More Finger Lakes Fireworks and Fourth of July Festivities, Utica shooting vigil

Good morning ☀️

Today’s Tuesday, and I want your help making this Fourth of July special. Please send me your best fireworks photos or pictures of how you’re celebrating the holiday at jmack@gannett.com to share here. It’d mean the world to me, and I hope, anyone else in this little community we’ve begun to build together.

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Looking forward to getting to know some of you a bit better, and without further ado, here’s some of what might have you celebrating this week.

Ithaca-area fireworks shows, barbecues

America turns 248 this Thursday, so expect people nationwide to gather and celebrate Independence Day on Thursday, July 4 with fireworks, food, friends and family.

Despite canceling the Ithaca Rotary fireworks and Lansing fireworks in Myers Park, the Ithaca area is hosting its own swath of celebrations, including a fireworks display at the Inn at Taughannock Falls this Friday, and across Cayuga Lake throughout the following weekend.

Tickets have been sold out at the Inn for a week or so, but fireworks there are viewable from Taughannock Falls State Park with parking available there.

Click here for more info on fireworks events this week.

Here’s some more news you need to know

• Leaving the Ithaca area for 4 ^th of July fun elsewhere?: This article has you covered with a breakdown of every known fireworks celebration happening throughout New York this year.
• With summer now in full swing, when is it safe to leave the kids at home?: The Rochester Democrat and Chronicle says there is no legal minimum age set for New York state. Click here to learn more.
• Hundreds attend vigil for boy shot and killed by police: The heat from a hundred candles was carried on the breeze through a crowd of three times as many for the candlelight vigil in memory of 13-year-old Nyah Mway on Saturday night.

Know your limits and make safety a priority this week

If Independence Day is known for anything aside from fireworks, its having a good time, but that can often go a bit too far. Be careful drinking or doing anything else that might impair you, especially while partying with strangers or around fireworks.

A report from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission states that in 2021, there were nine deaths and 11,500 emergency room visits resulting from incidents involving consumer fireworks. Seventy-four percent of those incidents occurred around the Fourth of July.

Not to mention, the Tompkins County Highway Department is working in many areas of the county this week, leading to further congested traffic than usual even amidst holiday travel.

The highway department will be paving Fall Creek Road in the town of Dryden, from the village of Freeville line to the Village of McLean line, starting today, June 2, and ending tomorrow night, from 7:00 am to 7:00 pm both days. There will be one lane of traffic but expect delays.

The department will pave Hinman Road in the Town of Groton, from Groton City Road to the Cayuga County line, on Friday July 5, from 7:00 am to 7:00 pm, bringing the road to one lane, and on South Main Street Extension in the from Lick Street to the Village of Groton line, on July 8, from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

I hope I’ve helped to inform your travel and merrymaking this week but that’s all I’ve got for you today.

Check your inbox for more updates, and feel free to reach out to me at jmack@gannett.com regarding this newsletter.

This article originally appeared on Ithaca Journal: More Finger Lakes Fireworks and Fourth of July Festivities, Utica shooting vigil