Readers Respond -- Residents split on fireworks permits

We were delighted to see the fireworks once we heard them (Newport

fireworks display surprises residents,” Tuesday). I didn’t know what was

going on, but it was a wonderful show and I’m wondering why the city

can’t do this on the Fourth of July. Have the fireworks off a barge on

the ocean, the way they did it for the wedding.

It was a delightful show and I think that’s the city’s solution to the

Fourth of July fireworks.

SANDRA BASMACIYAN

Corona del Mar

The permits should be issued provided neighbors are notified and it

starts before 9 p.m. It was a spectacular free show.

GEORGE V. KENT

Corona del Mar

Simply stated, granting (and even requesting) a permit for fireworks

at 9:30 p.m. on an otherwise routine Sunday night, especially considering

the country’s current state of alert, is pretty stupid.

TOM STEFL

Newport Beach

Isn’t it obvious? Before reading across the top of Page 1 of the Daily

Pilot about the aftermath of the pyrotechnic display, couldn’t a warning

have been posted in the same place before the event?

CAROL REINHOLD

Corona del Mar

The fact that so many people called the Police Department to complain

about the fireworks is exactly why others in this state think people in

Orange County are such spoiled brats.

Are these people who complained, like Corona del Mar resident Paulette

Johnson, are so uptight that they cannot handle fireworks on one night,

well before midnight, to celebrate a wedding? Give me a break.

Orange County has become so straight, with the gated communities and

paint color restrictions and so many other restrictions, that it is not

surprising it is here where people actually have the inclination to

complain about fireworks. I hope someone warns Johnson that July 4 is

coming and there will be fireworks.

GABRIELLE J. ROUDABUSH

Costa Mesa

We’re new in town, just moved down from the west San Fernando Valley,

and though we qualify for the old-fuddy-duddy age group, it would never

occur to us to complain about the fireworks festivities celebrating a

couple’s wedding. Especially considering we’ll all be deprived of the

July 4 display at the Newport Dunes Waterfront Resort and other fireworks

presentations because of drought conditions and fire danger.

To us, the unanticipated spectacle was a delightful surprise. It took

only a few booms and bursts for us to figure out what was happening, and

we then were treated to about five minutes of some of the best

pyrotechnics we’d ever seen.

OK, complain about the time if you must, but if you’re going to live

in anxiety because of watching news magazines, I’d say turn off “60

Minutes” and enjoy the best use of gunpowder -- fireworks in the sky

above Newport Beach, launched safely from a barge in the ocean.

We say thanks to the folks who generously shared their wedding

celebration with us. And please, Newport Beach, continue to issue the

permits (with strict time guidelines for the early-to-bed crowd).

LEE and LIZ NEWMAN

Corona del Mar