License is suspended after teen buys smokes

A St. Paul grocery store was banned from selling tobacco products for 30 days after the City Council voted to suspend its cigarette and tobacco license last week. In December, a clerk at Frank's Dairy & Deli, 1201 Edgerton St ., sold a package of cigarettes to a 17-year-old boy working with city inspectors. The customer was not asked for identification. Immediately after that incident, an inspector entered the store and noticed that the clerk sold a customer an individual cigarette. The clerk told the inspector she didn't know it was illegal to do so. Minnesota law requires an unannounced compliance check of tobacco retailers at least once a year. The check must involve a 16- or 17-year-old with parents' permission.