PLAYTHINGS

The wars on drugs, crime and poverty may be faltering, but rest easy--the metallic balloon crisis appears to be under control.

At one point, wayward balloons tangling in power lines accounted for about 2% of the state’s electrical outages. So in January last year, the state enacted a law requiring that all metallic balloons be sold with weights attached and a warning about power lines. Since then, there has been a dramatic decrease in metallic balloon-related power outages, says Harry Strahl of the state Public Utilities Commission’s utility and safety division. And there have been no repeats of the Bakersfield tragedy, when a cluster of balloons landed on power lines, cutting power to about 15,000 homes during the 1991 Super Bowl.

Still, in L.A. County, an informal survey revealed that many balloon vendors are ignorant of the nefarious nature of their unweighted merchandise. “Is this a joke?” asked one Eagle Rock vendor confronted with his crime.

Dan Flynn, chairman of the Balloon Council, a Washington-based trade group, and vice president of the Kansas-based Pioneer Balloon Co., acknowledges that there is much work to be done. “We are still mounting waves of our campaign to make sure word gets out. Some places have employees that change every year, and we want to ensure that all the owners are aware of the law.”

Because ignorance of the law is no excuse, ma’am.