More than 157 million Americans will celebrate Halloween this year. We’ll spend almost seven billion dollars on decorations, candy, costumes and such. More than 60 percent of us will hand out candy, and more than 40 percent of us will decorate our yards, dress in costumes and carve pumpkins. That’s according to the National Retail Federation. For kids especially, it’s that magical time of the year when ghosts and goblins rule the day… and night. KSFR’s Mary Lou Cooper brings us some tips to make this Halloween a safe, as well as enjoyable, holiday.
Mary Lou Cooper reports on consumer issues for KSFR as well as on politics and elder affairs. She has worked for the U.S. Congress as well as for the Nevada and Tennessee legislatures, and remains a political junkie. She worked many years for an association of Western state legislatures and was a contributor to “Capitol Ideas,” a national magazine about state government. In 2016 Cooper received a public service award from the New Mexico Broadcasting Association for her KSFR story on Internet romance scams. She has received journalism awards from the Society of Professional Journalists and from the National Federation of Press Women. She grew up in Oak Ridge, TN and received her BA from Emory University in Atlanta and her MA from the University of Texas Austin. She also holds fiction and screenwriting certificates from the University of Washington.