Fireworks Vote Approaches.

The City Council is scheduled to vote on a Council bill next Tuesday that would allow the discharge of fireworks within the City and City Parks from July 1 through July 4. The bill would also allow the sale of fireworks for the same period of time. Bottle rockets would not be allowed to be discharged or sold in the City.

The bill failed to gain the recommendation of the Public Safety Committee.

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission estimates that in 2000 about 11,000 people were treated in hospital emergency rooms for injuries associated with fireworks. About 55 percent of the injuries were burns, and most of the injuries involved the hands, eyes, and head. About half of the victims were under 15 years of age.

Sixteen states put severe restrictions on the use of fireworks. Seven of those states allow only sparklers and other novelties. They are Connecticut, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. Nine states ban all consumer fireworks. They are Arizona, Delaware, Georgia, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, and Vermont.

If you have any reservations about allowin’ folks to shoot fireworks throughout the City for the first four days in July (or five if the Fourth falls on Sunday), you need to let your Council member know.

At my last informal count from talkin’ with members, there are only two that are definitely against this blast from the past. A couple more are luke warm, but from all indications, six members are gonna open up your neighbor’s back yard for a fireworks display and four (or five) days of the joyful bliss of firecrackers poppin’ until 11 o’clock at night. Sweet dreams.

You might also want to inquire as to how the mayoral candidates feel about this issue, somethin’ I’m sure you’ll remember come July.

This is some fact, but mostly,

Just Jake Talkin’.

by

Carthage Printing Services

PRIME TIME WITH KIDS

by Donna Erickson

The current issue in our household is weighing the amount of time the kids spend on athletic practice (basketball) and time spent on music lessons. Although some days I feel like it’s a "jock" vs. "get a little culture" debate, it’s really about balance and giving the kids experiences in a variety of areas without overloading them. I’m supportive of their coaches and believe in the goals of sportsmanship, teamwork and skill building, not to mention the great exercise sports provide. But where does my daughter’s oboe or my sons’ baritone and piano fit on the extracurricular time curve?

As an incentive and to encourage my kids to keep up their interest in music, I’m planning on awarding them with their own "Gold Record." This incentive will commemorate their efforts to practice faithfully on a regular basis. The personalized awards will hang on the wall as a reminder of their accomplishments.

Here’s how to make a Gold Record Award: Dig into boxes in your attic or garage and look for old record albums or 45’s. Don’t be surprised if your kids of the CD generation don’t know what they are! Choose a record you can part with and spray paint an entire side gold. Let dry. Over the painted label portion, print with a black marker an original record title such as "Violin Melodies" and your child’s name.

Meanwhile, cut a piece of posterboard or foam core to fit a 12 x 16-inch picture frame. Glue the record to the top center of the posterboard. Below the record, glue a school picture of your child or a snapshot of him/her playing the instrument. On an index card, print the achievement, such as "Congratulations on reaching your goal of 50 hours of trombone practice" or any other accomplishment you and your child set as a goal, and glue it to the side of the picture. Assemble the frame and present to your child.