From Dan Conti, Kentucky Public Radio The fears of some people that making the sale of firecrackers, bottle rockets and other fireworks legal in Kentucky for the first time this year would lead to more injuries nad fires did not materialize. "Surprisingly, in spite of the increase in the sale of fireworks, we saw that injuries and fire-related incidents held steady and were compatible to what they were in years before. We didn’t know that that would be the case but we would gladly take that," Kentucky Fire Marshal William Swope recently told a legislative panel.Swope says 674 vendors registered to sell fireworks in Kentucky this past year but there will probably be fewer in 2012. He says that's because many local communities are working on legislation to restrict or more closely regulate the sales and use of fireworks.
Rick Howlett was midday host and the host of LPM's weekly talk show, "In Conversation." He was with LPM from 2001-2023 and held many different titles, including Morning Edition host, Assignment Editor and Interim News Director. He died in August 2023. Read a remembrance of Rick here.