Denise Goldsmith, a bartender at the Outside Inn, on West Charleston Boulevard at Hualapai Way, helps a customer Tuesday. Her T-shirt tells patrons her employer backs Question 4, the less restrictive smoking regulation measure on the Nov. 7 ballot. Photo by John Locher. A "Vote Yes on Question 4" placard sits on the bar at Three Angry Wives Pub, on West Charleston Boulevard. Photo by Clint Karlsen.

The messages are cropping up in local taverns on employee T-shirts, napkins and posters.

Toss in a television commercial, radio spot and print advertisement, and it appears backers of Question 4, the less restrictive of the two anti-smoking initiatives on the Nov. 7 ballot, are taking no prisoners in campaigning for voters.

"We feel very strongly about this issue, and we need people to understand that, at the end of the day, if Question 5 passes, 10,000 to 25,000 jobs are going to be lost, and your neighborhood bar won't be serving food,'' said Scooter Johnson, general manager of the Outside Inn in Summerlin, where staff members wear red T-shirts emblazoned with various versions of a "Yes on 4, No on 5" message.

Patrick Smith, a spokesman for the Smoke Free Coalition, backers of Question 4, said the materials are being distributed to local pubs, some restaurants and convenience stores throughout the Las Vegas Valley.

Meanwhile, Nevadans for Tobacco-Free Kids, which is backing Question 5, is spreading its own campaign, a straightforward pitch that does not have as big of a public presence.

"They have a bit more money,'' Larry Matheis, executive director of the Nevada State Medical Association, said of the Question 4 backers.

A 30-second Question 5 spot is airing on radio and television and can be viewed on the Nevadans for Tobacco-Free Kids' Web site.

The ad identifies groups backing the initiative, the majority of which are in the health care field, and ends with a cigarette butt being pressed up against a "No on 4" icon.

The piece contains the comments "Don't let Big Tobacco fool you'' and "Say no to Big Tobacco'' and is being criticized by the Smoke Free Coalition, which contends it insinuates Question 4 is funded by the tobacco industry.

On Wednesday, the attorney for the coalition sent a letter addressed to Michael Hackett, spokesman for Nevadans for Tobacco-Free Kids, that demanded the ad be pulled because it "contains blatantly inaccurate and misleading allegations.''

The letter threatened that if it is not pulled, the coalition will file a lawsuit.

Hackett called the complaint "ridiculous'' and said the letter was forwarded to the Nevadans for Tobacco-Free Kids' attorney.

"What they're maintaining is not at all what we're doing,'' Hackett said. "There is no merit to that. We never said the tobacco industry is or has funded this initiative. What we are saying is that if Question 5 fails, the tobacco industry will be the beneficiary.''

That, he said, is because backers of Question 4 include slot route operators and tobacco retailers such as Herbst Gaming. At local Terrible Herbst stations, workers can be seen wearing the Question 4 T-shirts.

Question 5 would ban smoking on school grounds and buildings, in day care centers, shopping malls, video arcades and grocery and convenience stores. Smoking would be banned in bars that serve food and in restaurants.

Question 4 would ban smoking on school grounds, day care centers with fewer than 13 children and video arcades. It would allow smoking in slot machine sections of grocery stores and in designated areas of bars and restaurants restricted to adults age 21 and older.

Whichever measure receives the most votes becomes law.

At the Outside Inn, Johnson said several customers who have inquired about the T-shirts workers are wearing knew little about the two initiatives.

Erin O'Hayer, general manager of Three Angry Wives Pub in Summerlin, said he has heard similar comments from his bar patrons.

"I knew very little about the two (initiatives) until we started wearing the T-shirts, and that was a week ago,'' he said. "And, when they (customers) ask about what we're wearing or the posters, we are giving them our position.''

Asked whether he was concerned the tavern industry might be making some headway through its marketing, Hackett said, "I'm not nervous at all. ... We've had lots of smokers come up to us and say they disagree with Question 4; that personal freedom really takes a back seat when something is so dangerous to others such as second-hand smoke. They say it's a no-brainer.''

Hackett said Nevadans for Tobacco-Free Kids will be visible at upcoming health care events sponsored by the likes of the American Cancer Society and the Southern Nevada Health District.

Events are taking place in Northern Nevada also, and volunteers are handing out literature.

"We're getting people out there and getting the word out,'' Hackett said. "I've seen their (Question 4) campaign, and they say they're all about protecting kids, but nothing can be further from the truth.''

Johnson said the T-shirts will be part of his staff's uniform until Nov. 7. If Question 5 should pass, he said, the Outside Inn would shut its kitchen, and 30 employees would be out of work.

"If I have a choice between shutting down my kitchen and keeping my smoking customers happy, the kitchen is gone," he said. Most of the Outside Inn's profits come from gaming machines and the bar, he said.