Call it a successful soft opening for Oahu’s new fireworks ban

This past Fourth of July featured quieter neighborhoods and clearer, less-smoky night air, thanks to the new city ordinance that outlawed fountains, sparklers and other "novelty" consumer fireworks. Only traditional firecrackers were legal to be bought, but only with a permit — and that pace was well below demand of previous years. Fortunately for pyrotechnic fans, the professional public fireworks displays, again, lived up to their "oooh, aaah, wow" potential.

With Independence Day now behind us, the real test of the fireworks ban will come in less than six months, when New Year’s revelers get unleashed.

We know how local folks love to have a blast.

Feral food for a full-size snake

Pet shops should no longer be allowed to sell the juvenile versions of exotic pets. If whoever brought that boa constrictor to Waiawa had to grapple with the full-size, 9-foot snake from the get-go, it might not have seemed such a cute idea.

And now we all have to worry if it gave birth upon its escape.

This may not be a solution for the fainthearted, but could this snake be enlisted to take care of our other feral problems? Maybe not an axis deer, but a wild boar or two might save its owner a fortune in snake kibble.