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NEW YORK (AP) -- New York City is asking appeals judges to reinstate a ban on supersized sodas and other sugary drinks, which was struck down by a Manhattan judge the day before it was to go into effect.

The city had vowed an appeal and said Thursday that lawyers had filed it late Monday.

In his decision on March 11, State Supreme Court Justice Milton Tingling said the 16-ounce limit on sodas and other sweet drinks arbitrarily applies to only some sugary beverages and some places that sell them.

"The loopholes in this rule effectively defeat the stated purpose of this rule," Tingling wrote in his ruling, which was seen as a victory for the beverage industry, restaurants and other business groups that called the ban unfair.

In addition, the judge said the Mayor Michael Bloomberg-appointed Board of Health intruded on the City Council's authority when it imposed the rule.

In its appeal, the city disputed those points.

"The rule is designed to make consumption of large amounts of sugary drinks a conscious and informed choice by the consumer," it said. "Thus, although a consumer is free to consume more than 16 ounces by ordering a second drink, getting a refill, or going to another store, he or she will be making an informed choice."

The city also said the Board of Health had legislative authority, and "is empowered to issue substantive rules and standards in public health."

Said American Beverage Association spokesman Christopher Gindlesperger, referring to the initial decision overturning the ban, "We feel the justice's decision was strong and we're confident in the ruling."

Also on Thursday, the city announced that other organizations had filed legal briefs in support of the city's appeal. Those organizations include the National Alliance for Hispanic Health and the National Association of Local Boards of Health, as well as 30 others.

Bloomberg has made public health a cornerstone of his administration, from requiring calorie counts to be posted on menus and barring trans fats in restaurant foods.

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The suspended mayor of Ellisville will be the subject of a hearing in St. Louis County Court this afternoon (Thursday). Wednesday Mayor Adam Paul's attorney, Chet Pleban, spoke with KTRS's McGraw Millhaven.  

Pleban said his client is suing to stop the impeachment, which he called  collusion between city councilman, Matt Parillo and Ellisville city attorney, Paul Martin.  Pleban read emails on the air between the two that listed possible charges and laid out a plan to remove Mayor Paul from office. Pleban says Martin and Parillo took their plan to former city council woman Katie James three days before she formally presented the charges against the mayor as her own.

James tells McGraw Thursday morning she acted alone and only sought the advice of the city attorney and councilman Parillo. Katie James says, "I don't know why the city went farther with my charges, I'm not privy to that. Why they feel the relationship with the mayor has devolved that they feel they cannot work with him. I want the city just to work." "Did his actions rise to a level to overthrow a duly elected mayor of a town?" Katie James: And I don't have all the facts in that. Do I think he is a capable a mayor..no I do not." McGraw: "Again..should the vote of the people of Ellisville be overturned by the council?" James:"If he broke the law? Yes."

For months, James had claimed that Paul mistreated her when he tried to have police officers remove her from a meeting in May. When she learned of another incident where Paul had tried to remove a resident from a meeting in February. She tells McGraw that's when she decided to take action.

NEW YORK (AP) -- Government health officials launched the second round of a graphic ad campaign Thursday that is designed to get smokers off tobacco, saying they believe the last effort convinced tens of thousands to quit.

The ads feature sad, real-life stories: There is Terrie, a North Carolina woman who lost her voicebox. Bill, a diabetic smoker from Michigan who lost his leg. And Aden, a 7-year-old boy from New York, who has asthma attacks from secondhand smoke.

"Most smokers want to quit. These ads encourage them to try," said Dr. Tom Frieden, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The CDC campaign cost $48 million and includes TV, radio and online spots as well as print ads and billboards.

The spending comes as the agency is facing a tough budget squeeze, but officials say the ads should more than pay for themselves by averting future medical costs to society. Smoking is the leading cause of preventable illness and death in the United States. It's responsible for the majority of the nation's lung cancer deaths and is a deadly factor in heart attacks and a variety of other illnesses.

Last year's similar $54 million campaign was the agency's first and largest national advertising effort. The government deemed it a success: That campaign triggered an increase of 200,000 calls to quit lines. The CDC believes that likely prompted tens of thousands of smokers to quit based on calculations that a certain percentage of callers do actually stop.

Like last year, the current 16-week campaign spotlights real people who were hurt and disfigured by smoking. Terrie Hall, a 52-year-old throat cancer survivor makes a repeat performance. She had her voice box removed about a dozen years ago.

In last year's ad there's a photo of her as a youthful high school cheerleader. Then she is seen more recently putting on a wig, inserting false teeth and covering the hole in her neck with a scarf. It was, by far, the campaign's most popular spot, as judged by YouTube viewings and Web clicks.

In a new ad, Hall addresses the camera, speaking with the buzzing sound of her electrolarynx. She advises smokers to make a video of themselves now, reading a children's book or singing a lullaby. "I wish I had. The only voice my grandson's ever heard is this one," her electric voice growls.

One difference from last year: The new campaign tilts more toward the impact smokers have on others. One ad features a Kentucky high school student who suffers asthma attacks from being around cigarette smoke. Another has a Louisiana woman who was 16 when her mother died from smoking-related causes.

The return of the campaign is already being applauded by some anti-smoking advocates, who say tobacco companies spend more on tobacco product promotion in a week than the CDC spends in a year.

After decades of decline, the adult smoking rate has stalled at roughly 20 percent in recent years. Advocates say the campaign provides a necessary jolt to a weary public that has been listening to government warnings about the dangers of smoking for nearly 50 years.

"There is an urgent need to continue this campaign," said Matthew Myers, president of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, in a statement.

It would seem like a bad time for the CDC to be buying air time - the agency is facing roughly $300 million in budget cuts as part of the government's sequestration cuts in federal spending. However, the ad money comes not from the CDC's regular budget but from a special $1 billion public health fund set up years ago through the Affordable Care Act. The fund has set aside more than $80 million for CDC smoking prevention work.

Frieden argues that the ads are extremely cost-effective - spending about $50 million a year to save potentially tens of thousands of lives.

"We're trying to figure out how to have more impact with less resources," he said.

The ads direct people to call 1-800-QUIT-NOW. PlowShare Group, of Stamford, Conn., is again the advertising company that put the ads together. ---

Online: CDC campaign: HTTP://WWW.CDC.GOV/TIPS © 2013 THE ASSOCIATED PRESS. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. THIS MATERIAL MAY NOT BE PUBLISHED, BROADCAST, REWRITTEN OR REDISTRIBUTED. Learn more about our PRIVACY POLICY and TERMS OF USE.