Danny’s mom, Nancy Doherty, who had encouraged her son to start the stand as long as he donated half of the proceeds to charity, also was taken aback.

“Somebody complained. That was the most disappointing part for us was that somebody thought it necessary to complain about a child’s stand,” she said. “It seemed a little, you know, crazy if you ask me.”

Rather than give up, Danny decided to give away the ice cream and accept donations for the Boston Bear Cubs, a team featuring players with physical and developmental disabilities — including his brother, who is autistic.

That’s when the neighborhood fundraiser blew up and became the talk of Norwood, a suburban town about an hour from Boston.

The first day they gave away the ice cream, supplies ran out in 10 minutes and $1,000 was raised. Then, word began to spread about the fundraiser and Danny’s clash with the town. Local media ran stories about the stand, prompting scores of local businesses to hold their own fundraisers for the hockey team.

Among them was Furlong’s Candies, which teamed up with Boston radio station WWBX-FM to hold a fundraiser in their parking lot. They raised $3,600 on a day when lines stretched out the door.

“Danny was trying to do a good thing for his brother’s team — and it’s not just a regular hockey team,” Nancy Thrasher, the store’s co-owner said. “They need a lot more equipment … We were like this is a perfect situation for us to get involved in.”

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Thrasher said she understood why the stand had to be shut down but she still felt bad.

“My heart broke for the kid. He was just trying to do good for his brother’s team,” she said.

Town officials, meanwhile, said they received hate mail and death threats over the dispute, which they suggested has been badly mischaracterized in the media.

They argued the family had sold their homemade ice cream before and even promoted it on social media. The letter, officials said, was only sent after the town received several complaints and unsuccessfully tried to contact the family — something the Doherty’s dispute.

“We had to deal with staff who were upset that they were being threatened. People had gone online and found their addresses simply for sending a letter after having reached out to somebody and said, look, there’s a violation here,” said Tony Mazzucco, Norwood’s town manager. It’s the “first time in recent memory” that the town has shut down an ice cream stand, he said, adding that Massachusetts law allows for things like lemonade stands and bakes sales but not homemade ice cream.

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Mazzucco also said there was a “legitimate health concern” since homemade ice cream can be contaminated with listeria monocytogenes or other bacteria.

Danny’s situation is not altogether unusual. Youth elsewhere have also seen their lemonade stands or pop-up bake sales shuttered — often for failing to have a business or health permit. Several states have responded by moving to lessen restrictions on such ventures.

Nancy Doherty said it was “distressing” to hear the town employees had received threats. She said the family had never sold ice cream before but acknowledged that Danny created an Instagram account to promote the stand.

“I’m not upset with the town for responding to a complaint,” she said. “I’m shocked someone complained. This was a tiny operation. Us serving 20 friends, family and neighbors isn’t a public health action. That is someone complaining to be a complainer.”

For Danny, all the attention has been a little unnerving. “There were so many people and then they started chanting my name,” he said of the fundraiser at Furlong’s. “I didn’t like it, so I ran away. All the attention was on me and I didn’t like it.”

In the end, about $20,000 was raised for the hockey team — more than the amount the club spends in an entire year. The infusion of funds should ensure the club will be on “sound financial footing” for the next decade or more.

“The community response has overwhelmed us,” said John Quill, the director and coach of the Boston Bear Cubs, as he accepted a check from an auto group at the Dohertys’ house.

“There are a lot of good people out there,” Quill added. “Danny inspired a whole lot of people to do good and to be kind and to help us out.”

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — Parts of Western Pennsylvania are experiencing poor air quality due to temperature inversions increasing ground-level ozone, and it’s been stinky outside because of high hydrogen sulfide levels.

Multiple things are happening in the air at once, and it’s keeping people who care about air quality very busy this week. The Breathe Project and the Group Against Smog and Pollution are asking how can it be prevented in the future.

“We have different types of pollution happening simultaneously right now,” said Matthew Mehalik, executive director of the Breathe Project.

Over the past couple of days, the air quality hasn’t been great, and it has been smelly. H2S, hydrogen sulfide, is the stuff that smells like rotten eggs.

“Higher levels of emissions from our industrial facilities that release particles, and then part of those industrial processes, particularly in steelmaking and coke making, is the release of hydrogen sulfide,” Mehalik said.

Hydrogen sulfide exceeded the state’s 24-hour average standard in Allegheny County from Sunday through Monday. Mehalik said that’s now happened about 38 times in 2024.

Allegheny County’s Hydrogen Sulfide Dashboard for Liberty showed the highest levels in the last 12 months hit at 3 a.m. Monday.

“Those levels, in addition to the particles that came out at the same time, had our airshed as the number one worst airshed in the country,” Mehalik said.

On Tuesday, the SMELLPGH map was filled with dark red triangles, which are the highest-rated smell reports on the scale.

“It is a quality of life issue for people, especially as they are anywhere downwind of Clairton Coke Works. And so it keeps people awake at night,” said Patrick Campbell, executive director of Group Against Smog and Pollution.

Tuesday was also a Code Orange Air Quality Action Day with ozone above level 100. This type of pollution is most common in densely populated areas with more car exhaust and industrial air emissions.

Their advice for a code orange is to be aware, check the air quality levels and make changes to your day if you are in the sensitive group.

Mehalik said temperature inversions trap unhealthy air closer to the surface, and that also traps hydrogen sulfide.

“Because it’s a hot, humid air mass that traps these chemicals in the atmosphere that causes all of this,” he said.

“That’s why we get the stinky air that’s coming into the city up through the valley from steel facilities in the past day or two,” Mehalik added. 

Mehalik and Campbell said the Allegheny County Health Department has been issuing violations and fines. But they said stronger actions may be needed, like requiring industrial facility upgrades, maintenance, and pollution control technologies.

“Those kinds of actions might actually begin to move the needle on preventing these kinds of experiences during inversions because inversions don’t create pollution. They just make it worse for you and I breathing here in Pittsburgh,” Campbell said.

“We’ve got to clean up these processes and hold the people who have the negative impact accountable, so they clean it up,” Mehalik said.

In the past, U.S. Steel has been fined for high-level exceedances of air emissions standards for hydrogen sulfide at Clairton Coke Works. On Tuesday, U.S. Steel sent KDKA-TV a statement about the recent air quality and H2S levels:

“The region experienced a temperature inversion during the early part of the week. U. S. Steel followed the episode response plan mandated by the Allegheny County Health Department, as it always does during inversions. Environmental excellence is a core part of everything we do, and we will continue to monitor atmospheric conditions and respond appropriately.”

Meanwhile, Allegheny County’s Air Pollution Control Advisory Committee has a meeting on Thursday night. It will focus on a proposal to increase permit fees for companies.

As Newington considers updating its aquatic facilities, voters will decide whether to approve bonding nearly $12 million for the project.

On Tuesday, the town council voted to send the request to a referendum in November.

Before the council’s decision, a public hearing was held and people spoke out about the plan to improve the facilities at two parks.

The proposal includes changes to Mill Pond Park and its aging, more than 60-year-old pool.

The plan includes building a new pool, splash pad and other features.

“$12 million is a lot of money. Number two, it’s going to be blocking all of Garfield Street. So you can’t see the park from Garfield Street anymore,” Scott Greczkowski, of Newington, said.

Besides costs, other concerns were the parking, traffic and noise.

Supporters say a much-needed, updated pool will benefit the community, including potentially swim teams.

“If it’s set up for competitive swimming it’d be possible for us to host swim meets there, which could help generate revenue for the club and the town,” Michael Schumacher, swim coach, said.

There would also be changes to Churchill Park, including the addition of a splash pad.

“We are in a healthy position to take on this project based on the need presented to us,” Matthew Plourd, Newington town councilor, said.

Some councilors defended the ideas and argued there was misinformation spreading online including about the cost.

But others raised concerns such as the thoroughness of the process.

“There is no rationale why we need a pool of $12 million,” Tim Manke, Newington town councilor, said.