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Wednesday, March 27, 2002

By Dan Majors, Post-Gazette Staff Writer

You have to respect magicians. They amaze us with their tricks. Their showmanship. Their contributions to kids and hospitals.

Their ability to keep a secret. Their ability to keep doves alive in their armpits.

And their perseverance.

Joe Raven, a 47-year-old magician in Allentown, made an appearance Monday at Lehigh Valley Hospital, complete with clown nose and sunglasses. But he didn't drop in on the hospital just to lift the spirits of the patients.

The primary reason for his visit was to get treatment after one of his tricks literally blew up in his face.

Raven lost three fingers when some flash powder exploded prematurely while he was performing a Saturday show at the Pocono Family YMCA in Stroudsburg.

"My fingers are gone, but my spirits are up," Raven told The Associated Press. "I won't let it stop me from fulfilling my dreams."

His dreams include amazing and amusing people with his sleight of what's left of his hand. But the audience is supposed to come away shaking their heads. Not ducking them.

Another man suffered minor burns and two people went to the hospital to get their hearing checked after Raven's explosion. Still, according to Chuck Motson, executive director of the YMCA, there's no reason for the magician to put his wand away.

"I don't consider the trick unsafe," Motson said, in spite of Raven's disappearing fingers. "Magicians have been using flash powder for many years. He used it for almost all of his shows."

Fortunately for Raven, who also works as a security guard for the East Stroudsburg School District, he won't have to juggle his finances too much. Presto! Another local magician, Mark Mysterrio, has appeared to do a benefit show for him.

And Raven said he'll be pulling rabbits out of his hat again before you know it.

But ... uh ... if he asks for a volunteer from the audience to be sawed in half ...

Are these sound measurements really sound measurements?

The Planning Commission yesterday accepted a consultant's measurements of sound from Heinz Field. Residents living near the stadium, however, say that since the consultant was the same firm that designed the sound system, it's like asking the fox about the sound system in the henhouse. Or something like that.

Well, there's no line at the water fountain any more

It wasn't the kids who failed the tests at Bruin Elementary in Butler County. It was the water. The state Department of Environmental Protection found the presence of sulfonic acids in the school's drinking water, so all the children will be given bottled water.

As long they don't mix political tactics with police tactics

City Council, with the support of the city police union, unanimously urged Mayor Tom Murphy to hire the National Tactical Officers Association of Bucks County, an independent consultant, to study law enforcement actions in three recent standoffs. Murphy, who has sole oversight of police management, can accept or reject the recommendation.

The road back has hurdles -- but also a lot of help

Lawyers have come up with a proposal for how Allegheny County Common Pleas Judge H. Patrick McFalls Jr., who is in an alcoholic rehabilitation center again, should be monitored if he is allowed to return to the bench. The plan calls for abstinence, tests, meetings, therapy and an "aftercare" program.