After a tension filled day following an incident Sunday near the Mankato Islamic Center initially feared as an arson attack, the police have a more benign explanation, but anger remains.

A fireworks stand, one of about 25 booths that are open for business, advertises on the first day of fireworks sales for Fourth of July celebrations June 28, 2005 in Fillmore, California.; Credit: David McNew/Getty Images

Every year in the days leading up to Independence Day, we’re flooded with public service announcements warning of the dangers and risks associated with fireworks. In LA County, where most fireworks are illegal, it can be even more dangerous as the area’s risk of fire grows. 

Today on AirTalk, we discuss the challenges in enforcing and responding to the use of illegal fireworks and the growing risks. We also want to hear from listeners. What was your Fourth of July experience like this year with fireworks? Do you think more needs to be done to crack down? Join the conversation by calling 866-893-5722.

We reached out to the Los Angeles Police Department, but the department was not able to accommodate our interview request and says updated data is unavailable at this time.

Guest:

Mike Feuer, Los Angeles city attorney; he tweets @Mike_Feuer

This content is from Southern California Public Radio. View the original story at SCPR.org.

Bulwark, the world’s largest flame-resistant (FR) apparel brand, was recently sold to Redwood Capital Investments, LLC, marking a new era for the company as it transitions into a stand-alone workwear organization.

Pet lovers advised to be prepared for fireworks season.

As mysterious displays of fireworks continue to be set off across the country – in Chicago, Philadelphia, Boston, Los Angeles – residents in New York City say the nightly cacophony is driving them nuts. "It's kind of been a bit all-consuming to be honest," said Brooklyn resident Eric Anderson, 33. "I go to bed hearing it. I get woken up hearing it, and then on my Twitter feed all anybody is doing is talking about it." In New York City, the police department said there were 54 fireworks complaints in the first half of last year. In the same period this year, there have been more than 11,000. It's illegal to set off your own fireworks in New York, and Mayor Bill de Blasio has said the city is going to crack down on suppliers. "We're going to start a huge sting operation to go and get these illegal fireworks at the base," he said. Last week he appointed a task force made up of officers from the New York City Police Department, fire marshals and members of the Sheriff's Bureau of Criminal

Independence Day and fireworks go hand in hand, but fireworks shouldn’t go in consumers’ hands. That’s the message the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) is reinforcing this Fourth of July. Fireworks annually cause devastating burns, injuries, fires, and even death, making them too dangerous to be used safely by consumers.

And why it’s so hard to make blue ones.

The Office of the Delaware State Fire Marshal reminds Delawareans and visitors that fireworks are prohibited in the State of Delaware, with the following exceptions:  Certain fireworks, such as sparklers, ground-based displays, and a selection of other nonairborne, nonexplosive novelty items, regulated by the federal government, are allowed to be used only on July 4th, […]

'People started noticing me again. OTT is a good platform for serious actors. In the olden days, unless you are the heroine, actors would have screen deaths. But now, there are so many good roles for women.'

Pyrotechnician Patrick Cyrana joins WIRED to answer your burning questions about fireworks. How are fireworks designed? How do they get their color? What is the most dangerous firework statistically? Who invented fireworks? How do you become a professional pyrotechnician. Patrick answers all of these questions and more—it’s Fireworks Support. Director: Lisandro Perez-Rey Director of Photography: Constantine Economides Editor: Richard Trammell Expert: Patrick Cyrana Line Producer: Joseph Buscemi Associate Producer: Paul Gulyas; Brandon White Production Manager: Peter Brunette Casting Producer: Nicholas Sawyer Camera Operator: Mar Alfonso Sound Mixer: Rebecca ONeil Production Assistant: Ryan Coppola Post Production Supervisor: Christian Olguin Post Production Coordinator: Ian Bryant Supervising Editor: Doug Larsen Additional Editor: Jason Malizia; JC Scruggs Assistant Editor: Justin Symonds

Severity of injuries varies, with one victim in critical condition and seven others on ventilator support even as 101 continue to undergo treatment at various hospitals; Kasaragod District Police has announced a Special Investigation Team to probe the incident; district administration said that the additional divisional magistrate has been directed to carry out an inquiry separately into the incident and submit a report.

BJP alleges that low-intensity Chinese-made firecrackers were stored in a shed on temple grounds and the explosion only destroyed shed’s roof, while CPI(M) urges political leaders to avoid blame games during a sensitive time

7 persons among the injured are on ventilator support; Kasaragod District Police has announced a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the incident; the district administration said that the additional divisional magistrate has been directed to carry out an inquiry separately into the incident and submit a report

What was supposed to mark the beginning of the annual Theyyam season at the Anjoottambalam Veerarkavu temple in Kasaragod turned tragic with an allegedly unauthorised fireworks display leading to a massive explosion causing serious injury to over a 100 people. C.P. Sajit reports how the tragedy unfolded

Neeleswaram temple firecracker accident claims fourth victim. Investigation is under way even as lack of safety measures has been highlighted

This month alone, we Americans celebrated our nation’s birthday, capped off perfectly by the USA women’s soccer team’s sensational 5-2 victory in the World Cup final. As we hit the halfway point of 2015, the clean-energy industry also has much to celebrate, much of it in the month of June alone and much of it financial.

Unable to put on a show of military might in the Red Square today due to surging coronavirus infections, Russia indulged in a series of spectacular fireworks displays over the capital as night fell.

Unable to put on a show of military might in the Red Square today due to surging coronavirus infections, Russia indulged in a series of spectacular fireworks displays over the capital as night fell.

; Credit: Beatrice the Biologist / Scientific American

Today's dryku:
Food budgets are tight
Droughts do raise vegetables' price
But don't make snakes bite

Food:

• The USDA released its monthly food price outlook. Looks like prices are going to be up at least 3.5%. Fresh fruit could go up by 6%. Bloomberg has a chart showing how produce is projected to hit its highest price in 18 years. (LA Times)

Critters:

• Southern California seems to be seeing a higher rate of rattlesnake bites this year. Despite the article's headline, experts in the story say it's not because of the drought. A shorter winter has brought snakes out of hibernation earlier, meaning a longer active season, meaning more need for anti-venin.

As of June 12, 128 people were admitted to a hospital for a snakebite and of those, 93 received doses of anti-venin, Heard said. In 2013, 269 Californians went to a hospital for a snakebite and of those, 166 received anti-venin, he said. Simply doubling the number of patients needing anti-venin treatment would equal 186, more than 2013. (Some patients get “dry bites” meaning no venom is injected and therefore do not need anti-venin, he said). (Contra Costa Times)

• It's been a mixed bag for salmon this year. Some have needed to be trucked out to the ocean, because their streams are too dry. In the case of coho salmon, the drought has actually caused a record number to enter the ocean. It's not all good news though:

Biologists say that only 206 salmon egg clusters, known as "redds," were counted in the Lagunitas this year, well below the 20-year average of 250 "redds." And the fish that headed off to the ocean may not fare as well. They are smaller than normal and could face more difficult ocean conditions due to the warming pattern known as El Niño, scientists say. (Chico Enterprise-Record)

Fireworks:

• Sacramento cops are out in force, looking for illegal fireworks. The sheriff's department will double its number of officers on the hunt. Starting this week, having the little fire starters can mean jail time. (CBS Sacramento)

Water jerks:

• Everyone seems to be at a loss on how to get people to start saving water. Beatrice the Biologist may have stumbled onto the answer — it's a mixture of shame and badges. I'm going to print out the car one and post it in my window. Maybe then people will stop judging me for my filthy Camry. (Scientific American)

How has your community been affected by the drought? Share your story with a photo on Twitter or Instagram. Tag it #mydrought. For more details on our photo project, click here.

This content is from Southern California Public Radio. View the original story at SCPR.org.

Less water in Hoover Dam means less power coming from the Dam's generating units. ; Credit: Dawn Danby/via Flickr

Monday's fat stack of news also includes some views about what to do about drought and Western water supplies.

The New York Times has published six answers to the questions "What are the best ways to share the water? And how can we ensure it lasts for the foreseeable future?" Pat Mulroy, former general manager of the Southern Nevada Water Authority, weighs in, as do several other think tankers:

[N]ew energy and fuel production options have become more water intensive. Unconventional oil and gas production methods such as hydraulic fracturing have significant implications for local and regional water quality and quantity. Bioenergy consumes water at various stages of production (including irrigation for crops) and also has impacts on water quality and quantity...We should be pursuing cleaner energy and streamlined approaches to conserving water in order to truly safeguard our water supply. (Newsha Ajami/Stanford University)

An incredible 40 percent of the water consumed by Americans goes into meat and dairy production. Livestock must drink water and there is some water use at the farm, but most of this water is for the producing animal feed...Is this a wise allocation of the limited supply of freshwater in America? (Arjen Hoekstra/University of Twente, Netherlands)

• Closer to home, the Sacramento Bee has an ongoing series about drought solutions. Mariposa County resident Tom DeVries, who lives in forestland at 4,000 feet, offers his take:

Trees take water; a big one can draw 100 gallons a day out of the ground. All that junk forest in California is sucking up water that should be filling my spring and well and flowing downhill toward the rest of you. (Sac Bee)

• You know who else has good ideas about how to conserve water in drought? Australians. (KQED)
• Jay Lund from UC Davis modeled a "mega-drought" with his team and found that the economic consequences of a big drought event could be mostly managed through smarter water conservation policies. (California Water Blog)
• Falling water levels at Lake Mead are lowering Hoover Dam's energy production. Generating units have recently been "derated," meaning that they're expected to have a lower capacity for producing electricity now that there's less water to turn turbines. (EE News)
• Jason Dearen and Garance Burke report on "senior rights holders," and how poorly California accounts for water use by people who have rights dating back before 1914 at anytime, and how much that matters now during the drought. (AP)
• You're gonna see a lot of these stories all week: it's a terrible year for setting off fireworks. I bet rural fire chiefs have their teeth on edge already. (Merced Sun-Star)
• And we'll finish up in Southern California. In the first of a duo of Dana Bartholomew stories, the Daily News reports on Turf Terminators, a company that offers to leverage the recently-raised turf removal incentive and swap out homeowners' lawns for less thirsty landscapes...essentially for free, since the company's premise is that it can do the work for the price of the rebate. (Daily News)
• In the second, Bartholomew profiles a Studio City water-conservation demonstration at homes along Rhodes Avenue. (Daily News)
• And a UCLA project examining water use and conservation potential in territory served by the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power suggests that we're not pricing water well enough to encourage conservation. Authors of a policy brief with the California Center for Sustainable Communities say dual metering, for inside and outside, would also improve conservation. (Imperial Valley News)

How has your community been affected by the drought? Share your story with a photo on Twitter or Instagram. Tag it #mydrought. For more details on our photo project, click here.

This content is from Southern California Public Radio. View the original story at SCPR.org.

Dozens of cities throughout the country have either banned or limited fireworks displays due to the threat of heavy pollution.

Fireworks are an environmental disaster, leaving behind lead, radioactive barium, perchlorate, fine particulates and dioxins.

Fireworks displays are nothing compared to the cosmic explosions and implosions that occur every moment across our universe.

Fireworks can unleash a shower of toxins into soil and water, and scientists are only beginning to figure out what that means for human health.

One of the largest fireworks displays in the Midwest will not take place this year due to coronavirus concerns.

The Symphony of Northwest Arkansas (SoNA) gets the rockstar treatment in their upcoming 4th of July concert at the Walmart AMP . With more than 5,000 people in attendance, it's definitely the biggest concert they perform each year. "We don't often have the experience of a jumbotron on either side of us and fantastic lighting and a huge sound system," explains Paul Haas, SoNA's Music Director. "It's a real thrill for us." The symphony's patriotic performance of "greatest hits" from the likes of John Williams to Aaron Copland begins at 7:30 p.m. The night concludes with a brilliant fireworks show at 9:15. More information is available here . Listen to the full conversation between Haas and Of Note's Katy Henriksen by clicking on the streaming link above.

As bushfires continue across south-east Queensland, doubt is cast over this year's Riverfire event in Brisbane and whether fireworks have a place in today's society.

Two men are injured and thousands forced to evacuate after a barge catches fire during a New Year's Eve fireworks display at Terrigal Beach, on the New South Wales central coast.

Ever wondered how fireworks are created? In this clip, pyrotechnics expert John Conkling describes the chemical and physical components of fireworks, and demonstrates many coloured explosions in a laboratory. Discover that a fireworks display is a chemical reaction between an oxidiser such as potassium nitrate and a fuel such as sulphur, with a chemical colourant that emits coloured light when heated.

One thing that astonishes many foreigners visiting Malta for a shorter or longer period of time is all the fireworks going on both day and nights. What many visitors to the islands don’t know is that people die or are seriously wounded every year due to accidents with manufacturing fireworks. About a year ago almost a whole family was tragically wiped out in an explosion in connection with manufacturing fireworks. An independent inquiry has warned that Malta would experience at least one large-scale fatal fireworks accident in this year or the next. An inquiry for public consultation is opened and still pending. This week a new accident took place where three people were hurt, one of them is in a critical condition, in connection with making fireworks. It should be said that the responsible people were licensed to make fireworks. It seems like it is far too easy to obtain permission to make fireworks without very strict rules about where a factory might be placed and what chemicals should be allowed.

Independence Day and fireworks go hand in hand, but fireworks shouldn’t go in consumers’ hands. That’s the message the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) is reinforcing this Fourth of July. Fireworks annually cause devastating burns, injuries, fires, and even death, making them too dangerous to be used safely by consumers.

After escaping the menace of free whiskey buckets we boarded a 'VIP' bus amidst a chorus of yuppies complaining that it didn't have AC or a toilet. I think they looked at the wrong photo when they were buying their tickets and by India standards at leas

Firefighters are braced for a busy few days as Londoners celebrate Bonfire Night over the coming days

In the latest instalment in our series of thoughts and reflections during lockdown, Megan C. Hills watches a neighbourhood nuisance become a local hero

James Smiley, 27, Colton Partin, 21, and Kyle Montgomery, 21, all of Chattanooga, Tenn., pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court in Chattanooga for launching fireworks at African-Americans who were congregated outside their apartment building.

Colton L. Partin, 22, of Apison, Tenn., Kyle C. Montgomery, 23, and James Smiley, 27, both of Chattanooga, Tenn., were sentenced today by Chief U.S. District Court Judge Curtis L. Collier. Smiley and Montgomery were sentenced to 12 months in prison and three years of supervised release for conspiring to intimidate African-Americans in the free exercise and enjoyment of housing rights secured to them by the laws of the United States. Partin was sentenced to 18 months probation, including six months home confinement. All three men will also serve 300 hours of community service. The men pleaded guilty on Jan. 6, 2012.

It's a TreeHugger tradition, and it's time to declare our independence from these dangerous and polluting anachronisms.

Displaying their romantic sides, the Human Rights lawyer, 41, sat on her husband's, 58, knee as they stared up at the night sky

Sydney went ahead with its multi-million dollar New Year firework display at midnight on Tuesday, despite calls for it to be cancelled as much of Australia is devastated by wildfires.

An estimated 250,000 people turned out to watch the 28th annual Australia Day fireworks display in the western Australian city, despite fears weather conditions could disrupt the event.

Zara and Mike Tindall have seen in the New Year in style in Sydney, watching the fireworks with friends including actress Rebel Wilson from a mansion overlooking the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

There was still 41 hours to go when the first group of eager revellers began queuing at Mrs Macquarie's Chair for a prime spot to see the New Year's Eve fireworks on Sydney Harbour.

Hillary Clinton has already organised an Election Night celebration party in New York City complete with fireworks which would kick off only 30 minutes after the polls close.

Hillary Clinton's campaign has called off its planned election night firework display over Manhattan, it emerged Monday, the day before America goes to the polls.

DEREK LAWRENSON IN LOS ANGELES: A couple of firecrackers from Rory McIlroy in his first round back as world number one, and an opening statement from Tiger Woods.