‘It sounds like a war zone’: Pa. lawmaker wants fireworks restrictions

• Ed Mahon
  BioRecent Stories

  

  Ed Mahon comes to Spotlight PA from PA Post, where he covered state politics and policy, produced radio stories that were broadcast on public media stations throughout the state and on NPR’s national newscasts, and co-wrote a weekday newsletter. Prior to joining PA Post, Ed worked for six years as an investigative and political reporter for the York Daily Record, part of the USA Today Network. His reporting on failures in Pennsylvania’s system for protecting domestic abuse victims was a finalist in the national 2018 Livingston Awards for Young Journalists in the local reporting category. He was also part of a team whose coverage of the criminal justice system, including the aggressive use of civil asset forfeiture by York County prosecutors, received the 2018 G. Richard Dew Award for Journalistic Service from the Pennsylvania NewsMedia Association. Before joining the York Daily Record, Ed covered K-12 education at the Centre Daily Times in State College and worked as a stringer for suburban sections of The Philadelphia Inquirer. He grew up in Delaware County, Pennsylvania.

 Submitted / Courtesy of Wilkes-Barre City Fire Department

The remains of fireworks were recovered from the scene of a roof fire in Wilkes-Barre in early July 2019. There were no injuries.

The law was expanded two years ago

Ed Mahon / PA Post

A billboard in York city, seen on July 10, 2019, highlights a change in Pennsylvania that made consumer fireworks legal for Pennsylvania residents.

• Two years ago, Pennsylvania lawmakers expanded what type of fireworkers state residents can buy. Now, some firefighters, local government leaders and lawmakers say those aerial fireworks are creating too many problems. I talked to them about efforts to change the law for this story.

• A managing partner for Sky King Fireworks, which has shops across the state, told me that he generally supports increased restrictions for the use of fireworks. “We don’t think that people should be lighting off fireworks at 2 o’clock in the morning,” Joe VanOudenhove said.

• There have been reports of recent fireworks-related fires across Pennsylvania, including in Harrisburg and Reading. And in Luzerne County, investigators believe a Tuesday morning fire that killed an 11-year-old boy might have been caused by fireworks, the Wilkes-Barre Times Leader reported on Wednesday.

Best of the rest

Keith Srakocic / AP Photo

In this photo made on Friday, May 24, 2019, Old Main is shown on the campus of Slippery Rock University in Slippery Rock, Pa.

• For the first time in 21 years, tuition will not rise for students in the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education, PennLive’s Jana Benscoter reports. But the system still has financial challenges and an existing $62 million budget gap for 2019-20.

• Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro on Thursday launched an effort to better track guns used in crimes, Marc Levy of The Associated Press reports. Shapiro made the announcement at a news conference in Erie.

• Anxiety disorders and Tourette syndrome have been added to the list of medical conditions approved for receiving medical marijuana, Brett Sholtis reports for WITF. Health Secretary Dr. Rachel Levine said medical marijuana should not replace traditional therapies for those conditions.