a program of education to gain compliance of the smoking ban. The number of complaints received statewide since the ban went into effect is 2,055. In Scott County, 125 valid complaints have been received. In July, when the ban went into effect, 403 complaints were reported. The number dropped to 193 in August. Complaints reached a low of 127 in April. Of those, 79 percent that were sent a letter of first complaint avoided getting a second letter.

"It is encouraging, but it is important to remember we are still talking about 1 percent of the total establishments across Iowa getting notice of possible violations," said Brent Saron, a community health consultant for IDPH. "(The letters) are not a citation, they are not a fine, they are an educational tool - that has been our process from the start: Education is compliance."