The Truth According to Glynn.

FireWorks Banned in 1948.

Reprint from March, 2002

The ordinance that currently prohibits the discharge of fireworks within the City limits of Carthage was approved by a 10-0 vote of the Council in 1948 according to Glynn Evans. Evans was a Councilman at the time and introduced the bill he says.

The incentive for the ban on fireworks came from three hunting dogs. Evans, Bill Putnam, Sr., and another friend had hunting dogs at the time and all three dogs ran off to escape the ring of fireworks in 1947 according to the story. Evans got a phone call a couple weeks later from Putnam with the news that the Putnam dog had been found hit by a car and killed.

The Evans dog was eventually located in Baxter Springs alive and well. The other friend’s dog eventually ended up at the Evans’ home.

Evans and Putnam checked at McCune Brooks and were told that eight patients were treated on July 4th for injuries from fireworks, six of them children.

Evans says that with the urging of Putnam, he sponsored the bill to ban fireworks in Carthage.

U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission Warns Consumers of Fireworks Dangers.

This report was prepared by the CPSC staff, has not been reviewed or approved by, and may not necessarily reflect the views of, the Commission.

Executive Summary

This report provides the results of the U. S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) staff analysis of data on non-occupational fireworks-related deaths and injuries during 2008. The report also includes a summary of CPSC staff enforcement activities during 2008.

Staff obtained information on fireworks-related deaths from news clippings and other sources in CPSC’s Injury and Potential Injury Incident (IPII) database. Staff estimated fireworks-related injuries from CPSC’s National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (NEISS). More detailed analyses of injuries including the type of injury, the fireworks involved, and the characteristics of the victim were based on a special study conducted by CPSC staff between June 20 and July 20, 2008. About two-thirds of the annual fireworks-related injuries for 2008 occurred during that period.

Highlights of the report are as follows:

• CPSC staff has reports of 7 fireworks-related deaths during 2008. Two people were killed in incidents involving aerial and display fireworks. One person died in a fire where a firework was the ignition source. Three people were killed in incidents involving homemade fireworks. One person, on oxygen, suffered serious burns when a firecracker exploded near his face. He died 18 days later in the hospital. CPSC staff has reports of 11 fireworks-related deaths in 2007.

• Fireworks were involved in an estimated 7,000 injuries treated in U. S. hospital emergency departments during calendar year 2008 (95 percent confidence interval 5,200 – 9,000). CPSC staff estimated that there were 9,800 fireworks-related injuries during 2007.

• An estimated 5,000 fireworks-related injuries (or 70 percent of the total fireworks-related injuries) were treated in U.S. hospital emergency departments during the one-month special study period between June 20, 2008 and July 20, 2008 (95 percent confidence interval 3,400 – 6,500). CPSC staff estimated that there were 6,300 fireworks-related injuries (66 percent of the annual total) during the 2007 special study period.

Results from the special study include the following:

• Of the fireworks-related injuries sustained, 62 percent were to males and 38 percent were to females.

• Injuries to children were a major component of total fireworks-related injuries with children under 15 accounting for 40 percent of the estimated injuries. Children and young adults under 20 had 58 percent of the estimated injuries.

1• There were an estimated 900 injuries associated with firecrackers. Of these, 500 were associated with small firecrackers, 100 with illegal firecrackers, and 300 where the type of firecracker was not specified.

• There were an estimated 800 injuries associated with sparklers and 300 with bottle rockets.

• The parts of the body most often injured were hands and fingers (estimated 1,400 injuries), eyes (1,000 injuries), and legs (900 injuries).

• More than half of the injuries were burns. Burns were the most common injury to all parts of the body except the eyes, where contusions, lacerations, and foreign bodies in the eye occurred more frequently.

• Most patients were treated at the emergency department and then released. An estimated 8 percent of patients were treated and transferred to another hospital or admitted to the hospital.

CPSC staff conducted telephone follow-up investigations of some fireworks-related injuries reported at NEISS hospital emergency departments during the special study period. Most cases were selected for follow-up because they involved potentially serious injuries and/or hospital admissions. Thirty telephone interviews were completed.

A review of data from telephone follow-up investigations of those 30 incidents showed that most fireworks injuries were associated with misuse or malfunctions. Typical malfunctions included the following: fireworks exploding earlier or later than expected, errant flight paths and the launching tubes of aerial shells tipping over. Misuse included unsupervised children lighting fireworks, making homemade fireworks, and mischief. According to the investigations, most victims already had recovered from their injuries or were expected to recover completely, but several victims reported that the injuries could result in long-term effects.

During 2008, CPSC’s Office of Compliance and Field Operations continued to work closely with other agencies to conduct surveillance on imported fireworks and to enforce the provisions of the Federal Hazardous Substances Act. Examples of these activities are as follows:

• With assistance from the Bureau of Customs and Border Protection, staff from CPSC selectively sampled and tested 211 shipments of fireworks in fiscal year 2008 to determine if they were in compliance with the Federal Hazardous Substances Act. Approximately 49 percent of those shipments were found to contain fireworks that were noncompliant.

• CPSC staff worked with other Federal agencies, including the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Department of Justice’s Office of Consumer Litigation, as well as state and local law enforcement agencies. Staff provided legal, field, and technical support in cases involving the distribution of illegal explosive devices and the illegal diversion of professional fireworks to consumers.

According to 2008 statistics from the U. S. International Trade Commission, more than 97 percent of all fireworks imported into the United States were manufactured in China.

NASCAR THIS WEEK

By Monte Dutton

Sponsored by Curry Automotive

Kenseth a Real Team Player

DOVER, Del. -- For 2003 (then Winston) Cup champion Matt Kenseth, things could be better, but things also could be worse.

Kenseth drives a Ford, and Ford is the only manufacturer without a victory in the Sprint Cup season’s first 12 races. Befitting a former champion, Kenseth is holding up well through what otherwise might be termed a slump. In fact, Kenseth was and is third: third in the Autism Speaks 400 at Dover International Speedway, and third in the overall point standings.

"There have been races this year where we performed well enough to win," said Kenseth. "We finished second in Atlanta, and we were second or third on that last restart at Martinsville (18th-place finish after tangling with Jeff Gordon). In Vegas, I think Jeff (Gordon) and Jimmie (Johnson) had better cars, but we ran second or third there (fifth-place finish) all day."

The Wisconsin native just turned 38. In 376 Cup starts, Kenseth has won 18 races, and his next top-five finish will be his 100th. In NASCAR’s all-time list of winners, Kenseth is in a five-way tie for 37th place with Geoff Bodine, the late Neil Bonnett, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Harry Gant.

The careers of Kenseth and Earnhardt Jr. have been intertwined. Earnhardt outdueled Kenseth for two (then) Busch Series championships but has never won a Cup championship. Both have won the Daytona 500. They were both rookies in 2000, with Kenseth winning Raybestos Rookie of the Year.

Both also have had a hard time winning lately. Forty-six races have passed since Kenseth opened the 2009 season with consecutive victories.

"To me, it’s important to win, but more than that, if this makes sense, it’s important to put yourself in position to win and be up leading laps," said Kenseth. "If you look at Jeff Gordon’s year, he hasn’t won yet, but he has led, like, 800 laps (actually 709), and has been in position every week. It is just a matter of time until he wins.

"You always want to win every week, but more so for me, it’s important to have the performance of the car and the team, everybody involved, to be a contender to win. If we are up there leading laps and in contention, eventually we’ll win. It’s important for me to get our performance up to a championship level."

I approached the City Council with my "I don’t want to hear it" last Tuesday at their regular meeting. I didn’t get much of a feel as to how the votes are stackin’ up, but was informed by one insider that he thought this time the fireworks ban would be lifted.

As I look back to the last two times this issue was raised over the last ten or so years, the one factor that I think made a real difference was the amount of outcry the Council heard from the citizens.

I have a feelin’ that my comments have worn thin. They expect me to bring them my conclusions and therefore don’t put much stock in my humble opinion.

Whichever side of the fence that you land on, this is one "my back yard" issue that you need contact your Council members about. Let ‘em know how you feel, they do tend to listen if enough energy is felt.

This is some fact, but mostly,

Just Jake Talkin’.

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CLICK and CLACK

TALK CARS

Dear Tom and Ray:

We are Americans living in England, and have a 2000 VW Beetle automatic that I named Betty. I hope you can settle a domestic argument for us (preferably by siding with me). The VW is my "baby," and until I started living with Matt, the car was aging, but otherwise the transmission was fine. In the year since Matt started driving her, Betty’s transmission has seriously deteriorated. I think it’s because Matt Changes gears without pressing in the little button on the shifter. My understanding was that if you don’t press the little button before moving the shifter (like from R to D, or D to 2), you can strip the gears and ruin the transmission. Matt says it doesn’t matter, and he changes gears in the automatic like it’s a stick shift. So, is he hurting the transmission by failing to press the little button? - Elaine.

Tom: No. It’s more likely that he’s hurting the transmission by driving your car like an animal, Elaine.

Ray: Right. The little button that you press with your thumb is the "shift lock." It’s designed to prevent you from shifting into the wrong gear accidentally.

Tom: For instance, when you’re in park, the button prevents you from knocking the shifter with your elbow and putting it in reverse.

Ray: And if you’re in drive, your very excitable Labrador retriever can’t knock the shifter into reverse or park. The fact that Matt is shifting all the time suggests to me that he’s not as nearly as in love with Betty as you are. He thinks she’s a "chick car."

Tom: If he’s not willing to pay for a transmission rebuild, he ought to cut it out and drive gently, or get his own car. Tell him we said so, Elaine.