http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/michigan/local-michigan-981280.mp3 Its a tough time for arts funding around the nation. Kansas, as an example, just cut all its state support. Its a different story in the Cleveland area, though. That region has found a unique way to fund the arts, and its paying off big. Its made residents like Samantha Kane arts patrons of sorts. She says she smokes about two or three packs of cigarettes a week. We find her waiting at a bus stop with a stroller in one hand and a cigarette in the other. Since 2006, each cigarette she smokes contributes a penny and a half to Cuyahoga Countys arts organizations. I love that it goes to something instead of road work, or you know, padding congressmens pockets, Kane says. This county cigarette tax really adds up. The group that administers the money is doling out $15 million this year alone. Thats enough to catapult the Cleveland area to among the top public funders for the arts in the nationmany times
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