What a great weekend this was in Marion! The park was packed Saturday night for 38 Special. That band really is a crowd favorite.

Hats off to the Chingawassa Days Committee and all who helped to make this another successful year.

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Drivers will have to adjust in the coming weeks to two major changes in state law. Law enforcement can now stop vehicles when passengers are not wearing seat belts. Prior to the change, seat belt tickets were issued when drivers were stopped for other infractions.

The second change is further restriction on cell phone usage, prohibiting texting while driving. Amen to that.

And speaking of texting, I saw a child the other day who couldn’t have been more than 7 or 8 years old texting on a cell phone. Cell phones are great for keeping track of children and teens but I’m not sure if I would want that young of a child to have access to the world through a cell phone. It’s kind of like giving a child Internet access and say “Have at it.”

It’s a scary world out there and our kids don’t need to be exposed to it any sooner than necessary.

So, what is the appropriate age for giving all-access cell phones to children?

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The last time we checked, no one had filed for the first district county commission seat. The deadline is noon Thursday.

Bob Hein currently serves in that position.

I know it’s typical for people to wait until the last minute to file and I hope that’s the case.

We need some forward-thinking, dedicated people to run for this job. It’s a big commitment but the commissioner would be compensated — pretty well, I might add.

— susan berg