Aurora officials warn against using illegal fireworks
Fireworks are generally illegal within the city of Aurora, and those who have or use them are subject to fines up to $1,000, with repeat offenders risking even higher fines. Those wishing to report the use of fireworks to the city can submit reports online at aurorail.citysourced.com, through the city's 311 app or by calling the Customer Service Center at 311 or 630-256-4636.
If the use of fireworks is threatening the safety of people or property, then residents can instead call 911.
In a recent post to his campaign Facebook page, Aurora Mayor John Laesch warned that fireworks could 'potentially start fires, torture dogs and other pets, harm veterans who have experienced combat' and lead to serious injuries.
Plus, 'nobody wants to hear your 3 a.m. fireworks show,' his post said.
The city of Aurora's own Facebook page focused specifically on fireworks' impact on some veterans, as their loud noise can be triggering or distressing. The post urged residents to consider veterans' well-being by finding other ways to celebrate July 4 that are inclusive and respectful.
City ordinance specifically bans people from selling, offering to sell, giving, storing, possessing, exploding, firing, igniting, discharging or otherwise using display fireworks, flame effects, consumer fireworks or any other pyrotechnic.
In addition to the fines issued to those who break the ordinance, owners of properties where illegal fireworks are being used can also face fines or, with repeat occurrences, liens on their properties, according to the city's webpage about reporting the use of fireworks.
The city is distributing yard signs, door hangers and letters to warn residents against using fireworks. Those looking to help in the effort can join Laesch on Wednesday at 5 p.m. on the first floor of City Hall, according to a post he made on his campaign Facebook page.
Laesch has already gone door-to-door alongside the Aurora Police Department distributing door hangers and warning letters, one of his earlier Facebook posts said.
Aurora is hosting two events to celebrate Independence Day: a fireworks show on the evening of July 3 and a parade downtown on the morning of July 4.
The fireworks display will be in downtown Aurora, with city-suggested best viewing available at the Aurora Transportation Center and at McCullough Park. Food trucks and DJs are planned to be at both locations from 6 to 9:45 p.m., according to the city's website.
Shuttles are expected to run, and city officials recommend using them to avoid issues finding parking and to avoid traffic when leaving.
The city's annual parade in downtown starts at 10 a.m. July 4 at the intersection of Benton Street and Broadway. It will then head north on Broadway to Downer Place, then march west on Downer to Middle Avenue, where it will end.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
10 hours ago
US completes deportation of 8 men to South Sudan after weeks of legal wrangling
WASHINGTON -- Eight men deported from the United States in May and held under guard for weeks at an American military base in the African nation of Djibouti while their legal challenges played out in court have now reached the Trump administration's intended destination, war-torn South Sudan, a country the State Department advises against travel to due to 'crime, kidnapping, and armed conflict.' The immigrants from Cuba, Laos, Mexico, Myanmar, Vietnam and South Sudan arrived in South Sudan on Friday after a federal judge cleared the way for the Trump administration to relocate them in a case that had gone to the Supreme Court, which had permitted their removal from the U.S. Administration officials said the men had been convicted of violent crimes in the U.S. 'This was a win for the rule of law, safety and security of the American people,' said Homeland Security spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin in a statement Saturday announcing the men's arrival in South Sudan, a chaotic country in danger once more of collapsing into civil war. The Supreme Court on Thursday cleared the way for the transfer of the men who had been put on a flight in May bound for South Sudan. That meant that the South Sudan transfer could be completed after the flight was detoured to a base in Djibouti, where they men were held in a converted shipping container. The flight was detoured after a federal judge found the administration had violated his order by failing to allow the men a chance to challenge the removal. The court's conservative majority had ruled in June that immigration officials could quickly deport people to third countries. The majority halted an order that had allowed immigrants to challenge any removals to countries outside their homeland where they could be in danger. A flurry of court hearings on Independence Day resulted a temporary hold on the deportations while a judge evaluated a last-ditch appeal by the men's before the judge decided he was powerless to halt their removals and that the person best positioned to rule on the request was a Boston judge whose rulings led to the initial halt of the administration's effort to begin deportations to South Sudan. By Friday evening, that judge had issued a brief ruling concluding the Supreme Court had tied his hands. The men had final orders of removal, Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials have said. Authorities have reached agreements with other countries to house immigrants if authorities cannot quickly send them back to their homelands.
CBS News
13 hours ago
- CBS News
Events draw large crowds to downtown Minneapolis keep safety top of mind
Downtown Minneapolis continues to see an increase of traffic after last night's Red, White and Boom Independence Day event. The The Taste of Minnesota runs through Sunday night. With high crowds comes an increase of safety measures. After years of chaos on Independence Day, Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O'Hara said in a statement: For the first time in recent years, we did not see widespread chaos involving groups recklessly firing fireworks at people and property. The absence of dangerous fireworks activity is a clear reflection of the success of MPD's holiday safety plan and the dedication of our officers. As part of our proactive strategy, officers arrested one man downtown for carrying a pistol without a permit and towed a vehicle filled with illegal fireworks. "The presence of Minneapolis Police having a plan and following through with it really made a difference," said Pam Lindgren, who lives in downtown Minneapolis and was attending Taste of Minneapolis on Saturday. Lindgren remembers the so-called 'widespread chaos' seen before. "This year has gone without a glitch!" Lindgren told WCCO. "When you're planning an event, you have to think about every factor in general" said Josh Vosberg, who's on the planning team for Taste of Minnesota, an outdoor festival featuring Minnesota cuisine and live music. The event runs through the downtown Minneapolis streets through Sunday night. Vosberg says they hope to see roughly 100,000 attendees each day, with a new bag policy and security and police enforcement handy. "24 hours security all night every night. We're just trying to keep the perimeters safe, outside and inside just to keep everyone safe at all times," said Vosberg. Because fun in the sun with a side of safety brings this: "The sense of community! Getting together, food, drinks, good music," said Kay Schmeider who was attending the event from Savage. Minneapolis Police Department says gun violence remains a serious concern. They'll maintain increased staffing throughout the remainder of the weekend. More information on Taste of Minnesota can be found online. The full statement from Minneapolis Police Cheif Brian O'Hara can be found below "For the first time in recent years, we did not see widespread chaos involving groups recklessly firing fireworks at people and property. While gun violence remains a serious concern — and historically spikes during this week — the absence of dangerous fireworks activity is a clear reflection of the success of MPD's holiday safety plan and the dedication of our officers. As part of our proactive strategy, officers arrested one man downtown for carrying a pistol without a permit and towed a vehicle filled with illegal fireworks. MPD will maintain increased staffing throughout the remainder of the weekend, and we should all be grateful to the officers who spent their holiday away from their families to help keep Minneapolis residents and visitors safe." -Chief Brian O'Hara
Yahoo
13 hours ago
- Yahoo
'Send them home': To promote tougher policies, report claims Spokane's homeless aren't from here
Jul. 5—Half of the homeless people in Spokane aren't from here and should be given bus tickets home, more strictly enforced by police and cut off from long-term services, according to a recent report released by the Spokane Business Association, a prominent political advocacy group funded by businessman Larry Stone. A week after the report's release, the association proposed an amendment to the city's charter, which if approved by voters would reshape the city's homelessness laws and force Spokane to shift funding away from affordable housing, firefighting equipment and other priorities to fund emergency shelters, more visible police patrols and other policies recommended in the report. Critics in City Hall have dismissed the report as unscientific, unhelpful and politically motivated ahead of the November elections, when several seats currently or recently occupied by progressives are being challenged by candidates more in line with the Spokane Business Association's policy goals. But the report's author and the organization sponsoring the survey argue the data is concrete proof that Spokane's homelessness policies aren't only not helping people get off the streets, they're attracting people from elsewhere who are drawn to the city by lax law enforcement. Just over 50% of the roughly 230 homeless people surveyed for the association said they moved to the city after becoming homeless. This contradicts the federally mandated "point-in-time" counts, annual standardized surveys that try to reach every homeless person living on the streets or in a shelter. The point-in-time counts have their own flaws, as the authors of Spokane County's 2024 report readily acknowledged. But of the 2,021 people surveyed in last year's point-in-time count, roughly 80% said they lived in Spokane County before becoming homeless. Robert Marbut, President Donald Trump's "homeless czar" from 2019 to 2021 and the consultant contracted to conduct the survey, argues his data is more accurate because he also asked where people were born, went to high school and whether they have family in Spokane. It is not clear why these additional questions would sway the data by 30 points, but Marbut's recommendations for dealing with this influx are clearer, and consistent with the "Velvet Hammer" approach he has pitched cities across the country for at least a decade: Spokane has to get tougher with the homeless, pressuring them into treatment or departure. Gavin Cooley, an executive of the Spokane Business Association, argued Marbut's expertise lent the report more authority than it lost from a lack of cited sources, and dismissed as "deeply political" a recent article from Range Media that turned to an expert in homeless research to pick apart the report's methodology and conclusions. Cooley believes the media and politicians are overly focused on attacking the data and not paying enough attention to the conclusions Marbut reaches with that data. "You can certainly note the deficiencies as you see them ... but I think it'd be a pity to miss the higher level order of what's being recommended," Cooley said. Every effort should be made to send people back where they came from, particularly if they've been in Spokane for less than 90 days, according to the report. Those who stay should be cut off from long-term services, which should be reserved only for those with longstanding ties to Spokane. For those who are from Spokane, the report recommends mandatory treatment services in order to receive housing, which city officials claim would violate state and federal law. Marbut has spoken out for at least a decade against policies he believes are "enabling" the homeless with "goodies," including Housing First policies that have been the national standard since 2013, in which homeless people are given stable housing upfront to enable them to then address addiction, mental health and social reintegration. Attempts to relocate the homeless en masse are even older. The phrase "Greyhound therapy" has been used to describe the practice since the 1970s and has been criticized by researchers for just as long for redistributing the social costs of homelessness rather than improving them. Many of America's largest cities have, at one point or another, attempted similar policies; between 2011 and 2017, the Guardian tracked over 20,000 homeless people given bus tickets out of and sometimes between 16 U.S. cities. Proponents, including the Spokane Business Association, argue that such programs reconnect people to families and friends and can lead to a long-term improvement in their situation. Spokane's homeless service providers have engaged in the practice for years, however. If a homeless person requests a bus ticket, and a friend or family member declares they can take them in, they will be provided a ticket. Julie Garcia, who runs the homeless services organization Jewels Helping Hands, which manages several of the city's homeless shelters, estimated her organization hands out around 250 tickets a year. There appears to be little academic research into whether these programs lead to long-term reductions of homelessness or just move it elsewhere. The Guardian reported that, of the thousands being bused from San Francisco through the Homeward Bound program between 2010 and 2015, the city had records of following up with only three people after they reached their destinations. But the Spokane Business Association report goes further to suggest that the city should cut off people who decline these tickets from long-term homeless services and even emergency shelters after 21 days. While much of the study copies nearly verbatim a similar report on King County that Marbut was commissioned to write for the Discovery Institute, Marbut claims that Spokane is unusual in one regard: Homeless people aren't coming to Spokane for its quality services, but for its lax enforcement. "What we got on the street was generally, they treat me nice here, they don't hassle me," Marbut said. "It wasn't that they came here because of the services — many communities I go to, it's, 'Oh, they have great services' — but here it was, 'They sort of let me be.' " This picture notably doesn't match what many homeless people on Spokane's streets have told The Spokesman-Review in recent years, who described being pushed from place to place throughout the day by law enforcement, security guards and business owners. "We literally don't get to sit down like this," said Amber, a 32-year-old homeless woman interviewed under an overpass in August. "We are moving constantly. ... So many people have cracked feet and heels." Cooley dismissed this type of enforcement as an "occasional blow of the horn," and wants to see tougher laws and stricter enforcement — not because he wants them to go to jail, which he says would be ineffective and expensive — but to force people to change their lives. Cooley acknowledged that Washington's involuntary treatment laws are not extensive enough to force a homeless person into drug or mental health treatment. Instead, he argued, the city should use its tougher homelessness laws to offer them a choice: either go to jail, or enter "voluntary" treatment. Or they could leave, Cooley noted. "If you find that a great number of people have no connection to Spokane at all, and you suddenly begin to say you cannot use fentanyl in this community unfettered ... how many of those folks will stick around?" Cooley asked. In an interview, Mayor Lisa Brown dismissed the report as misinformed, arguing many of the report's claims about the city's policies were untrue and some of its recommendations were already standard practice. "I believe this is really about the political campaigns in November," Brown said, noting Stone's longstanding funding of candidates opposing progressive policies and production of high-dollar videos to encourage tougher homelessness policies. "I also believe that, with the resources they are apparently able to mobilize, it would be great if, as a show of good faith, they put them into an actual solution, rather than a propaganda campaign against the city and the majority on the city council," Brown added. But Cooley believes the evidence was clear, regardless of the survey's findings, that what the city is doing is failing to have a significant impact on the city's visible homeless population or its soaring overdose deaths. "I know Seattle really damn well, and I can't believe the rapid turnaround as it relates to enforcement," Cooley said. "And what I don't know is where those people are ... but I know they've made a visible turn in on-street homelessness." The report has started to leak into the broader public conversation on Spokane's homelessness policies. Wendy Fishburne, vice president of the East Spokane Business Association, appeared to quote parts of it verbatim Monday before the Spokane City Council voted to reform its homelessness laws. "Research shows that people do better recovering from addiction when they're surrounded by their families of origin," Fishburne said. "Find out where people actually come from and compassionately send them home ... so that our resources could be used for our folks."
